Luke & Liam: Jolly Jungle

Liam smiled, feeling a warm glow as he finished what must've been his tenth watch-through of Luke's performance of the Reindeer Pokey from last December. He had zoomed in on Luke just to confirm his suspicions: Luke's blue and white Pull-ups peeked a few times, especially during his most vigorous butt waggles.

Of course, Liam thought, if I wanted to see Lukey loo's Pull-ups... He looked down at Luke, who was sprawled on the floor, playing with Duplo, the LGMs from Toy Story on the butt of his Pull-ups. He sucked on his pacifier even as he noticed Liam watching him.

"Come here, baby." Liam said, holding his arms out. Luke automatically grabbed Teddy before climbing into Liam's lap. Liam chuckled, hugging him close and kissing the top of his head. It was so interesting to him how the Luke in the video seemed so much more mature than Lukey on his lap, despite being a year younger and a few inches shorter. In the year since, Luke had grown enough that his blue and green snowsuit from last year was too small and Liam had had to scramble to find a replacement. Thankfully, one of Luke's friends from kindergarten had had one. It had been cute seeing Johnny bouncing up and down excitedly telling Luke about everything he was doing in first grade as Liam dressed Luke in the snowsuit. Not only was it bright orange and a fairly babyish shade of light blue, the sleeves ended in mittens so Luke had absolutely no hope of getting out of it without help.

"Lukey's having almost as much fun at Jolly Jungle." Liam said as he zipped the snowsuit up. "Isn't that right?" Luke's meek little nod was almost hidden as Liam pulled the hood over his head. "Good thing you're in Pull-ups." Liam whispered. "You're practically encased in there!"

Jolly Jungle was the preschool and daycare connected to the school. It had actually been the school administrators who decided that Luke would be better off doing a half day at Jolly Jungle than try to navigate the thorny situation of all his kindergarten friends moving up to first grade without him. On paper, it seemed strange, but Liam knew in his heart that it was the perfect solution for a special boy like Luke.

“Do you know what tomorrow is?”

“Friday.” Luke replied at once.

“Sing the song!”

“I know my days of the week.” Luke said softly enough that he might have been trying to reassure himself before he started the song. “There's Monday and there's Tuesday, there's Wednesday and there's Thursday, there's Friday, Saturday, Sunday, the days of the week.”

“But what do we call Friday?” Liam asked, giving Luke a squeeze. “Teddy forgot.” Luke looked at Teddy as if he couldn't believe the silly bear forgot again.

“Fun Day.”

“And why do we call it that?”

“Because I don't do any-”

“Any big boy school.” Liam said. Seeing the objection already forming, he gave Luke a hug. “I know you're a big boy, but Jolly Jungle is so much more fun than boring old school, right?” Luke shrugged.

“I mean, at Jolly Jungle, I have to participate. In school, I'm getting graded on me just being there, aren't I?” Luke had been terrified the first week or so of school when he hadn't done his homework. Liam told him it would be fine and sure enough, his teachers didn't seem to expect him to do homework, take tests, or even answer questions. The most important thing he had learned this school year was to trust Liam and everything would work out.

“It's a little more complicated than that, but yes. Close enough.” He smiled and kissed Luke, glad that they had been able to make arrangements that benefited Luke so perfectly.

* L *

The next morning, Liam stood in the bathroom, excited for what the day would bring. He could not get distracted though. He knew it was a little silly to worry about Luke being alone for only a few minutes. It wasn't like he was actually a preschooler! On the other hand, he had become so dependent on Liam that he did worry deep down. He hurried through his morning routine and, as soon as he saw Luke, he knew he had been right to.

Luke was dressed just as he had left him, just Pull-ups and his snowman sweater, and was playing with toys rather than getting ready to go.

"Lukey." Liam said. Luke yelped and rolled over to face him, guilt written all over his face.

"I... got distracted."

