Page 26 of A Little Christmas! 4: Song

“That’s one option,” Daddy explained as he finally turned them loose. “Or you could join us in the bedroom; our bed is more than big enough.”

“Seriously?” Song said, turning in his seat so he could hug Daddy properly.

“Long as you don’t mind waking up to a clingy octopus wrapped around you in the middle of the night,” Daddy said, chuckling as he reached over to ruffle Zachy’s hair. “It can make going to the bathroom tricky when someone’s persistently hanging on.”

Giggling, Zachy waved when Song turned to look at him.

“Bring on the tentacles, Octopus boy,” Song declared. “I love a good clingy cuddle.”

Laughing, Daddy shook his head at them. “Bed it is. But don’t say we didn’t warn you.”

“I’ve been warned,” Song said. “Not that warnings have ever stopped me from going after something I truly wanted. Besides, I’ve been accused of being an aggressive cuddler myself.”

“Seriously?” Zachy replied, giggling.

“Yup.”

“Know what that means?” Zachy asked.

“What?”

“Cuddle-bug contest!” Zachy declared, climbing out from the back to do a squirming happy dance, only to turn and see his Papa in the doorway leading from the garage to the house with his phone in hand, the soft clicking letting Zachy know that he’d been taking pictures of him.

“Papa, Papa, Song said yes to going out with us!” Zachy declared, rushing to hug him after the long day apart.

“Did he?” Papa said, holding out an arm as Song raced over to hug him too.

“I did, I did,” Song said as he cuddled with them. “You’re happy about it, right?”

“Beyond happy,” Papa declared as he squeezed them together. “And more than ready to celebrate the awesome news. Who’s ready for their surprise?”

“Me! Me!” Song and Zachy replied.

“You’ve got me curious,” Daddy said as he joined them, carrying Song’s backpacks. “Though when we left this morning, I could have sworn you said you would be stuck at work later than we were tonight.”

“That was the plan,” Papa replied. “Until an enterprising team member solved the problem, I expected it to take all night and most of tomorrow. Which is my other surprise. I don’t have to go back to work until after New Year’s; now let’s get in there before we let all the heat out. It’s starting to feel like a pair of naughty imps have been snow dancing again.”

“Happy, happy!” Zachy whispered, giggling the moment his Papa groaned and scowled at him.

“Snow, snow dance!” Song squealed, shaking his tush as he waddled in.

“We’re gonna wind up buried,” Papa groaned as he followed them, but it was Daddy who put it all into perspective with just a few words.

“Maybe, but at least we’ll be together.”

Chapter 10

(Song)

“Whoa!”

Exhaling, all Song could do was stand in the entryway to the kitchen and blink at the Smorgasburg that awaited them.

“I figured no one would feel like cooking, so I stopped off at Blondies and picked up a couple pizzas, some wings, fried pickles, fried mushrooms, onion rings, and each of the seafood dishes they make. Grabbed two cheesecakes too, Oreo and Butterfinger, and enough dipping sauces that we shouldn’t run out of them before we run out of food,” Papa explained. “This isn’t even the surprise; that’s in the living room.”

Excited, despite the rumbling his stomach had started doing the moment he scented food, Song followed him, Zachy by his side, to see several new additions to the room. On the floor, where the one low table they’d used for games had previously sat, was a second table, creating a wider space surrounded by four large, sturdy beanbag chairs in the same warm, brown hues that dominated the room. Fluffy with blankets draped over theback, they looked way comfier than the pillows they’d perched on the previous weekend.

“I wanted to give us more room for games, as well as space for your electric drum kit, laptop, and drawing tablet,” Papa explained. “Zachy loves to make terrariums in his free time, and they take up a lot of space, so I thought it would be easier for you two to work side by side without being cramped. We spend a lot of time in here during football and hockey season, but I know it can be hard to focus on a game when you’ve got ideas bursting to come out. When we first moved in together, we thought about creating an art room for Zachy, but he’s as big a sports lover as we are, and we didn’t want him to feel isolated just because he wanted to make something while the games were on. After hearing you talk about how much you loved watching hockey, I thought a second table would be the best way to create a space we could all be in together, while still allowing you both to do the things you loved.”