CHAPTER FOUR
Neil
I sit on the couch sipping coffee and watching all the little girls in their cute pajamas giggling and laughing. There are nine or ten couples here are Carl’s big house. It appears Carl is sort of the unofficial leader of all the Daddies, and I have to admit the idea of spending Christmas morning together so it really feels like a bunch of little girls excited around the Christmas tree. I love watching Tabitha with them. After only three weeks, she fits right in.
Rollie looks from where she kneels with the rest of them and says, “Please, Daddy! Please!”
Carl smiles and says, “The answer is the same as it was thirty seconds ago. You can open your presents at seven o’clock.” As though on cue, all the little girls look at his big grandfather clock. There are two minutes left. “And you have to wait until it finishes chiming,” he says.
Rollie groans but says, “Yes, Daddy.”
The next two minutes seem to take ages for the little girls. They’re practically bursting and I can’t believe how good it feels to have a little girl again. Naturally, that thought makes me realize I’m still hiding from telling Tabitha about Antonio. I want to tell her but I just can’t. I can feel my mind going to a dark place but thankfully, the clock chimes and draws me back. The girls count along with the chimes and once the seventh sounds, they make a mad dash for the tree.
A few of the Daddies say, “No pushing,” and “Careful!” but there’s a joyous feeling all around. Naturally, I keep my eyes on Tabitha. I’m pretty damned amazed at how she looks so good wearing jumpsuit flannel pajamas that cover every bit of her body. They’re green and red plaid, and it’s hard not to focus on one particular part of them, the drop-seat butt flap secured by two white buttons in the shape of snowflakes. There’s no question in my mind at some point today, that butt flap will be down and it won’t have anything to do with her using the bathroom. I’m not the best shopper in the world but that little Christmas Eve present might be the best thing I’ve ever bought.
There are a lot of squeals and giggles in the next few minutes, and I watch the girls leap to their feet, run over and hug their Daddies and then run back and look at their presents again. It happens to me, and Tabitha practically jumps on me, straddling me on the couch and kissing me hard. She pulls back and says, “Daddy, I love it! I love it!” She holds up her hand and I see the bracelet I bought her. It’s a lovely contrast, deep yellow gold, to the pajamas, which I notice a lot more with her straddling me.
“Wonder what else Santa got you,” I say. She giggles, gets off me, and rushes back to the tree.
I look around and everything feels so damned festive and wonderful. Someone’s missing, though. “Hey, where’s Pete?” I ask.
Leo sits right next to me, and Helen, his little girl, jumps on him and kisses him as he tries to answer. She holds up a necklace and kisses him again. He chuckles and turns her around so he can put it around her neck while she beams. He looks at me and says, “He left last night. I mean, would you want to be here with all the Daddies and little girls if you didn’t have one?”
“Isn’t this beautiful, Tabby’s Daddy?” Helen asks as she holds out the necklace. It’s white gold or maybe platinum and it has a green stone I imagine is an emerald. She frowns and then says, “Daddy, did you buy this from Peter?”
“Little girl,” he says in warning.
She turns around. “I’m not trying to be impolite Daddy. I’m not trying to find out how much it cost. I just… Well, I bet all of the jewelry the little girls are getting today is jewelry Peter made and I feel bad that he’s alone on Christmas.”
She’s right, I think. At the least, she’s right that one little girl got jewelry from Pete. The bracelet I bought for Tabitha was from him. So are the earrings she hasn’t opened yet. He kisses her and says, “That’s very sweet, little girl but Peter would want you to be happy and not feel bad.”
Helen says, “Somebody should fix him up, Daddy.”
“Right now, baby,” Leo says, “He just wants to work through how he’s feeling. We need to respect that.”
She sighs and then says, “Okay, Daddy.”
“There’s more under the tree for you,” he says.
She brightens up and leaps off him, saying, “Thank you, Daddy!” as she rushes back. Just then, Tabitha squeals. “Daddy!” she shrieks. “Daddy!”
She jumps on me again and I almost fall of the couch. She kisses me and pulls back with wide excited eyes and then she kisses me again. She does that twice before she finally says, “Oh, Daddy, they’re beautiful!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say innocently.
She giggles and says, “Yes, you do.” She holds up the earrings.
“Oh, those?” I shake my head and say, “I didn’t get those. I think Santa got them for you.”
She rolls her eyes and says, “Daddy, I’m a little girl. I’m not a child.”
I laugh and her face grows serious. “It’s too much, Daddy. They’re… they’re too expensive.”
I kiss her forehead and say, “No. They’re not.” She doesn’t appear convinced and I say, “Go put them on. I want to see them on you.” She brightens a little and gets up. I follow her to the bathroom, where she looks in the mirror and gets them on. She turns around and I smile at her. They’re diamond earrings, heart shaped. She’s right about them being expensive but not about them being too expensive.
She says very softly, “Daddy, I have really…” She sighs and says, “I’m really happy you’re my Daddy.”
“I’m happy you’re my little girl,” I reply.