Page 39 of Saving Little Jenna
We started playing with the toys, taking turns fighting each other's figurines. His were all wolves while mine were a combination of carnivores. Soon we switched over to coloring while we sucked on our binkies, occasionally taking them out to comment on our drawings and chat about our Daddies.
Just when we had finished cleaning up after ourselves, Kristen entered the nursery with a bottle in each hand.
"Who's ready for some warm milk?" She sat down on the floor before us. "I thought I should offer you something in addition to my apology."
"Whoa!" Michael eagerly took the bottle she handed and hugged it to feel its warmth against his chest. "There's nothing like having warm milk out of a bottle on a chilly evening. Thank you, Kristen."
I thanked her when she handed me my bottle. "Ah, yes. Warm milk comes next only to daddy's warm hugs."
"Hey, Jenna! Look what I can do!" Michael lay flat on the floor on his back and placed the bottle between his feet, grabbing onto it expertly as he moved his feet towards his mouth.
Michael was flexible, which wasn't a surprise considering he had a dancing pole installed at his home. Soon he put the bottle in his mouth while holding onto it with his feet. I cheered and clapped while he smiled looking at me from the corner of his eyes. When he simultaneously held it with his hands and began sucking on it, I put my bottle in my mouth and did the same.
A few gulps in, Michael rolled over and spat his milk onto the floor, wincing and shaking his head. Just as I was about to reach over to see if he was okay, I suddenly realized something was off with my milk and joined Michael in spitting it out, a small puddle of warm milk now sitting before us.
"There's more salt than milk in this." Michael's lower lip trembled and he looked like he would burst into tears any moment. "Why would you do this to us, Kristen? Drinking warm milk out of a bottle was my favorite thing to do each day, and now you've forever ruined it by giving me such a traumatic memory."
Kristen pursed her lips that turned into an evil laugh, soon throwing her head back and bursting out in hysterical laughter. "It was just a prank. Don't be such ababyabout it. Oh, wait. You both are babies, after all, dressed in silly overalls and diapered up. What, are you gonna cry about it like babies?"
My jaw dropped as I slowly realized that Michael had been right all along. She was a bully who gained pleasure by being mean to others. She probably only wanted to babysit us so she can satiate her sick needs. That or it was all part of being in the Middle headspace, which wasn't a good enough reason to be mean as Michael said.
"God, it was so hard complimenting your matching overalls." She crossed her arms and scoffed. "The truth is you both are weirdos for drinking out of a bottle, wearing diapers, sucking on pacifiers, and crawling all the time. You think I'm mean, but it's only for your own good. Years from now when you realize how silly all of this is, you'll come and thank me."
She shifted her gaze between our shocked faces, a satisfied smile still on her face from being a bully. When she didn't get a reply from us, she just scoffed again and left the nursery, heading back downstairs.
Michael rubbed his tear-filled eyes, embarrassed to be seen crying. I instantly knew that he needed his Daddy right now. I could give him the next best thing, a friend, so I crawled over to him and threw my arms around him.
"I'm sorry I didn't trust you, Michael." I rocked us side to side and patted his back. "I shouldn't have trusted a stranger over you. She was mean, but you can't let her win by letting it get to your head. I used to think something's wrong with me, but Daddy came into my life and taught me that I'm perfect the way I am. Now I know the truth and nothing can change my mind. I'm sure your Daddy has taught you the same, so please know that nothing's wrong with you."
While I was acting calm, I was furious at Kristen for hurting my only friend that way. I had endured much harsher forms of hate and bullying, so Kristen's actions did nothing to hurt me. However, it hurt to see a friend being hurt. Friendship was such a beautiful thing for invoking such strong feelings of concern. I was glad I got to experience it after longing for it all my life.
When Michael broke the hug, he rubbed his red eyes and frowned. I had never seen him anywhere close to angry before, but he was now.
"I would have eventually moved on if she had only hurt me, but I can't bear to see a friend hurt," he said. "She can't keep getting away with this."
"She doesn't have to," I said. "You come up with naughty plans all the time, so why don't we get some sweet old revenge? I know I've said no to all of your naughty plans before, but it's time we make an exception just this once. After all, someone needs to teach her manners if her Daddy won't."
Michael eagerly nodded in agreement. "You're right. She got away with it the last time, but this time she won't because she hurt my friend too."
I wanted to tell him I was only hurt because she belittled him, but it didn't matter anymore. She was getting served tonight. I had to ensure Michael wouldn't get into trouble for this, so I was ready to take full responsibility if we happened to get caught.
He rubbed his hands together and laughed like a mad scientist. "She hurt us where it hurt the most, so we do the same to her."
"What does that mean?" I asked.
He crawled over to the walk-in closet and I followed. Once inside, I realized it was much bigger than I had expected. There were onesies, diapers, pull-ups, and all sorts of Little clothes. But on the other side were several realistic animal costumes.
Crawling over to the realistic gorilla costume, he stood up and grabbed it. "Don't they look so real? My friend, Elijah, gifted them to me. He has two Daddies who love him to death. I think he gifts me a lot because he misses hanging out with me. He lives in the woods six months of the year and the city for the rest of it. He has these huge pet bears he considers family, which is why he lives in the woods half of the year, to play with them when they’re not hibernating. You'll meet him when he's back living in the city soon. We'll all have playdates together and it's going to be epic."
He was lost deep in thought for a moment, shaking his head to bring him back to the present before he continued. "Anyway, I digress. Kristen is scared to death of gorillas, which I know makes no sense. Everyone knows gorillas are cute and cuddly. God, I wish I could cuddle one, but Daddy says all wild animals are dangerous. I know, right? Anything to keep me away from nature. They look scary to some, but they only want to be your friend. I digress again. So when Kirsten was a child, a baby gorilla charged at her. She screamed and cried, inconsolable for hours. It must've been trying to say hello or play, but Kristen is convinced to this day that it tried to attack her. Now just imagine how scared she'd be if she saw an adult gorilla charging at her."
I put a hand over my mouth in shock. "That sounds too much. Normally I would've said no, but she deserves it. She can't just go around being mean to everyone without facing any consequences."
He nodded. "Besides, not even grown-ups would be able to tell the difference between a costume and a real gorilla, so there's no way we'll get caught. When our Daddies find out, we just tell them it must've been a runaway from a nearby zoo."
"Are there zoos nearby?" My eyes widened in excitement. "I've never been to one."
He shrugged. "There must be. Why else would I hear birds chirping every morning? I go out to see if they're in the nearby trees, but I can never find one."
