Page 13 of Daddy Bear Picnic

The grin on my face was fixed. “I’m just gonna grab a plate.”

“Sweetheart, not in front of others,” David snickered. “Save it for later.”

“Don’t mind me.” And I really hoped they wouldn’t keep glaring at me. Their eyes were like hot lamps, the type you put over a lizard or snake in a tank. After helping myself to scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, and some orange juice, I sat at the opposite end of the table, hoping I’d be far enough away from them.

And for a moment, I really thought they’d forgotten about me as they talked quieter to each other. I stared at my phone and the questions from my mom and dad in the group chat, both asking how the house was and updates. They were also potentially fishing for any antiques that had been left around, but from the tour around it, there really wasn’t anything of value left behind. They must’ve already sold it all off when they pillaged the place after gran was taken into hospice.

“Did you say you were planning on selling that house?” One of them asked, and for a second, I thought it had been a question my folks posed to me in messages.

“Huh? No. I’m hoping to make this place my base. But I’m sure there are plenty of houses you can buy.”

“No, darling, we have specific desires for a home,” David said. “We need central location, a garden, I’ve got a bit of a green thumb.”

“You should get that seen to,” Reynard cracked before laughing and slapping a hand on his knee.

It was intimidating, my nervous system forced a smile on my face. “Yeah. Well, I don’t plan on selling.”

“Even if—”

I shook my head.

Elijah’s large teddy bear figure appeared with a warmth. “What’s with the third degree?” he asked. “I remember you doing the same thing to Jean. You all but told her to move.”

They both gasped and swotted their hands at each other in the air. “Well, Jean,” they spoke over each other. “I—”

Attention diverted successfully. He really was the perfect Daddy bear, and I was little bear, leaving my little scent everywhere for him to catch. My toes curled up in the front of my sneakers as my mind went on a visual exploration of his body, now completely pushing away any words the couple were saying to each other.

6. ELIJAH

I knew David and Reynard were a tough crowd to be put in front of, they had the sort of stare that was akin to daggers, but once you got to know them, those daggers were felt lovingly, or they’d attached plastic nubs to the ends of them and stopped whatever pain they were about to cause from inflicting you.

After breakfast, it was time to run errands, and I’d promised the sweetness who arrived in town yesterday, Malcolm to come along with me. I wanted to be the one who introduced him around, and make sure some of man didn’t try. It had been a day, and here I was, claiming he was my little. But I was the one protecting him, so there might’ve been some truth in that.

“You smell good,” I said as he climbed into the passenger seat of the van. A cutting contrast to the old smell the van carried with it.

“It’s a vanilla cologne, well, it’s also citrus too, but I think it smells more vanilla.” He gestured with a hand out for me, wrist upturned. “Smell it.”

Placing my hand beneath his, I pulled it to my nose and inhaled. “Divine. So, how was breakfast?”

Wiggling in the seat as he pulled his hand away to find the seatbelt. “They remind me of guys from the city, like cutthroat, always looking for something to gossip about.”

“Well, I’m not going to make any promises, but the whole town likes to gossip.” Another reason way introduced him around was going to be a benefit. The more people knew of him, the less they could make their own ideas about him from whatever Gladys was saying. “You’ll be fine though. These people, and those people are pretty harmless. Anyway, with all of that being said. Once we’re done, I’ve already prepared a basket for our picnic later.”

“You have? I—”

“It’s in the fridge, we’ll come back and get it.”

I hadn’t asked what he wanted on this picnic, but I knew how to make a little happy, appealing to their childlike wonder when they regressed. I was looking forward to surprising him with what I’d done for him, and hoped it was a good surprise.

The tour around town was fun. Everyone we came across had so many questions for him, all of them asking about his plans for the house, and the same comments were reiterated about property values or a house warming party once work was complete. Credit to the town, we loved any reason to throw a party, it’s why we had so many fairs and events happen. One every two weeks according to my calculations.

I stood by Malcolm in a protective way, like a shadow, but with the option to provide hugs and warmth if required—and I wanted to give them both to him. I didn’t though. I knew the town would talk if they saw the proximity I wanted to be with him.

After the tour of the town, we came upon the town mayor who stopped Malcolm and for a moment, I thought something was wrong. We stood in the middle of the sidewalk as Oliver looked Malcolm up and down and then hummed, pressing the tip of his finger at his lip, tapping it. Oliver wore a short-sleeve light blue linen shirt and khakis. His blond hair swooped back with a slick pomade.

“Is that the one-of-a-kind Sublime Bear?” he asked.

Malcolm blinked big and wild, looking from me and back to Oliver. “Oh, my keyring.” He fished the keys from his pocket with the bear keyring. “Yeah, it’s a Sublime, it’s one of their pride collection ones. It has rainbows on the feet.” He showed off the small teddy bear. “It’s not one-of-a-kind, but it was limited edition.”

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