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Chapter Fourteen
“You’re not giving me a hint about what we’re planning to do at the Children’s Hospital?” Colby was clearly nervous about what I had in mind when it came to his repayment of our bet.
“Nope, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy every minute of it.” We were on our way there in his car early on Saturday morning.
“What’s with the hair?” He flipped my French braid from my shoulder.
I had to bite my lip to keep from telling him. “Oh, you’ll see.”
Once we arrived, he appeared surprisingly upbeat about the prospect of volunteering up until the point where the costumes came out.
“Wait. You want me to what?”
“I’m playing Elsa, from the Disney movie Frozen. The girl you met a few minutes ago, Sheila, is Ana, her sister. There are two choices: you can go as Kristoff, or you can don the snowman costume and be Olaf.”
“What about that guy over there—what’s he going to be?” He pointed toward another man I’d met last week, a big mountain of a guy who’d played football.
“He’s Sven the reindeer, and he called dibs.”
“He actually called dibs on the reindeer? Jesus. What do I have to do?”
He looked completely out of his element, which was very amusing. “If you’re Olaf, you have to give warm hugs. If you’re Kristoff, you only need to stand to the side looking handsome.”
“Kristoff it is.” He grabbed the costume, being a good sport about it. “Any chance Kristoff gets to grope Elsa during any of this?”
I giggled. “He’s Ana’s boyfriend, so no.”
He made a show out of assessing me and then the woman across the room playing Ana. “And what if I’m into both sisters? Is that in the Disney version?”
I swatted him. “Ha. You wish. Now behave. There are little ears around.”
He grabbed me playfully around the waist. “Have I mentioned what a relief it is to be able to make jokes about a threesome with fictional sisters and not have you get pissed off at me for that sort of inappropriate remark?”
I chuckled, stepping back to go get changed. “I’d be disappointed if you didn’t. Now get changed into your costume.”
Once I was dressed, I put on some blush and let the volunteer coordinator apply heavy mascara with liner to do up my eyes dramatically. When I came out of the makeshift dressing room, I had to laugh at Colby, now dressed as Kristoff. He even had the shaggy blond wig.
“You look very handsome.”
He focused on me with his jaw dropping. “That’s what Elsa wears?”
The dress was fitted, to say the least, but I hoped it wasn’t too much to wear in front of the children. “Does it look bad?”
He smirked. “Uh, no, it looks fantastic. Damn, I’ve hit a new low: I’m lusting after a Disney character.”
“No, the low is you’re dressed as one while doing so.”
He chuckled before I took his hand and introduced him to some of the other people participating. The hospital had done a great job of recruiting an entire cast for the movie Frozen plus some other Disney princesses and superheroes for the kids.
“Is there a show?” Colby asked.
“Yes, they’re bringing all the kids who can come out of their rooms in here to watch it. Then afterwards we’ll go room to room to visit with the kids who asked to see the Frozen cast.”
I moved over to talk to the woman who was set up to play the piano not wanting to dwell on my having to sing. While sober. This was for the kids and I hadn’t thought about Colby being here to witness me performing when I’d bet him.
The children who were healthy enough to attend all filed in, most with family members in tow. It broke my heart to realize some of them were fighting for their lives, but I was here to give joy, and that’s what I was going to do. Thankfully, Ana was up first with her song. After she finished, it was my turn. I didn’t dare meet Colby’s eyes when I started on the song, “Let it Go.”
After I’d finished, the room broke into applause, which must have meant I’d done the rendition proud. Following the show, we spent an hour going room to room, giving little trinkets such as wands and coloring books. One little boy I noticed took a liking to Colby and requested help with his video game. It was cute to see how patient Colby was in showing the boy how to navigate Lego Batman on his console.
