"Early" is "whilst the hurricane warnings are still in effect", John.

[ Pretty good, for a retort, huh? ]

You don't have to make a show of it, anyway — it's not as if it's an invitation to teach everyone the Cha-Cha Slide, after all. He just wants to see that the person who actually cared for him still does.

That shouldn't be too hard for you, should it?

[ Judgmental eyebrows indicate it had better not be — with a particularly piercing pterodactyl screech as emphatic agreement. ]