Page 1 of 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, thoroughlyenjoying 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 theballs 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 poppedinto his head that he hoped would make his new friend smile again.

“Wanna do a cannonball?” Zachy asked.