“Hi, Uncle Patrick.” She grinned and hopped off Josh’s lap. “Hi, Kylie.” She skipped over and hugged her. She accepted the quick hug.
“Cute dress.” Kylie smiled. “Is that Toto?”
“Yep.” She nodded and swayed. “I found the patches online, and Daddy had someone iron them on this dress for me.”
“Very cute.” I tugged on one of her pigtails. “We all ready?”
“Daddy’s on a call.” Rayna pouted. “Please go get him. We are going to be late.”
“I promise they will not start the movie without you.” I bopped Rayna on the nose and headed towards Kyler’s office. He was finishing up when I poked my head in.
“You’re little is about to leave without you.”
“She already had her butt roasted once this morning.” He grinned.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, just finishing up something so I can give my little naughty girl my undivided attention. You good?”
I hesitated because I wasn’t sure of the answer. Yeah, generally speaking, I was good. But the whole priority question popped into my head, and it had my brain in a bit of a scrambled mess. I had everyone I cared about in the same room and was about to take them out into the real world where bad things happen all the time.
“Daddy,” Rayna yelled. Saved by the impatient little.
I followed him into the living room.
“Rayna Smith.” He sighed. “Did our discussion from this morning not take? Do you need another reminder before we head out?’
“No sir.” She blinked obediently, and I knew it wasn’t real, but it wasn’t an act either. It was hard to explain, but it was the game that Kyler and Rayna agreed to play in their relationship. They were fun to watch, but kind of annoying, but mostly adorable.
Kylie stared at them both. Her wide eyes darted back and forth. She was not familiar with Rayna’s antics. Before she waded into something, I had to intervene.
“Okay.” I clapped my hands together. “As we discussed yesterday, we are heading out of the casino and going straight to the parking lot. Slight change of plans. We are going to travel in our own bus to The Sphere. If anyone in black or your daddy or guardian tells you to do something, you do it, no questions. Am I understood?”
“Yes, Uncle Patrick.” The girls said in unison.
“Bus is waiting.” I motioned to the door. “Let’s go.”
“Why do I feel like that speech wasn’t just addressed to the little girls?” Josh laughed and hit Kyler on his shoulder.
“Because it wasn’t.” I pointed at them. Josh shook his head, but Kyler’s eyes grew wide, but he let it go. “Kylie, let’s go.”
She jumped into action, opening the door and leading the way into the hall. Two of the guards moved ahead of her, while the other two would bring up the rear. The maneuver was smooth and practiced, getting us down the elevator and into the party bus without issue.
Tyler and Maddox were already on the bus when we arrived.
The ride to the venue was short, just at the far end of the Las Vegas Strip. We could see it in the distance. Rayna pointed it out every few minutes as the images onThe Sphereshowed scenesfromThe Wizard of Oz.She and Tinley could barely contain themselves. Kylie was stoic, but on alert.
Once we arrived, it was another straight shot from bus to elevator, elevator to seat level, and a short hallway into the theater. Once in the sectioned off area for the girls and Tyler, we were able to relax. The girls had a few friends from little's night sitting just a row down from their seats, and they could giggle and point and squeal with their friends to their heart’s content.
Even Tinley appeared relaxed and in the moment. I was delighted she was having a good time, even though she kept looking back to make sure we were all there.
Kylie had a seat in one corner of the sectioned off space, her hands in her lap and eyes glancing around. Her gaze swept the room, never landing on any one thing for more than a second. It had to be overwhelming. There were about one hundred and fifty caregivers and a little more than that of littles. We had a few poly couples in the group as well, which made the total count with staff about three hundred twenty people.
It was easy to pick out who the bigs were and who the littles were.
Some dressed up like Rayna and Tinley, others in obvious little outfits. Even some bigs were dressed up, with the Tin Man and the Wizard himself the most popular among them.
Kylie took it all in. I wanted so much to know what she was thinking and feeling, to check on her and make sure she was okay, but I couldn’t.
