Page 107 of Daddy's Pride
“Yes, and your squirming is waking important things up that shouldn’t be woken at our friends’ house.”
More giggles escaped ‘cause my naughty mind immediately went to what Daddy T’s toy could look like. Would it be long and thin or, ooohhh, would it be so thick it filled me perfectly like a big plug? I was a bad boy. Good thing Daddy couldn’t read my mind.
“Someone’s being a naughty boy.”
Or could he?
“He-he, sorry, Daddy T.” If he was my Daddy, did I still need to add a name or an initial? I mean, he was my only Daddy. “Can I just call you Daddy now?”
“Yes, you don’t need to add the T unless you want to. Should we get back inside? Henry probably misses you.”
“Yes.” I hopped off, took his hand and dragged him back inside. “Guess what? I have a Daddy of my own!”
“Yay!” Henry cheered and ran over and hugged me. “Jamie’s got a Daddy.” We sang and danced while our Daddies got dinner on the table.
“All right, silly boys,” Mitchell called out, “dinner time.”
Henry’s Daddies sat us next to each other with a line of yummy dippy sauces in front of us. “Yay, tots. I love tots, they’re fun to dip-dip-dip.”
“First comes the nuggie. Dippy, dippy, dippy.” I popped it in my mouth and shimmied in my seat. “That sauce was nummy. Now for a tot-tot-tot.” Into sauce number two. “Another nummy sauce.”
Daddy sat beside me, and I smiled at him. I couldn’t help it, he made me that happy. “Sweet boy, may I ask why you do things in threes?”
I shook my shoulders up and down, three times if my count was right. I’d never noticed before… “I dunno. It’s much more fun.” I thought about it then it hit me. “The first one gets you ready, the second links the first and third. When the third comes, you’re ready to dive in and dancing with excitement for the nummy goodies.” With a wiggle of my tush, I dipped another nugget and held it up for him. “Here, Daddy, try it.”
“Daddy might vomit if he tries it.”
“What? I only dipped it in ranch, silly Daddy. Not a combination and I promise I didn’t lick it first.” Oh shoot. “Are you allergic? I forgot to ask.”
“No, I’m not allergic. Not a big fan, but for you, I’ll try.” Daddy took a bite and got a surprised look on his face. “Wow, that’s not too bad.”
“Wanna try the mustard?” Everyone groaned. I crossed my arms and got angry. “That’s not nice. Grandma always said if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
“You’re right, Jamie,” Henry’s Daddy Mitchell said. “I apologize. I just don’t care for mustard, but that doesn’t give me the right to react that way. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry, Jamie.” Henry wrapped his arms around me and nearly fell out of his chair.
Much better, but I didn’t say that out loud. They were the Daddies, and I didn’t want to get in trouble and not be allowed to come back. Henry was my only friend and I really liked him. When I got hyper and silly, Henry didn’t get mad, he laughed and danced with me. Most people thought I was too much…
“Daddies, done!” Henry announced and threw his arms up to be washed so I did the same. Daddy T, err, Daddy smiled and wiped me clean, then booped my nose.
Daddy Jensen took our plates. “Why don’t you boys go play while the Daddies clean up.”
“Okay, Daddy.” That got Henry a cheek kiss. “Come on, Jamie. Let’s color our Daddies new pictures for their fridges.”
Henry picked a book of unicorns, no surprise, and I picked a zoo book that looked brand new. “I want to go to a zoo someday.”
“Yeah, that would be fun. I wonder why we don’t have one here.”
I shrugged though he couldn’t see me. “I dunno. I bet my Daddy has been to one. He’s so lucky, he gets to play animals all day.”
“I wonder if he’s ever seen a unicorn.”
“You’re silly, Henry. You know they’re pretend.” Henry was funny but he had so many unicorns.
Henry whined. “I wanna see a real one.”
My turn to roll my eyes, though he didn’t see it. I found a page with puppies on it, this book didn’t have any sloths or koalas. Whatever grown-up made this book knew nothing about animals.