Chapter Eight
Timothy
Every day, my patient boy stood next to me as I placed the gold star on his chore chart and clapped for himself. He definitely was a hybrid Little/Boy. The best of both worlds and I wouldn’t have him any other way. And today he would get to pick his first prize from the treasure chest.
“Ooohhh look at all the shiny stars I got this week, Daddy. I was such a good boy.” His beaming smile lit my world as he twisted from side to side, barely containing his excitement.
“You were a very good boy, and Daddy is so proud of you.” I pulled the chest from the spare room and sat it on the floor in front of him.
“Alright my shiny star, let me get the key to the chest.” Purposely, I had bought one with a lock to keep prying eyes and fingers out of it.
But on top of that, I wrapped each present individually so he wouldn’t know what he was picking.
Sneaky Daddy.
“Daddy, why do you call me your shiny star?”
“Well, you like the shiny stars on your chart.”
“Yes?”
“But mostly because before you came into my life, it was dull and gray. Now, with you in it, the sunshine you brought made the darkness go away.” Jamie barreled into me. “You are Daddy’s Shiny Star.”
“Daddy, that is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
Things such as that he randomly mentioned broke my heart. My boy deserved to be treated like the gift he was. “That’s because you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me and that’s one of many reasons why I love you.”
“You-you. You love me?” He stuttered the words as his eyes welled with tears, and I nearly gave him the entire treasure chest right then and there.
“With all my heart, my shiny star.”
“I love you too, Daddy and I love being your shiny star.”
I kissed his forehead and then his lips. “Let’s find a new treat for my shiny boy. Shall we?” His head bobbed up and down and he clapped and cheered as I unlocked it. “Okay, reach inside and pick a prize.”
His eyes scoured the contents and carefully calculated which would be the one.
“This one.” He plucked it out and held it to his chest.
“Well open it, silly boy.”
Slowly and methodically, he peeled away the paper, and I wondered if he’d ever received a wrapped gift before. Well, I’d change that. His birthday was soon, and I’d throw him a party and shower him with gifts.
“Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” He clung to the new stuffie. “A panda for my collection. Sloffers and Kiki and George will be so excited to have a new friend.”
Reminds me that I need to get his playroom done so we have more room in our bed for us. Pulling random stuffies out of places unknown wasn’t fun for me, though hearing my boy giggle as I groused each time I did was hard to give up.
Kinda.
“What are you going to name them?”
“Hmm.” He thought long and hard. “I think I’ll name her Patty. Patty Panda.”
“A her, is it?” What he used as determining factors for naming and gender determinations for his stuffies was a mystery to me. “Patty Panda it is, then. Now, our next order of business. Come sit on Daddy’s lap.”
“Am I in trouble.”
“Sweetheart, I don’t think you know how to get into trouble, so no, you aren’t.” He scrambled up on my lap and got himself and Patty situated. “I was wondering if you’ve considered giving notice on your apartment or have you already?”
“Oh, you saw all my stuff was here.”
I chuckled. “Yes, all but your furniture, sneaky boy.”
“Are you mad?”
“No, quite the opposite. I love having you here, silly.” Jamie giggled. “But it doesn’t make much sense to keep paying rent when you belong here with me.”
“’Kay, I’ll give my notice when I pay rent next week. But what about Grandma’s furniture?”
“Well, do you want to keep it or donate it?”
“Honestly, it’s super old and the bed is lumpy. Everything here is so nice and comfy. Do you think someone else might be able to use it all?” Such a sweet boy, always thinking of others.
“I think for sure they would. The lumpy mattress might end up at the dump but the rest of it could help someone else get their start in life. Would you like me to call the LGBTQ Center and see if they will take it?”
“Yes, please, Daddy.”
“I’ll take care of it. Henry’s Daddies called and asked if we’d like to go to the club tonight.
Are you feeling up to it? You could wear one of your new outfits?
” Apparently while I was ordering toys and décor for his room, I did one of those one for the room, one to give to Jamie now purchasing deals.
For every gift I put in the room I gave him something new.
