"Ah, Diamond!" Mackie hurriedly opened the door and smiled at Diamond, "Welcome to my room! Are you here to play with me?"
"Sure!" Diamond said.
Mackie excitedly held her hand and guided Diamond into her room. The latter looked around the little girl's room and realized that Mackie actually loved sweet-themed characters since her room was filled with Barbies, Hello Kitty, and Disney Princess merchandise.
Contrary to Mackie's bold, active, and even feisty attitude, her room was girly and cute.
Though, it wasn't all that surprising for Diamond because she grew up having the same hobby, just like Mackie. Diamond also loved all kinds of girly stuff, and she also had the same feisty attitude as Mackie.
"You can sit here, Diamond!" Mackie allowed Diamond to sit on a stool while she was preparing a doll house shaped like Cinderella's castle for both of them to play. "You're the first one that will play this dollhouse with me! Uncle bought this for me last week!"
"Really? Then it is my honor, Princess Mackenzie."
Mackie's eyes brightened when Diamond called her Princess. She bowed her heart politely towards Diamond and replied, "My pleasure, Princess Diamond."
Diamond chuckled. She helped Mackie to prepare the dollhouse and then started playing with her. Diamond kept on observing Mackie while they were playing and realized that Mackie acted so much like her when she was young.
Obviously, her family didn't have money to buy this kind of expensive dollhouse when she was young, but Diamond remembered having a few Barbie dolls that she liked to dress up and play house with. She was the typical girly girl, and sometimes the boys made fun of her.
Diamond glanced at Mackie's school bag at the corner of the room and noticed it was glittery pink and filled with Disney princesses. Mackie also had plenty of pink, white, and purple shoes.
Diamond got slightly worried and asked, "Does anyone ever make fun of your pink bag and shoes?"
Mackie tilted, "Why would anyone make fun of my pink bag?"
"Well, back when I was your age, I also loved anything pink. Some of the boys in my school didn't like it and mocked me for being too girly," Diamond said.
"And what did you do to them, Diamond?" Mackie asked again.
"I yelled at them and told them to stop," Diamond chuckled. "Well, that doesn't stop me from wearing anything pink, even now."
"That's good! You shouldn't stop just because the boys bully you!" Mackie snorted.
"Does that mean you get bullied because you're wearing pink too?" Diamond asked. She knew little about Mackie's school because it was under Vernon and Chloe's control.
But she still wanted to ensure that Mackie was not bullied for something she liked.
"Nobody bullies me in my new school, because we're all friends!" Mackie claimed. "And I fight back against those in my previous school because they bullied me."
"Oh-ho, you're surely a pretty little warrior," Diamond teased.
Mackie had a proud grin on her face, "Of course! I promised myself to protect Mommy, I have to be strong!"
"But…" Mackie's smile faltered. She suddenly lost interest in playing with her doll. "My Daddy…"
"What's wrong with your Daddy?" Diamond asked worriedly.
"Um, he told me once that he will throw all of my dolls and pinkies once I get older, because it's too girly. I'm not supposed to play with it because I'm his daughter, and his daughter doesn't play with pinks…." Mackie said. She looked at Diamond with pitiful doe eyes inherited from Chloe. "Diamond, is it true that I'm not allowed to play with dolls and wear pinks after I'm older? Why did my Daddy say that?"
'Well, because your dad is a misogynistic asshole who thinks that femininity is not good,' Diamond replied in her heart. She was trying hard not to say it out loud.
Honestly, she didn't want to conceal that because it was pretty obvious that Mackie had already developed some understanding of what was happening around her. She would eventually realize that her Daddy was an absolute jerk.
But it wasn't her place to tell her the truth. Chloe was the only one who had the right to do that.
"Don't worry about your Dad. He just doesn't like pink," Diamond answered but still tried to be as vague as possible. "Did your Mom and Uncle ever try to stop you from wearing pinks?"
Mackie shook her head, "Uncle said I look like a Princess each time Mommy dresses me up, and he said pink suits me so much. Mommy loves me and is always happy to buy me anything pink if I want."
"Then you have nothing to worry about," Diamond smiled. "Just focus on your Uncle and Mom, and forget about what your Daddy said, okay?"
"Un…" Mackie nodded. She finally regained the mood to play with her doll again.
Diamond was relieved and played some more before she brushed up on the topic of Chloe.
"So, your Mom told me that you're sulking the whole day because she doesn't want to play with you, is that right?"
Mackie said nothing, but she nodded.
"Mackie… your Mom wants to play with you as well, but she is just too busy right now. You can just play by yourself, right?" Diamond suggested.
"… it's not about that," Mackie replied. "I'm fine playing alone. But I want Mommy to play with me so she can rest."
"Mommy looks very tired and sad today. I heard her crying in her room at noon while calling Gran Judith's name," Mackie said. "I don't know what's wrong with Mommy, and I want to help. But each time I ask if she is alright, Mommy would always say she is okay, and try to hide things from me. Is it because I'm just a child? Is that why I shouldn't know about Mommy's trouble?"
Mackie raised her head and stared at Diamond, "Diamond, am I too young to help my Mommy?"
This content is taken from free web nov𝒆l.com