Page 59 of Two Daddies for Little Jenna

"Wake up, Jenna," I heard as I felt a hand trying to shake me awake.

"Too early, Daddy," I said around the binky in my mouth, swatting the hand away. "Too early to get up. Just a little longer, please."

"Fine, we'll finish the ice cream without you," I heard the voice whispering in my ear.

"Ice-cream?" I was jolted awake as I sat up straight in the bed and looked around in the dark, realizing it was Michael who was trying to wake me up and Elijah was by his side nervously sucking on his paci.

Michael covered his mouth and giggled before whispering, "I should've known that would do the trick. Jeez, Jenna. We've been trying to wake you for ten minutes now. I thought you said you were a light sleeper. Elijah here suggested I use the toy drum to wake you up. You were supposed to pretend to sleep, remember?"

It all came back to me. Michael had instructed us to stay awake until there was no noise, indicating the grown-ups had gone to bed. But I was so tired from a day full of playing and eating, I had fallen asleep the moment I closed my eyes. There was just something cozy and safe about being surrounded by friends.

I nodded and looked at Kristen to my left who was still fast asleep. I crawled after Michael and Elijah, following them out the door.

"Are you alright, Elijah?" I asked. "You look quite nervous. You don't have to join us if this is too much for you. You'll still be a good friend either way."

He shivered slightly and popped the paci. "God, yes. I want to do this. I've never done something this naughty. It's so thrilling yet nerve-wracking at the same time. My Daddies have this image of me that I'm the best boy ever. They never spank me because I was scared to death of punishment, but I think I've outgrown my fears and I'm ready now. Sometimes it's nice to test how much your Daddies care about correcting your behavior."

Michael gaped at him blankly before crawling down the stairs with us close behind him. "The goal is not to get caught, Elijah. I've taken utmost care not to leave any clues to our crime this time. So you'll deny everything in the unlikely event that we become suspects. I feel like you haven't practiced your lines. I sent them to your phones just in case. We need to stick to the same story. As long as there's no evidence, no one can blame us."

He stopped in the kitchen to fetch a pair of scissors and gave us an evil laugh. "After getting away with everything she's done, Kristen shall finally get what she deserves for her crimes."

Michael always spoke too loudly when he thought he was whispering, so I shushed him now. I listened carefully to make sure no one had woken up to the sound of his evil laugh.

"Here." Michael offered me a pair of scissors. "You shall be the one who takes sweet revenge. But it isn't too late to turn back. While I was angered by how she treated my friend, it is ultimately you who decides if it's worth taking revenge."

A part of me wanted to cancel the plan. My Daddies' faces flashed before my eyes. They'd be disappointed, but Michael had assured us that we won't get caught, that he'd take all the blame like last time even if we did.

I shook my head and took the scissors. "She can't keep getting away with this. Last time she humiliated us, and this time she pranked me. Who knows what she'll do to poor Elijah next if we do nothing."

"Besides," Michael said as we crawled back upstairs to the nursery. "Kristen's hair is way too long to be fashionable. Look at it this way. We're just doing her a favor."

I sat by Kristen's head and she was sleeping on her side. With a deep breath, I cut her hair off shoulder length. The other side of her hair was between her head and the pillow. We hadn't taken such a possibility into account. There were already complications. We couldn't just leave her hair short on one side and long on the other. That would just be plain cruel.

"I'm done." I handed the scissors back to Michael. "She isn't going to turn over any time soon."

"Now my turn," Elijah said and giggled, pulling a hair trimmer out of his pocket and turning it on, the loud vibrating sound echoing in the nursery. "Let's turn her bald so she'll remember not to be mean to people."

"Elijah, that's crazy!" Michael snatched the trimmer out of his hand and turned it off. "Too dark for the plan. You've been a good boy for too long, so you don't know the right amount of naughty. We aren't looking to traumatize the girl. Where did you even find the trimmer?"

When Kristen stirred a little, we collectively froze.

"Don't. Breathe." Michael raised his hands in the air as if he was being held at gunpoint.

When Kristen began snoring again a few beats later, we finally relaxed.

"I'll hide the trimmer and be right back." Michael gave Elijah a stern look that his Daddy sometimes liked to give as a warning. "I swear to god, Elijah. I better not wake up to find the poor girl bald as a bat or else.”

Elijah looked at us apologetically. "Sorry, I guess I just got carried away. We should discuss the rules and limits next time we decide to be naughty."

Michael took a long time to crawl back to the nursery, so he must've hidden the trimmer really well. At least I could go to bed peacefully now, knowing Kristen would finally get to know the pain of having your hair ruined. Michael was such a genius for coming up with the plan. No amount of repentance on Kristen's part would've made me feel better, but this truly did.

We woke up the next morning pretending nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Such an uneventful night," Michael announced to his Daddy in the living room as he crawled up to him. "Jenna and Elijah were right by my side and we slept like babies. Nights can be so boring sometimes."

"Such an odd thing to say," Uncle John said with a frown, picking him up, giving him a peck on the lips, and carrying him on his hip. "Are you sure you didn't go against the rules and stay up all night talking and playing?"

Michael giggled and dramatically put the back of his hand on his forehead. "That was the old me. I'm the new and improved Michael. I've given up on the temptation of being naughty. I've dedicated my life to the sole purpose of being a role model to my peers on being good and behaving."