Page 8 of Let's Go To Camp!

“What do you do?” Naomi asked.

“I’m a boring cyber-security specialist for an investment firm. I keep their money safe and stop hackers.”

“Boring?Thatsounds exciting!” Naomi said.

“Thank you. But it’s not,” Maisie replied.

“But you fight criminals!”

“Trust me. The most dangerous part of my job is the sexist jerk I work with.” She smiled. “But who cares about him right now? I’m super excited to be right here.”

She walked into the center of the spacious living room and turned a slow circle, taking it all in.

“Ladies,” she finally said. “I think this is going to be the best few days of my life. What do you say? You all in?”

Naomi perked up and said, “Hold on. There are some juice boxes in the fridge.” She grabbed some in the kitchen and then tossed one to Sophia and one to Maisie. “How about a toast? To the best week ever!”

The other women poked the straws into the boxes and raised them.

“To the best week ever!” they repeated.

With that, the three Littles took a drink.

Chapter Four

“That looks like Declan O’Connor in the flesh!”

The words were spoken by Marcus Johnson.

Marcus was a big Black man who stood a head taller than almost everyone else, with hard muscles packing his massive frame. He looked every bit the former college and pro football player that he was. Now, though, he’d stopped taking hits while guarding a line and had a much gentler job of coordinating physical activities for Littles who attended Camp Mountainville.

As a Daddy, it was his dream gig. Even more than the NFL had been.

“How are you?” Declan asked, going into the big man’s arms for an embrace.

Declan had some size. Standing three inches over six feet, and with plenty of strength himself, he rarely felt physically small. But when hugged by Marcus, that’s exactly how he felt.

“I’m doing good, man. Ready to get this week underway,” the ex-football player said. “New batch of Littles, more fun to be had.”

The two men were standing on the wide, freshly paved sidewalk that wound through the center of camp. Just to Declan’s left was a chain-link fence that bracketed the swimming pool complex. Even from where he stood, he could see the glint of the sunlight as it shone off the blue water. The smell ofthe saltwater system they used to treat the water reached his nostrils, making him want to take a dip.

He didn’t miss the ocean. Or people almost drowning. But he already missed being in the water. It was kind of his thing.

“I’m ready, too,” he admitted. "How has camp been so far?”

“Only had one week before you got here,” Marcus said. “But it went well. It’ll go even better now that you’re here to run the pool. Man, how’d you score so much time away from the Guard?”

Declan grinned. “Been saving that up for years. And get this, they’re making me take it. I didn’t ask for three months off. They told me to use it or lose it.”

“Nice!” Marcus said. He paused for a moment and shot his old friend a knowing smirk. “Now, the last time I talked to you, where was it? Back at that convention in Hollywood?”

Declan nodded.

“Yeah. Anyway,” Marcus went on, “seems like you mentioned you were still looking for a Little sweetie of your own. Any luck in that department?”

“I wish,” Declan said with a sigh. “What about you?”

Marcus shook his head. “But we’re in the right spot. Lots of cuties come through here. But just a word of warning: they’ll try to pull stuff. Lots of mischief, if you know what I mean. It’s best we’re on our guards.”

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