Page 5 of Trick or Treat

Trick took the doll from her in one hand and a tight looking dress in the other. “Sure, baby doll.” Having done this a million times, he pulled the way too short dress up the doll’s legs, slipped the arms through the holes and up over her shoulders. Then he pinned her face down on the table and had to pull the material tight and hold it with one hand, while he tried to velcro it with the other so it would stay on. He tried to smooth the skirt down, but it barely fit over the doll’s ass. Not for the first time, he wondered what the hell the manufacturer was thinking making a doll built like that with clothes that barely fit her. He handed it back to his daughter and watched her take off again.

“That was funny.” Calliope laughed.

“What?” Trick frowned.

“Watching a big bad biker dress a little Barbie doll,” she teased.

“I know. The first few times I ripped the dresses and had to buy her new ones. While I was looking through them at the store I swear all I saw were dresses that barely covered the doll’s ass. They might package them as doctors or veterinarians or whatever but they still all look like sweet butts.”

Jackson choked on his beer. “Damn. That was funny.”

“Dad-dy!” Reagan yelled down the hall again. She rounded the corner wanting him to dress another doll.

“Why don’t you let Uncle Jackson do it this time?”

Jackson took the doll. He mimicked Trick’s movement from watching him dress the other doll, only it took him a lot longer. He dropped the doll twice before he finally got it on her. His huge smile fell when Reagan said, “You put it on backwards, Uncle Jackson.”

“What?” Jackson looked to Trick.

“Yeah, it’s backwards. Turn it around,” Trick encouraged with a tip of his head.

Jackson turned the doll around and sure enough, the deep scoop meant to be in back was now in front, her boobs exposed for the world to see. “Son of a—”

He was cut off when Calliope shouted, “Uhn, uhn, uhn. Watch your language.” Calliope snatched it out of Jackson’s hand and fixed the dress for Reagan. “Here you go, sweetie.” She patted her on the head and laughed as Reagan raced down the hall again, heading back outside.

Hopefully, she was done changing outfits for a while. Some nights, he lost count of how many times he changed her dolls’ clothes.

“When does school start?” Calliope asked as she began setting the table.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s on the supply list.” He pulled out the list to check and see. “Fuck me.”

“What?” Jackson asked.

“It starts Monday.”

Michelle had fucked him again. Nothing like short notice. At least he knew when school started and he would be the one dropping Keegan off his first day. The last thing the poor kid needed was being dropped off and walked to the door by a mom nursing a hangover.

Trick kissedhis son on top of his head. “Night, Keegan. Love you.”

“Love you, too, Dad.” Keegan scooted farther down under the covers before he asked, “Are we still spending the night with Uncle Owen tomorrow night?”

“Yeah, bud. You guys are still spending the night with Uncle Owen. Aunt Bridgette has been begging me to let you both come visit for a night. They all miss seeing you. It’s been a while.”

Keegan’s smile lit up his face right before he yawned. “I can’t wait to play with Aiden and Neil.”

“Yeah, she said they were looking forward to having you over, too.” He tussled his hair and moved to kiss his little princess goodnight. Thanks to his bitch ex-wife, his kids had to share a room whenever they visited with him. The house was half the size they lived in with their mom. He’d given them the bigger of the two rooms so both the twin beds would fit. Thankfully, they didn’t seem to mind sharing a room. They were just happy to be with their old man.

“Night baby girl. Love you.” He kissed her soft black curls.

“Love you, too, Daddy,” she replied in her sleepy little voice.

He turned off the lamp that sat on a nightstand between their two beds before he left to go. As was his habit, he left the bedroom door cracked enough that he could hear them if either one of them called for him during the night.

He used the one and only bathroom in the house, went and found a bottle of beer in the fridge, then plopped on the semi-comfortable couch to search for something on TV. He took a deep swig, set the bottle on the end table next to him and let his head fall back on the couch. The things he’d found out today from Keegan had him mentally exhausted. Trying to figure out the next dumb ass thing Michelle was going to do was like trying to catch a fish with your bare hands.

The thought that she left their two kids home alone with no way to get a hold of him infuriated him. Keegan was only eight years old and Reagan, fuck, his girl was only four What if the house had caught on fire? What if someone broke in? What if someone had broken in and taken his kids? Done something to them? He had to shut that way of thinking down fast or he might run his fist through the wall.

Things between him and Michelle had never been perfect, but they’d had a few good years. They may have started out under less than ideal conditions, but he really had loved her at one time.

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