Chapter 3

Daddy T walked away with Henry's Daddies, but I heard everything they said. I pretended to play but couldn't help it. Well, I could've. Maybe. But I didn't want to. I was sad he wasn't watching us play anymore but still happy to be here with my friend.

"He likes you, don't worry," Henry said as his pony stomped around and made a big mess.

"Do you think so?" I mean I thought he did if what he said was true, but it sounded like he had some stuff to work through.

Henry rolled his eyes so hard I was surprised they didn't stick in his brain. "Of course, silly. He watched you the whole time. Besides, I know you heard what he said."

"Let's clean up. I'm hungry."

"You're a big fibber, Jamie. You just want to follow your Daddy." Henry's dramatic sigh was award-winning, but he helped me clean up. Henry skipped toward the kitchen while I trailed behind him, unsure of how to act now.

"What's wrong, sweet boy?" Daddy T had on his worried face again.

I stood there, wringing my hands together, suddenly nervous. "I-I don't know what to do." Daddy T cocked his head to the side, and I giggled. "You look like a puppy when you do that."

Yay, happy Daddy T was back and laughing at me. "You are a ray of sunshine. Come here." I did a little shimmy over to him and stopped about a foot away, but he wasn't having that. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me toward him. "You want to tell me what the nerves were for?"

Yes. No. Maybe.

"Why don't you guys go outside and talk? The weather is perfect."

Daddy T took my hand and nodded at Mitchell who'd made the suggestion as we passed him on our way outside.

"Look, Daddy T," I squealed, "Nallie Bear has her own sprinkler!" I giggled as she hopped up and down on a paddle that made the water squirt up. These new dog toys were amazing, and she was having so much fun barking at the water and trying to eat it.

"She's having a great time. What a fantastic idea." I heard Daddy T pull out a chair as it slid across the concrete, but I was afraid to turn around ‘cause then we'd have to talk. "Jamie, why don't come over here and tell me what's got you so confused."

Sigh. Okay, Jamie, it's time to talk.A quick glance at the empty chair beside him then at Daddy T and the decision was made that his lap would be comfier.

Dramatic sighs were the best I could do while I decided what to say. With my head buried against his chest, it was safe enough to speak. "I heard what you and Jamie's Daddies were talking about."

Daddy T wrapped his arms around my waist. "What were we talking about, dear boy?"

"Me. I think. At least I hope it was me. Unless you have another boy?" If he said it was another boy, I'd run far away.

"Yes, sweetheart. We were talking about you and no, there's no other boy." He gave me a squeeze and I lay my head on his shoulder, feeling a story was coming on. "I've had boys before, Littles even, but the last one I had was about a year ago. He wasn't a true Little like you, he wanted more of a Daddy/boy relationship. His name was Dougie and we just kind of grew apart. One day when I got home from work, he was gone. Moved out and found another Daddy."

"Oh." That explained why he wore a sad Daddy face so much. Or did, because he smiled a lot more lately. At least when I saw him.

"I'm just…" He paused and took a deep breath. "I really like you, Jamie."

Great, here it comes. But you're too needy and you talk too much.My bottom lip quivered. I was seconds away from crying.

"Please, sweet boy, don't be sad. Ugh, I'm screwing this up."

I wanted to run away. Another Daddy was saying goodbye and this one I really liked.

"Fuck, I can't do this."

I didn't bother to point out he said a naughty word, wasn't worth it and besides, it didn't matter. He wasn't my Daddy.

"You'll tell me if I screw this up? Yes, I'm the Daddy and you're the boy, but Daddies make mistakes, too." He shook his head. "I really want you to be my boy, Jamie."

"Um, what?"

"I want to be your Daddy, Jamie. Will you give me a chance?"

Daddies didn't ask, let alone beg. Especially not the ones I'd known. The tears came and there was nothing I could do to stop them.

"Oh, sweet boy, I didn't mean to upset you. I'm so sorry, what can I do to fix this?"

