“Happy Birthday, Salem,” Brandon said. I hadn’t even seen him approach with James.
“Thanks!” I said.
While Garrett talked with James and Brandon, I found my eyes focusing on Brandon’s thin, black necklace—a collar, actually—with the engraved silver disc. Brandon stood so his back was against the store’s window display. His eyes moved around, looking at all of the people passing by. He was much more nervous about being out in public than I was. It was nice of him to come along.
“Thank you for coming, Brandon.” I smiled when he looked at me. Brandon returned the smile and turned to glance at the window display with me. It was interesting because when he’d turned, he also took a step toward James so the right side of his body was pressed against him. I assumed that was the only way he’d felt comfortable enough to have his back facing the general public.
“So, any idea what you’re going to make?” Brandon asked me.
“None,” I admitted and then looked at him. His eyes were darting around the display.
“There’s a unicorn with a letterman jacket and roller skates,” he mused.
“The unicorn is tempting,” I told him.
“Well, are we ready to make a bear?” Garrett asked.
“It might be a unicorn,” Brandon announced as he tapped his finger on the glass, pointing to the unicorn.
“Or unicorn. You can make whatever you’d like, baby girl,” Garrett said. He held his hand out for me to take, and we walked into the store with Brandon and James behind us.
There was so much for me to take in. I’d always wanted to make one of these bears, but now that I was here and had seen the unicorn, I wanted to make her. While I waited my turn to have the unicorn’s stuffing put in, I glanced over my shoulder and saw James talking to Brandon and pointing at the different teddy bears.Oh my god, was Brandon going to make a bear?A few seconds later, Brandon pulled a light brown teddy bear’s body out of the bin. He examined its face, and with James’s arm around his shoulders, they walked toward me.Why did I find this so cute?
“Find one?” Garrett asked Brandon.
“Yeah, I’m going to make one too,” Brandon replied and held his teddy bear up.
“You have to pick the heart,” I said to him and pointed to the container of fabric hearts. There were tons to pick from. I opened my hand so he could see that I’d picked the light purple heart for my unicorn.
“Oh,” Brandon said and sifted through the container, checking out all of his options. “Um, let’s see.”
Brandon was still picking out the heart by the time it was my turn to have the stuffing and heart put in my unicorn. When the lady at the stuffing station handed me my unicorn, Brandon appeared and showed me the bright blue heart that he’d picked.
“Nice,” I said and nodded at him.
“Blue is my favorite color,” he explained.
“Now you get the stuffing put in him. I’m going to go start looking at clothes for mine,” I explained to him.
Garrett and I wandered over to start looking at clothes and accessories. I had picked out a shirt with sequins on it for her and some glittery sandals. Brandon was still at the stuffing area. He’d have the lady put a little stuffing in and then he had to feel it to see if he wanted more or less.
“He’s really taking this seriously,” Garrett murmured.
“You can’t mess up a bear. This is an important process,” I told him.
“James said Brandon could use something to hang on to. So Brandon wants it to be just right,” Garrett quietly added.
Again, why did I find this so cute? I had the sandals and the glitter shirt already on my unicorn when Brandon and James headed toward us. Brandon was squeezing on the bear’s chest and stomach, and I heard him say, “This is just right.” With a smile plastered on his face, Brandon turned the bear around so I could see him.
“He looks soft,” I commented.
“He is! Feel him,” Brandon invited as he held the bear out to me. I poked its stomach and nodded. “Do you know what you’re going to name it?” I asked.
“Jimmy,” he replied with a smile. Brandon held the bear next to James’s face. “I think the resemblance is uncanny. So it’s Jimmy.”
James smiled and told him to go find a shirt or something for Jimmy. Garrett and James hung back a few feet while I showed Brandon where all of the clothes were.
“Oh, look! They have a track uniform!” Brandon exclaimed.
