The other day, I was playing with Ashton--tickling and teasing him... just trying to make him laugh. We were having a great time! Knowing how he abhors it, I teasingly said, "Ashton LOOOOOVES to kiss girls, right?" Instantly, the expression on Ashton's face became sad and very serious. He looked like he was going to cry. Perplexed, I said, "Ashton, have you kissed a girl?" Looking completely ashamed, Ashton turned his eyes to the ground and nodded his head. I was starting to get worried--seeing how upset Ashton was acting. "Who?" I asked. Very softly, Ashton murmured, "Beauty and the Beast..." Which brings me to the story behind the story.
Rewind four months.
The last week of May (just after Ashton's birthday), the Stevens family went to the Playmill Theatre to see "Beauty and the Beast." The cast started the show in their usual way--having audience members who were celebrating birthdays come to the stage to be sung to. "What a fun thing for Ashton to get to go up on stage!".... we thought. (How wrong we were.)
It started out fine. Look how brave Ash is being...
He is showing how old he is!
Do you see that dead look in his eyes? The strange smile? Sitting on a stranger's shoulder is not going over well. Things are starting to go downhill...
One of these faces is not like the other...
At this point, I was dying in my chair because I knew that Ashton was done! He was being so strong holding back the tidal wave of tears building behind those eyes. I thought he was going to make it until the worst possible ending to all of this happened.
Though we didn't catch a picture of this (dang it), two darling girls from the cast came up on either side of Ashton and planted a kiss on his cheeks at the same time. Oh my. Ashton does NOT do kisses. Especially from strangers! The moment he made it back to my chair, he began wailing in agony! He buried his face in my shoulder for at least ten minutes. And our conversation the other day proves that those kisses left much more than a lipstick stain. This poor, kiss-hating boy seems to be scarred! (Now, if only we can keep him scarred until he's back from his mission....)
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