Chapter 10
10
“What are you doing on your day off, sweet boy?” They had a school holiday today and while I wished my company shared in celebrating it as well, I was stuck at the office instead. The weeks were getting far too long and moving far too slowly without my boy sharing my bed each night.
“Hi, Daddy.” I could see him waving at the phone even though we weren’t facetiming. “I’m just playing with my cars, and I made a special frame for the picture you colored for me. How’s work?”
That boy had such a pure heart. “Boring, but I have good news. At least, I think it’s good news. We got invited out on Saturday night?”
“We did? Where are we going?”
“To Adam and Brandon’s for dinner. What do you say?”
“I say yes, of course. I haven’t seen him since the night we first met at the club. It’s been too long but that explains why Brandon texted me earlier and asked what my favorite thing to eat was.”
Trevor and I had spent every weekend together and while we were both ready to take it to the next level, he had a hard time leaving his mom, which I understood. Frustrated? Yes, but never angry. I enjoyed Lila and to be quite honest I was envious of the relationship Trevor had with his mother. I wished I’d had the chance to do the same with mine when she was around.
“Are you leaving soon?”
“I am. I’ll be over in about an hour. Are you all packed?”
“Bumble and I are ready to go, Daddy.”
“Excellent, Sweet Bee. I’ll see you soon.”
After I hung up, I stared at my overflowing inbox. Would I accomplish much in an hour? Likely not, especially not with a certain little on my brain.
“Fuck it.” I logged off and purposely left my laptop at the office and called it a day.
“Daddy, you’re early.” Trevor hugged me as soon as he opened the door.
“I couldn’t stand to be away from you any longer. Where’s Mom?”
“She said she had errands to run so she’s out doing mom stuff.” He grabbed my hand and tugged me down the hall. “Look, Daddy.”
There it was above his bed in the cutest popsicle stick frame. “I love it, Trevor. It’s perfectly us.” He had these little wood bees and ladybugs he’d glued to the frame. “I’m glad you like Daddy’s artwork.”
His room was tidy, simple, yet cute. His few toys were nicely tucked away in open baskets on a shelf. “Your room is very clean. Such a good little bumble bee. Speaking of which, are Bumble and his new friend ready to go?”
“Yes, Daddy.” He scooped up both while I snagged his backpack and clipped his bumble bee binky holder with the binky onto his shirt. “Thank you, Daddy.”
“You’re welcome, Little Bee. You have your key and phone?” A quick pat to his pockets confirmed that. “Great, then we are off and daddy has a big prezzie for you.”
“Are we still going to Brandon and Daddy Adam’s house tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow night, we are. But during the day this weekend you and I have a fun project we’re doing together.” He locked up the door and we loaded up in the car.
He’d barely just refrained from squealing realizing we’d likely end up in a car crash if he did. “I love doing project and crafts and really everything with you, Daddy.”
This boy warmed my heart through and through. “And I you, Sweet Bee. This one will be a lot of hard work and we’re gonna get dirty but in the end it will bring your love of many things together.”
As the words sunk in, his face scrunched up.
“Don’t hurt yourself over there,” I teased as we pulled into the garage. “Your thinky face is thinky intense.” I couldn’t wait to see his face and dodge the millions of questions headed my way when he saw the piles of random stuff out back.
“Daddy, what’s going on out here?”
“That, my beautiful bee, is most of your surprise.”
“Construction was something I love?”
My laughter echoed through the house. “No, Sweet Bee. You don’t love construction that I’m aware of, do you?”
He shook his head. “But a gift as big as this one requires a hammer and tools and your daddy just doesn’t work well with those. Open your present on the table.”
Trevor ripped into the paper far more cautiously than he did with the crepe paper from his first gift. “You found dungarees with bees on them and the cutest straw hat. Thank you, Daddy.”
These were perfect for the work we’d get dirty in tomorrow. Dungarees were built for it and would easily wash up.
“You are very welcome. Are you ready to hear about the rest of your surprise?”
“Yes, please.”
“Follow me.”
We went out into the maze of messes, and I watched as he wandered around, picking up random things here and there. Trevor was organized if nothing else and I figured this would drive him mad.
“See the “U” shaped raised beds over there?” I pointed over toward the area where the contractor had built the raised beds.
“Yes.”
“Those are the beginning of our new garden. We’ll have sunflowers and lots of other flowers plus some fruits and veggies so all the bees and ladybugs can land here for you to enjoy.”
“OMG! Daddy. Seriously?”
“Seriously, my little bee. And over there.” I pointed across to the other side of the yard. “That wood frame is filled with sand and inside it will be your new jungle gym. The contractor will be back tomorrow to put it together for you while we fill the flower beds with all those bags of soil and plant the seeds. It’ll be a really busy, really dirty day that will end with us playing in the sprinkler.”
“Yay!” He jumped up and down, cheering and clapping. “My daddy is the best.”
“You deserve all the happiness in the world, my love.”
This was something I’d wanted to do for some time now. It took a bit of planning because I wanted it to be just right. Eventually we’d live here together, and I already pictured my little bee out here with the hose watering everything and talking to all his little insect friends. Gods, I couldn’t wait for that. Trevor was my everything. Now next on the list was converting the spare room into his playroom. Though the shelving and bins in the living room would work for now, it was important he have his own space within our future home.
After dinner, we ran to the plant store to pick out all the plants for our garden so we’d be ready to get to work early tomorrow morning.
“I have an idea, Daddy. What about the middle section is sunflowers then one side is fruits and the other our veggies?”
“That’s a fantastic idea. Why don’t we pick out a couple of planters to put flowers in and set them on the porch?”
“I love that.”
We ended up with raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries for our fruit side. For the icky veggie side, Trevor’s words not mine, he picked tomatoes and basil while I chose carrots, bell peppers, chives, and squash. I promised Trevor I’d make dishes he’d enjoy, though I saw the doubt in his eyes. My boy was not a fan of vegetables at all.
“The pansies look happy, Daddy, let’s get those for the pots. The lavender smells wonderful, too.”
We ended up with both and a lot of sunflower seeds. “Daddy, can we get another pot for these really pretty Gerber daisies?”
“Good choice. I love how vibrant the colors are. These can go on the front porch if you’d like.”
“Mmm, let me think about it. Whatever is out back we’ll see more of.”
“True and now that it’s summer we’ll grill and eat outdoors more often.”
“Daddy.” He wiggled, beyond excited. “We are going to have so many bees.”
“Yes, sweet boy, we are. Now, let’s pay for all this and get it loaded up.”
By the time we got home and unloaded, both of us were wiped out. We showered, crawled into bed and into our normal sleeping positions. As soon as he started nursing I watched as his mind shut down and my sweet bee was out.
“Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Wake up. It’s time to build our garden.”
I knew this was coming, but at the butt crack of dawn I was unprepared. Trevor was excited for manual labor though I wasn’t sure how long that would last once we dove in. Knowing that we were turning what was once merely a house into a home and our life together was everything.
“Dear boy, what is it with you waking before the sun? Come and cuddle daddy.”
“No, Daddy.”
I bobbed up and down as my silly boy bounced on the bed.
“I’m too excited. It’s like Christmas summer style.”
“Ha-ha, there’s no arguing that logic.” I took my time stretching and waking up. “You do realize you have to eat breakfast first, right?”
“Argh!” He plopped back on the bed. “Okay.” He tried to sulk off, but I pulled him back into bed and peppered his face with kisses until he was breathless. Then I hopped out of bed.
“Time to get up, Trevor. What are you still doing in bed?”
He jumped off the bed and ran after me.
Daddy – 1
Overly excited boy – 2