Page 35 of Two Daddies for Little Jenna

"Oh, yeah. Stay close by. We'll be protecting you with our bodies as shields if we sense aggression."

Elijah's pet bears were friendly according to Michael, but I understood their predicament. Bears were wild animals after all. From what I heard they weren't even pets really. They just came around to receive some food and petting every day, returning to their life in the woods for the better part of the day.

It was hard convincing them to let me visit Elijah in the woods. They were genuinely concerned about my safety. But when they talked to uncle John, he convinced them that Elijah had trained them well enough to not be threatened by strangers.

"Thank you for listening to me," I said. "I promise I'll listen to whatever you say. I've never touched a bear before and it's kind of on my bucket list ever since Michael mentioned how soft their fur is."

"Do you want to go through it once again, the checklist your Daddy and I made about safety around bears?"

When I shook my head, it was Daddy's turn to scoop me up in his arms. He carried me up to the porch and leaned over so I could ring the doorbell.

I was half expecting a bear to open the door, but instead, I found Michael sucking on a binky in his Daddy's arms.

"Yay, you're here!" He popped the binky and threw his arms around me as our Daddies stepped closer. "I haven't seen you in a while. I bet Uncle Nick's been keeping you busy with the club. Y'all work too much."

"Yeah, about that," I said as we all headed to the couch and took our seats. "You know how hard it is to work in a room full of Littles when I'm the one organizing the party."

"Ugh, it must be awfully hard," Michael said as he clicked his tongue. "Those other Littles like to rub it in, don't they? They're having fun and they want everyone to know it."

He was only making it harder for me to say what I wanted to say.

"Yeah, about that. I don't want you to take this the wrong way. You seem to be invited to all the Little birthday parties. Could you not just sit by my feet and look up at me with big pleading eyes during the parties? You know I can't join you no matter what. It makes me feel guilty that I can't join my best friend because I'm supposed to be managing the party."

"Ugh, my broken heart." Michael dramatically put a hand to the back of his forehead and then giggled. "Just kidding. No offense taken. You're my best friend too, bestie, which is why it's so hard to know you're right there but can't join me in all the fun games, playing and singing. But Elijah's birthday is coming up soon. I didn't need to convince him to let you both manage the party and join in on the fun. Just dress up as a Little so you won't have to ruin your clothes crawling around."

"Sounds great!" I clasped my hands together and rubbed them. "Can't wait. And about that thing you told me to bring?"

Michael shushed me and then whispered loudly. "Not here with the grown-ups around. They'll hear you."

"We can hear you, you know?" John said. "You better not get into trouble, Michael, not when the bears are around."

"Trouble?" Michael smiled sheepishly with a shrug. "I don't know what you're talking about. Jenna here is just gonna help me put out some honey-coated carrots outside. Bears can smell food from miles away and Elijah's trained them to come home when they smell honey-coated carrots."

We both climbed out of our Daddies' laps and crawled into the kitchen. Taking a pot each, we crawled outside and placed the wide earthen pots on the porch.

"The coast is clear," Michael said, checking behind us.

I handed him the envelope made out of craft paper I had spent an hour making and decorating. I had no idea what it was for, but it sounded pretty important.

"God, I could never make something so pretty," he said, pulling out a folded letter and placing it in the envelope. "Thanks a lot, Jenna."

"Wait, aren't you gonna tell me what's it for?"

"You'll find out in a minute. Looks like things are going well between you and Nick. Have you asked him to be your Daddy yet?"

"Soon," I said. "It feels like we're in a very similar situation. We both went through tragedy and hoped love would heal us. Daddy's love brought me a long way, but I feel a bit of pressure that my love is supposed to heal Nick."

"Heal Nick?" Michael blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh?" I jerked my head back in surprise. "I mean Nick dealing with his best friend, Bradley's death. Nick's known you all his life, so I assumed you knew how badly Bradley's death has affected him."

"Right." Michael crossed his arms and nodded wisely. "Uncle Nick told everyone he didn't want to talk about it. Daddy and I knew he was hurting, but he didn't let anyone help him. He pretended everything was fine but we knew. It's good to confirm it with you, though. Well, Daddy says wars are terrible and I agree. It brings terror and disregards human life. If only we could all learn to love one another instead of wanting to kill. It doesn't always work, which is why the importance of love, humanity, and kindness should be taught early on in schools. You know, a world of Littles would be one without war. It's the grown-ups that make things complicated."

"Bradley…died in a war?" I said, shaking my head. "I didn't know that. I thought it was rude to ask how he died, so I didn't."

Michael clapped a hand onto his mouth. "Great! There goes another secret. I thought you knew. I can't keep a secret for the life of me."

"I won't tell. But it must feel horrible to lose a best friend in war. One among countless unnecessary deaths."