Page 73 of Bossy Baby

“The ogre was mean and angry. You see, he’d been hurt in the past. By people that were supposed to love him. He didn’t have much faith in humanity. But the boy was different.”

The poor ogre.

“The ogre had been watching the boy for a while. He needed to get closer. He had to have one of the sweet boy’s smiles directed at him. And when he stepped foot inside the castle, that was exactly what the boy did. Smiled at the big ogre.”

Good boy. Hayley liked being a good boy. He didn’t want to be mad and hurting any longer.

“When the boy smiled at the ogre, the ogre’s world brightened. It was like everything bad that had ever happened to the ogre just disappeared.”

That was good. The ogre should be happy.

“And then something remarkable happened. The boy held the ogre’s hand. At that moment, the ogre didn’t ever want the boy to stop touching him.”

Hayley ran his hand over Mac’s chest. His Daddy wasn’t wearing a shirt again. Hayley loved that.

“Every week, the ogre would return to the castle just so the bright, smiling boy would touch and talk to him. He always got that special smile, too.”

And the ogre always would. Hayley would make sure of that.

“Each time the ogre visited, he fell more and more in love with the boy. And his smiles. And the way the boy made the ogre feel. Until all the ogre could think about was making the boy his forever. He would do whatever it took to make the boy his.”

“Bought him a house,” Hayley mumbled around Mac’s thumb.

“Yes, the ogre bought the boy a great big house. With a pool and a greenhouse. He filled it with precious treasures. Just for his boy. Until one day he could bring the boy home. But the ogre was scared.”

“Scared?”

“That he wasn’t good enough for the boy.”

“He was,” Hayley’s words came out garbled.

“He started to think he could be. One day. One day he would earn the boy’s love. And when that day came, the ogre was scared again.”

“Why?”

“Because even though the boy loved him, the ogre knew he was going to make mistakes. That he might let his boy down. But that sweet, smiling boy reminded him that he didn’t have to be perfect. That an ogre was an ogre. And it was okay to be an ogre. The boy still loved him.”

The boy always would. Hayley knew the pain meds were hitting his system. He closed his eyes as he started to feel floaty.

Mac’s voice was soothing.

Hayley listened as best he could. Mac talked about the ogre playing with the boy. About their first Christmas together. Their fifth. Their tenth. How the ogre would never leave the boy. They’d have years and years together. That the ogre would make sure that the boy always got whatever he wanted.

That was nice.

Hayley wanted to tell Mac that the ogre was wonderful, but he couldn’t get himself to stop sucking Mac’s thumb.

That was nice too.

Having something so intimate, just between him and Mac. It was better than Mac giving him a pacifier. Plus, he could taste Mac’s flesh. The taste of his Daddy was enough to finally have Hayley give in to letting his mind rest. To let sleep cover him like a warm blanket. Hayley was safe and comfortable.

Mac

Mac watched Hayley sleep.

The bright, smiling boy from his story.

Mac hoped that Hayley had liked his story. He’d been at a loss of what to do to help Hayley. A quick text to Mitch had been Mac’s only lifeline. Mitch’s answer oftrust your instinctshadn’t been what Mac had expected.

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