Page 53 of His Sassy Little

“How have I never known that’s your favorite cartoon? I love that show!”

“Really? Maybe we can do a sleepover with a Paw Patrol marathon?”

Both women gave their Daddies hopeful looks.

“We’ll see.” The men said in unison.

Two days later, there was a treehouse in the backyard and Sapphire and Arabella were having a sleepover in the living room with Paw Patrol playing nonstop on the television. Tanner hadn’t seen Arabella as carefree and Little around anyone but him. It made his heart soar to know she and Sapphire were fast becoming best friends and that Arabella was becoming so comfortable with her life in Lilton.

Tanner served up pizza rolls and chips with dip for the girls to eat on while they watched their show. He figured if there was a good time for junk food, it was during a sleepover. Hell, he was so happy that Arabella was happy, he might even throw in some candy before bedtime. Maybe. He wasn’t too sure about that one since the girls were already wired from excitement alone.

Chapter Forty-Four

“Shhhhhhh,” Arabella was determined not to get caught, but both girls were so excited over their grand adventure that they kept giggling. At least they were giggling quietly, but they needed to be quieter if this was going to work.

“Okay, oh wise and brave leader,” Sapphire whispered, just a bit too loudly. “Lead on.”

Grabbing the hem of the custom made oversized Paw Patrol T-shirt her Daddy had gotten Arabella for sleep time, Sapphire stuck close to her as they crept through the dark house. Each carried a pillow and blanket for their nighttime shenanigans.

Arabella led the way to the kitchen where she winced when the pantry door squealed a bit as she opened it. She put her finger to her lips in the universal signal for quiet as if the door would heed her and suddenly be miraculously squeak free. Slipping inside the small opening, the furthest she was willing to risk at this stage, she used her phone’s flashlight to locate her target.

“Where are you? Where are you?” she muttered as quietly as possible, “There!” Her whisper shout actually made her jump as if she had already been caught, but when she looked around, she saw nothing but Sapphire waiting patiently at the door. She was watching with wide eyes as Arabella attempted her heist.

Her target was on the top shelf of the pantry, which figured since Arabella was too short to reach it. Sapphire was way taller than her and even she wouldn’t be able to reach their treasure. Arabella considered her options and decided there was only one thing to do. She’d have to climb up to it. She briefly considered the ramifications if she somehow fell, but determined the likelihood was miniscule. She was an excellent climber, after all.

Arabella set her phone, light pointed up, on the floor to illuminate her progress and set about climbing to the treasure they sought. She quickly made her way up, thankfully with no incidents because she really was a stupendous climber. There in front of her was their pirate booty and shiver her timbers she couldn’t wait to get her hands on it.

Arabella snatched up her treasure and considered how to get back down with it in her hands. Then she had another idea because she was super smart too. She placed the booty between her teeth and held it clamped there as she scrambled back down to ground level. Mission one was a success. Now they just had to make it through mission two.

Emerging from the pantry, Arabella held up their booty and Sapphire bounced up and down clapping her hands, causing Arabella to shush her again. At this rate, they would never make it to their final destination but Sapphire quickly stopped clapping, though she did continue to bounce for another minute.

The girls slowly and quietly made their way across the room and to the door that stood between them and their final destination. Arabella quickly put in the code, unlocked the door, and opened it just enough for the two Littles to squeeze out. Once both were out the door, she silently closed it behind them.

The women made their way across the island that separated them from their pirate ship, careful to avoid any native wildlife, especially snakes, by shining their lights across the ground. They were halfway to their goal when a familiar voice asked, “And what are the two of you doing?”

Uh, oh.

The girls quickly spun around toward the voice, making sure to hide their loads behind their backs. Arabella adopted the most innocent look she could muster and thanked her lucky stars that his voice sounded more amused than anything at the moment.

“Why, we’re playing pirates, Daddy.”

“And playing pirates at one o’clock in the morning required you to come outside?”

“Everyone knows a pirate stays with their ship, Daddy.” Arabella brought her hands around to her front showing her blanket and pillow. “We were headed to our ship to sleep.”

“And what is it that you have there with your pillow?”

Shoot and darn!

She had forgotten the treasure was in the same hand as her pillow. She was going to be in so much trouble. Still, she did her best to play it off.

“It’s just our pirate treasure, Daddy. Nothing you need to worry about, since you aren’t a pirate.”

“And how did you procure such a treasure, Little girl?”

“Ummmm,” Arabella thought fast but the best she could come up with on such short notice was, “The powers of my mind?” Why did she say that as more of a question than a statement? There was no way she was getting out of this unscathed now.

“The powers of your mind, huh? And the powers of your mind carried an entire bag of Reese’s Cups from the top shelf of the pantry straight into your hands?” Daddy did not sound like he believed her. He did sound like she had best come clean before things got a lot worse for her.

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