Page 123 of Daddy's Pride

“Glad you’re enjoying it. I think I see a shower in your near future.” Hosing him off outside may be the better choice.

His hands shot up. “I done, Daddy.”

Jamie’s age digression deepened each time. It was interesting to watch unfold and beyond enjoyable.

“Stay right there, let me wipe you down.” I was glad I’d opted for the semi-gloss paint on the walls during the remodel because things were about to get very interesting around here.

In typical Jamie fashion, once I wiped him clean, he giggled and ran off, stripping along the way. I followed the trail of clothing, picking up each piece, depositing them into the hamper. It was fruitless to remind him to not run in the house and watching that cute little ass shake down the hall made it even harder to reprimand.

“Hold tight and wait for the water to heat up.” I turned the taps on and stripped down while it warmed. “All right, time to wash a stinky boy.”

Jamie folded his arms across his chest. “I not stinky, Daddy.”

“I beg to differ, sir. Dried ranch dressing by itself is nasty but combined with mustard and buffalo sauce, you’ve created a stinky bomb. Let’s go.” I ushered him in and right under the spray. The smell was unbearable and somehow… “How did you get it in your hair?”

He shrugged. “I dunno.”

“Huh.”

One clean boy later, whom I found to be somewhat of a nudist as I chased him through the house to get him dressed. “There, now stay dressed and play with your stuffies while I get ready.”

“Okay, Daddy.”

“Are you bringing Sloffers with you?”

“No, Kiki gets sad when he’s gone, and I don’t want him to get dirty.” Jamie tucked him in with the other three, giving each a kiss as he said goodbye.

When we got to Cordes, Henry, Jensen, and Mitchell were already inside. We checked in and met them in the Littles room. Henry stood near the door waiting and squealed when he spotted Jamie and the two of them ran off toward the cars.

“I’m glad they get along as well as they do, but my eardrums are screaming.” Jensen may have been teasing but I felt the same pain.

“They’d put some singers to shame with those high notes they hit.” Mitchell chuckled.

Maybe they’d both missed their calling in life.

“Hey, guys, next weekend is Jamie’s birthday and I’d like to have a party for him. Would you be able to come? Figured the boys can make pizza and swim. He hasn’t seen his playroom yet, so I had the idea to have you guys wait in there and when he opens the door yell ‘surprise!’”

“That sounds great. What time? We all work at the bookstore on Saturdays.”

I’d forgotten about that until Mitchell mentioned it.

“Would Sunday be better?” That was his actual birthday, which was better.

“It would if it was around two?”

“That will work.” We watched Henry and Jamie cross the room toward the door. I wasn’t sure what was up until they took another boy who’d been standing there by the hand and led him over to the racetrack they’d set up.

“That has got to be two of the sweetest boys I’ve ever seen,” Casey, an old friend and Daddy I’d not seen in forever, said as he walked up.

“Casey, it’s been a long time.” Jensen greeted him with a hug. “You remember my partner, Mitchell?”

“I do.” He and Mitchell shook hands. “Great to see you all again, especially you, Timothy. It’s been forever.

“Just took the right boy to get me back in.”

“I take it the boy playing with Henry is yours?”

“Yes, that’s my Jamie. Who’s the boy they just adopted?” The boy seemed unsure as he sat there and watched our boys play. Tentatively, he took the car Jamie handed him and kind of pushed it around. Casey’s eyes were glued to the boy in question, I’m not sure he even heard my question.

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