Chapter 7

(Zachy)

Wet n’ Wild Waterpark Adventures

“Holy wow! I always forget how big this place is!” Zachy said as they stepped through the entry point and into the park.

To his left was a splash pad, to the right was the maze with a ton of water obstacles he’d never finished navigating because it was usually filled with kids. Today it was closed to the general public, which was so cool, because all of the kink clubs in the city had gotten together to buy it out and make it a special day for the Daddies, little, and pets, where they could come and just be themselves without having to worry about anyone staring or judging them.

A log went sloshing past just to the right of where they stood, splashing a wave of water over them. Mr. Gage laughed and removed his sunglasses to clean them on his shirt, while Zachy reminded himself for the third time that morning not to fuck up and accidentally call him Daddy even if the night spent with Mr. Gage felt like everything his research had told him a Daddy was supposed to be.

He'd picked up nummy, nummy burgers on the way home from the expo, and even let Zachy have all his pickles when he’d found out how much he liked them. He’d cut up Zachy’s burger for him too, into bite sized pieces, bun and all, then filled little cups with honey mustard, ranch and ketchup, so Zachy could dunk the pieces, which had led to him eating slower and not woofing his food down despite how hungry he’d been. He’d even gotten him a strawberry shake with cheesecake bits and everything. It was so good and tasted like real strawberries and not just strawberry flavoring. To top it all off he’d gotten onion rings with a super tangy sauce that Zachy had even dunked some of the pieces of his burger in.

Mr. Gage had talked to him too, wanting to know all about the show and how Zachy had come to be a part of it, how it had developed and where Zachy hoped to see it go. Later, after Zachy had come out of this shower with his wet hair dampening the tank top he’d put on to sleep in, Mr. Gage had sat him on an ottoman in front of him on the couch and gently rubbed his hair with a thick, fluffy towel. He’d asked if Zachy’s head had been bothering him too, which is how Zachy realized just how much attention Mr. Gage had been paying to him at work. He’d noticed the way Zachy had been grimacing and rubbing the back of his neck whenever he took his cowl off and got him to reveal the reason.

Now they were there and Zachy couldn’t figure out which way to go. Everything was always so much fun here but where to start? Twitchy, he shuffled left, licked his lips and swayed, twisting right and watching the log flume kick up another wall of water.

Maybe there, or the maze. The maze was empty. He’d finally get to finish it. The bucket on the splash pad dumped a whole load of water over a little’s head while she laughed and danced in it and Zachy’s attention was immediately drawn there, wanting water to be dumped on him too.

“Breathe,” Mr. Gage murmured, voice right by his head as his warm, heavy hand slid beneath Zachy’s hair to cup the back of his neck and give a gentle squeeze.

Sighing, Zachy melted into the touch and did as Mr. Gage said. He sucked in a deep breath and relaxed while Mr. Gage lightly massaged muscles Zachy hadn’t realized were tense.

“We have all day,” Mr. Gage told him, pitching his voice low, so it rumbled over him like a wave and made it easy to focus on what he was saying. “You don’t have to rush to pick something. Just give yourself a moment to take it all in. That’s it. That’s a good boy.”

“I wanna ride the log flume,” Zachy declared as he held his hand out to Mr. Gage. “Will you ride it with me?”

“Of course.”

Zachy skipped to the entrance, he was so happy, and Mr. Gage just chuckled and held his hand, never once letting go.

They even got the front seat, since there weren’t any lines, and Zachy got to get soaked, right off the bat, which definitely helped him settle down as well.

Hands swinging between them after the flume was done, Zachy didn’t have a hard time deciding which thing to do next. He headed straight for the maze and got hold of one of the water rockets, firing off a stream at Mr. Gage.

“Really! Prepare for battle,” Mr. Gage declared, stepping up into the opposite turret and absolutely drenching what few dry spots there were left on him.

“White flag, white flag,” Zachy screeched when he could no longer see to retaliate. His sides ached from laughing so hard, but when Mr. Gage dried his face and brushed his damp hair back from his bang, it was with such a tender look on his face that Zachy almost threw his arms around him and hugged him.

