Page 46 of Bossy Baby

“Great idea. Have you already been?”

“No, but the decorator told he about the place. I have a brochure for them somewhere.”

“Would it be okay if I called my mom? I know she’s never seen your place, but I love talking to her about planting. And she would know exactly what flowers will thrive here in our climate.”

“You can call whoever you want,” Mac answered. With a hand on Hayley’s lower back, Mac led him up the steps. “I’ll be more than happy to do the work. You can tell me what to do.”

Hayley lifted his casted arm. “Oh. I’m not going to be able to plant. I forgot.”

Damn, now Mac wished he’d never agreed. He hated seeing Hayley unhappy.

“We can wait. Until the cast comes off.”

“But I don’t want to wait! If we don’t do it now, we have to wait until next spring. It’s already late in the year.”

“I have a glove that will fit over the cast. If you promise to take it easy, we’ll see how much you can do. I’ll do the heavy digging, though.”

Bobbing his head as they reached the front door, Hayley was almost vibrating. “That’ll work. Yeah, that will totally work.”

“Okay, sweetie.” Mac unlocked the door and ushered Hayley inside. He took the time to explain the alarm system to Hayley and added Hayley’s fingerprints. Unsurprisingly, Hayley found the security system fascinating.

Once that was out of the way, Mac led Hayley to the living room.

“Why don’t you sit and relax. Would you like something to drink?”

“Can I have juice?” Hayley asked, almost shyly.

“Of course.” Mac strolled into the kitchen and went straight to the fridge. He pulled out the chilled apple juice. Closing the fridge, he turned toward the cabinet he kept the glasses in.

Would Hayley want a regular glass or should Mac fill one of the sippy cups he’d bought?

The sippy cup that morning had made Hayley happy. But what did Hayley want now? Avery was always in hislittlepersona when he wasn’t at school. While Hayley got excited and Mac could see the boy shining through, Mac didn’t think that Hayley waslittleas often as Avery. All this was so confusing. But Hayley had told Mac that he needed to do things to make them both happy.

Fuck it. Mac was going to trust his instinct.

He chose the bright yellow sippy cup with a big sun smiling on it. Mac filled the cup with apple juice and screwed on the lid. He replaced the juice jug in the fridge then grabbed himself a bottle of water.

Mac walked back in the living room to find that Hayley was still sitting on the couch where Hayley had left him. Mac strode around to the front. Hayley lit up when he saw the yellow sippy cup.

“I wanted a special cup. I felt silly asking for it, though. Thank you.”

Hayley crouched in front of him. “Don’t ever feel silly about asking for what you want. I almost didn’t use it. I thought it might be pushing you too fast.”

“We need to get better at communicating. This is something we both want.”

“I agree.” Mac handed the cup over.

Hayley grabbed it and immediately put it to his lips. As he drank from the cup, Mac picked up Hayley’s right foot and removed his tennis shoe and sock, then did the same with his left.

“Thank you…Daddy.”

Mac ran his hand up Hayley’s leg to his waist. He went from his crouch to settle on his knees. “You were a really good boy today.”

Hayley’s eyes widened. The cup was lowered.

Mac leaned forward until his mouth was mere inches from Hayley’s. “It’s time for you to get your reward.” He pressed his lips gently against Hayley’s.

Hayley gasped, giving Mac immediate access, so Mac swept his tongue inside. Deepening the kiss, Mac pressed Hayley into the couch. With his right hand, Mac caressed Hayley’s soft cheek.

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