On a twisted Tuesday, something is a little to the left of the norm, not that normal is good, or even expected from the characters in my books, but it sure gives me some great material on an awesome day like this. Todays twist comes from my brand new release, A Daddy For Christmas: Ryu. Ryu and Hank go to build a bear, but Ryu's choice of bear isn't like that of other boys and he sure has a way of making it personal for both himself and his Daddy.
“Now which bear would my boy like?” Daddy asked, “You can
pick whichever one you like best.”
Blinking, Ryu stared at the rows and rows and rows of
bears, a little overwhelmed by all the choices. There were bears in every color
imaginable, and some that didn’t even look like bears even though the name
beneath them said they were.
Then his eyes landed on the green bear-lien and from that
point on there was no need to look any further. Little Ryu wanted to squeal,
jump up and down, and point to it while doing a happy dance, but there were
moms and dads with little kids present and he was just big enough at the moment
to know that wouldn’t be okay for where they were.
“That one, please,” he said. He did point, but without the
dance, and Daddy smiled down at him and made him feel all warm and happy
inside, unlike how icky he’d felt the night before.
“Would you like to put a sound recording in your bear?” The
lady behind the counter asked. “We have songs and sayings and some people even
record their own messages for their bears to say.”
Ryu looked up at Daddy, wanting his voice to be the one
that came out of his bear-lien, but not knowing if he would be okay with that.
Daddy was watching him closely though and slipped his arm around Ryu’s
shoulder, tugging him close so he could speak in his ear.
“Is there something special you want?” Daddy asked.
“I like your voice,” Ryu admitted. “But you can’t say
anything growly and commanding with all these people here so maybe could you
say something an alien would say?”
Daddy chuckled and smiled down at him. “I think I can
manage that. What about….hmmmm…. let's see…hmmmm…which one of you started the
rumor that we probe people! It’s lies I tell you, all lies…unless you ask
nicely.”
Ryu giggled at that and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes
please.”
“I’m going to record the message for him,” Daddy declared,
coming around where the saleslady directed. When she heard what he had to say,
a smile brightened her face and she had to press her hands to her mouth to keep
from laughing until the machine was off.
“That was too cute,” she declared as she loaded the
recorded device into the bear. “Now you get to choose an outfit for your bear.”
Ryu had already started looking around at those and decided
that he didn’t want the space suit, because it was too much like what a human
astronaut would wear, but he also scrunched his nose up at the typical alien
one-piece suit that was generic and seemed like every bear-lien would have one.
Then he spotted the Easy Rider outfit with its leather jacket,
leather pants, black sunglasses, and skull and crossbones bandana and it
reminded him of the framed photos of Daddy he’d seen hanging on his office
wall.
“That one please,” Ryu declared pointing to it.
Daddy looked quite pleased with Ryu’s choice and he
couldn’t help wiggling around and dancing just a little as he watched her
carefully dress his bear.
“Someone is very happy,” Daddy said.
“Very, very, very happy,” Ryu said, hugging Daddy tight.
“Thank you, Daddy.”
He said that last part softly, so only they could hear, and
was rewarded with the perfect kind of squishy hug he loved.
“You are very welcome.”
Daddy held on to him while they waited for her to finish his bear and tuck it safely in its take-home carton. Ryu had to bite back a squeal when she handed it over because he couldn’t wait to go home and be able to hold his little bear-lein to his heart’s content.
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