by Maren Smith
Chloe began again, and this time the snow seemed to stick a lot better, because soon she had a huge sphere of snow, about a foot in diameter. Bradley’s little snowball was now a three-foot-high body, which he’d stood upright.
“Yours can be the head,” he told her, then lifted it onto the body. Chloe stared in amazement at the snowman they had made. She wiggled on the spot and smiled happily.
“We did it!” she declared.
“Not quite,” Bradley said. “What else do snowmen need?”
They went back home and collected a carrot, some black pebbles, and a scarf, and they dressed up their snowman, so he had eyes, a big smile, a pointy orange nose, and two arms made from twigs. Last, Chloe wound the scarf around his neck to keep him warm outside in the snow.
“There,” she said with an air of finality. Bradley drew her into a hug and kissed her on top of her head.
“See what you can do when you keep trying?” he told her. She smiled and decided that building a snowman was hard but fun.
When they returned home for hot chocolate, a police cruiser was waiting in the driveway. Chloe frowned.
“Bradley?” she began, not wanting to ageplay in front of a cop.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got this.” He approached the police officer and Chloe followed.
“We got a call from one of your neighbors that someone was breaking into your house. She was caught red-handed with a can of petrol. Luckily, she hadn’t opened it yet or you would have needed the fire brigade.” The cop indicated the back seat of the cruiser. Chloe looked inside.
“Tisha!” she gasped.
“Oh, screw you!” Tisha grumbled.
“You know this woman?” asked the cop. Before Chloe spoke, Bradley replied for her.
“She’s been harassing us this past week. The second wife of Chloe’s deceased father. Wants some inheritance or something. I told her if we saw her again we’d take out a restraining order.”
“You want to press charges?” The cop looked from Bradley to Chloe. Chloe’s heart melted. Regardless of what her father had done to Chloe and her mom, Tisha had nothing to do with it. She was just a woman who was on her own at Christmas. If anyone knew that grief made people do crazy things, it was Chloe. She frowned and shook her head.
“No,” she said softly. Bradley turned to her and fixed her with a forceful stare before he turned to the cop.
“It’s my house, and I want to press charges. That woman is dangerous, and she’s been threatening my li—girlfriend. Now you tell me she tried to burn our house down? I want to be sure she doesn’t come back and bother us.”
Chloe stared at Bradley in disbelief.
“Sure, we’ll just need to take witness statements from your neighbors, then we’ll take care of everything.” The cop touched his hat. Chloe opened her mouth to speak but Bradley led her indoors.
“Why would you press charges?” she demanded as soon as the front door was closed.
“Why wouldn’t you?” Bradley retorted.
“She’s lost her husband. She’s lonely. It’s Christmas.” Chloe felt certain she wanted to do the right thing.
“And where does it end? We let her go, she keeps coming back, like Tom and Jerry? Bugging us every time we do anything? Three times in under a week. It’s not acceptable and I won’t let her come here again. What do you think would have happened if she’d succeeded in burning down our home? What if she returns and tries again while we’re in bed, asleep? She would kill us both.”
Chloe sighed and nodded. She wanted to help Tisha, but the woman had gone too far.
“I’m sorry, I just wanted to help her.” She felt her eyes filling with tears and she blinked them back.
“The best way to help some people is to let the law take its course. Come have a snuggle, little princess, and tell me about the snowman you just built with your daddy,” Bradley said, opening his arms for her. She cuddled up with him and tried not to think about what Tisha had planned to do if the cops hadn’t stopped her.
CHAPTER TEN
BABY’S TENTH CHRISTMAS
Chloe came downstairs at nine o’clock and saw no presents under the tree. She frowned and went back to bed, thinking maybe she’d gotten up too early and he hadn’t finished getting everything ready.
He tapped on her door a few minutes later.
“I thought I heard the pitter patter of middle-sized feet,” he told her with a grin.
“I went downstairs, but there were no presents,” she said.
