Page 28 of Daddy’s Little Secret

Daddy winked at me. “That’s my job, Angel.”

I got back to coloring, singing along with the radio. “I wonder why Tae isn’t messaging me back. Think he’s okay, Daddy?”

“I do. I know Uncle Chuck is planning a trip for them, so they’re probably busy getting all his artwork done and shipped out.”

“Makes sense.” I finished coloring the horse I was working on. “Do you know where Uncle Chuck is taking him for vacation?”

“I don’t, Angel, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them choose Vegas after Tae sees the load of prezzies you brought home.”

My Little giggled wickedly. “It is a totally cool place with tons of fun stuff to do. The crane machines were fun and racing you was even funner.”

“Let’s stop in the next town for a potty break and to grab lunch.”

“Sounds good.” I was so busy coloring I hadn’t realized how much time had passed. I put everything away in my backpack and zipped it up right as Daddy pulled into a fast-food place.

In no time we were back on the road, and as soon as we pulled onto the gravel drive that led to the cabins, everyone came running out of theirs.

“Wow, that’s quite the welcome home. You’d think we’d been away for years.” Daddy shook his head and unclicked our seatbelts. “Alright, here we go.”

“You’re finally home. It took foreverrrrr,” Tae whined as we hugged. “Holy moly!” His eyes got big when he spotted the backseat. “You did a lot of shopping.”

“Most of it’s from games. They had a huge game room and circus performers in the middle. Some of it’s for you.”

“For me? You got me prezzies?”

“Yup.”

“Boys, take the bags into our cabin and set them in the living room. We have gifts for everyone. But be careful, there are breakables in there.”

As soon as we were all in our living room, the question I knew Tae was dying to ask came. “Did you get married?”

The entire room quieted.

“My grandson knows better than to do that without me, doesn’t he?” Grandma wasn’t messing around; her arms were crossed and her scowl said she meant business.

“Of course not, Grandma. You have to walk me down the aisle on Halloween.”

“What?” came from multiple people.

“Yup, Daddy and I are getting married outside on Halloween. Tae, will you be my best zombie?”

“Zombie?” He smiled. I thought he got the idea, but for the others, I’d better explain.

“We are having a Halloween-themed wedding, costumes are mandatory. So, what do you say?”

Tae squealed so loud, Momma and Grandma covered their ears. “Yes. Do I have to be a zombie or can I wear any costume?”

“Any but your cat suits,” Daddy said. “Trey wants us to be undead grooms.”

“This is gonna be so cool!” Tae was so excited you’d have thought it was his wedding.

“Chuck, will you be my best man?” Daddy asked him.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Daddy and I went through all the bags and handed out the gifts. Tae had so many that Uncle Chuck had to make two trips.

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