Page 15 of A Little Christmas Wish

“No, Daddy!” She grasped hold of Stella, pulling her away from Ink and holding her tight. “It’s not Stella’s fault.”

“Well, then . . . time for Betsy to go into the corner.” He held out his hand and led her into the corner. “Now, you need to think about what Naughty Betsy did wrong, understand?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

“Five minutes.” He walked away and she sighed as she stood there, trying to think about what she’d . . . uh, she meant, Naughty Betsy had done wrong.

Perhaps rolling her eyes at Daddy hadn’t been the smartest thing.

Yeah, Naughty Betsy shouldn’t have done that.

“Okay, baby. Come here.”

Turning, she saw him sitting on her bed once more and flew toward him. He caught her, drawing her onto his lap.

“I’m sorry, Daddy. I mean, Naughty Betsy is really sorry.”

“Naughty Betsy is forgiven,” he replied, kissing her cheek. “Now, time for that nap.”

He tucked her in and Stella in. Then he found Floppy under the bed.

“Here is Floppy,” he said, handing her toy elephant to her.

She hugged them tight, kissing Stella and Floppy. “I think they miss me.”

“They can still sleep with us at night, Button,” he told her. “They don’t have to stay in here.”

“But what about Zippy? What if she needs me in the middle of the night?” Betsy asked.

“Well, so far she seems to sleep like a log from when she goes down until when she gets up. And second, do you think she’s going to think less of you if you do sleep with a couple of toys?”

“I . . . I don’t know.” But it was something she worried about. And what if she said something to her caseworker?

Would they take Zippy away?

“Stop worrying. Sleep with your toys. Lots of adults do. It will be fine.”

Sighing, she nodded. She did miss having Stella and Floppy with her at night. And she worried about them being lonely down here on their own.

“Go to sleep. Daddy will take care of everything. I promise.”

Snuggling down, she nodded and held on tight to her toys.

Everything would be okay. Better than okay.

Because she had Ink, her boys, and now Zippy.

What could possibly go wrong?

5

“Hey, Zippy, how was school?” Betsy asked that Friday after Zippy had climbed into her car and buckled in.

Zippy shrugged. “It was okay, I guess. But kids can be kind of dumb.”

“Um, they can?” she asked cautiously.

Did Zippy remember that she was a child?

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