“No. There wouldn’t be. Today, I’ve got an extra-special present for you. Get showered and dressed, then come down for breakfast. I’ll tell you where we’re going once you’re in the car.”
“Oh, but Daddy, that always means we’re going to see a doctor!”
“Do people normally see doctors on Christmas Day?” he asked. She shook her head. “There you go, then. Do as you’re told and you’ll find out where we’re going.”
CHLOE GOT READY TO go out in record time. Bradley was amused. Once they had carefully pulled out of the driveway, being mindful of all the snow still covering the landscape, he told her where they were headed.
“We’re on our way to your favorite place in the whole state,” he said. She gasped and clapped her hands together.
“The zoo?” she checked.
“Yep, the zoo.” He smiled to himself as he headed to the freeway, then sped to the zoo, where there was an even greater surprise awaiting his little princess.
For as long as he had known her, Chloe had loved giraffes. She had all sorts of things with giraffes: Shoes, hats, shower gel, pens... she even had a poster of a mommy giraffe snuggling a baby giraffe, on the wall of their adult bedroom. It wasn’t so much an age-play thing as a Chloe thing. Chloe loved giraffes. Given her long legs, Bradley thought it was fitting.
When they saw the first road sign for the zoo, Chloe squealed loudly with excitement, and Bradley frowned.
“What have I told you about doing that when I’m driving?” he prompted.
“Not to,” she replied sheepishly.
“Why not?”
“Because it’s dangerous and it distracts you.”
“Do it again and we go to Sea World instead, and I’ll make you look at the octopus.” Bradley knew Chloe thought octopi were gross. Sure enough, she apologized profusely and, although it was clearly a struggle, she managed to keep her excitement at a level that wouldn’t cause any car crashes. The moment they parked, however, she was hopping and jumping and singing about giraffes. Bradley didn’t tell her that going to the zoo wasn’t even her Christmas present, that the real present was inside the zoo.
Predictably, she went straight to the giraffe enclosure. When they got there, Bradley called over a member of staff and whispered into their ear so Chloe didn’t hear what he said. He needn’t have worried, however, as she was far too taken with adoring the giraffes.
A few moments later, a zookeeper appeared.
“Chloe?” she said.
Chloe turned around in surprise. “That’s me!”
Bradley couldn’t resist grinning from ear to ear.
“Would you like to come and pet your new giraffe?” the lady asked.
Chloe looked like she was about to explode like a firework. She turned to Bradley, tried to speak, turned to the zookeeper, tried to speak again, and couldn’t. So, she just nodded. Bradley stepped closer to her and she reached for his hand, then squeezed it as the zookeeper led them into the giraffe enclosure.
“This is Marley; he’s a newborn giraffe who was born in captivity. And his mommy, Pippa, is over there. Would you like to stroke Marley’s nose?” the zookeeper asked. Chloe made a little squeaking sound and nodded. When Bradley looked down at her, he saw her eyes were streaming with tears.
The zookeeper helped Chloe climb up to a special platform where she could reach Marley’s nose, and Chloe reached her hand out then gently ran it from his nose to his ossicones—or horns, as Bradley had always thought of them before C
hloe had told him everything he ever wanted to know about giraffes. Bradley had no idea that newborn giraffes were still the same height as him. Chloe didn’t stop crying the whole time she was petting Marley, and Bradley knew they were tears of joy. His own heart was tingling with the love he felt for his baby girl at that moment. He’d been planning this gift for ages, and seeing it unfold, being part of the unmitigated happiness that flowed through his little one, was the best reward any daddy could get.
“Adopting him means that we can keep him here, with his mommy, instead of sending him to another zoo,” the zookeeper explained. “You will get regular postcards about Marley’s progress here at the zoo, and special entry tickets so you can come and pet him three times a year.”
“Wait... so you weren’t kidding when you said he was my giraffe? Bradley, you adopted a giraffe for me?” She turned in amazement. Bradley knew she wanted to call him Daddy, but couldn’t because the zookeeper was standing right there.
