Page 128 of Daddy's Pride
“I’m going to name him Beary, as in I love him Beary much.” Chase cuddled Beary tight as we finished our tea.
“Let’s play cars.” Henry was a car-o-holic and had so many cars and racetracks at his house it was crazy. He grabbed my new bucket of cars and poured them out. “Look how shiny this one is.”
We each grabbed a handful and raced them around then Chase took the blocks and built walls for us to crash through. Crashing was Henry’s favorite thing. He’d giggle, drive through the blocks then clap his hands and shout, “Again!”
“All right, boys.” Daddy came in. “Wow, I guess you tested all the toys today.”
“We did!” I hopped up and ran over to him. “And I gave Chase a prezzie, too.”
“You, my love, are the sweetest boy ever. Get cleaned up, tonight is make-your-own pizza night. I’ll go start the pizza oven outside.”
“Yay, pizza!” We cheered as one and cleaned up but when we got to the kitchen no Daddies were there.
“Yummy pepperonis.”
“Where’s your roller thingy, I want my crust thinner.” Henry opened and closed the drawers until he found it. “Aha.”
“It’s sticking.”
“We need more flour.” I grabbed the bag and struggled to open it when all of a sudden... “Ut- oh.”
Chapter Ten
“What the actual fuck?” Casey and I entered the house to what could only be described as a post-apocalyptic flour-filled world.
Not. Good.
“Ooohhh, Daddy Casey, Daddy Timothy said a bad word,” Henry tattled.
“Yes, he did, and I don’t blame him.” Casey shook his head. “This will not be an easy clean- up.”
“We were only outside for ten minutes. How did this happen?”
My boy’s blue eyes, the only part of him not currently covered in flour, stared up at me.
“Try not to cry because it will make the flour stick to you even more.”
“Well, since mine is the only one not covered in flour…” Casey smugly pointed out, the lucky dog.
The only part of Chase with any on him was the front of his shirt which clearly happened from standing too close to the other two imps. His hands were clean, so he’d not touched any of it.
“Oh, I’ve got our naughty boy.” Jensen and Mitchell walked in, having just returned from picking up the ice-cream cake for me. “Henry, follow me.” Jensen’s displeasure with the situation was clear in his command. Henry flinched, but followed him.
“I didn’t do it,” Chase announced, on the verge of tears. “Please don’t punish me.”
I wasn’t aware of his backstory but based upon the fear in his reaction, punishments weren’t foreplay for him, and I hope Casey caught that, too.
“Sweet boy, I don’t believe you did anything wrong,” Casey took his hand, “but let’s go outside and brush you off.”
Putting the boys in the tub or shower would’ve been detrimental to the plumbing and had we thrown them in the pool—yes, that thought had crossed my mind—it would’ve likely done the same. “Over by the hose, Jamie and Henry.” This was the first time I was truly angry with Jamie, and he knew it. Tears spilled over though he tried his best to contain them, so I washed his face first before the flour had a chance to get doughy.
Was that even a word? Hell, who knew and at this point, none of the ones swirling through my mind were G-rated.
“Henry,” Mitchell slid Henry’s shirt off and a poof of white filled the air, “why did you do this?”
“The-the,” he stuttered, “the dough was sticking to the counter so we got the flour but couldn’t open it. And-and it was so soft, so we played in it, but it tasted nasty.” Henry stuck his tongue out and a white streak ran down the center. “Blech.”
“Jamie, I don’t even know what to say.” Nor where to begin. “The kitchen is a mess, the dough was already rolled out so there was nothing for you to do but decorate your pizza. Now, I don’t even know if we can save any of it.”