"Fix this? There's nothing to fix. You. Really. Wanna. Be. My. Daddy?" I managed to get out between sobs.

He wiped the tears from my face and tucked my hair behind my ear. "Yes, sweetheart, more than you know."

When Daddy T pressed his lips to mine, my mind went blank and the kiss ended before I got a chance to enjoy it. But we were at Henry's house, and this wasn't the place for naughty stuff.

I bounced up and down, and forgot I was on his lap until he groaned. "Sorry, Daddy T."

"It's okay, just didn't want you to hurt anything… important."

My hand automatically covered my mouth to hold back the giggles. "Yes, we don't want that at all, Daddy T."

"Yes, and your squirming is waking important things up that shouldn't be woken at our friends' house."

More giggles escaped ‘cause my naughty mind immediately went to what Daddy T's toy could look like. Would it be long and thin or, ooohhh, would it be so thick it filled me perfectly like a big plug? I was a bad boy. Good thing Daddy couldn't read my mind.

"Someone's being a naughty boy."

Or could he?

"He-he, sorry, Daddy T." If he was my Daddy, did I still need to add a name or an initial? I mean, he was my only Daddy. "Can I just call you Daddy now?"

"Yes, you don't need to add the T unless you want to. Should we get back inside? Henry probably misses you."

"Yes." I hopped off, took his hand and dragged him back inside. "Guess what? I have a Daddy of my own!"

"Yay!" Henry cheered and ran over and hugged me. "Jamie's got a Daddy." We sang and danced while our Daddies got dinner on the table.

"All right, silly boys," Mitchell called out, "dinner time."

Henry's Daddies sat us next to each other with a line of yummy dippy sauces in front of us. "Yay, tots. I love tots, they're fun to dip-dip-dip."

"First comes the nuggie. Dippy, dippy, dippy." I popped it in my mouth and shimmied in my seat. "That sauce was nummy. Now for a tot-tot-tot." Into sauce number two. "Another nummy sauce."

Daddy sat beside me, and I smiled at him. I couldn't help it, he made me that happy. "Sweet boy, may I ask why you do things in threes?"

I shook my shoulders up and down, three times if my count was right. I'd never noticed before… "I dunno. It's much more fun." I thought about it then it hit me. "The first one gets you ready, the second links the first and third. When the third comes, you're ready to dive in and dancing with excitement for the nummy goodies." With a wiggle of my tush, I dipped another nugget and held it up for him. "Here, Daddy, try it."

"Daddy might vomit if he tries it."

"What? I only dipped it in ranch, silly Daddy. Not a combination and I promise I didn't lick it first." Oh shoot. "Are you allergic? I forgot to ask."

"No, I'm not allergic. Not a big fan, but for you, I'll try." Daddy took a bite and got a surprised look on his face. "Wow, that's not too bad."

"Wanna try the mustard?" Everyone groaned. I crossed my arms and got angry. "That's not nice. Grandma always said if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all."

"You're right, Jamie," Henry's Daddy Mitchell said. "I apologize. I just don't care for mustard, but that doesn't give me the right to react that way. I'm sorry."

"Sorry, Jamie." Henry wrapped his arms around me and nearly fell out of his chair.

Much better, but I didn't say that out loud. They were the Daddies, and I didn't want to get in trouble and not be allowed to come back. Henry was my only friend and I really liked him. When I got hyper and silly, Henry didn't get mad, he laughed and danced with me. Most people thought I was too much…

"Daddies, done!" Henry announced and threw his arms up to be washed so I did the same. Daddy T, err, Daddy smiled and wiped me clean, then booped my nose.

Daddy Jensen took our plates. "Why don't you boys go play while the Daddies clean up."

"Okay, Daddy." That got Henry a cheek kiss. "Come on, Jamie. Let's color our Daddies new pictures for their fridges."

Henry picked a book of unicorns, no surprise, and I picked a zoo book that looked brand new. "I want to go to a zoo someday."

