A Little Christmas! 4: Song

Chapter 1

(Zachy)

Loud.

That was the only way to describe the Velvet Illusions playroom when Zachy stepped through the heavy iron doors with his daddies.

His eyes darted over to where the bulk of the noise was coming from, the source easy to spot.

A little sat surrounded by some of the noisiest toys in the room.

A drum, a xylophone, and a toy piano. Happily banging away on them, he seemed completely oblivious to the fact that some of the other daddies were cringing, not when several of the littles were dancing around him, one with maracas and another with a tambourine in her hands.

A few had moved as far away from him as they could get, while one hid behind his mommy as the little in the middle of the playroom floor kept his concert going.

Zachy did a little shimmy and stomped along to the beat, wiggling his tush and dancing across the floor, thoroughly enjoying his efforts. Then he spotted his favorite spot in the room, and all thoughts of the music were forgotten.

“Daddy, can I play in the ball pit? There’s no one in it right now.” Zachy asked, peering up at his Daddy Gage.

“Have at it, little one,” Daddy told him, “but what’s the rule if others join you?

“That I ‘spect their space ‘til they invite me in it and only play as wild as everyone else is,” Zachy replied solemnly.

After a year of living with Daddy Gage and Papa Cooper, Zachy had learned that there was a difference between what was appropriate in his playroom at home and how he was supposed to play in the playroom at the club or events with other littles.

“That’s right,” Daddy said, stroking his hair before carefully helping Zachy remove the backpack that held his toys, spare outfit, coloring book, and crayons. “Papa and I will be right over there.”

Zachy glanced over at where he pointed and committed the spot along the railing of the ball pit to memory.

Tables and chairs had been arranged there to let Daddies and Mommies keep watch over their charges without getting caught up in the chaos of all those flying balls.

Before he took off for the pit, Zachy hugged and kissed his Papa Cooper and Daddy Gage, remembering not to run to the door of the pit, though it was difficult when all those bright, colorful balls awaited.

He did a cannonball off the edge, since jumping in was allowed as long as no one else was in the pit.

His abrupt entry sent balls flying everywhere as he giggled and tossed another handful in the air.

Bouncing, leaping, wiggling around, and giggling, Zachy danced in the ball pit as the musical little beat on the xylophone and drums at the same time.

It was such an enthusiastic melody that Zachy couldn’t help prancing through the balls, happily shaking his tush and tossing balls up so they rained over his head.

Shimmying, he tried to spin and fell face first into the balls and came up to spot his daddies laughing at his antics.

It was always the best feeling in the world to make them laugh, especially Papa Cooper, whose job often left him frustrated when things went wrong in his department at work.

Zachy loved that his daddies had made a rule about work stuff at home. At dinner time, everyone had the chance to vent as much as they needed to, but after the meal was over, work was as naughty a word as the ones that required Zachy to pay penance by warming Daddy's cock.

While the little musician played something fast and wild on the keyboard, Zachy floundered through the balls, doing his best rendition of the Peanuts dance from one of his favorite cartoons.

Every flop sent balls into the air; every skip and leap and bounce meant colors arched like fireworks over and around him.

Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun was the only word echoing through his head as he did a forward flip into the balls, though it didn’t work nearly as well as when he was in the pool.

When he popped up next, he saw his daddy shaking his head, while Papa Cooper was doubled over, his head on Daddy's shoulder, laughing so hard it looked like he was about to fall out of his chair.

Chicken dancing through the pit, Zachy headed towards his favorite feature and squirmed through the large tunnel in the middle of the pit when he reached it, laughing when he reached the slide at the other end.

It was only six feet, but it dropped him, squealing, into a second, deeper pit with a lot more balls and nets he could use to climb out and do it again.

He went so far under the balls he touched the bottom of the pit, where everything was muffled; only the music was gone when he popped up, and it took away a little bit of the joy he’d felt since he stepped into the room.

But only a little.

Kicking back, he tried to see if he could float on top of the balls, only to find himself thrashing around while he sank, laughing during the whole slow descent.

It was as he was climbing out that he spotted another little standing on the edge of the pit, looking as shy and uncertain as some of the children who visited the set of the television show Zachy starred in.

