Page 84 of Two Daddies for Little Jenna

"What do you think?" Michael asked as we stepped in.

"So chic yet simple," Elijah said, walking up to a painting with his hands behind his back. "It belongs in an art museum, really. Well, you know how it is. An artist is valued only in death."

"I meant the room!" Michael giggled as he took his Daddy's hand and ran up to the last row of seats. "I asked just to distract you. I wouldn't give up my favorite seat for anyone."

Few of the couches were big enough for three, and it put a smile on my face as I sat between my Daddies. Michael intended to invite us over often like he once said.

Uncle John clapped his hands to turn the lights off. When Michael turned the projector on with the remote and Pixar logo flashed across the screen, the Littles oohed and aahed.

"Such vibrant colors," I said to Michael who sat in his Daddy's lap on the next couch. "Could you turn the volume down a bit? Loud sounds tend to scare me."

"Of course," Michael said, pointing the remote at the screen and pressing the button, and then pouting at uncle John when it didn't work. "Looks like it needs new batteries. Daddy. Where can I find them?"

"On the table in the basement," uncle John said as he gave him a quick peck on the cheeks, his eyes glued to the screen.

"I'll run along and fetch them," Michael said, jumping out of his Daddy's lap.

"Stay. I'll fetch them," I said.

My Daddies whipped their heads around and looked at me in surprise.

"Are you sure, darling?" Nick asked. "You were pretty scared the last time you stepped in the basement with me. You know what, I'll tag along."

"No, Daddy." I shook my head. "You need to see that your love is magical. I'm scared of basements, but I'm brave enough to work on my unreasonable fear. All because you trust me to get better."

"Such a brave Little girl." Clark kissed the top of my head as Michael climbed back into his Daddy's lap. "Holler if you get scared, though."

Nodding, I stood up, and just as I was about to run out the door, Nick grabbed onto my hand.

"Aren't you forgetting something, sweet bunny?" He tapped his lips with a finger.

I leaned over to give him a quick peck on the cheeks and then did the same with Daddy Clark.

"No running," Daddy Clark scolded when he saw me run towards the door. "You'll trip over and hurt your knee again."

"Sorry," I said with a giggle, walking out the door slowly.

I wanted to run down the stairs once I closed the door behind me because I didn't want to miss the film's beginning. But I knew I'd end up getting scolded. My Daddies somehow always knew when I didn't obey them. They were clever that way, but it was for my own good.

I skipped down the stairs, taking two of them at a time. When I reached the basement door, I stood before it and shivered. Basements were so dark and gloomy. The mere thought of stepping in was still traumatic, but my Daddies always called me their brave Little girl. It was time I start showing some of that braveness I was supposed to have. I wanted to make them proud.

As I opened the door and it creaked, I took a deep breath and sighed. I pictured my Daddies' proud faces when I'd tell them later on how brave I'd been. Basements were so creepy, they should be banned from existing in the first place. Why would anyone want to have a creepy room in the house they're supposed to feel safe in.

"Brave. Brave," I chanted, taking one step at a time as I held onto the railings just in case a ghost tried to push me down the stairs like in those horror films.

Daddies said ghosts weren't real, but I'd seen one staring at me through the window back in the cult. It was a dark figure the size of a mountainous man. Daddy Nick said it might have been a stalker creep watching me sleep, but I hadn't gotten close enough to see if it had a face.

I shook my head to clear it. Now was not the time to think of ghosts and scary stories. The sooner I got this over with, the sooner I could return to the safety of my Daddies' laps. Instead of turning the lights on and risking finding a ghost staring at me, I ran up to the table on the other side of the dark basement and picked up a pair of batteries lying around.

Just as I turned to run back to the stairs, I felt a hand grab me by the wrist. Blood froze in my veins when I turned to see the mountainous ghost of a figure in the darkness. When he took a step forward, his mask shined briefly and I realized it was no ghost. The masked man had come for me, and seeing his mountainous size up close, I now knew he was the same man who'd sometimes come to watch me through the window back in the cult.

"Daddies!" I shrieked at the top of my voice as the batteries in my hand fell onto the floor.

I tried pulling my hand away, but he was far too strong. I kneed him in the crotch as hard as I could, startling him long enough to free my hand. Grabbing the old rusted frying pan from the table, I swung it around until it smashed against his head. He made a pathetic little sound as he crashed onto the floor from impact.

I turned to run away and call for help, but it looked like I had knocked him unconscious. Turning back to him, I kneeled and moved my hands towards his mask as my hands shivered. I just had to know who had enough reason to come after me when I'd been trying so hard to forget all about my past life in the cult.

I almost jumped when I heard the sound of collective laughter from upstairs. Everyone was lost in the film and they needed to know my life was in danger. I pulled my hands away from the man, knowing my Daddies would want me to get to safety as a priority. I could unmask the mad man all I wanted once I'd fetched them.