They explored the rest of the maze together, including the tunnel that was a tight fit for Zachy. Mr. Gage went around and waited for him at the exit, where Mama Mimzy was too. She smiled and ruffled his hair when he emerged just before her girl Kayla did.

“Are you having fun, sweet boy?” she asked.

It’s the bestest day ever!” He declared, especially when he looked up to see Me. Gage taking pictures. Waving, he scooched out of the way so the others could climb out of the tunnel too.

“Blackout! Blackout!” Ryu squealed as he pointed to the top of the black tunnel several yards away.

When he grabbed Zachy’s hand and started tugging him in that direction, Zachy was so proud of himself, because he remembered to put on the brakes and turn, so he could make sure Mr. Gage was coming too.

“I’ll be right behind you,” he said when he caught Zachy looking for him.

Mr. Hank was there too. He was Ryu’s Daddy. Zachy never saw him far from his boy, so he let Ryu lead him towards the big, bumpy black water slide and the short line of mostly littles who were waiting for their turns.

Sandwiched between Ryu, who was eagerly telling him about the play that he and Kayla were creating the choreography for, and Kayla, who was busy describing a dance they were working on for a ferret character, he hardly noticed how slow the line was moving.

“Babber, babber. Babber,” Zachy mimicked, bobbing his head and shoulders, then swaying side to side much as he did when he was playing the part of the wicked weasel.

“Ohh, do that again!” Kayla said as she attempted to immigrate him, so he did, then Ryu bobbed, shook his shoulders, stretched to his full height and spun.

“Like he’s spinning on his tail! I love it,” Kayla said. They were in that big, little space together, with others who got it and were completely unbothered by the flow of their conversation.

They spent their time in line doing the weasel dance and giggling together.

“Sexy, smexy,” Kayla declared as she squirmed and hopped all around them, until Mama Mimzy wrapped an arm around her and pressed a cold bottle of water into her hand.

She didn’t look mad either. She smiled and kissed the side of Kayla’s hair, rubbing her back while she drank half of it, then tapped her phone, checking something on it before she tucked the water bottle away. Zachy wondered if she was keeping track of the time. Mr. Gage passed him a cold bottle of water and Zachy drank half while Ryu did the same with the bottle Mr. Hank passed him, then up the ladder they went, to wave down at their caretakers from the top of the slide before they headed down, one by one.

“Again, again,” Kayla declared the moment she popped up from the pool beneath the slide.

Ryu splashed her, while Zachy swam to the side and pulled himself out, then helped Kayla up before the three of them hurried back around to the back of the line.

“Let’s put some more sunscreen on your shoulders,” Mr. Gage suggested after they’d taken three more trips down the blackout tube.

“Thankie.”

“You’re welcome. Are you having a good time?”

“Uh-huh, but the slide is makin’ me dizzy. Is it okay if we go play on the bumper boats for a little while?”

“Ohh, bumper boats! Daddy, can you come chase me?” Ryu asked as he took his Daddy’s hand and got wrapped in a big hug, even though he was soaking wet.

“Chase you, catch you, and ram that cute little ass of yours a couple times too,” Mr. Hank growled, tickling Ryu, which made him giggle and squirm, but they could all tell that he wasn’t really trying to get away.

Zacky peered up at Mr. Gage to see if he was gonna ride too.

“I like the way you think, Hank,” Mr. Gage said. “Let’s go chase a few cuties and see if we can manage to ram them a couple times.”

“Now when will you boys realize that it’s better to finesse than smash into things?” Mama Mimzy said, winking at Kayla, who giggled and grabbed her hand, skipping as she tugged her all the way to the bumper cars.

Zachy walked beside Me. Gage, who kept one arm around him. Not only did it keep them from being separated, but he was able to steer Zachy out of the way of a happy puppy who was bounding after a ball that was rapidly rolling away from him.

“Bumpy, bumpy, bumpy!” Zachy said when he saw the boats. There was a little bit longer of a line here than there had been their last time down the blackout tube, and Zachy squirmed, shuffling from one foot to the other while he wiggled and danced in place.

“You know, you fell asleep before you could tell me where you’d moved out here from,” Mr. Gage asked.

