Page 36 of Two Daddies for Little Jenna

"Yes. I believe in you, Jenna. Only you can help him process Bradley's death. It's uncle Nick's happiness at stake here. No pressure, though."

It did feel like I was under pressure. Daddy's love had healed me because he knew what he was doing. I on the other hand didn't know the first thing about comforting someone. Nick turned to me to find happiness, but what he needed was probably something else. Now I knew how frustrated Daddy must've felt when he saw me lost deep in my thoughts, reliving the past over and over again.

"There you are!" Elijah said, crawling out the door and giving me a hug. "My Daddies were dressing me in this cute onesie. Don't I look cute with the Little bears on it? I need to look my best, after all. I won't be seeing my bears for the next six months."

Michael and I gave him a hug when he stuck his lower lip out in a pout. We crawled back inside and sat on the floor among the sea of toys. Our Daddies watched over us as we began making a tower out of blocks.

"Any idea when the bears will be here?" Michael asked when we were done with the tower, sucker-punching it and then giggling as it came falling down.

"Should be here any minute now," Elijah said, looking at the clock.

"Your Daddies must've prepped you on safety," Michael said, crossing his arms. "But they don't know the bears like I do. There's just one rule that you need to follow."

"What's that?" I scooted closer and the Daddies stopped their grown-up conversation to pay attention.

"Don't be scared. Bears have the sharpest sense of smell and can smell it on you. And definitely don't try to be brave. They'll take it as a challenge to their dominance. And don't be alarmed if it looks like they're trying to eat you. It'll take some getting used to before you learn their body language. Well, while we have everyone's attention, might as well do it now. Elijah, cue the music."

Music? What was going on?

Elijah fished his phone out of his onesie pocket and played a soft calming tune.

Clearing his throat, Michael stood up and handed the envelope I had made over to his Daddy.

"What's this, darling?" Uncle John asked, taking the letter out and unfolding it.

"Just read it, Daddy." Michael rocked back and forth on his heels. "I wanted to set the right tone before I asked you this. I hope this cabin in the woods and the calm music will put you in a positive state of mind."

He waited patiently as his Daddy read the letter, his expressions softening as he went through each line.

"Aw, darling." When uncle John motioned him to sit in his lap, Michael obliged and took the kiss on his forehead.

"Well, what does it say then?" I asked.

"Elijah's pet bear became a mama recently. Michael here wants to adopt the cub as a pet. He wrote all the ways he'll take care of it like a friend would."

"It's true!" Michael exclaimed as his Daddy raked his fingers through his hair. "I've taken such good care of Princess. If I can have the cub as a pet, I'll take her out on walks, I'll teach her tricks, I'll let her sleep in the nursery, and I'll potty train her. I'll even teach her to wear a diaper like me. She'll practically pay for herself when she becomes famous for being the world's first talking bear. I'll work hard on teaching her words. Promise!"

"It isn't possible, honey." Uncle John kissed the top of his head. "You've been trying to teach Princess to speak for the past few days, but you can't just make her watch videos and expect her to learn words and tricks on her own. Bears are smarter than dogs, yes. But there's only so much an animal can do. Besides, bears belong in the woods because they're wild animals. Just like you belong in the city. You wouldn't be happy if you were forced to survive in the woods, would you?"

Michael sighed as he looked at his knitted fingers in his lap. "I guess not."

"Once the bears are out of hibernation, we'll come visit them every weekend if Elijah's fine with it."

Elijah clapped his hands in joy. "Of course! You have no idea how lonely it gets down here with no one to play with. I would've gone insane if it weren't for my Daddies' company."

Suddenly there was a huff outdoors and sounds of munching on carrots.

"They're here. Quick, you know the drill." Daddy stood up and scooped me up in his arms before carrying me off to one of the bedrooms. Everyone else followed me in.

The front door flew open and in walked a human-sized bear. It sniffed and sniffed the air before sniffing the floor.

"It's so cute I'm gonna die if I don't hug it right this instant!" I extended my arms towards the bear but Nick shushed me.

"Remember the guidelines, Little girl," Nick scolded. "Your Daddy and I won't hesitate to take you over the knee if you don't follow them."

"Alright." I crossed my arms and shook my head with a frown. "No need to give me hope with idle threats. You guys never follow through."

They were no fun.