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"Happy New Year!" Orion shouts dramatically when he walks into the room. I look up at him from the floor. He's holding his stuffie in one hand and a bottle of what looks like champagne in the other. Remi and Aussie follow behind them.

Daddy and I were the first ones to arrive for the party at Rachel and Luke's.

Quinton and Vaughn came in next, only minutes later.

We've been on the living room floor coloring since.

We don't have to work tomorrow, since it's New Year's Day, so I get to stay up all the way past midnight to celebrate.

"Daddy let me get us special juice for tonight. "

Orion holds the bottle out and I can see it’s sparkling grape juice.

I've never had it before, but it sounds yummy.

He hands the bottle off to Garrett and joins us.

We're all sharing coloring books and I let Orion look through the one I'm using.

He picks out a mermaid and ship page. I'm coloring the sea monster one.

I'm making it rainbow colors with each leg. It's a nice sea monster.

I go between coloring and watching the movie that Mommy Rachel put on for us.

It's a Christmas movie from the Paw Patrol cartoon.

I love that show, Rubble is my favorite.

The others keep a quiet conversation going, but I'm focusing on my coloring.

I want to make it perfect for Daddy to hang up in my room.

We've decided to turn my bedroom into a full playroom.

I still have my bed in there, but all of my big clothes and items are in Daddy's room now.

Our room. I love having a room just for my Little side.

We've experimented with different things over the past couple of months.

A lot of it involving Daddy tying me up in various ways.

The straps attached to the bed are my favorite.

"I have some snacks," Rachel calls as she rounds the corner into the living room.

We all turn toward her. I smile when I see my Daddy behind her.

He doesn't say anything to me, but holds his hands out, one with my medicine and the other with a cup of water.

I take the medicine quickly because I see the snacks that Rachel has.

"We'll put two stars on the chart tomorrow, okay?" Daddy takes the cup back from me and I smile up at him. The chart has become a fun habit at night. I'm not always in my Little space, but seriously, who doesn't love stickers?

He runs his fingers through my hair as I turn back to survey the food. There's a little bit of everything. Pizza rolls, mozzarella sticks, taquitos, potato wedges. The second tray has fresh fruit and veggies. Rachel tells us to take a bit off of each tray.

I make my own plate, trying to keep the balance even. I go back to coloring and talking with my friends. It's still early and they're planning on playing a few games inside while we wait for midnight. I can't remember the last time I stayed up to midnight and I'm excited.

When we all finish at least one picture, the crayons and books are pushed to the side and Luke brings out some of his toys for us to play with.

Aussie rummages in his bag as well. As usual, they have their dragons and castles, but Luke also brings out the dolls and animal figures that I love to play with.

We get a story going, mostly a continuation from our last playdate together.

I have the two ponies and gallop around the room with them as we travel through the magic forest to rescue the princes, Orion and Quinton, from the mean ogre, Aussie. Orion and Quinton are playing with their stuffies while they wait for us to "rescue" them.

"Watch out for the dragon!" Aussie yells with a giggle at the end. "He's my pet and I'm sending him out to eat the horsies!"

"Not the horsies!" Luke and myself yell and start running around in circles when Aussie picks up his dragon toy and chases us. He gets Luke first, but I duck his next attack and run across the room where Quinton and Orion are waiting. "I got it! I saved them!"

Aussie lets out a noise that's a mix between a grunt and yell.

It's hilarious and we all end up on the floor laughing as he pretends to melt.

We change the roles a bit and play another round.

This time, Luke and Orion get caught by the ogre and we all dog-pile on top of Quinton.

It's all laughs and giggles for a long time after that.

I hide a sudden yawn and glance up at the clock.

It's only ten. I turn my head this way and that, looking for my Daddy.

I walk away from the group and find Daddy in the kitchen with all the others.

I go straight to him, wrapping my arms around his body and burying my face against his neck.

His arms wrap around me and I smile when I feel his lips press against the side of my face.

"Getting sleepy?" His hand smooths down the side of my face. I nod without looking up. "You haven't been up this late in a while, huh?"

"I don't want to go to sleep," I whine into his neck. He shrugs his shoulder to get me to look at him. He's smiling softly when I do.

"You don't have to," he says. "Do you want some juice to help you stay awake?"

I nod. He moves toward the fridge, leaving me to face the rest of the group. They all smile at me. It makes me laugh because it was all in unison. I point it out to them.

"You are a little stinker, you know that?" Remi says. He's still smiling, though, so I know he doesn't really mean it. I give him the widest grin possible.

"Daddy loves it," I say simply.

"Mmm." My Daddy holds up his hand when he stands next to me. "Daddy likes it when he gets to correct you for being a stinker."

My face heats up when the others laugh. They know what that means.

Daddy kisses my head once more before handing over the sippy cup with juice.

It's not the special juice Orion brought.

I stand by my Daddy and listen to them all talk as I sip my drink and Daddy runs his hand under my shirt, up and down my back.

I don't know if he's actually aware he's doing that or not but it’s nice. Comforting.

Remi is talking about the camp. I haven't been yet, but the way Aussie, Luke, and Quinton talked about it, it sounds fun. Maybe we can go next time.

The others come in looking for me but also for more drinks. Luke is carrying the two plates that had our snacks on them. The kitchen is not big enough for all of us, so I slip out with Daddy in tow. We go back to the living room and I curl up on his lap on one side of the couch.

"If you want to take a nap, you can. I'll wake you up before midnight.

" Daddy whispers the words in my ear. The others come back into the room and we all settle down.

Rachel pulls out the board games and we pair up to play.

There is Scrabble or Life. Daddy and I choose to play Life against Quinton, Vaughn, Orion, and Garrett.

It's fun and the time passes quickly. Soon enough, we're watching the TV countdown, passing around glasses with the sparkling juice.

I'm about ten minutes from falling asleep, as are most of my friends, but we all finally start the ten second countdown.

"…Four, three, two, one!"

"Happy New Year!" We all shout in unison.

I turn to look at my Daddy and smile. He leans forward first and presses our lips together.

I smile into the kiss, feeling so, so happy.

We kiss over and over, giggles rising up in my throat as he pulls me into his lap and holds me.

"Happy New Year, my Prince. Here's to a whole new year for us together. "

"I love you, Daddy."

"I have an announcement to make," Remi says before Daddy can respond, catching all of our attention.

We watch him stand up and take Aussie's hand in his.

They share a smile and I can see Rachel lift her hand to her mouth.

Remi drops to one knee, holding a small box he pulled from his pocket.

"Austin, I love you so much. I'm so grateful for the time we've spent together, for you trusting me to help you through the rough times and celebrate the good times.

You are so brave and strong and an inspiration to me. Will you marry me?"

"Yes!" Austin doesn't give Remi the chance to stand up before he bends down and kisses him, nearly toppling both of them over. We all cheer and laugh, then cheer again.

"This is cause for another round of sparkling drinks!

" Luke says excitedly. He grabs the bottle from the side table and goes around filling everyone's cups. I watch as Remi slips the ring on Aussie’s finger, kissing him once more, then finally stands up.

We all gather around Aussie to look at the new bling on his hand, while the Daddies and Rachel congratulate Remi.

It's closer to one in the morning when we finally say our goodbyes and head home. I'm nearly asleep in the passenger seat when I feel Daddy's hand on my thigh, his fingers rubbing lightly over my jeans. I smile at the feeling, looking forward to a whole new year with him.