Page 46 of A Little Christmas! 4: Song
“Have you ever gone with him?”
Zachy shook his head and giggled as Song guided him into a slow spin as they skated toAll I Want for Christmas Is You.“Daddy and I both want to, but our work schedules have never let it work out for us. I think it makes him sad to have to go alone, though, and I hate that for him. Maybe you could go with him the next time if you don’t have gigs set up with the bands.”
A bright smile crossed Song’s face then, and he nodded. “I’d love that, and we could video chat in the evenings, so we didn’t have to miss each other so badly.”
“That’s exactly what we’ve always done when we’ve had to be apart,” Zachy explained.
“You guys make it all feel so seamless.”
Giggling, Zachy shook his head and gripped Song’s hands tighter. “Only because we’ve had a year to work on it, and there are still times when we don’t get things right and have to apologize to one another and work to do better the next time a similar situation comes up.”
“I know I’m going to screw up at some point,” Song admitted, glancing over his shoulder occasionally just to make sure that the path he was on wasn’t going to lead him to crash into anyone.
“That’s okay, I do too,” Zachy explained. “Even the daddies mess up sometimes, and they always own up to it too. It’s okay when that happens. None of us are perfect people, and I wouldn’t wanna be. They just want us to be honest when something happens and not try to hide it from them. That way we can just deal with it and move past it. The best part is that they don’t keep bringing it up after it happens. That’s one of Daddy’s biggest rules. That what’s done is done, and once acknowledged, it’s time to move on.”
As they skated beneath one of the trees covered in icy blue lights, Song did a twirl, spinning around Zachy, who was proud of the fact that he kept up with the rhythm Song had helped him establish and avoided crashing into him as he glided back around to Zachy’s side and slid an arm around him again.
“Thank you for sweeping me into your life, starting with the ball pit,” Song said as they glided along to the music. “I was so hurt when that Daddy fussed at me about playing so many instruments that I almost tucked tail and went home when he told me that I couldn’t play anymore; I was so embarrassed. Then I saw you dancing in the balls and looking so happy and hoped that it would be okay to go over and say hi.”
“That was so unfair of him to do that to you, especially when you were new,” Zachy said, feeling like a natural on those skates as they continued to go round and round.
The pace Song set made it easy to talk and glide as other conversations went on around them, broken up by giggles and the occasional shout as someone careened past hollering for someone to please tell them how to stop.
“He used to glare at me sometimes when Papa would take me to play there,” Zachy admitted, “because I didn’t always stay where I was put and could be super loud sometimes when I got excited about something.”
“He was scary,” Song admitted. “But I bet Solo was scarier when she caught up to him.”
“Your sister is so cool.”
“She’s the best big sister ever.”
“I’m excited to meet your big brother too,” Zachy admitted. “He’s coming over on Christmas Eve, right?”
“Uh-huh,” Song replied. “I know he’s excited to meet you guys too. He loves board games, and when I told him about the game and movie night we had planned, he promised to bring a bunch of gourmet popcorn to share when he came over.”
“It’s gonna be so much fun.”
As they glided beneath the blue trees again, they spotted their Daddy and Papa shoulder to shoulder, sipping cocoa and waving at them. Waving back, Zachy squealed when the Mr. Grinch song came on. Grinchy was his all-time favorite Christmas character, bar none, and he joined Song in singing the words as they skated around the rink some more.
And yet the more Zachy listened to the song, the more he started thinking about the grumpy Daddy at the club who’d told Song not to play anymore. Whenever he showed up, he was always scowling and frowning at everyone, so much so that Zachy had noticed that most of the mommies and daddies rarely interacted with him. He had to be super lonely, just like the Grinch. He couldn’t help but feel like maybe he just needed someone to show him some joy and compassion, so he’d stop being so mean to everyone.
“Hey, are you getting tired?” Song asked, giving his hand a gentle squeeze, “Your whole vibe just changed.”
“No, not tired,” Zachy said. “Just wondering if we could find a way to help the grumpy daddy at the club not be so grumpy anymore so maybe one of the littles will like him enough to want him to be their daddy.
“Ohh, I don’t know if anything will help him; he’s meaner than the Grinch,” Song replied. “It would be nice though if he’d smile sometime. I kinda thought he was hot until he started grumbling at me about making so much noise. Then his face twisted up, and he just looked kinda bitter and mean and definitely not hot anymore.”
“I just found him scary,” Zachy admitted.
“I bet a lot of other littles do too.”
“Last year, he was at the Christmas party, but the whole time he just leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, watching everyone like he hated everything we were doing. Well, until this one boy lost his ball and it rolled over to him, then he smiled, like a real smile, and handed it back. I forgot what the boy’s name is; he’s super quiet, though, even if his daddy isn’t. He’s the big guy who looks like a grizzly bear and loves to laugh loudly and tell all kinds of stories about the things he’s done. Which is a lot. He’s like a superhero. His job is the coolest thing ever.”
“Oh yeah, what does he do?”
“He’s a wrestler, like the kind we watch on television, only not that famous,” I explained. “He wrestles locally, though, and sometimes Daddy, Papa, and I go watch him. You’ll get to come now too. It’s gonna be so awesome.”
Song gave Zachy’s hand a squeeze as they drifted into one of the turns, gliding into a section of ice that was mostly empty. Zachy let out a squeal when Song turned him into a wobbly spin, then a second one, as Zachy got the hang of how to position his feet. One more turn, and Zachy was giggling and a little dizzy as they finally started skating in a mostly straight line again.