Page 50 of Bossy Baby

Hayley smoothed down the fabric of the shirt. “I love it.”

He received a gentle kiss. “Now you’re ready to play.”

“Do you want to play with me or relax?” Hayley asked.

“Would it be okay if I sat in the chair and just watched for a little bit?” Mac requested. “I haven’t gotten to see you play yet.” He swallowed hard and Hayley knew Mac was struggling with his emotions. “I’ve been dreaming about it.”

Hayley beamed up at him. “Yes, Daddy!” Hayley grabbed his hand, tugging him across the room. He pushed at Mac until he sat in the big recliner. “You be a good Daddy and sit. I’m gonna play now.”

The transition from big Hayley tolittleHayley was quick as a flash, no problem getting in the right mindset. This had been a good idea. Hayley just wanted to get lost in the warm, safe world that Mac had created for them.

Hayley walked over to the shelf and pulled down the container full of spacemen and rockets. Oh, he had an idea! A really fun one. Carrying the toys to the middle of the dark blue rug, Hayley dumped out the container. They made an awful racket and Hayley laughed. Then he went back to find more stuff to play with.

“What are you going to do, baby?”

“Space adventure,” he replied, without even looking up at Mac. Wasn’t it obvious? Maybe not—Daddies didn’t get to play a lot. That was okay though. Hayley would play enough for both of them.

Mac

In his soft pajama pants and T-shirt, Hayley looked even better than Mac had ever envisioned.

This sweet boy who had caught Mac’s eye was everything that was good in the world. Mac might not deserve to even be in the presence of someone like Hayley, but he wasn’t strong enough to give him up, either.

Soft sounds caught his attention as Hayley launched a rocket into the air and flew it over his head.

Unable to remain across the room from his boy, Mac rose. Without disturbing Hayley, he quietly crossed to one of the shelves and picked up a container that would go well with the toys his boy had chosen.

Mac dropped down onto his knees, glad he’d slipped on a comfortable pair of lounge pants earlier.

Hayley lifted his gaze. “Hi.”

“Hi, sweetheart,” Mac replied. “Where’s your spaceship going to land?”

“The planet of…of…Daddies!” Hayley shouted with a giggle.

Mac nodded seriously. “A planet very far away.” He scooted over and began setting up the aliens and astronaut figurines.

“Daddy? You play?”

Mac glanced over at his boy after those soft words. “Yes, Daddy is going to play with his boy.”

The spaceship was dropped as Hayley crawled over to him. Hayley climbed into Mac’s lap before peppering kisses all over his face.

“That makes my boy happy?” God, his heart was going to explode with how good he felt pleasing Hayley.

“I never, never, had a Daddy to play with before.” Hayley bounced. “Thank you!”

Mac nuzzled his boy’s neck. “You’re welcome, sweetheart.” He gasped. “A black hole! You have to avoid the black hole!”

“Oh no!” Hayley scrambled back to his toys and picked up his abandoned spaceship, still on his knees.

Quickly, Mac finished setting up the new planet on his side of the rug. The planet of Daddies. How cute was that? Then he rolled behind Hayley and started makingpew-pew-pewnoises.

“Oh no!” Hayley squealed. “I’m being shot at! I better find a planet to land and hide on.”

Pew-pew-pew.Mac continued. His smile couldn’t have gotten any bigger. All worries from earlier slipped away as Hayley crash-landed his spaceship on Planet Daddies.

An hour went by so fast that Mac had lost all sense of time. It wasn’t until his stomach rumbled that he remembered dinner.

---