Chapter 8

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. But 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.

"You were a very good boy and Daddy is so proud of you." I pulled the chest from the spare room and set it on the floor in front of him. "All right, my shiny star, let me get the key to the chest." Purposely, I bought one with a lock to keep prying eyes and fingers out. 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. "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?" 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 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 opened it, 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."

He reminded me I needed to get his playroom done so we had more room in our bed for us.

"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 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 to 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 noticed all my stuff was here."

I chuckled. "Yes, all but your furniture."

"Are you mad?"

"No, quite the opposite. I love having you here, sneaky boy."

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 on 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." Seemed while I was ordering for his room, I did the ‘one for the room, one for Jamie now' purchasing plan. For every gift I put in the room, I gave him one. 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 filled with new outfits. I found a special rug for the center of the floor 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 on up the bed and get your stuffies situated." Took a couple of minutes since he had to properly introduce Patty to the others.

"Sloffers, this is Patty." He went through them one by one, and each had to hug Patty. "Okay, we're all 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. 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 to figure the damn thing out myself. In my frustration, I lost track of time and realized it as soon as I 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 he and Henry could break them in afterward.

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. "I think there are some nuggies in the freezer. Maybe even tots?"

"Nummy, nummy, nummy. I color, Daddy cook." He pulled his coloring books and crayons from the drawer and proceeded to do just that.

Saved by the frozen food section. Not the healthiest of meals, but we'd been eating better during the week, so a day of treats wouldn't hurt anyone. My boy woke up as Little Jamie so that was a good sign for the evening, and I'd keep the forward momentum going.

"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. "Yes, you're Daddy's sweet shiny star and you make Daddy very happy."

Jamie did his little shimmy and dove into his dippy song. "Dippy, dippy, dippy. Num, num, num."

After I filled my plate, I took the seat across from him well out of the line of sauce fire. I'd nearly had the same thing then opted for a sandwich and tots. "Do you want a bite, Daddy?" Jamie held up a nugget with an indecipherable sauce mix 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 to not 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 unfold and beyond enjoyable.

"Stay right there, let me wipe you down." I was glad I'd opted for the semi-gloss paint on the 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, depositing them into the hamper. It was fruitless to remind him to not run in the house and watching that cute little ass shake down the hall made it even harder to reprimand.

"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 nasty but combined with mustard and buffalo sauce, you've created a stinky bomb. Let's go." I ushered him in and right under the spray. The smell 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 to get him dressed. "There, now stay dressed 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 in with the other three, giving each a kiss as he said goodbye.

When we got to Cordes, Henry, Jensen, and Mitchell were already inside. 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 screaming." Jensen may have been teasing but I felt the same pain.

"They'd put some singers to shame with those high notes they hit." Mitchell chuckled.

Maybe they'd both missed their calling in life.

"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 the idea to have you guys wait in there and when he opens the door yell ‘surprise!'"

"That sounds great. What time? We all work at the bookstore on Saturdays."

I'd forgotten about that until Mitchell mentioned it.

"Would Sunday be better?" That was his actual birthday, which was better.

"It would if it was around two?"

"That will work." We watched Henry and Jamie cross the room 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 seen," 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."

"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 boys 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 with three juice boxes. When they were done, he tossed them and returned to us.

"His name is Chase, 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 introduced himself to Chase and Jamie rejoined us.

"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, Jamie?"

He took my hand and lay 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 and hugged. Casey waved but stayed with Chase. The five of us walked out together and the boys hugged as we said our goodbyes. I'd 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 little way.