11. Ash

Chapter eleven

Ash

U nable to wipe the huge smile off my face, I swing our hands back and forth as we make our way toward the main strip of Chibico World. I'm feeling big, a little floaty from all the endorphins, and excited to be here.

"Looks like there are several restaurants in the park," Drake says, holding the park map in his free hand. "Do you wanna sit down and eat, or did you want to get something from a food cart and walk around?"

"Oh! The second. We can explore the park while we eat. Maybe even come up with a plan for what we want to do first tomorrow since the sun is already starting to set."

"I'm not entirely sure when the park opens or closes today." Drake flips the map over and eyes the schedule. "Says here that every night there will be a creatures' parade at ten, followed by a fireworks show at 10:30 pm. The park closes at eleven, and will reopen at nine."

The moment we turn onto the main strip I gasp in shock. "Oh my gosh, it's beautiful! It looks like a village in the middle of a magical forest." The pavement of the winding street is lined with burgundy cobblestones, just like in the anime and video games.There are shops, restaurants, and souvenir shops on each side of the paved road. There are so many fairy lights strung up in the trees, almost like a galaxy of floating fireflies. In between the scattered buildings are street lanterns that remind me of the light post in Narnia .

"How magical." Drake squeezes my hand next to me.

"Thank you for taking me here, Daddy."

"Of course, baby boy." He lifts my hand and kisses it. "If you really love it here, maybe we can make it a yearly trip."

My head whips over at him. "I'd like that."

"Good, now what should we eat?"

Spotting the first thing I see, I point at a restaurant. "Maybe that one. Oh wait I think that's sit-down only."

Drake checks out the map and nods. "Yup. Sit-down only."

I take in all the buildings, food carts, colors, and people walking around. I glance back up at Drake, feeling a little overwhelmed. "Maybe that one?" I point at the closest cart and see it's just popcorn. "Or maybe that one." I wave in the general direction of a cart and peer back over at Drake.

He gives me a warm smile. "Why don't you let me decide, little one?"

My chest warms and my body tingles. I can't fight the shy smile I give him in return. Drake and I discussed when and where we would use our pet names and titles. I told him that any time he used to call me ‘ little one ' it helped me feel grounded. Safe. I don't understand how a simple nickname can do that to me, but apparently, that safe feeling extended to the names ‘ baby boy ' and ‘ boy .'

"Yes." I nod. "Can you decide?" I trust Drake. He knows what I like, and if I really had to pick I know what would happen. I would either stare at each building weighing my decisions wondering which was best, then spend way too much time bouncing from place to place only to realize I wasted too much time and pick something I hate just to get it over with.

Sometimes too many decisions overwhelm me, especially if I'm spending money on them. I would overthink everything, hoping I'm spending my money wisely.

Drake lets go of my hand for a moment and studies the map, occasionally glancing up. A huge smile covers his face. "I found us the perfect spot."

He holds his hand out to me and I lace our fingers together as we begin to walk. The playful smirk on Drake's handsome face has me curious. The fairy lights sparkling behind him illuminate his styled brown hair. He's in a tight-fitted shirt, showing off all those sexy, lean muscles. I blink up at him, the air leaving my lungs. How many times have I looked over at Drake only to be startled by how gorgeous he is? And how many times have I been able to say that this handsome man is mine?

I tug him so he knows to stop moving.

"What is it?"

Throwing my arms around his middle I pull him into a tight hug. His arms don't hesitate to embrace me back. "I'm so happy." They're the only words that will form. I want to say so much more. Like how much I love him, how I can't believe he's taking care of me. How he's the perfect Daddy, or how I love that he just gets me. But my mouth just spills out the simple truth. I'm happy.

Drake tightens his hold on me, and he lets out a long, drawn-out sigh, almost as if he's relieved. "Me too, Ash. So fucking happy."

"No freaking way!" I rush to the closest glass display and look at all the various pastries inside, there have to be hundreds of goodies. "These are all from the anime! I recognize this pepperoni flatbread from an episode where Tiff found her first Chibico in the forest."

Drake looks into the display to see what I'm pointing at. "Wow, I didn't expect there to be so many." He reaches for a box and a plastic glove. "Why don't we fill up a box for us to share? We can nibble on them as we walk, then put them in the fridge if we have any leftovers."

I nod eagerly, diving into the story behind all the pastries that call out to me. We settle on two each and a large lemon and raspberry cream croissant for dessert. As soon as we are back on the burgundy cobbled street, I pull out my first choice.

Drake takes a bite of his ham and cheese croissant and moans. Flakes from the croissant fall to the ground, and I giggle when a few land on his scruff. "Daddy! You're making a mess."

His brown eyes sparkle. "Good thing I have you to help clean me up."

I brush a few flakes from his face, then take a bite of my food."Oh god, this is even better than I imagined."

"Can you tell me what hashbrown bread is?" he asks, eyeing my pastry.

"So, in one episode Tiff has to travel to the next village over, and she gets the opportunity to travel with her crush. He has this weird obsession with hashbrowns, and makes an offhand comment about how he wishes he could bring some hashbrowns on their trip."

I take another bite of my savory treat and flip it around to show Drake. "In that episode, Tiff ends up baking hashbrowns, cheddar cheese, and chopped garlic into a couple of pockets of bread."

"That sounds really good. Can I have a bite?"

I smile, lifting the bread up to Drake's mouth. He takes a bite and groans.

"Good right?"

"So good. So what happened to Tiff? Did her crush like bread?

I shake my head. "No! He didn't even get to try it. They accidentally separated before she could give it to him. She heard a creature in pain and followed the trail until she stumbled on a new Chibico. It was the first time an Adrake was introduced to their world."

"Wait, Adrake? Like my name? Was it some kind of dragon creature."

I laugh. "Yes. It was small dragon creature, about the size of a golden retriever. It was stuck and hungry. Tiff saved it and offered the creature her bread. He became loyal to her that day."

"This anime sounds fun. Maybe I should give it a try."

I bounce on my toes. "Oh my gosh, yes!! I own all the current seasons. We should watch them together. You'll love it. Trust me."

"Alright." He beams over at me. "It's a date."

My heart flips.

We spend the rest of the evening sharing and hand feeding each other our pastries while we window shop. I keep stealing glances at Drake and pinching myself. I'm at an adult amusment park, based on my favorite show, with the man I'm in love with. I want to live in this moment forever.