"Yeah, that would be fun. I wonder why we don't have one here."

I shrugged though he couldn't see me. "I dunno. I bet my Daddy has been to one. He's so lucky, he gets to play animals all day."

"I wonder if he's ever seen a unicorn."

"You're silly, Henry. You know they're pretend." Henry was funny but he had so many unicorns.

Henry whined. "I wanna see a real one."

My turn to roll my eyes, though he didn't see it. I found a page with puppies on it, this book didn't have any sloths or koalas. Whatever grown-up made this book knew nothing about animals.

"Why are you huffing?" Henry glanced up from his book as he asked. "Don't you want to color?"

"I do but I can't find any sloths or koalas and they're my favorite." I wondered if my Daddy would buy me new coloring books with them in it? When I was done, the puppies were mostly colored inline. Daddy would like it, I was sure. Henry's books had easy tear pages, and they were great. But before I tore it out, I wrote To Daddy, Love Jamie on it for him.

"There, all done." I was proud of it and had to give it to Daddy.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" I sang out as I ran down the hall and straight into a wall and down on my bum. "Ouch."

"Jamie!" Daddy crouched down beside me. "Are you okay? Why were you running?"

My bottom lip pushed out, my eyes filled with tears and there they went. "I. Made. You. Ah-ha. Picture." I burst into tears as I shoved the picture at him. It was more embarrassing than anything but Daddy scooped me up and carried me to the couch and sat with me on his lap.

"Sweet boy, I love the picture but why were you running in the house?" At this point, Henry and both his Daddies stood nearby staring at us. You're such an idiot, Jamie.

"I-I…" I wiped my face, kind of on his shirt but I didn't mean to. "Sorry, Daddy."

"That's all right, shirts will wash but broken boys are hard to fix. Are you all right? Does anything hurt?"

Just my pride, but I left that out.

"No, Daddy, I'm okay." Just as I was about to ask if he was mad, he cuddled me against his chest and rocked us back and forth.

"Please don't do that again, Jamie. You shaved ten years off my life."

Henry and his Daddies went in the other room and left us alone.

"You scared me to death. You hit that wall pretty hard."

When I touched the top of my head where it hit, it hurt. "Ouch, that hurts."

Daddy ran a finger over the spot. "Yes, you've got a knot. We need to ice it."

"On it," one of Henry's Daddies called out. Mitchell came in with a towel and a bag of ice a couple minutes later.

"Thanks, Mitchell."

He left us again. Daddy wrapped the bag in the towel and set it on my head.

"Ow. Ow. Ow."

"I'm sorry, little one, but this is the best way to get the swelling down. Now, back to why you were running."

"I was excited to give you the picture I made. For your fridge. Do you like it?"

Daddy picked it up with his free hand and looked it over. "I do, it's perfect and you did such good job. It will go perfect on my fridge." He kissed my forehead, away from the owie. "But what's the rule about running in the house?"

I gave a heavy sigh. It was time to be a big boy and admit I'd been bad. "Not to do it. I was excited, Daddy, but I'm sorry." Would he punish me? We hadn't talked about punishments or limits.

Daddy was quiet for a long time. Too long. It worried me I'd already screwed this up.

"Sweetheart, you're thinking too hard. Want to tell me what's got you tensing up?"

"You're gonna break up with me. I messed up again." And back into tears.

"Jamie, I just got you and I have no intention of letting you go. You had an accident and while I'm not happy about you getting hurt, I'm not mad at you either. If we're going to do this, be in a relationship that is, we have to communicate or there's no hope."

Daddy's words sizzled in my brain before they sank in. "You want to keep me?"

"Yes, Jamie. I fully intend to keep you, though you're making yourself sound like a pet."

"Daddy's pet. Can I be a sloth?"

"Sweetheart, you can be any animal you like as long as you take good care of my boy. Deal?"

I snuggled in, all warm and comfy. "Deal, Daddy."