Page 30 of Saving Little Jenna
"Yes, Daddy." Michael rubbed his bottom and smiled apologetically.
When our Daddies leaned us towards each other, we hugged.
"I missed you, bestie," Michael said and broke the hug. "It's been so long I wasn't sure you wanted to hang out with me anymore."
"What do you mean, darling?" uncle John said, stepping inside and following Daddy over to the couch. "You both had a playdate together just two days ago."
"Oh, has it only been two days?" Michael shrugged, still holding onto my hands and refusing to let go. "Well, it definitely feels longer. Besides, that's like forever ago in Little time. Text me sometimes, Jenna. I'd love to chat and see how your day's going. Sometimes Daddy takes my phone away when I misbehave, but I always reply when I get it back."
I still hadn't gotten used to using a smartphone. Growing up without access to phones, it always felt strange how everyone spent so much on their phones in films. The reality was far worse as it had turned out since people spent hours staring at their phones. I preferred meeting people personally instead, but I had to adapt if I wanted to be a part of society.
"Texting doesn't feel very personal, but I'll call you every day," I said and turned to Daddy, continuing to wiggle in his lap. "What's Michael doing here, Daddy? Is he here for a surprise playdate?"
"Well, it's still technicallyourplaydate, but they're here for a small part of it." Daddy nodded at uncle John and stood up. "I want our first playdate to be memorable, so I came up with a way to make it even more so. You'll see."
With me still in his arms, Daddy carried me upstairs and I held onto him tightly. Michael followed us in his Daddy's arms. I could get used to being carried around like this. I would forget how to walk at this rate but I loved it.
Michael seemed just as curious, so he didn't know what we were doing either. It wasn't a surprise considering Michael's own admission that he couldn't keep a secret.
When Daddy walked up to a room and pushed open the door, Michael and I oohed and aahed in unison. It was one of the biggest rooms in the house but it had been locked away like many of the other ones. But now it had been turned into a movie theater with a fancy projector fixed to the ceiling and a giant screen on the wall.
"I know you love films, so we can watch one whenever you like." He sat on the couch and sat me on his lap. "So surprise, I guess?"
"Whoa, I've never been to a movie theater before," I said and looked around at all the animated film posters on the walls.
My words caused Michael to widen his eyes and gape at me. Just as he was about to ask me why I hadn't been to the cinemas before, he closed his mouth and shivered. His daddy's thumb and finger were on his ass, ready to pinch him the moment he'd ask me something personal.
Honestly, I understood where Uncle John was coming from, but it wasn't really necessary. I hesitated to tell Daddy about my dark past, but I wouldn't think twice before telling it to Michael. Michael was a Little like me, which meant he wouldn't judge me. Daddy wouldn't judge me either, but there was a fear of him leaving me. After all, it meant his own life was possibly in danger. Would anyone even want to be with someone knowing their life would constantly be in danger?
"I hope we're watching an animated film," Michael said as his Daddy took a seat next to us and sat Michael in his lap. "I haven't seen one in a week, so it's been ages."
"We're watching a serious grown-up film, but I think you're gonna like it, Michael."
Handing us tubs of popcorn from the table next to us, our Daddies put binkies in our mouths. With the popcorn tub close to my chest, I shifted in daddy's lap until my head was comfortably resting against his chest. When he wrapped his arms around me, I knew it was the coziest theater seat in the whole world, one I wouldn't trade for millions.
When Daddy clapped his hands, the lights turned off and the movie started.
"Magic!" Michael exclaimed after popping the binky out of his mouth, beginning to stuff the caramel popcorn in his mouth.
It was unlike Daddy to make me watch a grown-up film on a Little playdate, but his intentions had become clear when the film's first scene played out on the screen. A woman who was about my age was being punished by her parents for coming home late. The punishment was way too strict for the crime committed.
I was so lost in the movie, I forgot to suck on my binky and it kept falling out of my mouth and into the popcorn tub. Daddy instantly kept putting it back in my mouth. Halfway through the movie when the protagonist decides to run away with her boyfriend to escape the cruel domestic abuse, my lower lip wobbled and tears began to form in my eyes. I blinked them away but it was getting harder by the minute to not burst into tears.
It was all too relatable. I had lived through everything the protagonist had, everything from being physically abused and running away to falling in love with a loving man. They were on the run for most of the film, escaping the father who comes after them but eventually getting rid of him to earn their freedom. In the end, they got their happily ever after, which gave me hope that eventually even I would get mine with Daddy.
When the film ended and the lights came back on, I turned to see Michael who was just as lost in the film, his mouth half open and still staring at the screen with a frown.
"Well, that was dark." He threw his hands up in the air and stood up, turning to me. "But all's well that ends well. Love truly conquers all, doesn't it? I'll have to play with Daddy for a while to get back into my Little headspace again. You coming, Jenna?"
"I'll be right there," I managed to say with a shaky voice. "Just need to finish my popcorn first."
Michael nodded and when uncle John stood up, Michael rested his head against his shoulder and they left the room. It was one of the rare times I saw him walking instead of crawling or being carried around by his Daddy.
The moment Michael left, I looked up at Daddy with the tub full of popcorn close to my chest. I realized how an infinite number of events had to have occurred exactly at the right time for us to have crossed paths. One different event and he wouldn't be in my life right now. The mere thought was enough to cause me to burst into tears.
"Aw, it's alright, sweetheart." He rubbed my back in small circles just the way I liked and wrapped his arms around me tightly, wiping my tears and laying soft kisses on my cheek. "I'm right here and I'm glad too, that you came into my life."
Was Daddy a mind reader? He knew exactly what I was thinking and why I was crying. It was why I loved good cinema so much. It had the ability to evoke same emotions in all its viewers.
