Page 25 of A Daddy for Maddy

“My name is James.” He pointed so hard at himself he hit himself in the chest with his finger.

“Hi, James. I’m Maddy.”

“Hi, Maddy.”

James was rather cute with gold curls falling over his eyes. He kept sticking out his tongue as he scribbled furiously with his crayons.

“I a good boy. Daddy say so. But I still have to wear diapers.”

“You should probably do what your daddy says.”

“I do. I good. I like when Daddy lies on top of me and tells me so.”

I couldn’t help but giggle. James joined in.

“Where your daddy?” James asked.

“He works here. We’re going out after the club closes.”

James nodded his understanding. “My daddy is here, too, but not here-here. He went to watch growed-up stuff I not allowed to watch.”

“Well, we can stick together until our daddies come back.”

“’kay.”

It was hard to concentrate. I kept thinking of Colin and how much I wanted to be with him. I wanted to see him. Watch him work. The time passed slowly. I wasn’t complaining, but I felt anxious, like I just wanted to see him so badly right now that it almost hurt.

There was a lot of stuff in the room to occupy me. A lot of toys and books. Games. Puzzles. A TV on the wall showed endless cartoons. I watched some of those for a while. They were fun.

But Colin wasn’t at my side. It felt wrong and empty. Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I got out my phone and texted him.

Maddy: Do you have a break coming? Can I spend your break with you?

Colin: Of course. I have a half hour lunch break and our break room has a full kitchen. But I thought I’d order some appetizers from the bar. Would you like that?

Maddy: Yes. I can’t wait.

I didn’t want to make him think he had to provide everything for me. Yet, that was what a daddy did, and Colin had said he was a daddy who liked to take care of everything.

I started to rock back and forth on the beanbag chair where I sat watching the TV. I was both nervous and excited. Too excited to sit still. Fifteen minutes wasn’t a long time to wait, but it seemed like forever.

Finally, Colin walked through the door, one hand holding a couple of food boxes. I could smell it from here. I nearly squealed as I jumped up to greet him. I ran to hug him, carefully navigating beneath the boxes and under his free arm.

“I’m happy to see you, too,” he said.

He led me to the employee lounge, saying it was fine for him to have a guest there. He got me a soda and revealed the food. Hot wings and mini quesadillas and spinach dip. Yummy.

I’d come straight from work and hadn’t eaten. I was starving. After Colin got us sodas, I curled up next to Colin on the couch and dug in.

There were only two other employees in the lounge, and they left us to ourselves, both involved in their phones.

Colin put his arm around me as we ate. He kept saying, “Here, try this one.” And feeding me bites of food.

“Are you testing me out to see if I like to be fed?”

“Maybe.”

“I do.”

---