His face was a little red too, like he was embarrassed about something; only as soon as he spotted Zachy looking at him, he attempted to smile and even managed a little wave. It was the little who’d created all the joyful music Zachy had been playing to.

It dawned on him that someone had probably made him stop, and Zachy immediately felt bad for him.

“Would you like to play with me?” Zachy asked. “My name’s Zachy. What’s yours?”

“Song,” the other little replied, gaze roving past Zachy to take in the ball pit. “This is so cool. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“That’s such a cool name.”

The other little had a bright smile and deep brown eyes that lit up the moment Zachy complimented him. His hair was long and almost the same color as his eyes, which matched the teddy bears all over his fuzzy crop top and shorts.

“Thank you,” Song said, accepting the hand Zachy held out and skipping with him around to the other side of the ball pit. “Maybe I’ll stay out of trouble over here.”

“Did they get mad about the music?” Zachy asked. “I was dancing to it; it was so much fun.”

“A little. A big, scary Daddy said that next time I could only play one instrument at a time and that I’d played more than enough for tonight,” Song said, looking a little sad again.

It made Zachy sad to see him look so dejected. He knew how hard it was to be new here and find a place among the Velvet Illusions family. One glance at the ball pit and an idea popped into his head that he hoped would make his new friend smile again.

“Wanna do a cannonball?” Zachy asked.

“Oh yeah!”

They leapt together, still clinging to one another’s hands, meaning double the explosion of balls when they landed, laughing and tossing armfuls in the air.

Song ducked beneath the surface, balls moving as he wormed around while Zachy turned and tried to keep track of him before he popped up right in front of him.

“Eeep,” Zachy yelped, not expecting him to be that close.

It was like trying to keep track of the mole in the whack-a-mole game at the arcade, with Song popping up in different places while Zachy bounced around waiting to see where he popped up next.

When he emerged near the tunnel, Zachy showed him how to wiggle through the tube to find the slide, and then down they went, one after the other, into the bigger pit.

“This is the best night ever!” Song declared when he popped up.

“The ball pit is my favorite!”

“It’s my favorite now too! I’ve never gotten to play in one before.”

“Is this your first night here?”

“Uh-huh,” Song replied.

“Did you come with your daddy?”

“I don’t have a Daddy.”

“Ohh,” Zachy said, feeling sad for his new friend because having a daddy or, in his case, daddies, was the best thing in the world. “You can join me and my daddies for snack time later if you’d like. They bring lots when we come to play nights.”

“You have two daddies?”

“I call them Daddy and Papa, so they don’t get confused,” Zachy said before waving to them. “The one with the long hair is my Daddy Gage, and the one with the short hair is my Papa Cooper.”

“Hi Daddy Gage and Papa Cooper!” Song cried out, waving to them as well.

They smiled and waved back to them before they climbed the cargo nets so they could skip back around to the other side again.

“Ryu, Ryu, meet our new friend Song!” Zachy called when he spotted Ryu seated on the edge of the ball pit, kicking the balls with his feet but not getting in.

“Ryu’s Daddy is Mr. Hank,” Zachy explained, waving to the gruff biker as he pulled a chair over to the table where Zachy’s Daddies sat.

“Hi, Mr. Hank!” Song said, waving to him too.

Mr. Hank waved back as Ryu slid off the edge into the ball pit with a giggle. Zachy remembered his manners and the rules and didn’t do a cannonball this time. Instead, he slid in carefully the way Ryu had, since his friend didn’t play as wild as Zachy did.

“Daddy said they’re having a drag puppet show tonight, and the furries are performing too,” Ryu said. “Are you and Song gonna watch too?”

Zachy looked at Song, not wanting to be rude and answer for him.

It would be sad if Song didn’t join them, because Zachy loved to watch performances.

His daddies had taken him to the community theater to see Ryu and Kayla dance in the musicals there, and it was so much fun.

One of the things he’d always loved and hated about the show he was a part of was getting to watch the other actors bring their characters to life.

Now that he no longer had to play the part of the show’s villain, he got to take part in the cool stuff too, instead of lurking like the weasel he’d been when he’d played his original part.

Daddy Gage had fixed that and so much more for him.

“That would be awesome,” Song said as Ryu tossed balls in the air and giggled as they rained down over him.

