First Live Stream (2)
A bubble gun, and now a water gun. At this rate, next time he'd probably send me a real one.
"Maybe he didn't buy this for me at all—maybe he bought it for my kids? In that case, I should let my younger one slap him in the face a few more times until he comes to his senses."
I picked up the water gun, surprisingly hefty for a children's toy, and turned it over in my hands.
"It's rechargeable, for one, and it has automatic fire… Hmm, for a toy, the quality is actually pretty solid. Something like this can't have been cheap, so as a friend, I'm a little worried. I just hope his wife isn't watching this stream right now."
The moment the words left my mouth, a message arrived from Greg.
"……."
Oh, look at you flexing. Just wait until I get to work—I'm blasting that smug face of yours first thing.
"Well, thanks anyway. We'll put it to good use when the kids go water-playing this summer."
"……."
I considered telling him to stop spamming me already, then decided to just ignore him.
"Alright then, let's move on to the next gift. You want me to demo the water gun? I'll film a video of that another time."
I set Greg's unexpectedly hilarious water gun aside. Then I brought up someone who would snatch everyone's attention right back.
"Shall we open another gift from someone you all might know? This one is from my friend and colleague—the very person I once made a wedding dress for……."
The compact checkered gift box was topped with a ribbon every bit as extravagant as the box itself.
"Judging by the size, it doesn't look like there's only one item inside. Probably a mixed set of smaller things, right?"
Still, Cassandra wouldn't have spent money on anything useless. She had probably packed odds and ends that were practical for the office—miscellaneous, but useful.
Of course, her aesthetic sense and design tastes often clashed with mine. Then again, store-bought designs were all more or less the same, weren't they?
I flipped the lid open quickly. Seeing the various items wrapped in thin pale-pink tissue paper, I nodded.
"Yep, looks like there are several things in here. Shall we start with the top one?"
I carefully unwrapped a flat, solid object.
Rustle.
The moment the item was revealed, I lost the ability to speak for a second. I tore my eyes away at once. If I looked any longer, I really might have zoned out completely.
I hesitated over what to say, then finally managed to open my mouth.
"Um……. This is, uh……. a large and beautiful……. princess mirror."
There was no other way to put it. The pink mirror, nearly as big as the box itself, was a folding tri-fold vanity glass. The problem was that it was extremely flashy—a glittering pink base covered in beads, patterned all over with red cherries.
Jennyfer would absolutely love this if I gave it to her.
"……."
And she meant for me to use it.
I fell silent again, opening and closing the mirror, flipping it this way and that. Somewhere in that stretch, the chat seemed to dissolve into pure laughter.
Cassandra. Seriously?
"Well, the mirror is nice and big, at least. My face, from three angles……."
I glanced left, then right, studying my reflection, then snapped the mirror shut with a crisp click and set it aside before reaching for the next gift.
The next one, also wrapped in the same soft pale-pink paper, felt firm and book-sized by the weight and shape alone.
"Okay, this next one seems to be a book, right? I'm carefully guessing it might be a parenting guide or something……."
How to Become the Princess of My Life
"Looks like a book about building confidence."
I shoved the flashy book cover under the mirror as well and picked up the next gift.
"What on earth is this one?"
I unwrapped the tiny present that fit in my palm as carefully as if it were a hand grenade. By now, unwrapping anything felt faintly terrifying.
"……Oh. This one's normal. It's lip balm."
Pink, sure—but just ordinary lip balm. Small mercies.
A message from Cassandra. I pretended I hadn't seen it. There was nothing worth saying to a traitor.
Granted, I hadn't told her I was doing a gift-unboxing live stream! But she had clearly put this whole theme together just to mess with me.
Thankfully, the gifts after that were fine. When I'd mentioned liking the skincare set from the bridesmaid gift boxes, she had gone and packed several products from the same line. I thanked her for the perfectly reasonable presents, then opened the box Jane had sent by courier.
"This gift is from my friend's mother-in-law. We only crossed paths by chance, and she still went out of her way to send something. I really should thank her properly."
I was genuinely surprised. When Jane had asked Lily, Rose, and Cassandra what I might like, I'd scrambled to put a return gift together myself—but I never expected her to send anything back.
"Hmm. Am I imagining it, or does this wrapping look a little vintage?"
Not vintage-style wrapping. Actual vintage wrapping. As if the item itself had been packaged decades ago and never opened since……?
And my guess was right on the money.
"Whoa. This looks like it's made of sterling silver."
Jane had sent a silver dip pen and inkwell. I marveled for a moment at the craftsmanship—the kind you hardly see these days—then found the card enclosed with the gift. I scanned it quickly and, with a small smile, shared the contents with the viewers.