The bed delivery was due today, but I had everything else set up and ready to go.
The shelves were lined with toys, and the closet was filled to the brim with new outfits.
I even found a special rug for the center of the floor for him to play on as well.
“I’d get to play with Henry?” I nodded. “Yay! Let’s go.”
“Silly boy, you need to take a nap first or you’ll fall asleep on the floor there. You don’t want to do that, do you?” It didn’t take long to figure out he was an early to bed early to rise boy.
“No, Daddy. That wouldn’t be fun at all. Okay, Patty,” he hopped off my lap. “Nappy time.”
Never had I met a more obedient boy in my life. “All right, scoot up the bed and get your stuffies situated.” It took a couple of minutes since he had to properly introduce Patty to the others first.
“Sloffers this is Patty,” he went through them one by one, and each had to hug Patty. “Okay, we’re all bestest friends and now it’s nappy time.”
As soon as he was asleep, I snuck out to track the delivery driver and beat him to the door before he rang the bell. The boxes weren’t as light as I’d hoped, but I managed to get them inside the room without waking Jamie.
“Instructions are in English my ass.” I tossed them in the trash pile and set off to figure the damn thing out myself.
In my frustration, I’d lost track of time and realized it as soon as I’d heard the toilet flush.
I’d planned to talk to Jensen and Mitchell tonight about a surprise party for Jamie where I’d unveil the bedroom to him as his gift.
I’d wrap some of the toys I’d bought for him to open, of course, but the rest would wait on the shelves for the big reveal.
I snuck out and into the kitchen before Jamie emerged. “Hello, sleepy head.”
“Hi Daddy.” He wandered over for a hug. “What’s for dinner?”
Shoot, dinner. In my haste to get the room ready I’d forgotten all about it. That was a hashtag-Daddy fail for sure. “I think there are some nuggies in the freezer. Maybe even tots.”
“Nummy, nummy, nummy. I color, Daddy cooks.” He pulled his coloring books and crayons from the drawer and proceeded to do just that at the dining table.
Saved by the frozen food section. Not the healthiest of meals, but we’ve been eating better during the week, so a day of treats won’t hurt anyone.
My boy woke up as Little Jamie, so that was a good sign for an evening at the club, and I’d keep the forward momentum going with fun finger foods for dinner.
“Here you go, sweet boy.” I set the sauces down and then his plate.
“I not sweet boy, I Daddy’s shiny star. I made Daddy happy.”
Did he ever, even when correcting me, but I’d keep that secret tucked away. “Yes, you’re Daddy’s sweet shiny star and you make Daddy very happy.”
Jamie did his signature shimmy and dove into his dippy song. “Dippy, dippy, dippy. Num, num, num.”
I made a quick sandwich for myself, not a fan of his favored frozen foods, then took the seat across from him, steering clear of the line of fire where his sauces were concerned. My boy had a knack for sending sauce everywhere while he sang and dip, dip, dipped away.
“Do you want a bite, Daddy?” Jamie held up a nugget with an indecipherable mix of sauces on it. “Thank you, but Daddy has plenty on his plate.”
“Okay, Daddy.” Jamie sucked the sauce off, and it took every ounce of energy I had not to cringe. “Nummy.”
“Glad you’re enjoying it. I think I see a shower in your near future.” Hosing him off outside may be the better choice.
His hands shot up. “I done, Daddy.”
Jamie’s age digression deepened each time.
It was interesting to watch the many layers of my sweet boy unfold, not to mention beyond enjoyable.
“Stay right there, let me wipe you down.” Glad I’d opted for the semi-gloss paint on the ceiling and walls during the remodel because things were about to get very interesting around here.
In typical Jamie fashion, once I wiped him clean, he giggled and ran off.
Stripping along the way. I followed the trail of clothing, picking up each piece and depositing them into the hamper.
It was fruitless to remind him not to run in the house and watching that cute little ass shake down the hall made it even harder to reprimand him.
“Hold tight and wait for the water to heat up.” I turned the taps on and stripped down while it warmed. “All right, time to wash a stinky boy.”
