"No, Uncle Cody, you havta dress up for a tea party!" Alanna's voice drifted down the hallway, causing a sleepy grin on Randy's face. He was dozing on the couch resting his back while Cody was playing with Alanna and his niece, Maris.
"Ok, what do I have to do?" Cody grinned at the two girls.
"Well, you havta help us into our dresses. Do you want the yellow one or the blue one?" Alanna asked Maris, waving the two fluffy previous Halloween costumes.
"I like Belle. I want the yellow one!" Maris squealed.
"Ok" Alanna carefully unzipped the dress and stepped into it before turning her back on Cody. "Zip me." She ordered in a very familiar tone. At 5 she was already her father's daughter. Soon she and Maris were dressed for the tea party, complete with slippers and little crowns.
"What do we do with Uncle Cody?" Maris asked. "He'd look funny in a dress."
"That's ok. Uncle Cody, close your eyes."
"What are you doing, Alanna?" he asked, feeling something cool swipe over his eyelids.
"Making you pretty for the party."
"Maris, you put this on him. I'll find him a hat or something."
Cody felt the slick gel lip-gloss and tried not to squirm too much. Randy needed to rest, and this was kinda fun, playing with the girls. Although he would be damned if he ever admitted that!
"Ohhh! Here."
"Hey, that's pointy, let me put it on myself, ok? Can I open my eyes yet?" Cody asked, feeling something hard and plastic scratch his scalp.
"I'm done." Maris chirped.
"Ok, put on your crown, Uncle Cody. I'm gonna see if Daddy is awake yet."
"Don't wake him up, Alanna, let your dad sleep. He has to rest for his back to get better." Cody cautioned.
Little footsteps padded up the hall, and Randy opened his eyes. "Hey, sweetheart, having fun with Maris and Cody?"
"Yeah. Is your back ok Daddy?"
"It's better. What did you want?"
"Well, me and Maris and Uncle Cody are gonna have a tea party and I wanted you to come if you were ok." She looked worriedly at her father. This being the first time she could really understand about Daddy being hurt.
"I wouldn't miss tea with my princess. But let's sit at the big table in the kitchen, ok?" Randy sat up and gently stretched. He hated the painkillers, they made him sleepy and lazy, which wasn't fair since he was actually home for a while.
"I'll fill up the teapot, you go get Maris and Cody, ok?"
"You sit here, Uncle Cody – that's Daddy's chair. I'll sit here and Maris you sit next to Uncle Cody." Alanna bossed as the three came into the room.
"Alanna, be nicer. You don't have to tell everyone what to do. It doesn't really matter where they sit, does it?" Randy gently chastened his daughter. Turing around, he nearly dropped the little teapot filled with apple juice.
There, at his kitchen table was a sight he would never forget. Cody, wearing bright, vivid pink and blue eye shadow, with a matching pink blush, glittery lip gloss, and a silver plastic princess crown to top off the look.
"Laugh and I kill you," Cody said in a very conversational tone. Randy just smirked as Alanna served the tea and cookies. "How come Randy didn't have to dress up?" he asked the two other princesses.
"Daddy was hurt and sleeping. Besides, Daddy is the King, and the King doesn't have to dress up cause everybody knows who he is." Alanna answered with perfect logic.
"And because the last time Daddy dressed up, well, first Mommy took blackmail pictures and then my face broke out from the makeup, so I couldn't shave for a couple of days." Randy answered.
"So, what are we doing after the tea party? I'm feeling much better."
"Well, can we feed Fritz? I think he's hungry. Sarah fed him yesterday, but I didn't get to play with him."
"What about Tyler?" Randy asked, referencing the big Boxer.
"Uncle Cody gave him food earlier." Maris answered. "He's big."
"I also put him in the backyard. Alanna said that's where he likes to play when he can't go for a walk." Cody explained.
"Ummm, who's Fritz?" Maris asked.
"My dragon." Alanna answered.
"You do not have a dragon!"
"Yes I do!"
"Un uh. Dragons are only in stories!"
"Not Fritz! He's a real dragon!" Alanna yelled.
"Alanna! Settle down. Yelling at Maris is rude." Randy sent his daughter a look which she recognized as having pushed the line.
"Fritz is a Bearded Dragon. He doesn't fly or anything like a storybook dragon, but he is a dragon. And if you'd like to, Maris, you can pet him while I get his food."
