Chapter 11 #2
“Don’t cry,” Chloe said, but it was too late. Tears streamed down my face, but they matched the ones coursing down Jenna’s.
“Oh, Marcie, Jenny,” Dawn said, her eyes welling.
“It’s a hap… happy d… dayy,” Emma tried
“I-I knowww,” I said, but when it came out far more a sob than words, Henry threw his arms around as much of the five of us as he could as he shouted, “Daddy!”
Every head turned. It mattered not if that head belonged to a male or a female. His cry was one of universal need heard by every guardian to have ever taken on the huge responsibility of caring for another human being. Arms joined Henry’s to wrap around us all in an interlocking circle.
Henry looked a bit shocked then grinned as he caught my eye. “It’s a tangle of tentacles!”
“A consortium of octopuses!” his Daddy Grant added as he and the rest of our Daddies and Dawn’s Mommy made their way to join the mass of people who weren’t only members of Gem, but part of our family.
“Babygirl?” my Daddy said, concern in his voice and on his face as despite the crush of people, he somehow managed to crouch down in front of me. “What’s wrong? Where are you hurt?”
“My heart,” I answered, then despite the tears I couldn’t seem to stop, managed to smile at him and then at those around us. “I’m just so happy!”
My giggles started at the astonished look on my Daddy’s face but quickly infected everyone until instead of tears, we were all laughing and instead of just holding on to support one another, we were hugging and being hugged, passed around until once more I stood in front of my Daddy.
He stood and picked me up, hugging me so tight I couldn’t breathe, but who needed oxygen when they were filled with unlimited love.
He kissed my forehead, my cheeks, the tip of my nose, and then my mouth before he pulled away.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked as he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe my tears and then held it to my nose for me to blow.
“Yes, Daddy. I’ve never been better.”
A smile finally replaced the frown and his eyes filled with relief instead of the concern I’d seen in their depths.
He looked around as if to assure that everyone was fine and then turned to where Uncle Leo stood holding Jenna.
“Know what time it is?” Daddy asked.
“Time to get this party started!” Uncle Leo declared, doing a shimmy that had me gawking and Jenna giggling.
And just like that, the crowd shifted as easily as did a group of fluid octopi, partners chosen, music beginning, and before you could say “dance like nobody’s watching,” there were booties shaking, torsos twisting, Daddies dipping Littles and Mommies doing the Mamba.
It was uncoordinated chaos as people bumped into one another, trading partners at every turn and it was the absolute perfect way to dash the tears away and make memories that would last a lifetime.
I could have danced all night… well, except for the fact that I caught sight of the booths filling one section of the club normally containing spanking benches, a pillory, a large, beautiful St. Andrew’s Cross and other apparatus that both terrified the Little and thrilled the submissive within me.
Before I could process which booth I absolutely had to visit first, Daddy twirled me and I glimpsed a long line of tables draped with shiny silver tinsel and set with huge glass bowls that were filled with every possible type of candy one could ever wish to eat.
“Daddy! Did you see the booths?” I asked as he pulled me back to his chest.
“I did,” he said before twirling me away from him again.
“And the candy?” I asked the next time I completed the circle and was against his body once more.
“Yep. I even saw the candy sharks,” he confirmed.
“Sharks? Daddy, I’m gonna need a bigger bag!” I exclaimed and he laughed.
“I’ll get you the biggest bag ever,” he promised. “But did you see that?” he asked, bringing me to his chest only to then give his arm a twist until I stood, my back against his front.
“Oh, oh, Daddy!” I said, surprised I could actually utter a coherent word.
We had stopped a few feet in front of the biggest booth of all.
This one had no balls to throw, no beanbags to toss and try to win a prize.
No colorful banners or lights flashed to draw you in.
The only thing in the center of the table was a family of pigs.
But these weren’t the small pigs I’d decorated our table with the night of our dinner party.
No, and while these perfectly resembled the candy peppermint pigs, these were made of the prettiest, pink plush.
Only Baby Tucker’s body looked exactly like he’d been dipped in chocolate, his precious pink face smiling out at his audience, a drip of chocolate brown fur on his snout.
“Aren’t they just the cutest!” I squinted and did a double take. “Wait, there’s only three. Where’s Holly?”
“Turned out Jenna is as good at marketing as her sister. Those three are the only ones left, but only because they are acting like decoys.”
