Page 21 of Hearing Little Hadley

“Did Nanny J read a book you liked?”

She shook her head and pointed to an elf decoration by the lobby.

“An elf read a book you liked?”

She nodded and smiled so big Finn’s heart caught in his chest.

“An elf came to your classroom? Wow, that must have been so cool!”

She nodded again.

“Did anything else fun happen?”

Coloring.

“You did some coloring?” he asked, even though he already knew the answer, since she’d given him her coloring sheet.

She nodded.

“You’re such a good colorer,” he said, as he led her into the Ranch Store.

She grabbed his arm and pointed at some adorable Christmas trees. They were artificial and painted bright green. Each one had a ridiculously huge red bow on the top. They were only about two and a half feet tall. He hadn’t noticed them when he came in before. Of course he’d had other things on his mind.

Please.

“You want one of those trees, Peeps?”

Yes.she tapped her card.

“Okay. I think that will be a great addition to our suite.” Finn grabbed one of the trees.

Hadley saw something else and rushed toward it, her excitement evident.

Finn chuckled and quickly caught up with her, laughing again at the Christmas pajamas she held.

“You want those, Peeps?”

She nodded, handed them to him, and then bent to look on the lower shelves.

“What are you looking for?”

She grinned when she found them and then held them out to Finn. It was a matching pair in his size.

“Oh, that’s so fun. We can match!”

She nodded.

She held up three fingers. He laughed. “No, none of this counts as your three picks, silly goose. I think our room already needed a tree and we definitely needed matching Christmas jammies. You can pick three things just for yourself, baby.” He loved how damn thoughtful she was.

She wandered the aisles silently. She clapped when she found some items for Blu Marble. She grabbed a Rawhide Ranch shirt for the doll and then added a cute little dress. She browsed the aisles until she discovered the diaper aisle. Her skin pinkened, but she continued looking. Smiling big, she pulled a pack from the shelf and held them behind her back.

Holding up three fingers, she shot him a nervous smile.

“You’ve picked your three goodies?”

She nodded.

“Alright, Peeps. Did you remember to pack your swimsuit?”

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