Tally Tots IX

                    “Is this going to become some sort of regular thing for us?” Zubin asks on the way to Rob’s house.

                      “Is what going to become some sort of regular thing for us?” Joe responds with a question.

                      “The whole “˜come to my house so I can do a big reveal of a surprise’ thing,” Zubin explains.

                      “Now that you mention it, we have been doing that a lot lately,” Andrew muses.

                      “I wonder if Rob has cookies,” Ross randomly throws out.

                      Andrew, Joe, and Zubin all shake their heads at Ross while secretly hoping the same thing. They make it to Rob’s house and once more the issue of who will ring the doorbell comes up. They do not wrestle this time. Instead they do rock paper scissors. Andrew and Zubin tie so they play again. While they are on their fifth try to see who will win, Ross just reaches out and rings the bell.

                      “It sure took you guys long enough,” Rob greets them.

                      “It took like five minutes for us to get here,” Joe grins at his impatient buddy.

                      “You lie. It was an eternity,” Rob heaves a heavy sigh to prove his point.

                      “Well, what did you want us to see then?” Andrew urges Rob to get on with the reveal.

                      “It’s in my room,” Rob says as he mounts the stairs.

                      “Then we might never find it,” Ross ribs his friend.

                      “You might have a point there,” Zubin agrees.

                      “Ha ha, you two are so funny that I forgot to laugh,” Rob rolls his eyes but cannot hide his own smile. He gets to his room and goes to open the door.

                      “Are you having problems opening your own door?” Andrew chuckles.

                      “No, I am not,” Rob feigns indignation while he throws his entire weight against the door to get it to open.

                      “Hey, you cleaned,” Joe says as he surveys the room.

                      “Impressive,” Andrew adds.

                      “Is that what you want to show us?” Zubin and Ross ask in unison?

                      “No that is not what I want to show you. That is what I want to show you,” Rob points to a corner of his room while he rolls his eyes.

                      “That is kind of like Joe’s,” Ross wrinkles his nose at the electric guitar.

                      “But it plugs into a speaker,” Andrew comments.

                      “It’s called an amp,” Rob tries to sound very knowledgeable on his new guitar.

                      Rob tries to show off his skills, but the moment he puts the strap over his shoulder it comes free of his guitar and the instrument sinks to the floor. Amid the ensuing fits of giggles, he blushes and fixes the offending strap. The other four play around with the amp volume until Rob shoos them away. All too soon, it is time for the others to head home for dinner.

                      “So, now that you have your own guitar, are you going to stop stealing mine?” Joe grins at his friend as he heads out the door.