“Decoys? They aren’t ducks and it’s not even hunting season,” I said as I tried to understand what he meant.
Daddy chuckled. “Just that Robert bought Holly for his own Little Holly but wants to surprise her with the rest of them on Christmas morning. Aunt Tilda will sneak them to him when Holly isn’t watching.”
I smiled and nodded. “I’m beginning to think there’s a great deal more sneaky Santas than one might believe.”
“I believe you’re correct. But tell me what else do you see?”
I shifted my gaze from the pigs to a very tall, shiny red tower that had a large silver object leaning against it. “It’s red like the bags and look, Daddy, there’s a mallet! Like the ones with the piggies!”
“I see,” Daddy said, holding me a bit tighter before pointing his finger.
I followed it to see a large silver jingle bell was at the very top of the tower. “It’s one of those, I don’t know the name, but you know, that game where the hawker hollers to hit the thingy with the hammer?”
Daddy chuckled. “It’s actually called a high striker, but I think I like your description far better.”
I giggled and squirmed until I was facing him again and tugged on his hand. “Can we play?”
“We can, but I’m afraid there won’t be any prize even if you ring the bell.”
“I just want to… wait, what do you mean there won’t be a prize? I thought the piggies on the table meant… aren’t they supposed to… isn’t this where—”
“They do, they are, and this was, but it isn’t any longer.”
I suppose all that practice with Santa Daddy’s coded lists was what enabled me to decipher that quickly.
Still, I couldn’t make real sense of it.
I stopped pulling on his hand and looked up at him, back at the booth, then back up at him and still, I had no clue as to what he meant by “it isn’t any longer,” but I gave it a shot.
“Does that mean someone broke it by hitting it too hard?”
“No. Look closer at the tower, babygirl, right in the center. What do you see?”
I studied the tower and realized that while the majority of it was indeed a bright shiny red, there was a line of green running up the center. “It looks like a piece of Christmas ribbon candy,” I said, looking back at my Daddy.
He chuckled. “It does, but I think you’ll find this even better than candy.”
I scoffed, “I doubt it, Daddy.”
“What would you say if I told you that the green you see isn’t made of sugar, but is made up of all the money that people have donated for the foster children’s Christmas fund?”
I’d have said no way or ohmygod, or any of a thousand things if I could have said anything, but I couldn’t.
I was too overwhelmed, too astonished, too full of so many emotions I could do nothing but stare at the tower.
Daddy knew it as well because he simply picked me up and hugged me hard against his chest.
“Congratulations, babygirl. Your idea wasn’t only a good one, it was embraced by every single person who heard about it. Aunt Tildy told me they’d sold most of the pigs before they even opened the doors tonight. And that the center is almost full all the way to the very top.”
“Oh, Daddy, I don’t know what to say. Think of all the presents we can buy, all the children all our friends are going to make so happy. How can I thank everyone for, for this?”
“You can thank everybody by making that bell ring,” Aunt Tildy said as she and the rest of our group joined us.
It was only then that I realized the dance music had stopped and all our guests had turned to come toward the booth where Clarence, Noel, and Baby Tucker were so proudly standing in all their plush pink porkiness.
I scrubbed my fists over my eyes to push the tears from them and smiled so wide I finally understood what one meant by ear-to-ear. “Lift me up, Daddy!” I commanded, pointing skyward.
He lifted me high and then ducked his head between my legs. Before I could gasp, his head reappeared and I was sitting piggy-back, straddling his shoulders, his hands holding my legs secure against his body.
“Turn around, Daddy!”
He chuckled but again obeyed without admonishing me for being so bossy.
Once I faced our huge chosen family, I threw my arms wide and then caught a glance of Holly holding Holly. “Hi, Holly!” I shouted, then laughed and added, “And hi to you too, Holly Hoggie.”
“Isn’t she just the cutest?” Holly declared, using the stuffy’s front left hoof to wave back.
“Yes, I’m so happy your Daddy knew where she belonged.
And I want to thank you all. Every single one of you is just like Santa Claus.
You’ve given not only your hard-earned money, but your hearts tonight, and I honestly can’t think of a way to say what my heart feels, but… thank you and Merry Christmas!”
“Ring the bell!” Henry shouted.
“Ring the bell!” voices echoed and then feet began to stomp, and hands began to clap as the three words were repeated again and again. “Ring-The-Bell! Ring-The-Bell!”