The little girls eyes grew wide at the idea of petting a dragon. "Ok, I guess."
Cody stood up from the table. "I'm going to go wash my face, alright? And you can go feed Fritz. I'll wait in the living room."
Randy carefully lifted the little dragon out of his cage, and set him in a large box with shallow sides. Maris gently stroked the little guy, who simply blinked, waiting for his cricket lunch. "He's spiny. It kind of tickles." "Yep."
Randy returned with a small box of crickets, and set one in the box. Fritz quickly pounced on it, and waited for another. "No fingers in the box while he eats," Randy cautioned. "We don't want little girl fingers mistaken for crickets." The two girls watched, fascinated as Fritz downed the crickets quickly. "Ok, Alanna, you and Maris take his water bowl, wash it out really good and fill it back up. No soap!" Soon the little lizard was back in his regular cage, temperature adjusted and a couple of large kale leaves to munch on, along with a bowl of fresh water.
"Now, let's go see what Uncle Cody is doing."
Cody settled into the large armchair, relaxing for a minute, his face still tingling from the cleanser he used to remove all the stuff the girls had caked on. He swore he still saw glitter everywhere! But, they were having fun and he didn't get much time with Maris, let alone both girls together.
"He's so pretty, Uncle Cody! I want a dragon, too!" Maris informed her uncle as she settled in his lap.
"Well, I don't know much about taking care of dragons. Besides, your mom may not want one. Maybe you can just visit Fritz?"
"How about pizza and a movie?" Randy switched the subject easily. "Now, let me see, Alanna, you want onions and peppers on yours and Cody you want mushrooms and chicken."
"NO!" both of them yelled at the same time. Randy grinned. "Did I get that wrong again? I can never remember what you like."
"I don't like peppers, Daddy. And onions are smelly."
"Randy, you know I hate chicken pizza, there is just something fundamentally wrong with that. Mushrooms are not my favorite thing, but I can ignore them." Cody shook his head.
"Well, how about a pepperoni, bacon, pineapple and black olives? And I can get a medium cheese free with my points." Randy mused as he clicked his way to the pizza website.
"Have we got any Coke or anything? I'm starting to need caffeine pretty badly." Cody asked.
"I'll add a two liter, saves running out later. And, about half an hour and it should be here."
"Now, what movie do we want to watch?"
Alanna opened the large cabinet that held Randy's vast collections of DVD's and a few tapes of movies that weren't available on disc, as well as old family memories.
"Daddy, can we watch our movie?"
"You should let Maris pick, she's your guest."
"But I only get to watch that one with you!" Alanna started to whine. "Mommy doesn't think I should see it."
"What slasher film are you subjecting your daughter to now, Randy?" Cody chuckled as the two Ortons faced off.
"Alanna loves the Corpse Bride. But it might be too scary for Maris. It's really not a kid movie." Randy smirked.
"Maris, we can turn it off if you get scared," Alanna promised. "But I don't think it's scary at all. Mommy doesn't like it though."
"Why is it scary?" Maris asked.
"It has skeletons in it. And stuff like that. Oh, and the girl is supposed to be dead, but she can't be cause she's walking around and getting married." Alanna handed her the DVD case, with the blue bride on the cover.
"That doesn't sound very scary. I like weddings." Maris answered, handing the case to Randy.
An hour and a half later, Alanna had another convert. "That was cool! I loved it. Can we watch it again at your house, Uncle Cody?" Maris gushed.
"Maybe. But for now, pajama time." He picked up the now empty pizza boxes and took them into the kitchen to throw away.
Soon the girls were tucked into Alanna's bed, choosing to share rather than use the sleeping bag on the floor, although Randy had said that more often than not he would find Alanna on the floor in the mornings, tangled in a blanket.
"Night, Sweetie. Night, Alanna. If you need anything I'm right across the hall," Cody soothed, giving each of the girls a kiss on the cheek. Randy followed suit and soon the two were racked out in the living room, randomly channel surfing.
"How do you keep up with her all the time?" Cody shook his head.
"Part of it is practice. I do live with her. And you did an awful lot today keeping them entertained so I could lump out here on the couch."
"Hmmm."
Soon gentle snores could be heard from the recliner Cody had chosen, sleep winning out over the Discovery Channel. And just to think, tomorrow was the trip to the zoo.