"Pants, mister." Luke shuffled over and dutifully stepped into his pants. "Lukey, we have to focus so we aren't late. I gotta get you to daycare so I can get to school." Luke's nose had wrinkled and Liam knew he had misspoken.

"It's not daycare! It's Jolly Jungle!"

"I know, I'm sorry." Liam said. "You're a big boy."

"I am!”

“Well, right now, big boys need to listen so we can get ready to go.” Liam said in that practiced gentle, but deliberate tone. Luke, however, seemed to have woken up on the silly side of the crib because he abruptly went from pouting guiltily to running away with a squealing giggle. “I really don't have time for this.” Liam muttered under his breath before giving chase.

In the couple of minutes it took Liam to catch him, Luke managed to get his pants off. Two can play at that game, Liam thought as he picked up first Luke's pants and then Luke himself before heading to the front door.

“Alright, buddy, snowsuit time.” Liam said. Luke giggled, thinking it was yet another silly game as Liam began to dress him in his snowsuit without putting his pants back.

“I need my pants.” He said as Liam threaded his arms through their respective sleeves.

“We'll put them on on the other end.” Liam said. “We really can't be late.”

“But”

“You wanted to be silly.” Liam pushed Luke's pacifier into his stammering lips. “And this is the price you pay.” He could tell from Luke's eyes, the only thing still visible, that this was a grave injustice in his mind. “Don't wanna be late! Santa's watching!” Luke's eyes changed abruptly and he began to bounce on his heels, a sure sign that Luke was ready to go. “Now I'm the one holding us up!” Liam said, slipping the straps of his backpack over his broad shoulders. “Hello, Lukey!” He said in the voice that was universally understood to be Teddy's, the bear's head poking out of Liam's backpack. “Hand.” Luke looked as if he might blast off soon with how much his boots were tapping on the floor. “And away we go!”

Luke knew Santa wasn't real, but he was starting to wonder if he really knew that. Everyone at Jolly Jungle, including the teachers, seemed to believe in Santa. Even Liam seemed entirely convinced that Santa Claus, the man in red himself, was going to be at Jolly Jungle today. Luke pondered this as he waddled along, Liam's grip so strong and constant, Luke could feel it even through the mittens so thick, they made it impossible for him to unzip his snowsuit. Liam wouldn't ever let Santa think he was naughty, would he?

The rest of the walk to the school and Jolly Jungle right next door was spent going over his misdeeds of the last year. Luke was pretty sure he had been mostly good, probably better than a lot of people. He didn't steal things, he didn't hit. He shared! He hugged! All the same, he could not help but feel as though he might just be considered naughty. He had been playing instead of getting ready just that morning, after all. He whimpered nervously, finding none of his usual comfort in his pacifier.

“Alright, we gotta rush.” Liam said, more to himself than to Luke as they reached a crosswalk where the hand was already flashing with a countdown. He scooped Luke up, pressing him against his shoulder as he speedwalked across the intersection.

Luke had only just begun to feel the cold in his snowsuit when they arrived in the warmth of Jolly Jungle. This had been his routine every Friday morning since the start of school all the way back in September, but the chaos of a preschool in the early morning still took him by surprise. He tried to look at everyone and everything around him, so distracted by all the commotion that he forgot he wasn't wearing pants until Liam had unzipped his snowsuit and he stood there in his snowman sweater and Pull-ups.

"I see Lukey's diaper!" Simon said with a giggle as his mom extracted him from his coat.

"It's not a diaper!" Luke whined. Liam hugged him to prevent an escalation.

"Now, Lukey." Liam said, rubbing his back slightly above the papery-plastic of his still exposed Pull-ups. "It is too a diaper and I know you know that."

"But"

"It's okay to wear diapers, isn't it?" Liam said. "I mean, what else would babies like Lukey wear to Jolly Jungle?" Luke nodded, recognizing Liam's logic. "What would baby Lukey wear if it was a big boy school day?"

"Undies."

"But even in your undies, what are you?"

