Page 26 of Daddy Bear Picnic

“It’s not a big thing, not like our pride parade or end of summer fair, these are just small community events,” he said. “And I expect there to be something on the calendar for when your house is finished. We love a reason to celebrate.”

He nodded as I gave him a shoulder pat and gentle massage. “He’ll figure something out,” I said. “So, which pieces did you need?”

11. MALCOLM

This town was surprising me at every turn. I’d expected to hide within it for a little while, but there were littles here and people who collected the same things as me, and someone who had my art. And then there was Elijah, my Daddy Bear, who was one of those inflatables you could fall right onto and be safe from any height.

This place was a comfort blanket, wrapping me in safety. And the more time I spent here, surrounded by it all, the more comfortable I became in existing. It had never been difficult, but I didn’t feel judged or even gossiped about maliciously. There were no art critics here, anyone who saw my work gushed in awe at it.

Another week had passed of working on the house, and it was the Pineberry peach tea and tartlet fair. They had a giant banner for it as well. It was a subdued peach color with a bright red and pink outlined font. It was held in the town square where everyone was given pink and peach colored confetti that just so happened to be flower seeds they could throw wherever they wanted.

It also helped that David and Reynard weren’t around to interrogate me about the house either. I couldn’t think of anything worse than inviting them to the house warming and them mistaking it for an open house and trying to buy it from me.

It felt like I’d met everyone in town, but that wasn’t the case as the fair proved when I was introduced to several new people. Elijah at my side made that a whole lot easier. And one more, I found more people who knew about Sublime teddies and who were part of the secret group chat that was filled with talk about teddies and stuffed animals.

At one of the stalls, a man in a Stetson. He had a goat with him and was flocked by small children as they asked to play with it. I was also on the side of wanting to play with the goat as I was sure it was making eye contact with me. And as I walked through the small town fair with Elijah, we went right to the cowboy looking guy.

“Elijah,” he said. “It’s been forever.”

“Hi Jace.”

He looked to me with a big smile. “I’m Jace,” he introduced himself and then gestured to the table of tartlets filled with different fruits. “My family own the ranch up the road. Rarely make it into town except for these things where I can get away for a little while and just exist.” He snort-laughed.

“Your dad still giving you hell up there?” Elijah asked.

“I’m Malcolm,” I said before we could get any further. “I just moved to town.”

He nodded and slightly tipped his hat with a finger pinched at the rim. “You’ll love it here, and with Elijah as your guide, you’re lucky,” he said. “Wait a minute, you—” he pulled out his phone from his pocket. While that happened, I stayed close to Elijah, nearly snuggled up against him in this warmth was making me sweat. “You’re in the group chat. I thought I saw your name somewhere.”

I glanced to Elijah who gave me a knowing nod. And now I needed to know if—

“Oh my god, me and him have never been a thing, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

We burst into laughter, following by the goat making a loud bleat and we laughed harder.

“I only thought it for a second,” I said.

Elijah placed an arm around my shoulder. “I only know about that side because of that time I was at the communitycenter when you were having your—” he gnawed on the end of his tongue, nodding in thought.

“Play date,” he said in a quieter tone. “It rarely happens much now, but we used to have weekly play dates in town. It’s easier to do that when the town mayor is one.”

This town had more surprises at every turn, and I was still just walking on straight, with Elijah help, of course.

“So, what have you made?” I asked. It wasn’t uncommon for littles to be in a creative field of baking or art. “They look delicious by the way.”

“Some are sweet, some are savory,” he said, directing his hand across the table. “They start sweet here and go savory here, which is made with all ingredients from the ranch. Goat’s cheese and honey.”

“You make your own honey?”

He laughed. “We have a couple hives that do the work, but yeah. We supply a lot of town with it, I’m sure Elijah will have served you some of it.”

Elijah nodded. “Absolutely. Local honey is a great way to get adjusted to the pollen too. Or so I’ve heard.”

“Where’s the ranch? How many goats? What else do you—” I stopped myself. “Sorry, I have so many questions. Is it like a farm.”

“Technically, sure. But it’s mostly chicken, goats, we have a couple cows, some horses, and llamas. And we’re open quite regularly for people to visit and pet the goats.” On cue the goat bleated in the face of one of the children as they ran off giggling.

“We should take a trip up there sometime, it’s not too far away,” Elijah said, keeping me close with his strong arm hugging in at my side. “Besides, your mom wanted another one of my bundt cakes if I remember right.”

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