“You should get in. The water’s nice when you get used to it.”
I sat in a chair and lazed my hand through the ripples beside his tube. It felt cool and good. But I was comfy in my chair. “If I want to get wet, I’ll go stand under the sprinkler.”
“Cool idea!”
“Maybe later.”
Later, I did take off my shirt and, in only shorts, ran through the sprinkler a few times. Kendry came bouncing along behind me, screeching with laughter.
I turned and grabbed him, lifting him up in the air as the water poured over us like a light, cool rain. Wet, skin to skin, he clung to me like he’d always been there. And always would.
That night, he lay back on my chest, swinging his pajama-clad legs in the air as we read a book together. When we finished, I laid the book aside and rolled over, half on top of him.
He giggled for a second, then his face got serious, and his bright eyes locked with mine. His dark eyebrows were so slender they looked painted on. He was like my little doll, beautiful as he gazed up at me, blinking.
“What do you see when you look at me?” he asked.
“You look like a doll in my arms. My doll.”
“A doll?”
“Your features are so pretty. You have naturally long, dark lashes and pink cheeks and lips. I think I want to play with you.”
“Like a toy?”
“Well, um.” I backtracked. I remembered Kendry telling me about his exes and them treating him like a thing, a toy. “Maybe I over spoke my thoughts.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Being treated as a toy was what you didn’t like with the others. I remember you telling me that.”
“It’s different with you.” He bounced up and kissed my nose. “I’ll be your toy any time.”
I placed one hand on his waist and began to tickle him. “My little boy toy?” I asked.
He squirmed and giggled.
“I’ll always be your little boy, right?”
I wasn’t a real daddy. But I wasn’t a not-daddy, either. I rested somewhere in between.
I belonged to Kendry. And he belonged to me. It was that simple.
I put my hand on the side of his face, cupping it gently. “Always.”
THE END