Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Knightly
“I’m all done, Daddy.” Rhodes slouched back in the passenger seat as soon as we made it out of the parking lot. “And… and I only got one milkshake. That’s so sad.”
He said that like it was the worst thing he’d ever encountered but it was his fault.
“You barely finished the first one before we left. You’d have never made it through a second.” Without falling asleep or vibrating into a new dimension like we were in an old Star Trek episode. “If you’re still hungry later, I’ll get you a snack.”
His groan made it clear he thought I was an idiot. “I’m not food hungry, Daddy.”
No shit, Sherlock.
He’d eaten so much he was going to pop.
No more salads for lunch for my drama queen.
“What kind of hungry are you?” Reaching over, I petted my drama queen’s head and managed to sound sympathetic.
“I’m greedy hungry.” He sighed and shook his head. “I didn’t get my greed worth, Daddy.”
Ah.
“I’m not sure I know what to say to that, so how about I ignore it and tell you what a good job you did.” I couldn’t decide if greed hunger was something I needed to have a conversation with him about or not, and I’d have to think about it before we came back to it.
Well, my question shifted the conversation somehow and had him dialing back on the drama a bit, looking somewhat like a pleased Disney villain.
“I remembered my manners and I asked questions and I looked like a big boy.” His happy dance as he rubbed his hands together said he no longer felt the need to pretend to be an adult. “I was better than Meredith.”
Laughing would be inappropriate, right?
“You were very well-behaved and looked like a big boy.” He was technically an adult pretending to be Little pretending to be big to make sure he looked more well-behaved than my family.
I was going to have to think about that one too because I couldn’t decide if that was unhealthy or masking or just Rhodes being Rhodes.
“I even tricked her.” Oh, he was pleased about that bit of con artistry too. “She had to color first.”
Somehow him ignoring the coloring page had made her just a bit insane and so she’d ended up stealing it from him. The whole thing was confusing and ridiculous, but Rhodes had loved it.
“You were amazing but I know how hard you worked, so how about we just relax for the rest of the night?” In my head I’d thought I’d be hanging out with grown-up Rhodes as he met my family for the first time, so I hadn’t really planned a Little date.
Or a Little pretending to be big now being Little again date.
“I… I get to color now.” Sounding a bit like a drunk who’d needed to be sober too long, he exhaled like he was exhausted and at the end of his rope. “I could only do a tiny bit because I had to beat her.”
I was going to have to decide if they were forming a healthy relationship or not because just telling myself it was saner than he had with his family wasn’t believable.
“You did a good job.” Kind of? Well, depending on the scale. “But now you get to be my little firecracker and don’t have to pretend anymore.”
“No more pretending.” He sighed out a smile that time, stress easing back a bit as we got closer to home. “But I did it and I get to check it off the list. You did the argument. I get to check this one.”
“Oh, don’t start about that.” He’d cheated. “I’m not rehashing that with you.”
A fight shouldn’t count when he picked it just to be able to check it off something on the strangest to-do list I’d ever seen.
He made an understanding sound and reached over to pat my leg. “It’s all done and we did a good job.”
We’d done a good job because we’d fought and then moved past the drama and said sorry.
I’m sorry I disagreed with you about what boiling water looks like.
Fucking ridiculous.
“Still not talking about it.” Because I was only going to agree to losing an argument that dumb one time and one time only. “Which one do you want to work on next?”
We had about a half dozen more but he was more fixated on some than others.
“I know.” His evil snicker had me immediately mentally switching to fine print mode. “I already picked.”
Oh, that sounded dangerous.
“Which did you pick?” One of the cleaning ones? He had a firm belief that he needed to learn to fold his clothes before I could give him a key. I was hoping to talk him out of that one because he was never going to be able to do it. “Are you going to make me dinner?”
He also was firmly convinced he needed to learn to make my favorite foods, but I was pretty sure we were working off a what to do before we got married list. Nothing on it had anything to do with keys or even sleepover limits.
“No.” I couldn’t decide how worried his maniacal grin and second leg pat should make me. “I know.”
This was just getting more and more stressful.
