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Even before they went inside, Cricket could smell something delicious. Hopefully dinner would be soon because it made her mouth water. The plan was for the Daddies to stick around for dinner and get their Little girls ready for bed and then they’d go back to their cabins—or do whatever Daddies did when they didn’t have their Littles to occupy them—and come get the girls in the morning.
Cricket wouldn’t normally want to be away from her Daddy at all, but she was actually excited about having a slumber party. She was a little worried the girls would think Beyoncé was weird or ugly—and she wouldn’t be able to blame them at all because that’s exactly what she’d thought and still tried really hard not to—but it would still make her feel bad.
But all those thoughts flew out of her head when the door to the Bayards’ cabin swung open and they were greeted by a chorus of all the girls welcoming them inside. It was so fun to see Gwennie, Jojo, Lulu, and even Sabby because Mister Taj hadn’t taken the baby home yet, and to hear how happy they were to see her.
A few hours later, they’d enjoyed a feast of clam chowder, mac and cheese, ptarmigan nuggets, Gwennie’s freshly baked bread, and some salmon berry pie for dessert. She’d been worried before she came here about the food, but while Cricket didn’t like everything (mushrooms, ew), she did like a lot of the food they could harvest and everything tonight was delicious.
Then the Daddies had gotten the girls ready for bed, settled on piles of blankets and in sleeping bags and under furs. Before he left her Daddy set up Beyoncé and helped her introduce her APAP to the girls who were curious but nice about her breathing machine. They loved why Cricket had named her Beyoncé, and the sparkly gold crown they’d found to decorate her too.
Gwennie even asked her Daddy if she could wear her snorkeling mask and snorkel to sleep so she and Cricket could be twinsies. Which made Cricket so happy, but she assured her friend that Beyoncé was way more comfortable than a snorkeling mask and she didn’t want her to be uncomfortable overnight. After Daddy had double checked with her that she was fine and happy to stay, he kissed her goodbye and headed out into the night. It was party time!
Mister Gavin told them they could have half an hour and then it was sleeping time. They caught up about various goings on—including Jojo’s latest punishment for staying out too late because she’d been stalking a deer—and then Lulu asked Cricket how her farm planning was coming.
“Good, I think. I still feel like there’s so much to do, and I don’t know that I’ll ever be a hundred percent ready but I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve always wanted a farm and I’m really happy I don’t have to do it on my own.”
“I can’t wait to have some baby animals to play with. They’re going to be so cute,” Gwennie said.
“We’ll have to be really careful to protect them from the wild animals, though,” Lulu chimed in.
“And from Sabby,” Jojo said, rolling her eyes. “She doesn’t have the word ‘gentle’ in her vocabulary yet. But I’m sure she can learn.”
“It’ll be really fun but also a big responsibility. I just hope I don’t mess it up.”
“You won’t,” Jojo told her. “My Daddy doesn’t let people screw up too much.”
The girls laughed, and then Lulu said, “Besides, you already know so much about being a farmer and the men have been clearing land for your farm. It’s going to be great.”
Cricket was still nervous, but hearing her friends say they believed in her and that no one—especially Mister Taj—would let her mess up too badly made her feel more confident. So did giving Bandit a squeeze.
Then she was distracted by Gwennie breaking out into song, just like in a musical or an animated movie. “Little Cricket had a farm, E-I, E-I-O! And on that farm she had some—”
Gwennie looked at her.
Hmm, she’d probably start with chickens. They seemed the most manageable.
“Chickens!”
“E-I, E-I-O!” chorused the Littles amidst their giggles.
“With a cluck cluck here and a cluck cluck there! Here a cluck, there a cluck, everywhere a cluck cluck! Little Cricket had a farm, E-I, E-I-O!”
They sang a few more verses, and Cricket was running out of animals she actually wanted to have. Chickens, goats, sheep, and a cow seemed like more than she could handle actually, but Daddy said she would have help. If the girls were anywhere near as enthusiastic about helping her with the animals as they were about singing about them, she would have more help than she knew what to do with.
“Um, I think that’s it,” she shrugged.
“Oh,” Lulu said, looking disappointed that their singing was at an end.
Cricket was disappointed too. She’d known a few other Littles at Covert, but more in passing than actually being friends with them. But now she was having a sleepover with her new friends. Luckily their musical number wasn’t over quite yet.
“And on that farm she had some Daddies!” shouted Gwennie.
Their chorus of “E-I, E-I-O!” was almost unintelligible through all the laughing. And that was before Jojo chimed in with “With a spank spank here and a spank spank there. Here a spank, there a spank, everywhere a spank spank!”
It was hard for Cricket to describe how happy she was in that moment. It was like someone had drizzled chocolate sauce and sprinkled sanding sugar on top of her hot chocolate heart and the sweetness of her new life was about to overflow.
“There’s gonna be some spanks around here if you Little girls don’t settle down and go to bed,” Mister Gavin said.
His raised eyebrow was stern but his smile wasn’t. He was probably the squishiest Daddy. Maybe that’s why he was the one who corralled the Littles during the day. It took a special kind of Daddy to have the patience for not just his own Little girl, but several others too.