Soon the three of them were tossing balls up and waving their arms in the air as the balls fell on their heads and bounced off their shoulders.

Then Kayla joined them as her mama joined the table where the daddies sat, and the four of them joined hands to play Ring around the Rosy, sending more balls flying each time they fell down.

“I wanna play, I wanna play!” Shanny declared, skidding to a stop and shrieking when a large pup in amazing bulldog gear snatched him up and lifted him off his feet.

“You can play, but no acrobatics or cannonballs, got it?” The pup growled.

“Yes, Sir Ferocious,” Shanny said, cheeks pinking up as his pup set him back on his feet.

He sat and slid in carefully, along with his friend Ajay, who Zachy had only met a handful of times.

“This is Song,” Zachy said, introducing him.

“Awesome name!” Ajay said, while Shanny giggled.

“Ajay plays guitar,” Shanny declared. “He loves everything to do with music.”

“I play drums!” Song declared.

“And anything else he can get his hands on,” Zachy said. “You should have heard him with all the musical toys before a daddy made him stop playing.”

“Awe,” Ajay said as he and Shanny joined the circle for more Ring around the Rosy.

“Ohh, Duck, Duck, Goose, Duck, Duck, Goose!” Kayla said after they were all dizzy from dancing in circles through balls that churned and swirled.

“You gotta be the goose then,” Ryu declared.

She stuck her tongue out at him, then patted him on the head. “Duck.”

“Duck.”

“Duck.”

“Duck.”

She was careful when she patted them on her way around the circle, until she got to Shanny and declared him the goose.

The chase was on then.

Balls were kicked and flung as she bounced and leapt, barely managing to stay a few inches out of range of Shanny’s hand on their way around the circle.

Everyone got smacked with a wave of balls when she dove into the empty spot Shanny had left behind, but she was safe, and now it was Shanny’s turn to walk around the circle, choosing who were the ducks and who was going to chase him.

There were almost as many balls on the ledges around the ball pit as in it by the time they’d finished several rounds of the game.

“Zachy,” Papa called after he’d finished his turn at being a goose. “Time to clean up so you can have a snack before the show.”

“Okay, Papa,” Zachy called and scrambled to get out.

“Ryu, you too.” Daddy Hank declared.

“Which means you as well, my love,” Mama Mimzy called out.

“There’s gonna be a show?” Ajay asked.

“Drag queens and furries,” Zachy explained.

“Ohh yay!” Shanny said as all of them scrambled up over the edge and started collecting balls and returning them to the pit.

Song stayed by Zachy’s side, helping to locate the balls their playing had sent flying out of the pit, but when they’d finished, he looked uncertain, and shot Zachy a questioning look.

“Are you sure your daddies won’t mind me sharing your snack?” Song asked.

“Uh-huh, I promise, they won’t mind,” Zachy replied, holding out his hand.

He waited while Song shuffled from one foot to the other, nibbling on his lower lip as he made up his mind. When he smiled and finally settled his hand in Zachy’s, it felt like he’d handed Zachy a gift.

Tables had been pushed together for snack time, with Sir Ferocious and Ajay’s Daddy Walker having joined the other caretakers at the table.

There were two paper plates filled with food and two juice boxes between Daddy Gage and Papa Cooper when they reached the table.

Zachy could feel his new friend relax when he realized he was welcome.

“See, it’s okay,” Zachy said as Papa Cooper pulled out chairs for them.

“Thank you,” Song said, smiling at both of Zachy’s daddies before he sat down.

“You’re welcome, sweet boy,” Daddy said. “Will you be joining us for the show?”

“Uh-huh,” Song said. “I’m excited.”

“So am I,” Zachy said.

“Then eat up, boys, and we’ll go find the perfect spot where we can all watch the show together.”

“Yay!” Zachy and Song declared, digging into the wonderful collection of snacks Zachy’s daddies had packed for him.

As he dunked a slice of apple in caramel sauce, Zachy realized that he longed to invite Song over for a playdate in his playroom, where they could make all the noise they wanted.

He also knew that he’d have to get permission from his daddies, but that was something he couldn’t do until they were alone.

There were rules to follow, after all, and he was learning to be an extremely good boy and not break them.