“Are you trying to make me nervous because I made you meet my family?” He’d do it. “You’re important to me, so I had to make sure they knew that.”
His groan was adorable but I loved the way he flopped in the passenger seat like a dying fish and covered his face. “I’m special.”
Brat.
“There’s nothing I can do about that, so I’m not going to apologize.” Again. “You’re cute. I like you. I like taking care of you.”
His sigh was so overdramatic he could’ve been on Broadway.
He was mostly over it by the time we got home and I knew that because he dragged me into my place like we were racing toward the finish. “List time. Let’s go. I need my crayon, Daddy.”
I’d gotten blue because that was a Daddy color and the color of blueberries.
He’d gotten red because the best fruits and vegetables were red.
“Alright, but then you have to tell me which one you want to work on next.” Because I hadn’t planned on bottoming tonight, so we needed to schedule that one in advance if he was actually going to talk about it.
Somehow it’d ended up on his list but he was a master of changing the subject when it came up.
“I know. I know which one.” We were back down to henchmen level of evil laugh, but it wasn’t any less concerning. “I know.”
What did he know?
I managed to wait until we got to the fridge where he’d put up our well-decorated list with vines and fruits and toys drawn all around the edges. Somehow art was for fun and not something he’d ever considered doing as any kind of career, but I wasn’t sure where the logic had come from.
“Mine. Mine. Mine.” Doing a little wiggle, he carefully checked off the box he’d drawn for meeting my family. “All done.”
“So?” I wasn’t going to randomly start guessing what his next goal was going to be. “Which one are you going to work on next?”
I was not in charge of this project in any way.
“Mine.” Bouncing excitedly, the crayon went flying but I was focused on catching the firecracker that threw himself at me. “Mine.”
“Yours.” Giving him a quick peck, I turned us around and leaned back against the counter so he couldn’t accidentally take me out.
Again.
“You’re my Daddy.” He hugged me tight, snuggling himself as close as humanly possible. “Mine.”
“All yours.” Had meeting my family made him feel more possessive? “And sadly, that makes you even more special.”
Nodding, he shifted to his serious face and sighed. “I know.”
It was hard but someone had to do it.
“I’m glad you understand.” He didn’t seem to be in any hurry to pull away, so I gave him another kiss, just enjoying belonging to him. “I can’t help that you’re special.”
Shrugging, he nodded seriously. “You just can’t help it.”
Wondering where our conversation was going, I tried to be patient. “I can’t help finding you cute and liking playing with you either.”
“I’m cute.” His serious tone and the kiss on the cheek he gave me had me trying not to smile. “You can’t help liking to play with me or even liking making me snacks and reading me books.”
“And I can’t help liking giving you baths and snuggling with you.” I returned his shrug and sighed. “You’re just special.”
Scrunching his face up, he gave a decisive nod. “You can’t help loving your special boy.”
Oh.
That was what we were checking off.
Got it.
I thought he’d make me wait further down the list because this seemed more important than folding his clothes but there might’ve been some Little versus big context I was missing.
Or it could be a Rhodes thing left over from childhood because his family was weird as well as rude.
“You’re special.” Shrugging, I gave him another light kiss. “You just barreled into my life and changed it forever. I had to love you.”
“Oh well.” Laying his head on my shoulder, he sighed. “You can’t help it.”
“Nope. So you’re just going to have to love me back.” My casual, can’t help it kind of tone had him pressing his lips together so he didn’t laugh. “Because I take good care of you and I chase off the invaders when they circle the castle.”
I knew my biggest draw… being able to tell his family to back off.
“You take good care of me.” Kissing my cheek, he smiled as he straightened again. “I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you too, little firecracker.” I loved every inch of my chaos gremlin and no matter how long it took us to work through his fascinating list, that would never change.
“Mine.” Cupping my cheek, he smiled at me. “All mine.”
“All yours, baby.”
For always.
The End
If you want more chaos in your life, check out Trading Me under the Shaw Montgomery side of my writing. It’s got a wonderfully distractible author, lots of heat, and plenty of shenanigans.