"She says she received it as a gift a long time ago, but since she has no interest in ink and that sort of thing, she just put it away somewhere—until she heard I was into this kind of thing, and dug it back out."
Jane had kindly added one more note on the card: if I didn't like the item, I should take it to a secondhand shop and sell it. It would fetch at least the silver value, she said.
"Yes, that's what she wrote……. Not a chance. I'm going to treasure this and put it to very good use."
I carefully returned the genuine vintage pen and inkwell—hard to come by these days—to their case.
Next I opened the gifts from Lily and Rose: a set of high-end handmade chocolates. And the gift from Mr. James was, true to form, gloves. I tried on the fine leather gloves with satisfaction—and then I heard the door open.
"Oh."
I looked toward the doorway. Luca stood there, gripping the door, rubbing his eyes as if he still wasn't fully awake.
"One moment."
I excused myself to the viewers, stood up at once, and went to the baby.
"Hey, little one. What are you doing up?"
"……Ungh-ah."
Unless he'd taken an especially long nap, Luca usually didn't wake up easily. So why now? Had my voice been too loud?
As I drew closer, Luca—eyes still not quite open—let go of the door, reached both arms out toward me, and took a couple of toddling steps forward. I scooped him up before he could fall, and he rested his head on my shoulder, mumbled something soft, then went quiet.
Still half-asleep. If I put him down again, he'd probably drop right off.
"Still, my brave little guy. You didn't even cry looking for Daddy."
It really did seem like he had woken up to my voice carrying in from outside the door. Patting his back, I returned to the camera, angling my body slightly so Luca's face turned away from the lens. I rested a hand lightly on the back of his head just in case, and told the viewers I would have to end the stream.
"Even though this was my first stream, so many of you came by—thank you for being here with me. Opening the gifts was that much more fun because of you. And……."
Poot.
"……."
In the middle of my closing remarks, Luca let out a little fart. My words died mid-sentence. I blinked, then couldn't help a small snort of laughter.
"Yes, um, it was fun. I'll try to do another live stream again soon……."
Pooooot.
Wait—Luca…….
The chat erupted into a sea of laughter. At first people had been uncertain, but now everyone had figured out exactly where those tiny toot-toot sounds were coming from. I couldn't hold it in either; my shoulders shook as I laughed.
"Alright then, I'll be heading out for today. Good night, everyone. Merry Christmas."
I ended the stream, brought a blanket from the sofa, and laid Luca down. On my laptop, I chatted for a bit with Greg and Cassandra about the live we had just done. Both of them said Luca's last-minute appearance had left them and their families howling with laughter.
I couldn't help snorting at Greg's message all over again.
White and gray clouds whipped past in front of my eyes. Being this high up, it felt a little cold. Chilly air slapped my face and ran a shiver down my spine.
I looked down. The frying pan I was riding seemed a bit small. I was sure I had bought the largest size available. Maybe even that wasn't enough for a grown man.
Afraid I might fall, I crouched low and gripped the frying pan with both hands. I could feel the air resistance against the bottom of the pan. It flew as if I were riding a fast wave.
Then, between the clouds racing by, a familiar neighborhood began to appear below. Looking closer, it seemed to be the area with the church. I should land there.
Where should I aim for a safe landing? I passed over roads and buildings, searching for something like an open lot, and drew a wide circle through the sky.
……It was a little scary.
Still, staying up here any longer was cold and uncomfortable, so I was just thinking I should start descending—when something approached from behind. I turned around to find a small red biplane flying up alongside me.
It was a cute little biplane, just the right size for one baby, and Luca was in the cockpit wearing a pilot's cap. The child grinned and called out energetically.
"Daddy! What are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm thinking about where to land."
Luca tilted his head.
"But why are you riding a frying pan? That's weird!"
Was it weird?
I looked once at the frying pan I was clutching with both hands, then at the little biplane Luca was flying. Something even weirder, though…….
"Son, since when do you talk this well?"
Yes. That was stranger than me riding a frying pan. Had Luca always spoken like that?
But instead of answering, Luca just grinned again and called out to me once more.
"Daddy!"
"Yeah?"
"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"
"Yeah, what is i—!"
I was trying to answer him when the frying pan suddenly went into a steep dive.
"Aah—wait—!"
"Daddy!"
Smack!
A sharp little palm cracked across my cheek like a bolt of lightning, and I jolted awake with a start.
"……."
Breathing a little hard, I looked around. Luca was grinning at me.
"Daddyyyy!"
"……Yeah. Daddy's up."
So it was a dream. Once I had my bearings, I buried my face deep in the blankets.
What kind of…… weirdly realistic dream was that supposed to be.
My heart was still hammering. Unbelievable…….