“Sure did, honey,” he replied, resisting the urge to call her his baby girl.
“Oh. Oh, my...” She began crying all over again and she hugged the baby giraffe. The zookeeper had clearly seen this all before, because she just smiled quietly and let Chloe have her moment with her new giraffe. “You got me a giraffe for Christmas!”
“Now remember, Chloe, a giraffe is for life, not just for Christmas,” Bradley told her with a twinkle in his eye. She giggled.
The petting session with the giraffe culminated in feeding his mommy. Marley was too young to be fed yet, as he hadn’t been weaned, but his mommy was very friendly and ate up a big leafy branch when Chloe held it out for her.
Once it was time to leave the giraffe enclosure, Chloe was bouncing around and chattering nineteen-to-the-dozen about her experience with the giraffe.
“...And did you see the part where he licked me? His tongue was black! Can you believe it? And the part where his mom ate that entire branch out of my hand! Oh, my gosh. Do you think we can come back tomorrow? I miss them already! I can’t believe you got me a giraffe for Christmas!”
He looked around to check they were having a private conversation. “But of course, I did. I know how much my baby girl loves the giraffes,” he told her, then he wrapped her up in a giant hug and kissed her forehead.
“I love you so much, Daddy; you’re so thoughtful!” she told him. Bradley’s heart swelled when she said that.
“I love you, too, baby girl,” he replied, holding her tight and savoring this perfect moment.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
BABY’S ELEVENTH CHRISTMAS
When Chloe ate her breakfast she felt a little disappointed, although she hadn’t opened any of her presents yet. What could possibly be better than getting a giraffe for Christmas? She didn’t see the point of being eleven today. Anyway, it was Christmas Eve. She wanted to go out shopping with her friends and make sure she had something ready for Bradley for tomorrow.
He came downstairs and kissed her on the forehead while she watched the Powerpuff Girls, but she didn’t really acknowledge him.
“What’s the matter, little bunny?” he asked.
“My giraffe was such an incredible present, there’s nothing in the world that could be better than that!” She sighed heavily as she spoke.
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that, little one.” Bradley’s tone of voice hinted that he had a surprise in store for her. Chloe ate some more cereal thoughtfully.
Later that day, Bradley took Chloe into town. It was teeming with people doing last-minute shopping, but Bradley seemed to have a purpose.
“This way,” he told her. Since he held her hand, she didn’t have any choice but to go that way. Soon, they reached a large building Chloe hadn’t been inside before. There was a long line coming out of the door, but Bradley just led her around it and flashed something at the security when he reached the door. Chloe had no idea what was going on until they got inside. Then, she realized they were at a fashion show.
“Oh. Em. Gee.” She stared at the booths in every direction. There were so many different stalls selling clothing, and she didn’t know which direction to head in first. Their town wasn’t the sort of remarkable place where anything interesting usually happened, and Chloe was taken aback that Bradley had found this fashion show on Christmas Eve, let alone that he’d acquired tickets for it.
“Daddy?” She checked he was still there, and squeezed his hand, hard. This definitely wasn’t a dream, she decided. It was wonderful. Then she had a pang of worry as she wondered how she could pay for anything. She hadn’t brought her purse because Bradley had explicitly told her to leave it at home. The side of her that didn’t age-play now wondered if he was trying to teach her to show some restraint... but in the middle of their Christmas-every-day routine, that didn’t seem likely.
“Anything you want, you can have. Just be sure that you want it,” Bradley said. Chloe stared at him for a moment, trying to decide whether she was okay with this or not. She didn’t like being indebted to anyone.
“But I would feel bad, spending your money,” she said. He shook his head.
“That’s not your decision to make, little one. I’ve already decided you can have anything you want, so you have to choose some things. I could pick for you, but you might end up with a neon knitted pantsuit.”
She burst out laughing when she imagined someone wearing the clothing Bradley had just described, then she started looking at the stalls.
