Page 94 of Their Forever Daddy

* * *

“Oh my god, I can’t believe that worked!” Giggling wildly, Jesse raced back down the driveway with Carly and Ginny hot on her heels.

“I know! I thought for sure someone would see us or hear us!” Cheeks pink from the exertion, Carly grinned. “But we should hurry, I don’t know how much longer Noelle and Taylor can keep them occupied.”

“Okay.” Sounding more like a drill sergeant than a Little, Ginny slowed down once they reached the barn. “You go get the alpaca while Carly and I start mixing colors. It’ll be easier if we can get her into her stall before we try to dye her, or else we’ll be chasing her all around the pen.”

“Good idea. She’s used to me, so it shouldn’t be hard to get her back into the barn.”

That, as it turned out, was a bit of a miscalculation on Jesse’s part. She wasn’t sure if the alpaca knew they were up to something, or if she was just feeling feisty, but it took her much longer than she’d anticipated to wrangle the animal into the barn while Luna watched on with mild interest.

“Here she is!” Jesse declared through gasping breaths as she nudged the alpaca toward the stall.

“Perfect! We’ve got red and yellow and orange ready to go. Carly’s working on blue and green now.”

From her spot on the barn floor, Carly held up one of the Styrofoam bowls they’d managed to snag for mixing the colors with a grin. “Blue is ready too!”

Taking the yellow from Ginny, Jesse scooped up a handful of dye and grinned. “Ready?”

“Ready!” Ginny said, holding up her own scoop of orange.

The alpaca watched them with what Jesse could only describe as wariness as they slathered the makeshift dye onto her fur. “Don’t worry, sweet girl. We’re going to make you beautiful so you can find your forever home.”

She was so caught up in covering every inch of fur in her ‘section’, she didn’t hear the sound of footsteps on the wood floor of the barn.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Edie’s furious voice made Jesse jump. And she wasn’t the only one startled. The alpaca took off running out of the stall door she and Ginny had left open. Carly’s scream pierced the air as she covered her head to avoid being trampled by the alpaca currently making a beeline for the group at the entrance to the barn.

“Whoa, girl.” Stepping in the alpaca’s path, Edie held up her hands, stopping the animal in its tracks. The alpaca danced in place, its head swinging from side to side as it searched for an exit. “Grant, there’s a harness to your right. Can you grab it for me, please?”

Daddy grabbed the leather harness and together they managed to get it over the animal’s head and down its neck.

“Carly!” His tone frantic, Matt rushed forward and dropped to his knees beside his babygirl, pulling her into his arms. “Baby, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

Jesse’s stomach twisted with guilt as Carly burst into tears and threw her arms around her Daddy’s neck. The guilty feelings were only amplified by the glare Matt sent her way. “What were you girls thinking? Someone could have gotten hurt!”

“I’m sorry.” Tears blurred in Jesse’s eyes, and she thought she might actually be sick from the knots in her stomach. “We didn’t mean for anything bad to happen!”

“Matt.” In direct contrast to the tense atmosphere and the chaos of what had just happened, Edie’s voice still had the soft and soothing tone she’d used with the alpaca, who was now fully harnessed and standing quietly beside Edie with yellow and orange dripping from her fur. “Why don’t you take Carly up to the house and get her cleaned up. We’ll all be up in a few minutes, as soon as we get things settled down here.”

“Sure. Come on, babygirl. Can you walk?”

“Yes, Daddy.” Sniffling loudly, Carly wiggled out of his arms and rose to her feet. “Don’t be mad at Jesse, it was my idea, too. We were all helping.”

A muscle jumped in Matt’s jaw, and Jesse had a feeling he wasn’t really in the mood to listen just then. “We can talk about it after we get you cleaned up.”

Matt led her out of the barn with Carly protesting the whole way she was fine, and he shouldn’t be mad at her friends. The rest of the group watched the pair leave, but once they were out of earshot, all eyes turned back to Jesse and Ginny, who had been caught literally red-handed. Or yellow and orange handed, as the case was.

“Princess…” Trailing off with a sigh, Rex placed his hands on his hips and shook his head. “What have you gotten yourself into now?”

“Believe it or not, we actually have a really good explanation.” Despite her confident words, Ginny’s voice trembled slightly, giving away her nervousness.

“I can’t wait to hear it,” Rex drawled, one eyebrow slowly lifting toward his hairline.

Jesse was kinda glad he wasn’t her Daddy. There was something about him that was just a little too… dangerous for her liking. But Ginny didn’t seem to have any problem going toe to toe with him as she tossed her long red hair over her shoulders and met his dark gaze.

“Well, Jesse told us Edie was having a hard time finding a new home for her alpaca friend. And we just thought maybe she needed a makeover. I mean, really, who could resist a rainbow alpaca? She’ll be adorable when we finish with her.”

---