13. SAMMY
SAMMY
With the radio humming in the background and the smell of Harrison’s strong coffee in the air, the kitchen was a perfect hub of morning activity – and it was all the better for the fact that there was a fun-filled day in the offing.
Sammy was so excited. In fact, that was a huge understatement. Sammy hadn’t been so excited in as long as he could remember. This was the kind of triple-level all-star excitement that Sammy would only feel when he knew something super awesome was about to go down.
Sammy and Harrison had taken their relationship to the next level and Sammy was all there for it.
It felt so real to him, and he was pretty sure that Harrison felt the same way too.
Sammy might have seen his confidence take a hit as a result of Tucker and everything that had gone on back in the city, but suddenly Sammy was feeling way more like his old self.
The Princeford University campus was a great place to be as far as Sammy was concerned, but today it was about to get a whole lot better. And it was all down to Sammy’s Daddy, Harrison…
‘Do you think me and Louie will be friends?’ Sammy said, a hopeful note in his voice as he took a sip from his new panda bear design sippy cup. ‘I want us to be. Then we can play and have fun and you and Max can do Daddy stuff together.’
Sammy smiled and took another sip of his OJ.
Sammy was already wearing his romper for the playdate, and with its black and white panda pattern, it was very much the case that Sammy was going all-out on the panda theme.
‘Yeah, I think you and Louie will get on just great,’ Harrison replied, sipping on his coffee, and tenderly running his spare hand along the bottom of Sammy’s chin.
‘Max wouldn’t be with Louie unless he was a great boy.
And I think you’re going to like Max too.
Me and him go way back. All the way back to our days as students here. ’
‘Cool,’ Sammy replied. ‘I think it’s so cool how you’ve got your Daddy friends all the way back from college. I wish I had something like that.’
‘Hey, you will one day,’ Harrison replied. ‘I was lucky enough to meet my guys when I did. But it doesn’t matter when the friendships form, it’s all about how long the last and how deep the feelings run.’
‘That sounds like it could be from a book, Daddy. I love it!’ Sammy giggled, blushing as he realized just jhow much he hung on Harrison’s every word.
And no sooner than Sammy had finished talking, a knock came at the front door.
‘Yay! It must be them!’ Sammy squealed with delight.
‘Well let’s find out, shall we?’ Harrison said, a knowing look on his face. ‘Come on, let’s see precisely who it is knocking at our door.’
Sammy couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride as he picked up on Harrison describing it as ‘our’ door, but now wasn’t the time to be thinking too deeply. Sammy simply wanted to meet his playdate friend and get down to the very serious business of having fun!
Harrison opened the door and Sammy was delighted to see Louie standing there next to Max. Louie had a big smile on his face and almost immediately threw off his overcoat to reveal a matching panda bear romper suit.
‘We’re twinnies!’ Louie declared, bursting into laughter.
‘Yay! Do you like Lego?’ Sammy blurted out, his excitement flowing over. ‘I love it! Do you want to build?’
‘Yay-yay-yay!’ Louie squealed, clearly on the same page as Sammy.
‘Okay, you two go and have fun,’ Harrison chuckled. ‘Me and Max will be in the kitchen. I’ll come through with some snacks later.’
‘Okay, Daddy,’ Sammy said, his cheeks reddening a little from calling Harrison Daddy in front of other people.
But as new as it was to call Harrison Daddy, it also felt totally right. It probably helped that it was another Daddy and Little couple in the room, but nonetheless it still felt like a pretty momentous occasion.
‘Now go and have fun, boys,’ Harrison said, swiftly turning and walking through to the kitchen along with Max.
And Sammy and Louie certainly took Harrison’s words to heart and it wasn’t long before the pair of them were hunkering down on the large playmat and tipping out a huge box of old-school Lego that Harrison had in storage.
‘Shall we build a spaceship?’ Louie asked. ‘We could pretend to be space pandas on a mission to find the magical bamboo planet?’
‘I like it!’ Sammy replied, grinning from ear to ear. ‘But first let’s fuel up.’
With that, Sammy and Louie both took huge gulps from their sippy cups and then got to work on building their panda-friendly spaceship.
‘Phew, this is hungry work,’ Sammy said, taking a step back and looking at the colorful spaceship as it took shape. ‘Daddy… I’m hungwee!’
‘Mweee toooo!’ Louie added, calling out to Max. ‘We want foodies!’
And it wasn’t long before both Harrison and Max made an appearance, walking through from the kitchen with two large trays full of cookies, sliced apples, and chopped up strawberries.