He’d slid his hand back beneath Zachy’s hair again and had resumed stroking the back of his neck, occasionally exerting a bit of pressure at the base, or gently digging his fingertips into Zachy’s shoulder muscles, which always felt tight lately. He rubbed the back of Zachy’s head too, stroking over the spot that had been the source of his recent tension headaches, and like in the line for the blackout tunnel, time became unimportant.

“I grew up in Arizona, like a little outside of Phoenix,” Zachy explained. “It was just my dad, my grandma and me.”

“Do they still live out there?”

“Dad does. Gram and her best friend bought an RV together. They got class C licenses so they could drive it. Now they get to travel from camp to camp, checkin’ out all the National Parks and really cool roadside attractions. Last week they shared photos of them sitting in pool floaties, sipping drinks in Palm Springs, and the week before they were in Oregon on the porch of a log cabin by a lake. I love getting’ ta see where they wind up. She always sends me postcards and the cool rocks she finds.”

“Do you collect rocks?”

“Uh-huh and shark’s teeth too. I’ve got dozens of them.”

“Seriously?” Mr. Gage said. “Did you find them all yourself or do you pick them up at gift shops?”

“Me and Gram found most of them, but Dad sent some home from Florida when he was out there for work a few years ago. They were all different and one of them was super big, like from a shark that might eat people.”

“I’d love to have you show me,” Mr. Gage said. “They truly sound interesting, just like your dioramas.”

“I have them all in shadowboxes,” Zachy explained. “Except my favorite one. That one I had made into a necklace.”

“What makes it your favorite?”

“I found it in the Caribbean on this awesome beach where we had conch and spicy grilled shrimp.”

“Was that during your cruise?”

“Uh-huh, the fourth day, before I got into trouble. After that we didn’t leave the ship anymore. I’m just glad I found my shark tooth first, ‘cause there were a buncha other beaches I’d planned to search.”

“A lucky thing indeed,” Mr. Gage said. “I noticed you wearing it the other day, it gives off a surfer boy vibe.”

“I’d love to learn to surf, but I’ve never lived anywhere near the ocean, until here, but I’ve never seen anyone out there on the waves.”

“Yeah, I doubt they produce with the same kind of consistency as they do further south or out on the west coast.”

“I’ve watched a bunch of surfing competitions on television, it’s one of my favorite sports.”

“Really, what are the others?”

“I love hockey and ice dancing, it’s so graceful and those guys get vicious on the ice when they play hockey. It’s awesome to watch.”

“It’s not just the guys who get vicious out there,” Mama Mimzy said.

They turned, shuffling along backwards a few steps when the line moved again.

“There are a few women’s leagues. Kayla loves being out on the ice, so we’ve been thinking about joining together.”

“Oh, that is so badass!” Zachy declared, “I’d come watch.”

“Will you also contribute to the no-swearing fund the next time you let an a-bomb fly?”

“Yes, ma’am, I’m sorry,” Zachy said, ducking his head and immediately stepping back to get out of line. “I’ll go sit on the bench until you come get me.”

“Oh, sweetheart, you most certainly won’t,” Mama Mimzy said as she caught his hand and tugged him into a hug. “That’s too big of a punishment for such a little word. We just do the swear fund as a way of reminding ourselves that there are better words we can use in situations, and something to give each other crap for letting bad ones slip.”

“Yes, because she finds it hilarious that half my bank account is in that fund,” Hank grumbled.

“And we’re gonna go somewhere awesome when it’s full!” Ryu said. “If your Daddy does lots of swearing, maybe you’ll get to go too!”

Mr. Gage sputtered, then started laughing when Zachy turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow ‘cause he knew that had been Mr. Gage he’d heard cussing in the sound booth in between takes.

“Come on, Zachy, it’s our turn,” Mr. Gage said, and whoa, they’d made it to the front already. When did that happen?

Mr. Gage held his hand as he went down the steps into the boat, waving once he was buckled in and had gotten a shove to move him away from the dock.

This truly was the best day ever, and a little sad too, because his Daddy wasn’t there to share it with him or see how good he’d done staying mostly big and behaving himself despite how many things there were to see and do in the park.

Zachy can be good , he thought to himself, a warm fuzzy sensation surging through him, making him feel happy and proud.

Zachy can be very, very good.