Jamie folded his arms across his chest. “I not stinky, Daddy.”
“I beg to differ, sir. Dried ranch dressing by itself is a nasty smell, but combined with mustard and buffalo sauce, you’ve created a stinky bomb. Let’s go.” I ushered him in and immediately under the spray. The odor was unbearable and somehow… “How did you get it in your hair?”
He shrugged. “I dunno.”
“Huh.”
One clean boy later, whom I found to be somewhat of a nudist as I chased him through the house again to get him dressed. “There, now stay clean and play with your stuffies while I get ready.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
“Are you bringing Sloffers with you?”
“No, Kiki gets sad when he’s gone, and I don’t want him to get dirty.” Jamie tucked him into bed with the others, giving each a kiss as he said goodbye.
When we got to Cordes, Henry, Jensen, and Mitchell’s SUV was already parked in the garage. We checked in and met them in the littles room. Henry stood near the door waiting and squealed when he spotted Jamie and the two of them ran off toward the cars.
“I’m glad they get along as well as they do, but my eardrums are throbbing.” Jensen may be teasing but I felt the same pain.
“They’d put some singers to shame with those high notes they hit.” Maybe they’d both missed their calling in life. Nah, they were meant to be spoiled boys.
“Hey guys, next weekend is Jamie’s birthday and I’d like to have a party for him. Would you be able to come? Figured the boys can make pizza and swim. He hasn’t seen his playroom yet, so I had an idea to have you guys wait in there and when he opens the door yell surprise!”
“That sounds great. What time, because we all work at the bookstore on Saturdays?” I’d forgotten about that until Mitchell reminded me.
“Would Sunday be better?” That was his actual birthday, which would be perfect.
“It would if it was around two?”
“That will work.” We watched Henry and Jamie cross the room, heading toward the door. I wasn’t sure what was up until they took another boy who’d been standing there by the hand and led him over to the racetrack they’d set up.
“That has got to be two of the sweetest boys I’ve ever known.” Casey, an old friend and Daddy I’d not seen in forever, said as he walked up.
“Casey, it’s been a long time.” Jensen greeted him with a hug. “You remember my partner, Mitchell?”
“I do,” he and Mitchell shook hands. “Great to see you all again, especially you, Timothy. It’s been forever."
“Just took the right boy to get me back in the swing of things.”
“I take it the boy playing with Henry is yours?”
“Yes, that’s my Jamie. Who’s the boy they just adopted?” The boy seemed unsure as he sat there and watched our boy’s play. Tentatively, he took the car Jamie handed him and kind of pushed it around. Casey’s eyes were glued to the boy in question, I’m not sure he even heard my question.
“I-I, I don’t know. He looks familiar though.”
Mitchell wandered over to the boys and crouched down beside them. We couldn’t hear what he said to them, but they smiled. Even the new boy. Mitchell walked away and returned to them with three juice boxes. When they were done, he tossed them and came back.
“His name is Chase and he’s here on a friend pass for the day. Says his best friend David comes here.”
“Daddy, Daddy,” Henry ran over. “Chase is my friend David’s friend.”
“Ah, that’s how I know him,” Casey said. “Excuse me, gentlemen.” He walked over to Chase and started talking to him while Jamie rejoined us, leaving the two of them alone.
“Is David the Daddy you played with a couple of times before?”
“Yes Daddy, Mitchell. You met him once. He has a boy now named Jordan, but he’s not a Little. They play on the big people side.”
Chase and David. The names rolled around in my head as if somehow familiar. Maybe I’d met them before.
“Are you ready to go home, Jamie?”
He took my hand and laid his head on my chest. “Yes, Daddy. I seepy.”
“Okay, sweet boy. Say goodbye to your friends.”
Much to my surprise, he ran over to Chase.
They exchanged a few words, then hugged.
Casey waved but stayed with Chase. The five of us walked out together and the boys tightly embraced each other like it was their last goodbye.
I’ll reach out to Casey later and ask if he and Chase wanted to come to the party next weekend.
I had a good feeling about their meeting.
Kismet and all that, but in a littles kind of way.