The Runt of the Litter

Choater 39

"You should get that one," Patrick said.

"No, I don't really like that one that much," I said. "I think this one is so pretty."

I put a circle around the pretty wedding dress in the magazine with my black sharpie marker.

"You should get a horse drawn carriage for the wedding," Patrick said. "Like a real princess."

I gasped. "Daddy!"

He looked over at me from where him and Joe sat on the couch.

"Can we get a horsey carriage?" I asked.

"I don't know, Gee, I'll think about it," he said.

I nodded, looking back down at the magazine.

"Oh, this one is really pretty too," Patrick said.

I nodded and circled the dress.

"Make sure you stay within budget, alright, Gee?" Frank asked and I nodded.

"Look, they even got a bridesmaids section," Patrick said. "I wanna wear a really pretty dress."

"You and Mia Bia are gonna be my bridesmaids," I said. "And you're both gonna look so pretty in the dresses."

Patty giggled happily and looked at the different dresses.

"Daddy, when is our wedding again?" I asked.

Frank chuckled softly. "It's August 27th."

"Okay so that means we gots to get all the colors matching with the season," he said.

I nodded in agreement and looked at the darker colored dresses.

"This one is pretty," he said, pointing to the maroon one.

"You and Mia Bia can pick out your own dresses but they gots to be the same," I said.

"Okay, we'll make sure they're pretty but not too pretty so that way we don't take away attention from you," he said.

I giggled, nodding my head.

"Can we go play outside?" Patrick asked.

"O-Outside is scary," I whimpered. "We can't go outside."

I crawled over to my toy box. My balance was getting better now with my crawling but I still couldn't walk just yet.

"You wanna play with my cool race cars?" I asked.

Patrick nodded and walked over.

"Okay, I get the red one and you can get the blue one because it matches your shirt," I said.

We put it on the track, the kind that went around in a circle so you could race them. We raced it a few times before Joe stood up.

"It's your nap time, Pumpkin," he said.

"But we're playing," I complained.

"Your nap time too, Baby," Frank said.

I whined, shaking my head.

"Can we take our nappies together?" Patrick asked hopefully.

The two of them looked at each other and sighed. They carried us up to my bedroom and I giggled as they tucked us into bed. I snuggled up with Patrick, cuddling up as close as I could.

Joe kissed the top of Patrick's head before he left. Frank scratched my ear gently before he left too. I snuggled up close to Patrick and smiled.

"Has anything happened with Joe?" I asked.