Custom Curios: Daddy Buddy Bear, Part 7
It was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Mack had no classes that day, so they took the time and drove down with Mack's suitcase and her Daddy Buddy Bear in the backseat. For almost the entire trip, they listened to Mack's music choices off of her phone. Andrew knew he'd be happy when he could listen to his own on his drive back.
They pulled into the driveway at 5pm and Nicole came out to greet them.
"Your drive go ok?" she asked Andrew as Mackenzie opened the car's back door.
"Yeah, no problem."
"Thank you for letting her come over for the holiday weekend," Nicole said, sounding a lot friendlier than she ever had been. "I miss her."
"I thought it would only be fair," Andrew said, taking the suitcase from Mackenzie and handing to Nicole. Mackenzie grabbed her bear and carried it, hugging it tightly. "Bye baby," he said to Mack as she came up to them.
"See you on Sunday, daddy," Mack said, kissing him quickly on the lips.
Andrew got back into his car as Nicole and Mackenzie waved and walked into the house, then drove off.
After the pair ate a quick dinner of Mackenzie's favorite spaghetti, meatballs, and garlic bread, they moved into the living room and sat on the couch.
"So, how are you doing?" Nicole asked as Mackenzie sat on the couch next to her.
"I'm ok... just wondering what I'm going to do this weekend," Mackenzie said, briefly looking out the front window as the rain moved in.
"I can imagine with it raining out. I think it's supposed to rain all weekend."
"Yeah... so there's just not a lot to do." Mackenzie seemed a little disappointed, which bothered Nicole. She wanted Mackenzie to have a good time. She wanted her to want to spend more time with her.
"There's tons we can do," Nicole smiled, trying to cheer Mackenzie up.
"I thought about playing some games or something, but I'm not really in the mood."
"We should get out... go shopping... or maybe you can see some of your friends," Nicole suggested.
"Maybe," Mackenzie smiled. "I was thinking about seeing if someone would come over to hang out."
"Someone to play with?" Nicole asked, giggling, as if she was setting up a play date for her little five-year-old.
"Yeah," Mackenzie giggled, too.
"Well, for now at least, why don't we just talk for a while. I would really like that." Nicole really wanted to connect with her daughter again. She didn't want her to just run off with her friends.
"Yeah? We can do that," Mackenzie smiled.
"Your dad's been telling me you've changed a lot since you moved in with him."
"Yeah," Mackenzie nodded.
"He says you're studying more and you're not going out all the time."
"Yeah. He's right," Mackenzie nodded again.
"So... what changed?" Nicole asked. She really wanted to know what he did that she didn't do. Was he strict? Was she too strict? What made her such a bad mom at this? "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm very happy for those changes. I just feel like I failed you somehow."
"Oh, you didn't fail anything. I dunno what changed, really... I just... Daddy Buddy Bear has been a good friend," Mackenzie said, smiling as if there was some secret she wasn't telling. "He keeps me... grounded."
"Ok," Nicole said, a little surprised. She wasn't exactly sure how a stuffed bear could help her daughter study and stay home. "I guess I don't understand, but I'm glad it helped. So what have you been doing at your dad's? Do you have a boyfriend?"
"Yeah," Mackenzie smiled again, looking down as if she knew a secret she didn't want to divulge. "Kinda. Nothing official though."
"Yeah? Aww... look at that smile? Is he pretty cute," Nicole said, tapping Mackenzie playfully on the leg. It was so cute how her little girl seemed so shy to talk about her new boyfriend.
"Yeah."
"So... what have you, you know, done with him?" Nicole asked, smiling, obviously asking about their sexual adventures.
"Done with him? Like... sex?" Mackenzie asked, looking so embarrassed.
"Yeah."
"Um," Mackenzie looked down, blushing a little as if she was too embarrassed to tell. "I don't know if I can say..."
"I know... I'm your mom," Nicole said, lifting Mackenzie's face by the chin. "But, we can be close friends, too. You can talk to me. I know I was kind of crazy when I was your age, too."
"We've, like, done some things, but..."
"Like what?"
"He's, you know, gone down on me, I guess... but..."
"Yeah? Oh, that's the best. If you've got a guy that's willing to go down on you, that's the absolute best. You can just take that all day long," both women laughed. "When I was your age we used to do some crazy stuff with boys."
"Yeah?" Mackenzie smiled, her eyes sparkling.
Nicole loved that look... that look that they were really bonding together, telling each other secrets. "I was a little wild child I guess."
"Have you ever... you know... done it with a girl?" Mackenzie asked.
Nicole looked at her, shocked, shaking her head but smiling. "Oh my gosh... a girl? No." She suddenly felt a little uneasy and embarrassed.
"I hooked up with some friends from the neighborhood recently," Mackenzie admitted.
"Girls?" Nicole asked, surprised yet again.
"Yeah!" Mackenzie smiled as she remembered the incident at the cabin, sharing Daddy Buddy Bear with them, and remembered how much fun it was.
"Oh wow... that's... different," Nicole said, still shocked.
"Didn't you ever experiment when you were young?" Mackenzie asked. "Didn't you, like, practice kissing or anything, you know, with your girlfriend?"
"No... I can't say that I ever did."
"Well, like you've always told me, you're never gonna know if you like something unless you try it," Mackenzie said, suddenly sounding so wise. "We had lots of fun. It was awesome!" Mackenzie was smiling broadly, her face shining as she remembered what they did.
Nicole was confused at Mackenzie's obvious enjoyment of what she'd done. "At your dad's house?"
"Well... we stayed at a cabin for a weekend," Mackenzie admitted.
"Yeah?"
"You know," Mackenzie said, touching Nicole's leg. "They would really love you! I thought about inviting them over while I'm here." She giggled, especially because of Nicole's obvious uneasiness.
"Mackenzie!" Nicole said, sternly, but still laughing a little in embarrassment. Where would Mackenzie ever get the idea that she was allowed to have sex with girls in her house? Where would she ever get the idea that Nicole would even be into girls. "Who?"
"Samantha and Alexis."
"Oh," Nicole said, a little surprised. "Alexis always seemed far too shy for that sort of thing. How in the world did you guys get into that?"
"We were playing... with Daddy Buddy Bear of course... and things just... happened," Mackenzie said rather cryptically.
"Just happened?" Nicole asked. That was far too little information for her to go on.
Suddenly a sing-song voice sang out from Mackenzie's bedroom. "Hiya! I'm Daddy Buddy Bear! It's a perfect day to have some fun!" the bear said happily.
"Is that the bear?" Nicole asked, looking towards the sound. "I forgot he talked."
"Oh yeah, that's Daddy Buddy Bear," Mackenzie said, her eyes lighting up in delight.
"That sounds a little annoying," Nicole giggled. She remembered giving Mackenzie talking toys and musical toys growing up and remembered how quickly the sound annoyed her. Mackenzie never minded but Nicole and Andrew sure did.
"Nah... I actually like hearing him," Mackenzie said, sliding to the edge of the couch. "Well, I'm... I'm gonna go in my room and... and read or something, ok?"
Nicole thought Mackenzie seemed extremely eager to go to her bedroom for some reason. Was it something about the bear? "Oh... but the movie's not over."
"That's ok," Mackenzie said as she got up and walked quickly toward her bedroom. "We can watch it some other time. Ok?"
"Um, ok," Nicole said, suddenly alone on the couch. She stopped the movie, turned off the TV, then curled her legs under herself, sitting in silence.
Mackenzie slipped into her room and mostly closed the door behind her. She smiled as she adjusted it just right, so that it was open just a little bit, enough to see in from the hallway.