15. Brayden

Chapter 15

Brayden

As planned, Daddy James picked me up on Friday morning and drove me and Max to work. He even had a box of donuts for us that we started on in the car and kept eating after we got to work.

I made a good choice and stopped after three because I didn’t want to have a tummy ache all day, but donuts were one of my favorite breakfast foods.

We had a busy day of work, but at least we were working together and could talk. And I had a lot to talk about. “I’m taking Daddy to the toy store later to buy a present for Augie.”

He was tightening a bolt. “What are you gonna get him?”

“I don’t know yet. I mean, I got him super-soft pajamas, but I think Daddy will get him a sticker book and a lot of stickers… And maybe a cow.”

“A cow?” Max chuckled and turned to me from underneath the hood we were both crouched under. “Why?”

“I dunno. Augie kinda reminds me of a cow. They’re all cute and unique and they eat the same thing every single day. Just like Augie.”

Max sighed longingly. “I remember when I used to be able to eat the same thing every day. Now I have to eat vegetables and quinoa and yucky green smoothies in the morning.”

That sounded like heaven. “I hope I get to that point with Daddy Ethan. Right now, he mostly lets me do anything I want.”

Max looked at me like I was talking crazy. “You’re living the dream, man. Why would you want that to change? Quinoa is for the birds. Like, literally, I think it is also used as bird food.”

I giggled because he was just being silly. At least, I thought so. I didn’t actually know what quinoa was.

“You know what I mean. I want someone who cares so much about me that they make me eat healthy. But he’s getting there. He wants me to go see the doctor.”

Max nodded as he put grease on another bolt. “For your hand?”

“No, we did that when we got our tests done. For an annual physical. You know, like when I was a kid.”

“Yeah, I have to do those too. I think Daddy just wants my doctor to tell me to eat less sugar or exercise more, but I’m too healthy. Dr. Tony just loves me.”

“Hey, I went to see Dr. Tony too. He’s my Daddy’s friend.”

Max’s eyes went wide. “He’s my Daddy’s friend too! The Daddies and doctors are conspiring against us.”

We laughed and then went back to our work. “Well, if they’re all that hot, they can conspire all they want.”

Daddy bought Augie a million stickers. I didn’t actually count them, but it was a very big pile that looked like at least a million. Maybe two. Me and Max and Augie all planned to wear superhero costumes to the party. I wore my Batman costume under my jeans and T-shirt.

Daddy found a Robin shirt at the toy store, so he wore that and we were a couple.

A couple doing opposites, apparently.

Augie was already there, and he and Max were building a fort when I let myself into Daddy James’s house.

“We’re here!” I shouted as I shoved my gift into Daddy’s hands and started ripping off my street clothes. As soon as everything was off, I turned to run for the living room and barreled right into Daddy James.

He must have known what was about to happen because he grabbed me by my arms before I fell onto my butt, and he kept me upright. “Hey there, Little one. Slow your roll or you’re gonna get hurt.”

“Can’t slow down, Daddy James. I gotta make sure they don’t mess up the fort.” I pointed my thumb over my shoulder. “That’s my Daddy Ethan. You’ll like him.” I wiggled out of James's grip and dove on top of the cushions that were precariously stacked on the ground.

I could hear the Daddies talking amongst themselves, so I wasn’t worried about them. They knew how to make friends. I was more worried about visiting with my friends. I tackled Augie and gave him a raspberry on his arm. “Happy birthday, Augie. We brought you presents.”

He giggled and shoved me off him. “Gross, Brayden. But thank you for the presents. I especially like that you said presents…plural. Plurals are better than singles.”

“Singular,” Max said, carrying more pillows in from the bedrooms. “And I got you plural presents too, ya know. You’re gonna love them. They’re delicious.”

Augie cocked his head and frowned. “Delicious for who? Because I don’t like all the stuff you like.”

“For you, I promise.” Max turned a very serious face to Augie. “I know your list of ingredients, don’t worry.”

Augie didn’t seem convinced, but he was always polite when somebody offered him something edible. Because he was very picky and didn’t like a lot of flavors the rest of us liked, when somebody offered him food, he got anxious. “Well, thank you and Daddy James.” Augie turned back to the blanket he had been smoothing out on the floor. “Now, I want the tea.”

“Eww.” I made a face, surprised Augie would want something so yucky. “Since when do you drink tea?”

“No, the tea. Your Daddy tea.”

