And every other moment until the end of time.
21
MURRY
Portland was so fucking cool! I’d said it out loud so many times Daddy had given me a warning about cussing in public, so now the phrase was on repeat in my head, because holy shit, there was so much to see here and so much to do that I’d been told to hang on to Daddy’s beltloop and not let go, I was that fidgety.
And now we were here at the wishing tree, which was so pretty with all the wishes dangling beneath it, offering the perfect photo opportunity for the three of us and Aspen too. We’d be headed home with far less gear in the van, which meant space for the cool things we came across as we wandered the city. Raleigh’s backpack was already more than half-full after we’d wandered into a new age shop that carried a bunch of stuff they didn’t carry in the one back home.
Raleigh had written his wish on hotel stationery and pinned it to the tree with a glance and smile in Aspen’s direction while the man was busy scribbling his wish on the back of a napkin he’d fished out of one of the tote bags he was never without.
“So many wishes,” I muttered as I snapped photos of Raleigh beneath the tree, the ears on his kitty cat beanie lightly brushing against a few of the lower-hanging ones.
“Are you sure there is nothing you’d like to wish for?” Daddy asked as he stood steadily penning his wish on a page he’d ripped out of his notebook.
“No, Daddy,” I declared. “I am the happiest I’ve ever been.”
We shared a smile before Daddy stepped beneath the tree while Raleigh returned to my side and gripped my beltloop while I snapped pictures of Daddy and then Aspen when he stood beneath the tree to hang his wish not far from where Raleigh had stuck his. I took several more pictures of just the tree before we continued our walk back to the van.
Next stop, the troll bridge.
“Time to get you all spruced up for your new home,” Aspen said as he withdrew the troll doll he intended to leave from his tote bag and began combing her hair so it stood in a spike on the top of her head.
Daddy rolled his eyes when he saw it, finished checking our seatbelts, and closed the door so he could climb behind the wheel.
“What?” Aspen said, “He’s adorable.”
“And clad in racy red lingerie,” Daddy pointed out.
Aspen just shrugged and kissed his forehead. “So? With this group, what did you expect?”
Daddy sputtered as Raleigh pulled his leather-clad troll from his backpack and made sure its little leather cap was attached to itshair. If he could have found one with a harness, he’d have added it to the costume it was already wearing when he’d uncovered it at the massive flea market we’d stopped at during the drive out here.
“I think our dolls reflect our personalities,” I said as I hugged my Easter bunny troll to my chest.
Daddy just sighed and shook his head. “Not all of them.”
“No, Murry’s right, Daddy,” Raleigh said. “I could picture Aspen wearing the outfit his troll has on, with a long faux fur coat over top of it.”
“And a martini glass in his hand when he opened the door to greet the visitor who’d showed up for an evening tryst.”
“They’re not wrong,” Aspen declared. “In fact, I do have an outfit similar to this in my closet, veryRocky Horror Picture Showinspired, complete with the garters, stockings, and heels.”
“The heels are very important in completing the look,” Raleigh said. “Though after seeing the way so many Dommes removed theirs before a scene, I kind of wonder how practical they are?”
“For play, they are highly uncomfortable,” Aspen declared. “Zero out of ten in my experience, especially if you’re going to be wielding implements in a long scene. But there is no doubt that the visual appeal is positively stunning. Especially if they put you eye to eye with a taller sub.”
“Do you like tall subs?” I asked, immediately thinking of Phoenix and the wish Raleigh had pinned to the wishing tree.
“I love tall men, period,” Aspen said, “but then, it’s hard not to when you are severely lacking in the height department the way I am.”
“You’re the same height as I am,” I pointed out.
“And look at the men you’ve surrounded yourself with,” Aspen shot back, peering around the edge of his seat to glance from Raleigh to Daddy just to make his point.
“Okay, okay, you might be on to something there,” I conceded.
“Still, to answer your questions, there is something particularly appealing about a larger sub, especially when they are covered in ink and rippling muscle,” Aspen declared.
