Let's call it even

 "I don't know if I should go or not," Boone was in a squint about it when Alfie mentioned going to the lake to see Dad.

"Why not?" Alfie looked at him as if he needed to be with him, but Boone was at the back of the bakery. All he really wanted was to go home and go to bed. He didn't care about the Fourth. "You have to go, you just have to."

Boone sighed heavily. "You'll have enough energy for both of us." He slumped a bit but went back to the pans to fill with batter and dough.

"Don't say that. You know, he likes you best," Alfie told him.

"And why do you think that?" Boone looked back at him sleepily and then yawned.

"Because..because..he..he and my..our Mom... have always been, you know, mean to each other. They divorced when...I hardly ever saw him." He shook his head as he expressed in a nervous tizzy that he really didn't like being around their dad.

"But he called you. He wants to see you." Boone looked at him. 

"He didn't call you?"

"Nope."

"Are you upset about that?"

"Not really," Boone shrugged back. Alfie shook his head. "I can't do this alone." He practically wailed.

Boone almost burst into a laugh. "You've got Zoey. Why not invite your friend Gage and his family?"

"Yeah, that's what I'll do. I'll invite them." Alfie smiled then. With that, he was on his way. Boone smiled, thinking it was going to be OK. About then he got a call from his adopted Mom.

"What do you mean, you're not going?" She practically yelped.

"Mom, you know, I wanted it to be a surprise for Alfie." He couldn't help but laugh. If he went it would be like old news and he knew his adopted mom and his dad wanted Alfie to be the first to know.