My excitement level jumped up by a hundred as I rubbed my hands together in front of my chest. “O.M.G., Augie. He’s so hot.” I briefly glanced at Max. “Max knows. Anyway, his car is awesome, and he’s so nice and sexy and caring and...perfect.”

Max rolled onto his back and tucked a pillow under his head. “Yeah, his car is amazing. I can for sure ditto that.”

“I had a crush on him in high school when he was my teacher. But then I didn’t see him for a long time until last week when he came into the shop.” I paused and went a little swoony as I remembered the day that changed my life. Well, the first day that changed my life. “It was the best day of my life. Actually, no, about a week after that was. I mean…every day is getting better and better, but they’re all the best days ever of my whole life.”

Augie sighed dramatically and pulled a stuffed penguin to his chest. “I’m never gonna have a Daddy like that, but I’m happy that you do.”

Max and I both jumped in to reassure him. “You definitely will, Augie. You’re so cute and nice.”

“Yeah, your Daddy will find you soon.” Max scooted closer to Augie and grabbed his hand.

He shook his head and his eyes were getting brighter blue by the second. “Probably not, but that’s okay. With my luck, he’d be some foodie who wanted to feed me gross stuff all the time. Like pickles and mustard.” Augie gagged a little just saying those words.

I tried not to smile as I looked at Max, but he was also smiling, so we started laughing.

Augie could be very dramatic. The stuff he didn’t like was mostly the delicious stuff that made food taste good. He was weird that way. Apparently, his tongue didn’t work like ours, so he only liked boring food. Like, the kind that had no flavor. “Maybe you’ll find someone who doesn’t like food.” I patted his back. “And until then, Daddy James and Daddy Ethan can take care of you too. And we’ll do more play dates.”

“Thanks,” he said on an exhale before swiping at his eyes. “Is it present time yet?”

“Not yet. We play first, then we eat, then we have cake, and then we do presents. You know the schedule.” Max liked to have a plan and stick with it, so we let him be in charge of time stuff.

“Okay, how about this game.” I stood up under the sheet, basically destroying our fort, and I held it over Augie and Max so they could still see me. “We can put all the cushions on the ground and take turns jumping off the back of the couch and flying in the air and landing on the cushions. Whoever gets the farthest?—”

Behind us were two deep voices. “No.”

I frowned and turned toward the Daddies even though I couldn’t see them through the sheet. “We’ll be careful, Daddies. They’re short jumps, and you can’t get hurt from like two feet.”

And as if they were timing it, they both said it again. “No!”

Max pointed at my hand, which was still wrapped, but at least it wasn’t covered in a pound of nitrile gloves. “We don’t wanna hurt your hand again. I need you functioning back at work so I don’t have to do all the heavy stuff myself.”

“Fine.” I flopped back down and held my legs straight in the air, acting like a tent pole so the sheet was covering us again. “Then let’s get out all the cars and race them. I want to show my Daddy how fast my car can go.”

Augie and Max looked at each other then nodded. “Race cars!”

We played for another hour before our tummies were too grumbly and we had to stop to eat.

The Daddies put out all of Augie’s favorite foods. A big plate of dino nuggies, a bowl of mac & cheese from the blue box without anything extra added, mozzarella sticks with no sauce, salted potato chips, and baby carrots. Those were the things Augie loved most. He ate other stuff too, but it was a party, so we just had the yummy stuff.

After that, it was finally time for cake.

Instead of a regular cake, Augie asked for yellow cake with vanilla ice cream and chocolate frosting. It wasn’t my favorite flavor combination, but it wasn’t my birthday. And Augie was so happy that by the time he opened up his presents, he could have gotten just about anything and been absolutely thrilled.

The fact that he got a bunch of awesome gifts helped with the thrilled part.

Augie’s eyes lit up when he saw the mountain of stickers Daddy got him, and when I told him I had pajamas that matched the ones I gave him, Max wanted a pair too so we could have a matching PJ sleepover sometime.

Daddy Ethan promised to host it at his house whenever we wanted. He was a good Daddy like that. Always thinking of ways to help me have fun.

After all the presents were opened, Augie seemed to crash from his junk food high and fell asleep in the fort. Daddy James carried him to their guest room and tucked him in, and then Daddy and I said our goodbyes.

Instead of taking me home, he took me back to his place. I loved being at his house because with all the open space that he had yet to fill with new furniture, it was easy to imagine helping him make some of those choices and maybe living there too someday.

It was silly for me to be thinking like that after only being with him for such a short period of time, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to be with Daddy every second, and he said things that made me think he wanted that too.