‘Now, be good boys and eat your fruit first,’ Harrison said. ‘Max and I need to make sure our boys get their nutrients.’
‘But cookies more fun!’ Sammy said, pouting as he fiddled with the sliced apples.
‘Watch it, young man,’ Harrison retorted, crouching down to Sammy’s level. ‘This might be a playdate, but you still need to be a good boy. And I will pull that romper off and toss you over me knee if I have to…’
‘Yes, Daddy,’ Sammy said, blushing and putting a slice of apple in his mouth. ‘I like apple now…’
‘Good boy,’ Harrison replied, standing up next to Max. ‘Isn’t it incredible how the threat of a sore bottom can motivate a boy?’
‘Sure is,’ Max laughed, slapping his hand on Harrison’s shoulder. ‘Me and Louie know all about that kind of motivation, don’t we boy?’
‘Hehe, yes Daddy,’ Louie said, covering his face with his hands before gobbling up some sweet strawberry slices. ‘I’m a good Little.’
‘Hmmm, yes you are,’ Max replied, exchanging a quick look with Harrison. ‘Well, most of the time…’
And with that, Harrison and Max walked out of the playroom and back into the kitchen together, no doubt to talk about all the Daddy things they could think of.
As far as Sammy and Louie were concerned though, it was time to keep on snacking and then build the best Lego spaceship they possibly could.
Sammy might have only just met Louie and his Daddy Max, but he could already tell that he wanted to have a double playdate again very soon indeed.
And the idea of introducing Louie to his other Little friends was the cherry on top of the cake – soon enough, Sammy would have a whole gang of Littles to hang out and have fun with.
‘This is so fun,’ Sammy said, getting down onto all fours and investigating the spaceship at close range. ‘I’m so glad you came over.’
‘Me too,’ Louie replied, giggling as he took his stuffie and pretended he was a mischievous space monster. ‘Let’s keep playing before our Daddies come back and try to make us go sleepies.’
And with that, Sammy and Max played to their hearts’ content.
But if Sammy or Max thought that they could get away with no naptime, then they were both sorely mistaken…
* * *
Sammy rubbed his eyes and looked up toward the sight of both Harrison and Max standing over him.
‘Daddy… I’m… still not tired…’ Sammy said, barely able to suppress his yawn.
‘M-M-M-Me neither Daddy,’ Louie said, barely able to talk as he lay flat on his back next to Sammy. ‘We’re big Littles. We can stay up all night…’
‘Yes, we don’t need sleepies,’ Sammy said, slurring his words a little.
‘Okay, okay, we’ve got two very tired Littles here, don’t we Max?’ Harrison asked, a big smile on his face. ‘I say we give them their milkies and send them off to Snoozetown.’
‘I wholeheartedly agree, brother,’ Max replied, kneeling down and scooping Louie up in his arms. ‘Come on my darling little boy, it’s time for your milk.’
‘And you’re coming with me too,’ Harrison said, kneeling and taking Sammy in his arms. ‘You two boys have had a wonderful time playing, now the pair of you can have a nap together. But first we need to fill your tummies with warm milk.’
Sammy knew it was pointless in trying to protest and ask for more playtime.
The reality was that he was all done and ready to suckle down the milk and let nature takes its course. Playing with Louie had been super-fun, but even the most energetic Little needed a nap, and that was most certainly the case with both Sammy and Louie too.
‘Daddy, fank eeeew,’ Sammy said as he snuggled up in Harrison’s lap. ‘I had a wicked cool time with Louie.’
‘I knew you would,’ Harrison replied, a look of love in his eyes as he twisted the cap on the milk bottle to reveal the yellow teat.
‘Now close your eyes and get this down you. If you’d like, I’ll put you down next to Louie when you’re done and the pair of you can sleep next to one another. Would you like that?’
‘Yes, Daddy,’ Sammy replied, the first hit of the milk comforting him as he stopped talking and began to drink.
As Sammy began to feel his eyelids getting heavy and the warm milk flowing down his throat and into his tummy, he couldn’t recall ever having such a brilliant playdate. But it was the addition of having his milk given to him by his Daddy at the conclusion that was making the moment truly special.
Sammy was falling for Harrison faster and faster.
As he felt his eyes shut for one final time, Sammy realized that this was feeling way too much like love for it to be anything else.
Life on campus with his Daddy was perfect, and Sammy was ready for more of the same – but only after a nice, long sleep…