Page 46 of Hearing Little Hadley

Hadley waved when Eloise walked by. Eloise stopped and tugged her Daddies’ hands. They looked over and smiled at Hadley before walking her way. One of the Daddies held out a gift bag and Eloise took it before giving it to Hadley.

“Hey, new friends,” one of her Daddies said.

“We heard you were so helpful to our little one her first day back in preschool. Thank you so much, we appreciate you taking time to help her heart,” her other Daddy said.

You’re welcome. Friend.

“Hadley says she was glad to help her friend feel better,” Finn translated, shaking their hands.

“We bought you a special present,” Eloise told Hadley.

Thank you.

“You can open it now if you want,” Eloise offered, making all the Daddies laugh.

Hadley set the bag on the floor and pulled out four books that all had the same blue truck on them.

“We got you the rest of the series so you can keep reading them even when you’re not here and my Daddy wrote their emails in the back so maybe we can video chat and read them one day.”

Hadley threw her arms around Eloise. That was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her.

Eloise giggled and hugged her back. “We hafta go back to the stables now, but I’ll see you at preschool before you go back to Georgia, right?”

Hadley looked at Finn who nodded. “Two more preschool days.”

“Okay, see you then.”

Hadley waved bye to the Little girl.

“Bye, Hadley. Bye, Hadley’s Daddy,” Eloise yelled, walking away.

“You’ve made so many friends since you’ve been here, Peeps. Friends who love you and are excited to see you.”

Hadley pulled his hand so he would bend down.

“Noelle broke a special part of me. After she said those things to me, I wished I’d died in the plane crash with my parents. I gave her the best of me, but it still wasn’t enough. I loved her so much that I settled for scraps of friendship. I hoped one day it would change, but she was always too focused on the next big thing. I don’t know that she ever really wanted to be myfriend, maybe she just hoped I’d bring publicity to her company, but I am grateful for the really hard truth she taught me about friendship. Real friends love the real me. The me that tiptoe-walks, and flaps. The me that is too emotional, too loud, too scared. The me that misunderstands concepts and needs to ask a billion follow-up questions. The me that gags at the sight of sprinkles. I am different and they don’t mind that. I realized that Noelle was the problem, not me. I think there are people who are glad I’m a part of their lives and that’s her fault she didn’t value me.”

Hadley was surprised when Finn lifted her up and squeezed her tight. “I’m so glad you’ve realized that, Peeps. We are so damn lucky to have you around. You brighten each and every day. You teach us how to be hopeful and to never give up. You remind us to be kind to everyone because we don’t understand their battle. Because of you, we remember to be inclusive. You are a wonderful person and a beautiful friend,” he said before kissing each of her cheeks.

He continued, “Noelle was a twatwaffle who didn’t even deserve to breathe the same air as you.”

Hadley giggled at Finn’s words but nodded. She didn’t think Santa would put her on the naughty list for agreeing that Noelle was a twatwaffle. Actually, Santa would probably agree.

Hadley held Finn’s hand tightly as she waited for her turn with Santa. She was so nervous, her tummy hurt.

“You’re doing so good, Peeps,” he assured her.

“Yeah. You’re being super brave,” Mindy praised from beside her.

Hadley turned and looked at her.

Thank you.

Hadley’s friend from preschool was standing with the couple while her Daddy, Leo, went and worked out something with Georgie, the person in charge of the Christmas party. Hadley liked Master Leo, he was so attentive to Mindy.

“What are you gonna ask Santa for?” Mindy asked.

Hadley flipped through her cards.

---