In fact, I had, and would again in the coming year. But that wasn’t something to be auctioned off or given away. They were for the young people who were about to face a world that in many cases had not been too kind or helpful to them so far. Although I’d managed to avoid the club during its highly decorated winter holiday time the previous year, I let Bridger talk me into going. Had it been at any other time of the year, there would have been no question. I’d just have to pretend I didn’t see the boughs of holly, stay long enough to participateand donate, and then head home to self-soothe with brandy by the undecorated hearth in the apartment.
But when I walked into Chained, I knew instantly that there would be no chance of avoiding the holiday spirit. It pervaded every inch of the place. Boughs of greenery banked the walls and hung over every doorway. Big red bows and jingle bells were everywhere, and there were enough Christmas trees, all decorated in location-appropriate ways, to fill a small forest. Ms. Lily, who was in charge of the little room as well as charity events and many other things was responsible. I’d been a member long enough to know that for sure. Why I thought I’d be able to ignore the decor, I’d never know.
“You came!” Ms. Lily, wearing a stunning red pantsuit, darted over to kiss me on the cheek. “Thank you so much. I didn’t want to pressure you, but you are so good at helping to get the donations up.”
“I’ll do my best, but…”
“I’m just glad you’re here. After the auction, we have something special going on in the little room. I hope you’ll join us. They will all be glad to see you.” Although I’d had a partner, we had often played with other littles while in the room. They were hard to resist in their short-shorts or onesies, and Bron had loved playing group games or doing crafts with friends.
“We’ll see. I don’t plan to stay long. Have you seen Bridger and Hudson around?”
“In the conversation area. I must be off. The auction begins soon.” And she was gone. It occurred to me that I couldn’t ever remember seeing her sit down, although I had heard the littles say she told a silly scary story at the Halloween party, so perhaps she did that from the big chair in the story area.
My friends were just where she said, seated on a sofa in the conversation area just off the main floor. From that spot, most of the stations were visible, and many people liked to have acocktail or an app or both and watch the activity. Since I was a daddy, as was Bridger and most of the group we socialized with, our area of interest lay elsewhere, tucked away off a back hallway in the little room.
“Okay, you got me here,” I said, shaking Bridger’s hand and offering a wave to a few other daddies. “For an hour.”
“It’s good to see you.” He waved to the tray of big and little appetizers they’d ordered for the table. “Have a drink and we can chat until the auction starts. We were just talking about favorite things.” This might have seemed odd to someone else, but with littles present, it was just the sort of topic that might come up. “Hudson was saying his favorite color is…”
“Purple this week, Daddy,” he said. “Usually it’s yellow like duckies, but right now I like grape Popsicles.”
Logical.
“What’s yours, Daddy Vaughn?” he asked, resting an elbow on Bridger’s knee.
“I haven’t thought much about that. Maybe blue.”
“Blue is a nice color,” piped up Austin who was pushing a fire truck around on the floor at his daddy Clark’s feet. “But I like red.”
“That’s a good color,” I said. “Just like your truck and your firefighter’s hat.”
Austin’s head bobbed.
“That was fun,” Clark put in. “Let’s try something else. What’s everyone’s favorite lunch?”
We went around the group, daddies and littles each sharing what they liked best for the meal. Everything from mac and cheese to chickie nuggies to sushi to Korean barbecue came up. Finally, they came to me, and I considered. “That’s kind of a hard question because it depends what I’m in the mood for,” I mused. “But if I can only pick one, it’s the burger plate fromChris’s Smokehouse. You know, the one that comes with salad and garlic parmesan fries?”
“You’re making me hungry, all of you,” Bridger said, picking up a tortilla chip and dipping it in salsa. “We’ll have to go there for lunch after the holidays, Vaughn.”
“It’s a date.”
We went around a few more times, the littles giggling and making up some outlandish favorites before Clark said, “Oh, look they are about to start the auction.” I hadn’t even had a chance to see what items were going to come up, but I resolved to sit and relax and bid on whatever looked interesting. I picked up a few gift cards and then, without thinking, bid on a small sailboat, which I fortunately did not get. My sailing skills were not worthy of owning my own boat for sure. The last item that came up was a cruise for two to several Caribbean islands and since I had already been in a boatish mood, I bid high and won. I wasn’t sure who I would take with me or if I’d just give it to my parents, but the money was for sweet charity. It would go a long way to help some young people get a real start.
After that, Bridger and Hudson and most of the others in our group were headed for the little room, and I went along mostly because it had been a while, and I wanted to just be in there and feel the atmosphere for a little while before going home.
If the decorations had been elaborate throughout the club, in the little room, Christmas threw up. Not a square foot wasn’t decorated in some way with candy canes, polar bears, reindeer…all the most beloved icons of the holiday season. It was filled with daddies, mommies, and littles, most of whom had been there for a while, just judging by the amount of glitter on everything. Ms. Lily limited the number of times a month the sparkly stuff was even allowed to be used, but this was apparently one of them. Which meant the craft area was packed with giggling littles working on sparkly Christmas ornaments.Glitter and glue. An unbeatable combination. Hudson, Austin, and some of the other littles elbowed their way in to get a spot at the table and went right to work.
“I’m going to be shampooing glitter out of his hair for a week,” groaned Clark.
“But look how happy they are,” Bridger murmured. “It’s worth it…mostly.”
My heart squeezed. Once, I’d been a complainer about the same thing, but now, I’d give anything to have Bron back, even if he was covered with glitter head to toe. I caught the other daddies gave me that look that said they felt bad about reminding me of my loss.
“I’m fine,” I asserted, hating being pitied. “Or as fine as I can manage. I think I’m going to head for home, though.”
“So soon?” Bridger patted my arm. “You don’t want to watch them play?”
“No. I mean, I do but I don’t, if that makes sense? But I am glad you talked me into coming. After the holiday season, I’ll come more often. Try to get back to a more active social life and…and everything. It’s healthier.”
