Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Wren’s cousin Pierce had described that as wishful thinking, but Wren chose to think of it as positive thoughts.
I was on the side of whatever made him happy and giggly, and at the moment that was imagining his mother as relaxed and content. Because there was nothing else we could do about it. Wren had already been confident about going through the portal and the council had decided that only single individuals or mated couples would go through the portal.
As difficult as the decision had been, it had been the only thing they could think of to mitigate the emotional damage of another disaster.
“But for the moment, we’re going to plan for coming back in two weeks with lots of goodies for everyone left here.” It was considered an important social custom related to traveling to bring back presents to important friends and family. “We’re going to bring back toys for Kenzie and your new friends here. I think we can bring back cake without it causing any problems. We’ll just have to figure out options for the Daddies and diner men.”
They would need presents too or as Merritt put it…we would never hear the end of it.
Chapter 23
Wren
Presents for the Daddies.
Presents for the littles.
Presents for the naughty men.
Hmm…
I showed Daddy a picture of some of my favorite toys, the diner men, and then the portal.
He laughed out loud.
“No, we don’t have anything like that…at least not that I know of.” Shaking his head, he poked at his food and got thinky. “There are probably couples who are discreet and have explored on their own but nothing that is society-wide.”
I showed him sad diner men.
He thought that was funny too.
“Yes, they would find that sad but we’re going to have to make sure they understand our differences going forward. If they keep shocking everyone who comes through, it’s going to cause a problem.” Daddy frowned and shook his head. “I don’t even want to imagine the incidents they might create.”
They were naughty.
I showed him Boyd and Kenzie’s Daddy.
“Yes, I agree. They’re the best choice for explaining the problem to the diner men, but I was also thinking that a safer welcoming committee might be a good idea.” Daddy sighed when I giggled. “I know. It’s a long shot as you would say, but they need a group who are safe to meet people from my side. The diner men need to create a Team Boring.”
Did they have any boring people?
Even the people who weren’t naughty didn’t seem to be boring.
I gave him my question pictures and he shrugged. “I don’t know who would be best. We haven’t met anyone that boring yet.”
Yeah, no boring people were allowed.
Who was close?
I showed Daddy a picture of the library and bugs and then more question pictures.
“You’re right. They’re the closest we’ve met to boring and even they’re littles in some way and both fairly shy.” Daddy finished up his yummies and put his paper plate back in the bag. “I think we’re going to have to leave this for someone else to solve while we’re gone.”
Yep, not Daddy’s problem.
I was Daddy’s problem.
And his problem was ready for bathtime and cuddle time and bottle time.
Daddy nodded when I showed him all my stuff I was ready for. “Are you all done?”
Hmm…
Two more bites.
One.
Two.
Hahaha.
I could count.
“I do not understand the reference, my mate, but your society has extensive fictional materials.” I showed Daddy a picture of the puppet Count from TV and he shook his head. “I can’t decide if that looks friendly or frightening.”
He was so silly.
“Bubbles will definitely be safer and I know you’ll protect me if we watch scary things on the television.” Daddy stood up and kissed my head. “I might have a surprise for you if you can promise to protect me.”
Oh.
Present surprise?
Snack surprise?
Dessert surprise?
Toy surprise?
Daddy tried to look like Team Boring and he tried to keep his thoughts quiet. “Let’s have bathtime and then you can see what I have for you.”
Naughty Daddy.
New shoes?
New toys?
Chocolate?
New camping toys?
Coloring book?
He didn’t even smile inside or out when I showed him my ideas.
“Okay, you’re all done. You’re just mashing it up now.” Daddy looked like he wanted to laugh but he pretended to be serious. “That looks…interesting.”
Little tato mountain with falling rocks.
“And dangerous.” He cocked his head. “Is that a rockslide?”
And we all fall down.
Boom.
Daddy shivered. “No, we are not falling down. You and I can both fly and we’re not going anywhere near mountains tall enough to fall down like that.”
I showed Daddy big mountains and small mountains as he cleaned up the mess. “Are those places that you’ve been or are you asking if we have anything like that on my world?”
Both.
I showed Daddy the excited punctuation as I put my thumb back in my mouth and he laughed in my head. “I think that means both, but no, we don’t have anything like that really. From what you’ve told me, your world has always been…geologically active.”