"A baby." There was no note of reluctance in Luke's voice. He was matter-of-fact about being a baby, which only made sense since here at Jolly Jungle, just like at home, that was how he would be treated.

"That's right! So, does my baby want to put his pants on?" Luke nodded. "Use your words, Lukey pooky baby boo!"

"Pants, please." Luke said softly, already lifting one of his adorable little feet to step in.

"Please and thank you, please and thank you's what we say, 'swhat we say." Liam said as Luke used his shoulders to steady himself to step in. He smiled as he noticed Luke silently mouthing along with the words. "When we're talking, when we're talking, every day. Every day." Most of the Jolly Jungle songs were repeated so frequently, you couldn't help but learn them, even if you were only a part time student like Luke. They were catchy and simple, two things that Liam liked for Luke, even if he found himself sometimes humming them in class. Only a few nights ago, Luke had struggled to remember the Reindeer Pokey he had sang just last year, but he never seemed to forget a Jolly Jungle jingle.

"Thank you, big brother." Luke hugged Liam as Liam tucked his snowsuit and boots into the cubby with Luke's name written above it.

"Run off to Circle Time, Lukey."

"Aren't you staying today?"

"That's right, but remember how we talked about it? You need to stick to your usual Fun Day routine even with me here." That wasn't all that they had discussed, but Liam didn't want to make little Lukey late with a lecture. He got to his feet, smiling as Luke ran off and gave Simon a hello hug, the earlier diaper comment apparently forgotten.

Luke tried to focus on the morning's Circle Time activities, but he kept looking over at Liam. He seemed to constantly have one or two of Luke's new classmates in his lap. Luke wondered why he wasn't allowed to climb into Liam's lap, but remembered that he was supposed to pay attention to Miss Katie, who was leading them through the colors of the rainbow.

"Red! Apples are red. Firetrucks are red!" Liam watched Luke, marveling at how much he seemed to belong as he dutifully recited with the rest of the preschoolers. It was almost as cute as the way he kept acting like he didn't want to run over and climb into Liam's lap. The little boy who loved nothing more than snuggles was acting like he was too big for it. It was cute, especially since it was all thanks to Liam's persistence that little Lukey was so clingy.

"Very cute." Liam murmured, his lap suddenly abandoned as Circle Time transitioned into wiggling out your sillies. He watched Luke bounce and giggle and squirm with everyone else, pausing only for a moment as one of the adults pulled out the back of his pants in what must've been one of the most blatant diaper checks. Luke wasn't the only one who got checked, but Liam noticed Simon didn't get one. That made sense with how loudly he had pointed out Luke's Pull-ups.

“We're gathering all the bigs in the storage room.” One of the teachers said, touching his arm. “To help prepare for the special surprise.” Liam smiled, feeling especially grown up that he was a part of making the day extra special for Lukey and the other little ones.

He emerged from the storage room just in time to see Luke being led by the hand to another room. It wasn't naptime yet, so where was he going? Luke looked over his shoulder at Liam and he immediately knew. Well, that was one of the perks of Jolly Jungle. Sure enough, Luke came back out a moment later, his cheeks a little red as he rejoined the group he had been playing with.

“Alright, everyone.” Miss Katie said, clapping her hands. “Let's all gather back over at the circle rug because we have a special visitor.”

“Who is it?”

“I think I heard sleigh bells!” The teacher who had directed Liam to the storage room said playfully. The room buzzed with excitement and Liam chuckled as he saw Luke starting to get caught up in it.

“Everyone sit down in the circle and we'll sing to bring you-know-who!”

“What should we sing?”

It took a few minutes to calm the room full of preschoolers down, but they were soon sitting in a rough circle, sing-shouting Rudolph, followed by Jingle Bells.

“I think Santa's almost here!” Miss Katie said, almost immediately droned out by soprano shouts of ‘Santa!’.

“Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus!” The teachers began with the kids joining in, though one or two only shouted Santa's name rather than sing along. Liam heard the door open and smiled as a familiar man in red and white entered, any semblance of orderly singing forgotten as the room practically exploded in excited squeals. Liam looked away from Santa and found Luke bouncing up and down just as eagerly as any of the other little kids. He fits right in, Liam thought fondly.

“Ho! Ho! Ho!” Santa boomed. “Are there some good boys and girls here?” He laughed as the kids’ bouncing only sped up. “Well, let's get started then!”

“They're never going to get them to sit still for the Santa story.” One of the other ‘bigs’ remarked to Liam. He chuckled, but watched with admiration as the teachers managed to wrangle the kids back to the circle time rug.

“When Santa says your name, you'll go sit on his lap. Parents, that's your time to shine, so have those phones ready! Santa's a busy guy this time of year, so we don't want to wait for you to get your phone out.”

Luke stared up at Santa, amazed that it really was him! The Santa at the mall had been wearing a fake beard, but this Santa? This was the real Santa, he knew it. Maybe that was why everyone said Santa wasn't real. The actual Santa couldn't be everywhere, so it was rare to see him. But here he was, at Jolly Jungle.

“Luke, you're up.” Miss Katie said. Luke gasped and hurried to his bare feet, running over to Santa.

“Hi, Santa!”

“Hi, Luke!” Santa replied, pulling him into his lap. “Have you been a good boy?” Luke nodded.

“Yes, Santa.”

“That's wonderful!” Santa said. “Oh, let's go ahead and smile. Looks like your big brother Liam is going to take a photo.” Luke gasped and looked up at Santa adoringly. Miss Katie had told Santa his name, but how had he known Liam's? This was definitely the real Santa. “Look at Liam, Luke.” Santa coaxed.

“No, that's fine, Santa. I got the perfect photo of a starstuck little Lukey.” Liam pocketed his phone, wondering if it was too late to make that the family Christmas card as he picked Luke up.

“You got to meet Santa!” He said, checking Luke's Pull-ups as he carried him a short distance away from the group, the next kid already making her way up to Santa.

“Uh-huh.” Luke said. The excitement of the moment had passed and he had returned back to earth with a horrible realization: he had lied to Santa!

“What's wrong, Lukey?”

“I… I” he began to sniffle.

“Uh-oh. Lukey.” Liam slipped into the nap room, where cribs waited for the kids like Lukey who still napped in a crib. “What's wrong?”

“I lied to Santa!” He wailed. “I wasn't good. I'm bad!”

“What?” Liam wasn't sure what he had expected Luke to say, but it wasn't that. “You're definitely not naughty, Luke. I promise.”

“But I was playing instead of getting ready this morning. And I hit Johnny a few weeks ago. And… and…” he knew there were more bad things he had done, but he was feeling too overwhelmed to think of them.

“Oh, Lukey.” Liam hugged him tightly, rubbing his back until all his worries were gone. “You're a good boy. I should know. You're my good boy, after all.”

“But”

“But nothing. Santa knows that sometimes, little boys don't do what they should, but he still loves you.”

“He does?”

“Uh-huh. He let you sit on his lap, didn't he? He didn't say ‘I can't go to Jolly Jungle! That naughty little boy Luke is there!’, did he?”

“No.”

“Exactly.” Liam kissed Luke's tear-soaked cheek. “Santa knows that you're trying very hard to be the best little boy you can possibly be. He knows you love me and Mommy and Daddy. You do, don't you?”

“Yeah!” Luke seemed slightly offended Liam even had to ask.

“See? You're a good boy.” Liam chuckled. “Just the thought of maybe being naughty made you cry. A total good boy.” Luke giggled. He was a good boy! Of course big brother Liam knew that. “Ready to go back out? You've got a whole day of fun and I've got to get to school.” Luke nodded, so Liam gave him one last kiss. It was only a few hours, but he was really going to miss his baby boy. Winter break and days of long snuggles couldn't get here fast enough.