Everyone let out another round of cheers and we all settled in to watch, what for a lot of us was, our first movie.
While we were grabbing our snacks, Iris and Dash walked over to the table, stopping in front of us.
“Viper truly outdid himself with all of this,” Iris said, smiling. “The first time he met me, the only thing I got from him was a bottle of hand sanitizer.”
My cheeks darkened. I had hoped she had forgotten about that. It appeared she hadn’t.
“Lucky for you, I believe in giving out better gifts than the one he gave me.” Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a coveted Beanie Baby, handing it to Oz who appeared stunned.
“For me?”
Both Iris and Dash nodded.
Iris placed it Oz’s hand. “I know you’ll take good care of Hoppity. She has missed her brother Floppity. Now since Viper is the one who I gifted him to, they can finally be together again.”
There, sitting in Oz’s palm, was the perfect match to my Floppity; all except for the color. Instead of purple, this one was a pale shade of pink.
Oz cleared her throat, her hand gently closing around her new possession. “Thank you. I don’t…just thank you.” She threw her arms around Iris, hugging the hell out of her.
Iris hugged her back and I knew it wouldn’t be long before they were hanging out together. Oz may be prickly, but I was overjoyed that others were able to see the softer sides of her.
Iris and Dash walked away, returning to their seats, and after gathering up our snacks, we found ours.
Oz sat down in my lap after carefully sitting Hoppity onto the mat next to us.
Suddenly, she twisted in my lap, her legs wrapping around my waist. “No one has ever done anything like this for me before. I’ll never forget it. In case I haven’t told you yet, thank you for hating me.”
I grinned, my lips capturing hers in a kiss. “I love you, too, Oz.”