Ours wasn’t the only game going on, and several times over the course of the night I’d seen pets drift from one to another, always welcomed with open arms and encouraged to join in. There were at least ten different kinds of pets in the room, with kitties and pups dominating in number, though we were hardly the only types of pets with multiples. There were two foxes, bothredheads who looked like twins, and three koalas wandering around, occasionally pausing to cling to something while they stared around the room. Daddy had made more than a few of their costumes, which filled me with a sense of pride at having such a wonderful, talented Daddy who’d been able to bring so much happiness to the community.
He was seated back at the table with the shy kitty’s Daddy and waved to me the moment I turned to look in his direction. I waved back and Murry did too, holding up his basket and all the eggs we’d found. Daddy gave him two thumbs up and blew kisses to us, so we let go of each other’s hands to catch them and press them to our lips before blowing kisses back at him.
It was only after I’d done it that it dawned on me that I’d never let myself be silly enough with anyone but Murry to do that before. In my sleek kitty suit, all those rough edges I’d been thinking about earlier had morphed into soft curves that had nothing to do with the gear. It was all me and how free I felt to just be playful and do whatever felt right, knowing that Murry and Daddy loved all the pieces of me but loved it best when I just got to be myself.
If that wasn’t the universe’s way of proving to me that I mattered and had finally found everything I’d ever wished for, well, then I don’t what else it could be.
15
MURRY
“Guess what just arrived!”
Daddy’s voice sounded excited as he stepped off the lift, dragging a cart loaded with boxes behind him.
“Lunch?” I asked, peering at the boxes, hoping to see bags among them with the logo of our favorite seafood restaurant.
It had been my turn to choose, and I’d ordered a feast that Daddy had refused to let me pay for, since he believed food was a daddy’s job to provide. Even after I’d turned my phone to show him just how much delicious seafood goodness was contained in the order, he’d still refused to allow me to enter my debit card number.
Only there was no sign of the bags, just six big boxes carefully stacked on the cart and one significantly smaller one perched on the center of the pile.
“Not yet, but Aspen is keeping an eye out for it and promises to buzz me as soon as it arrives,” Daddy said.
“I set the table,” Raleigh announced. “But I didn’t put ice in the glasses yet. I didn’t want it to start melting and water down our pop.”
“Good plan. Watered-down pop is never fun to drink, and I’m looking forward to trying this tangerine soda you’ve been telling me about.”
“It’s so good,” Raleigh insisted.
“And I’m so thirsty,” I whined, pouting as my stomach grumbled.
“I promise it will be here soon,” Daddy said. “And in the meantime, we can see how the new prototypes for the swim gear turned out, because that’s what’s in all these boxes.”
I tried to feel excited, but my stomach rumbled again, and it hurt this time, which made smiling difficult as I followed Daddy through the loft to the worktables where we always placed deliveries for unboxing.
Raleigh hurried to the storage closet, bringing out a rack with empty garment bags dangling from it. There were a lot of them, and I truly hoped that our food would get here before we filled too many bags, or I’d be working hangry and have to be mindful not to accidentally snap at anyone.
“Murry, can you grab the tote with the aqua lid?” Daddy asked. “We can arrange the goggles, caps, and swim fins in there so it will be easier to load them in the van when we head down to the beach to test everything.”
“Wait, we’re going to the beach?” I asked, the discomfort of my rumbly stomach easing up as I started getting excited.
“That’s the only way for us to test everything properly,” Daddy explained.
“When do we get to go?” I blurted.
I still hadn’t taken two steps towards the closet to get the tote, but I would, just as soon as Daddy answered the question.
“The weather report I saw this morning claimed that tomorrow’s high would be 87,” Daddy replied. “That sounds like perfect beach weather to me.”
“Do we get to stay there all day?” Raleigh asked, placing the totes with the aqua lid on the table and setting the lid aside.
“With so many things to test, I don’t see how we’d be able to get through it all if we didn’t head down early and stay until the sun went down,” Daddy replied.
My stomach grumbled again, and this time Daddy heard it, because he turned to look at me and raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you snag a banana out of the fruit bowl? It won’t spoil your appetite for supper.”
“I kind of ate the last banana,” Raleigh admitted. “And killed off the pineapple chunks in the fridge.”
“Shit, and we killed off the kiwis, strawberries, and blackberries this morning, didn’t we?” Daddy said. “No wonder I’ve got a frowny bunny glaring at the floor like he wants to start nibbling on the wood.”
