Page 28 of His Last Chase

“Absolutely. Let me set this down and I’ll open it.”

Once we were safely tucked inside my home, I properly greeted my boy. The blush on his face and the way he held me tight said he needed this as much as I did.

“I’ve got a surprise for you but let’s do the thirty-second tour first so you can find your way around.”

“You do? Other than that wonderful smelling bag that just got delivered?”

“Smart-ass.” I stole another kiss then took his hand. “Let me show you the house.”

“It’s really cute. I like it.” Chase, ever the polite boy.

“It’s small but it’s mine. Three bedrooms, this one is the office. The one beside it is a spare room, and this is the main bedroom.” We paused long enough for a quick glance. “There’s anen suiteand a bathroom in the hallway as well. You can use either one.”

“You know how some houses are just a place to temporarily lay your head like our rental is? Yours feels different. It’s simple yet comfortable. It’s clean and warm.” He shrugged. “Made more sense in my head.”

“Made perfect sense to me. Thank you. Now, let’s get to the gift giving.” His face lit up and I envisioned his little excitedly jumping inside given his wide grin. I couldn’t wait for the day he unleashed him and finally let loose.

He sat at the table and stared at the gift bag, waiting for Daddy to say okay.

“Such a polite boy. Go ahead, see what’s inside.”

Most boys would’ve had it all ripped up and paper shreds flying through the air, but not Chase. He gently removed the paper and set it aside, carefully taking each item out and nicely placing them side by side on the table.

“Thank you so much. This is my first Spiderman coloring book.” Chase grinned, his fingers gently tracing the 3D cover.

“I don’t remember if you have that Spiderman figurine or not,” there were far too many on his shelves to have memorized them all. “But that’s okay because I’d like for you to open that one and play with it.”

Chase blankly stared up at me, the still enclosed figurine in his grasp.

“If you don’t have it we can get another. They had several. I promise.” I’d run back tomorrow on my lunch break and grab another if he agreed.

“Okay.”

As methodically as he’d opened the bag, he did the same to the figurine packaging. I busied myself, plating up dinner and sneaking peeks as I watched him bend every piece meant to and fully assessed the abilities of his new webbed friend. With Spidey in one hand, he’d flip through the pages in the coloring book and use him to hold the page down as he studied each one. When he found the one he wanted to color he sat Spidey down just above the page so he could watch Chase color.

This was beyond adorable.

“Do you need help with dinner?” he paused at one point and asked.

“Nope, just want my sweet boy to relax and unwind.” Hopefully that was the correct approach to take.

“Okay.”

I may or may not have taken a bit of extra time setting dinner up, giving Chase time to finish his picture. His tongue darted out, a peek at his little as he thoroughly engrossed himself in perfecting his artwork. He didn’t even notice me as I slid a napkin and silverware on the table beside him.

“There, all done.” He smiled, beyond proud of himself as was I.

“Want to hang it on the fridge?”

Chase teared up as his eyes met mine. “You-you’d let me do that?”

“I’d be honored to have my sweet boy’s art proudly displayed.” My heart broke for the boy who just wanted to be recognized and healed in the same moment, and I was the man who’d ensure that happened. It’d take years but Chase would come to see his thoughts and feelings mattered and were just as important as anyone else’s. Even more so in this house.

Carefully, he freed the page from the book. I loved that the manufacturers wised up and perforated the pages now for ease of removal. He walked over to the fridge, selected three magnets and hung it up.

“Look, Da—Casey. It’s my picture.”

Almost.

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