She led him around the stalls while she tried things on and browsed colors. It was hard to choose things, because normally Chloe and Bradly kept their finances strictly separate and she liked it that way. Today, however, she settled into getting treated, although part of her worried that none of this stuff would really belong to her. If they broke up one day, would she have to give everything back to him? Her insecurities danced all over her sense of excitement and after about an hour she couldn’t choose anything else.
Bradley seemed to notice, and he sat her down at the table beside a coffee stand.
“What’s the matter, little one? Don’t you want to go shopping?”
“I do! I really do! And I’m so grateful that you brought me here, but I’m scared,” she said, wishing there was some easier way of telling him about the problem.
“What’s scary?” he asked her.
“What if we break up?” She bit her lip after she spoke, to stop any more terrifying thoughts coming out of her mouth.
“Why would we...?”
“Because we just might. And I’d feel like none of this stuff was truly mine. And that would be hard. And sad. Not as sad as breaking up with you, though. I would miss you.” She began to cry, then. “Daddy, why are we breaking up? I try so hard to be a good submissive for you! I even went along with this age-play Christmas thing!” Before she could stop herself, she began to cry.
When her father had left, he had filled the car with anything of hers that he could sell. Some of her favorite childhood toys had been taken from her, and she’d never seen them again. Like he hadn’t destroyed enough of her youth already, he’d had to twist the knife.
She had been crying for several minutes before she realized she was in a crowded exhibition and people were staring. She furiously tried to control herself, until she felt Bradley’s reassuring touch on her arm.
“Let it out, little one. Who cares if some strangers see you cry? You’ll never see any of them again for the rest of your life,” he told her. “And when you’re done, I want to buy you some presents. And they’re yours to keep, no matter what. There’s a fashion show on the main stage in a minute, too.”
Chloe looked up at him as a rush of warmth filled her heart.
“Thank you, Daddy,” she said in a very small voice, then she snuggled up against his soft, warm body while she took a minute to feel better. Of course, he wasn’t going to take everything from her if they broke up. This was Bradley. And he was a good guy. She reflected that she should give him a break instead of constantly goi
ng at him with her behavior.
After the fashion show, they went home and Chloe put her new purchases away in her wardrobe, before her daddy tucked her up in the bed in her little room for one more night. It would be Christmas Day for real in the morning, and for the first time in her life Chloe couldn’t wait.
CHAPTER TWELVE
BABY’S TWELFTH CHRISTMAS
The sun shone in through the thin curtains, and its reflection off the still-melting snow brightened the day even more. Chloe was super-excited to go back to being a seven-year-old today, although she’d enjoyed her other Christmases, too.
Something pressed against her feet, and when she wiggled her toes there was a rustling sound. She sat up and looked down. A fully-stuffed Christmas stocking awaited her. Smiling with excitement, she reached into it and pulled out a candy bar. She bit it and savored the naughtiness of having pre-breakfast chocolate.
While she ate, she pulled out a couple more things from the stocking. They were both neatly fastened in colorful wrapping paper decorated with shining silver snowflakes. Chloe tore open the paper and found a clip-in bow for her hair in one parcel and a plastic beaded bracelet in another. She put them on, even though she hadn’t used her hairbrush yet, and felt like a princess.
At the bottom of the stocking, there was a keychain with a giraffe on it. Chloe instantly loved it and it reminded her of the Christmas two days ago, when she got to be ten, and she petted and fed the giraffes at the zoo. She knew the giraffe on the keychain would take good care of her house keys when she attached them all to it.
After spending some time in the bathroom, Chloe wandered downstairs in her fluffy pink robe and went to the cupboard where she usually found breakfast cereal. All the food had been removed from the cupboard, and in its place there was a note.
Little bunny, wake me up for breakfast. Daddy. Xxxx
She hugged it to her chest to make sure all of Daddy’s kisses rubbed onto her heart, then ran upstairs and flung open his bedroom door before bouncing onto his bed and landing beside him.
