Chapter Forty-Three: Innocent Toddler Crushes

                                    

                                          
Calisto (Daddy) POV:
                          
Standing here watching Clara blush and play shy, irks my soul. That's my little girl right there! No little boy is going to make her blush like that. Walking towards the Queen, I grab Clara from her arms. "Nu, Daddy! Cwara twalkin chu owive." Clara reprimands me. 
                          
"Oh, you're talking to Olive? Well, you can talk to Daddy. How about that?" I ask her, gently bouncing Clara in my arms. 
                          
"Nu, Daddy." Clara shakes her head at me and stretches her arms out towards the Queen, trying to get Ava to pick her up. 
                          
The Queen shakes her head and laughs, handing Olive off to Grace. "Come here, cutie. I'll hold you." I grumble but pass Clara off anyways. I have to remember she's a Queen and I have to play nice. 
                          
The Queen coos over Clara, lightly pinching her chubby cheeks. Grace on the other hand, is smitten with Olive. The little boys infatuated with Grace's necklace. "We'll have to have a play date the next time you visit. Clara is absolutely lovely, Olive already loves her." The Queen says, rocking Clara gently in her arms. 
                          
"I completely agree. Olive here is so precious. I've never held a human little boy before. He's just the chubbiest." Grace coos. 
                          
"Oh! Is that a little tooth I see coming in?" The Queen exclaims. 
                          
"Yes, she just started teething recently. That's her first little tooth. Clara, tell Queen Ava about what the tooth fairy brought you." Grace prompts. 
                          
"Ewephant." Clara replies, talking about Bruno. 
                          
"She brought you a elephant? So cool! The tooth fairy brought Olive a dinosaur stuffy when he lost his teeth." Queen Ava replies. 
                          
Out of nowhere, Atticus comes running into the room yelling, "I finished the dishes! Give me my baby!" 
                          
You can see the exact moment he realizes there's important people in the room. His back straightens, and he checks his shirt to make sure there's no stains on it. "Sorry about that, that's my third husband, Atticus." Grace laughs, breaking the awkward moment. 
                          
"Papa! Owive!" Clara yells over to Atticus, pointing to the little boy now chewing on Grace's necklace. 
                          
He honestly is a cute little one. He's wearing a little suit. Except instead of suit pants, he has black shorts on that expose his chunky thighs, with black knee high socks on. 
                          
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Queen Ava and that's my husband, King Steven, and our little boy, Olive." The Queen gestures towards her husband then Olive, smiling at Atticus.
                          
Atticus approaches the Queen and King, briefly shaking their hands. Clara holds her arms out for her Papa so Atticus picks her up, kissing her chubby cheek. "Is this your boyfriend?" Atticus asks Clara, gesturing towards Olive.
                          
Clara nods her head, quite happy with herself. Ava, Steven, and Grace laugh. While Dechen and I stew together. We all know how Clara was conceived. I'm not about to have a repeat of that event with Clara and Olive. No thanks. 
                          
Atticus sets Clara down on the floor and she crawls towards the basket of toys I keep for her in the corner. Olive wiggles in Grace's arms, so she sets him down as well. Instead of crawling like Clara does, Olive wobble-walks over towards Clara. 
                          
"He walks?" I ask in shock. 
                          
"Yes, when we adopted him, we wanted him to be able to walk. The doctors tweaked his regression shot a little bit so he's able to walk. Although, he's not that good at it." The King explains. 
                          
"Wow, I didn't know that. I like carrying Clara, though." Grace says, watching Olive and Clara play.
                          
Then Olive does something I never thought I would see, I feel like I'm going to faint. Olive gives Clara his pacifier when he sees Clara stick her fingers in her mouth. That's like to toddler equivalent of an engagement ring!