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Giving Gaylen a haughty look, I sighed. “You should know better than to have said a naughty word.”
He was back to rolling his eyes as the troublemaker in my arms snickered. “Naughty Grumpy Poppy.”
“I know. He’s naughty, but we’ll teach him how to be good.” Maybe? We both did our best to ignore his snort, but Tabitha was nearly snickering. She was definitely going to be the weak link when it came to teasing Gaylen.
Leaning over again, she patted the drama Dom’s cheek. “Good boy.”
Snorting, he gave her a look that said he thought she was nuts. “No. Naughty Dom.”
And her delight with his ridiculousness was back in full force.
Her happiness even caught her friend’s attention and he smiled vaguely as he looked up from his book. If we saw her again, I was going to have to ask if he wanted to be introduced to other people who he might be able to relate to, but again, it wasn’t the time.
I found myself thinking that a lot, so I decided to focus on the here and now more and the what-ifs less because he seemed content with his book and Miss Tabitha needed more active attention.
“Should we go play balls with Grumpy Poppy and see if that makes him happy?” With her limited vocabulary, sitting here for most of the night talking didn’t seem like the best use of our time. Showing her what kind of men we were seemed more practical. “Then we’ll go find a snack?”
Nodding excitedly, Miss Tabitha leaned toward Gaylen, looking delightfully conspiratorial. “Ice cream?”
He barked out a laugh and nodded. “Yes, I think that’s a very good plan.”
Happiness radiated from her as Gaylen finally lost most of his skepticism and frustration. She was beaming as she took our hands and bounced up. “Hurry. Hurry.”
Her psychic friend glanced up, nodding as she aimed a wide smile in his direction. When he just stood and slipped his e-reader in his pocket, I took that as permission and let her pull us up. “Should we bury Grumpy Poppy in the balls?”
That got more laughter from her as she bounced and nodded. “Yes. Hide. Hide.”
As she led us through the club, apparently knowing where we were going, Gaylen gave both of us a teasing glare. “How did I get volunteered to be buried? I think Happy Daddy over there should be the target.”
Laughing, Miss Tabitha shook her head like it’d been a ridiculous question. “Silly Poppy.”
As he rolled his eyes, I nodded and swung her hand wider. “Yes, he’s very silly. Hopefully, being buried will help him come back to life happier.”
Snickering, she held our hands straight out in front of her and groaned like we were in a bad B-movie horror flick.
“Zombie Poppy?” Her laughter said I’d guessed right and Gaylen’s dramatic sigh had her excitement growing. “We’ll have to see if he’s a happy zombie or a silly one.”
“He’s going to be a grumpy one if he doesn’t get a snack later.” The ridiculous Dom gave both of us side glances. “He was promised ice cream and those balls had better not be dirty.”
Our giggly little thought that was hilarious and her laughter earned a smile from Gaylen. “That does not fill me with confidence, silly girl.”
She wasn’t worried… about the balls or his fake grumpy exterior.
Miss Tabitha went back to swinging our hands, bouncing and bobbing her head back and forth, only once looking back to make sure her companion had followed us. I was glad to see she knew she needed someone looking out for her, but nothing in either of their behavior said they were worried about Gaylen or me.
When we reached the small playroom where the ball pit had been placed, her friend settled down on the floor across from the door so he could keep an eye on us. But it wasn’t intrusive because he went right back to his book as Miss Tabitha bounced and laughed. “Hurry. Hurry.”
There weren’t many people playing yet, so she let go of our hands as she charged in and jumped, scattering balls everywhere. “Hurry, Grumpy Poppy.”
Gaylen rolled his eyes as the other Mommy and Daddy in the room did their best not to laugh. “I’m not going to answer to that forever.”
Just for tonight or as long as it was accompanied by giggles and a cheeky grin?
I was smart enough not to ask that as I leaned over and ruffled his hair like I would a grumpy little. “It’s okay, Poppy. You’ll be a good grumpy zombie.”
That got us a few odd looks but Miss Tabitha laughed and fell back in the balls as she waved us in. Yep, he was going to be a great zombie because she was irresistible.
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