Chapter Twenty-One
Rocky
Apparently, the room was a hit. It was far from done, but what was there seemed to be just what his boy needed. Aiden slipped into Little space faster than Rocky could have even hoped for and it wasn't long before he was bouncing back and forth between activities. He'd even slipped younger than Rocky had first thought he might, choosing to play with the bigger Duplo LEGO rather than the more advanced ones. He was drawn time and again to the giant octopus which didn't exactly shock Rocky. He'd noticed Aiden was a very tactile person. It had been a safe bet he was either going to love it or hate it. Rocky was just glad it was the former.
"Daddy! Look what I built!"
Aiden was currently seated at the table building something with the bigger LEGO blocks. Rocky had played with him for a while, until Aiden had declared Rocky had to "go away" so he could make a surprise. So, Rocky had parked himself on a chair he'd dragged in from the dining room and read a book on his tablet while the younger man played with his toys.
As Rocky made his way to the table, he was truly surprised at what he was seeing. Even in Little space the boy was exceptionally talented in his creating. A large base had given Aiden plenty of room to create an elaborate LEGO jungle. There were tall palm trees, flowers of varying shades, even a winding river weaving its way among the foliage.
When Rocky was right next to the creation, he noticed the details he hadn't before. Colorful birds were perched in the trees, a lion drank from the banks of the river. The details in the creation were stunning, and Rocky found himself in awe of Aiden's talent.
"Baby boy, this is spectacular." Rocky bent closer seeing if he'd missed any other details and surreptitiously trying to figure out how Aiden had managed to create what he had. He'd seen shows on television about people with these kinds of skills, had even seen pictures on social media, but he'd never seen anything like this in real life. And it was made with simpler blocks. Rocky wondered what Aiden could do with the more advanced ones.
"Thanks, Daddy." Aiden's voice was small and shy and when Rocky looked up at him, his cheeks were flushed with a combination of embarrassment and pleasure. It seemed his boy liked praise. That was good since he planned to spend a lot of time praising him.
"I'm serious. I've never seen anything like this before. It's amazing."
"It's just a jungle, Daddy. Nothing too difficult."
Aiden might want to downplay it, but Rocky knew this wasn't something just anyone could do. "Can I keep it?" He asked.
"But then I can't build something else." The thought seemed to genuinely make Aiden sad but Rocky was already prepared for that response.
Rocky took his phone from his pocket and opened a shopping app, quickly placing a rush-delivery order of a new base and new LEGO . He showed the screen to Aiden, who stared at it with his mouth hanging open.
"If you can make do for the next few hours, you'll have plenty to work with. I really love this and want to put it somewhere that I can look at it often. Is that okay?"
"You really want to keep it?" There was still way too much doubt in Aiden's voice.
"Yes, baby. I really want to keep it. You made it for me, right?"
"Well yeah, I just didn't expect you to want to keep it."
"Why wouldn't I?" That seemed like a reasonable question to Rocky, but Aiden thought long and hard before he finally replied.
"I don't know."
"Because there isn't a reason I wouldn't want to keep it." Rocky confidently informed him. "You made it, and it's absolutely stunning. It's not strange I want to keep it. It would be strange if I didn't want to."
Aiden thought for a moment, finally shrugging and saying, "Okay, Daddy," before kissing his cheek and rushing back over to the sandbox to play there for a while.
Rocky carefully lifted the creation and looked around the room for a place to display it. Finally, Rocky decided that this room was Aiden's and not likely to be a great place for Rocky to be able to see it all the time.
"I'll be back in a minute, baby. I'm going to put my present somewhere I can see it often and make a snack."
Aiden didn't even look up as he acknowledged Rocky's statement. He didn't take offense though. He'd quickly learned that when Aiden focused on something he focused completely on it. Not just computers, he did it with everything.
Rocky carefully made his way to his office and set the work of art on his desk as he made a space on one of the many shelves in the room. After he'd set it prominently in a spot that he would be able to look at easily, he headed into the kitchen to make them both a snack. It had been a while since they'd last eaten.
Aiden
Aiden hadn't wanted to make a bigger deal of it than he already had but he still couldn't believe Daddy really, truly wanted to keep the jungle he'd built. No one had ever wanted to keep something Aiden had made. He hadn't even had a picture hung on a fridge, and somehow this seemed like an even bigger deal than a refrigerator picture.
As he sifted sand through his fingers, he thought about what else he might make Daddy. If Daddy was going to keep them, then Aiden needed to make them even more special. Aiden remembered Daddy telling Blade a story once of a trip to an amusement park, and ordering three different hotdogs from a vendor. He'd ordered them with both ketchup and mustard and the vendor had put one condiment on either side of the bun, causing the dogs to slide from the bun, until the fourth time he ordered it plain with the condiments on the side.
Aiden wondered if he could somehow recreate that scene with his LEGO blocks . It would have to be a super secret project, and he'd have to see about getting more details about the park and the trip but it could probably be done.
Aiden's planning was interrupted when Daddy came in carrying a tray loaded with delicious snacks.
"Come get a bite to eat with Daddy, baby." As he spoke Daddy set the platter down on the table and sat himself in one of the seats.
Aiden's tum-tum let out a rumble at the sight of the food and he realized he really was super hungry. He hopped up and rushed toward the table, not noticing the path of sand he'd left in his haste to get to the platter of delicious apple and cheese slices.
"Woah, baby. Slow down a bit. Nobody's gonna run off with it before you get here." The words were chiding but the amusement in his tone and the smile on his face let even Aiden know he was more amused than irritated. That was saying something since Aiden often had trouble recognizing things like that.
"Thank you, Daddy." Aiden said as he sat down and wrapped a slice of cheese around an apple slice. He took a big bite of his snack and tried to figure out the best way to get information from Daddy without giving away his plan. Subtly had never been one of Aiden's strong suits.
"You're welcome, baby." As soon as Aiden had taken a bite Daddy reached over and wrapped his own apple slice, as if he'd just been waiting for Aiden to eat first. That was ridiculously sweet.
"So, have you ever been to an amusement park?"
Yeah, subtly and Aiden had never mixed.