“Daddy, wake up,” Olivia whispered as she poked Brian’s shoulder with her podgy finger.
“Hmm.”
“Daddy,” she whined, a little louder this time. “Are you awake, Daddy?” she cried desperately, as she thumped his arm.
“Livvy? What’s wrong?” Brian asked, his voice laced with panic and slightly gravelly from sleep. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
“Daddy, there are monsters in my room.”
“Why don’t you ask Dada to make them leave?” Brian suggested tiredly.
“Because, Daddy has only just let Dada fall asleep,” Justin mumbled from somewhere deep under the covers.
“Were you having a midnight feast?” Livvy asked sadly, “without me?” The thought of monsters having been briefly forgotten.
Justin reached a sleepy hand out from under the blankets and ruffled Liv’s hair. “Somethin’ like that,” he yawned loudly.
Brian rubbed at his tired eyes before answering. “What are they doing in your room?”
“Who?”
Justin laughed quietly, burying his face in the pillow. Brian reached under the covers and pinched his husband’s side. “The monsters, Livvy.”
“Oh!” she giggled. “They’re talkin’.”
“Well, did you ask them to be quiet so you can go to sleep?”
“They not stopping.”
Brian groaned as he swung his legs out of bed, scooping Olivia into his arms. “That reminds me of somebody.”
“That’s not very nice, Daddy I’m bein’ seyous.”
Brian made his way towards Olivia’s room, shifting her so that she was sitting comfortably on his hip, smiling at the use of her new favourite phrase. “I’m sorry. I know you’re being serious, Livvy . So, what are these scary monsters talking about, huh?”
Olivia giggled and placed her warm hands on Brian’s cheeks. “Daddy, it's okay, dey not scary,” She assured him, leaning in to kiss him on the nose, just like he’d done to her hundreds of times before to calm her down.
“If they’re not scary, then why did you wake me up in the middle of the night, you little monkey?” he teased as he laid Olivia down on her bed and sat down next to her.
Olivia rolled over onto her side and held out her small hand, waiting for Brian to take it.
“’Cos.”
“Because, why?” He prodded, hoping to get more out of the sleepy toddler.
“A party.”
“They’re having a party?”
“Yep. A tea party.”
“A tea party? In your room?”
“Yessss. Down ‘dere.” She told him as she banged her footsie-covered foot on her bed.
“Under your bed?”
“Uh huh, and dey are usin’ my ‘potty teapot.”
He sighed, he was far too tired to correct her, her English was usually pretty good for a three-year-old.
“Well, that’s not very nice of them.”
“And dey didn’t even ask me.”
“Okay… everybody out.” Brian called as he stood up and opened Olivia’s bedroom window and ushered out the imaginary monsters. “You guys need to go and have your tea party someplace else, Olivia needs her sleep. I’m sorry; I know it's cold outside Mr… Mr. Spaghetti Head, but I’m the boss around here and I’m telling you, you all have to leave.”
“Yeah, go to your home. This is OUR home, tell dem, Daddy.” Olivia pouted as she snuggled back under her Peppa Pig comforter and clutched her teddy bear tightly.
“Okay, Livvy, I think they’ve all gone now.” Brian soothed her as he closed her bedroom window and crouched down next to her.
Olivia looked at him and shook her head. “Uh-oh, Daddy.”
“What? What is it?” Brian asked as he looked around the room, unsure of what she was talking about.
“Look."
“What, baby? What am I looking at?”
“Looook. Over dere.”
“What is it?”
“Mr. Giraffeman.” She pointed out, as she sat up and crawled onto Brian’s lap, burying her face in his chest.
“Who?”
Olivia sighed; sometimes her Daddy could be so silly. “Mr. Giraffeman.”
“What about him?”
She sighed and pointed to the window as she explained. “He is over dereee, look. He is too big. He couldn’t get out, Daddy.”
“Are you sure? What if he bent his neck a little, and maybe brought his knees up?”
“No.”
“Maybe if he put his neck out first…”
“No!”
“Or feet first and he could just slide right out…”
“No!”
“No?”
“No, Daddy, be seryous.” Olivia scolded.
“Right, I’m sorry.” Brian smiled at his daughter, not having the heart to ask her how a giraffe would have been able to hide under her bed in the first place, yet be unable to escape through her bedroom window. “Oh, right. Of course. Silly me.”
“Silly, Daddy.”
“So, how about, if he’s not scary, you just let him sleep here for tonight? And then tomorrow I can take care of it?”
“Daddy, he’s a stranger.”
“Right…”
“I’m not s'posed to talk to strangers, ‘member?”
“That’s right; you should never talk to strangers,” Brian stressed, as he ran his hand tiredly through his hair. “I guess I’ll let him sleep in our room, then. Dadda won’t mind.” Olivia yawned and rubbed her eyes as she fought to keep them open, “He’d fit through the front door, Daddy.”
“Right, well you go to sleep, and I’ll make sure he gets out safely, okay?” Brian promised, as he leaned over and tucked Olivia in, wrapping her comforter around her small body, cocooning her in, so she couldn’t move her arms or legs, causing her to laugh sleepily.
“Love you all the boogers in the world, Daddy,” Livvy mumbled as she started to fall back asleep.
“Right back at you, kiddo,” he laughed quietly, before kissing her forehead and standing up. “Alright then, come on Mr. Giraffeman, let’s get you outta here.” Brian led the imaginary monster down the stairs and to the front door, opening and closing it quickly.
“What are you doing?”
Brian jumped at the sound of Justin’s tired voice from behind him.
“Jesus Christ, Justin. You scared the crap out of me.” He laughed, bringing his hand quickly to his chest. “There were noisy monsters in Livvy’s bedroom.”
“Okaay?”
Brian tried to explain himself. “And they all managed to climb out the window, but the giraffe was too big, so he had to leave through the front door, and...”
“You know Olivia Is asleep, right? You could have just told her you were letting him out the front door… and come back to bed,” Justin purred, closing the distance between them and kissing Brian softly on the lips.
“Yeah, I Know. But what kind of daddy would I be if I didn’t let the monster out? After all, then he’d have to come into our room and be noisy.”
Justin ran his hand down Brian’s bare chest. “Yeah, noisy is not good in the middle of the night.”
“Well, Mr. Giraffeman noise, definitely not, but I have some ideas about other kinds of middle-of-the-night noises that you might like…”
“Oh really?”
“Yes. Really. Maybe I should demonstrate…”
“Brian?”
“Yeah?”
“Shut up and come to bed.”