Page 21 of Milk For His Little

He jumped up and down and clapped his hands. “A new toy? Wait!” He tore into the bedroom and returned with his bunny. “Now I’m ready. I want my new friend to feel welcome.”

He gingerly opened the door. My friend Matt stood there holding a pet carrier. He’d done me a huge favor by collecting the kitty I’d chosen from the shelter and looking after the little one for a few days. I didn’t want the kitten to be introduced to us in the chaos and dust.

Kasper flung his arms around my neck and peppered my face with kisses. He fell to his knees and peered into the carrier. “Is this who I think it is?”

“Meet Marvin.”

Matt handed over the food and the cat paraphernalia I’d bought but didn’t come in as he had a date.

With the door closed, Kasper opened the carrier, and Marvin didn’t cower or meow. He pranced out as if he owned the place.I predicted he soon would. He allowed my boy to scratch him behind the ears and proceeded to inspect the apartment.

Kasper had a burst of energy after not wanting to finish unpacking. He set up a bed for Marvin in our room and the living room. The kitty litter box was in the bathroom, and even though it was a self-cleaning one—I couldn’t cope with the smell and bits of poop mixed in with litter—the residue had to be emptied regularly. That was Kasper’s job.

“Now we’re a family.” He introduced Marvin to his bunny, but the kitten gave the stuffie a disdainful look and settled into his bed.

“I want them to be friends.” My sweet boy crawled toward the kitten, telling bunny about Marvin.

“Friendships don’t always happen immediately. This is all new to Marvin.” I reminded Kasper how long it took us to speak to one another. Marvin must have tired of us talking, and he crawled onto my boy’s lap and purred.

“He likes me!”

“And he’ll grow to love you as I do.”

“Awww, I love you too, Daddy.”

Chapter 17

Kasper

“That was the best weekend, ever.” I snuggled into Daddy’s side, the train picking up speed.

We’d gone to the city to see a musical I’d been talking about for ages that was finally near enough to go, to play at a club we’d not been to before, and to eat at a few hole-in-the-walls we’d seen on a food show. It was the perfect getaway weekend, if not an unexpected one.

I wasn’t sure what brought on the spontaneous trip, but he’d been so excited that I made sure to drop everything for us to go. And was I glad we did! It was going to be one of those times I fondly looked back on for years.

“Oh, I’m glad, sweet boy.” He kissed the top of my head.

He’d even gotten one of the fancy private cars like you saw in the movies. It was just the two of us, snugged together, watching the world pass us by. I appreciated the privacy. It was nice not having to worry about my words and if I said “Daddy” in front of the wrong person, or if my hand landed on his knee, like it naturally did.

We could’ve driven, the city wasn’t that far from home, but driving would’ve meant that one of us—fine, Daddy—would’ve been focused on the road and the horrific traffic the entire time. This was better.

“I have a surprise for you when we get home.” I loved the way he sing-songed when he told me about good surprises. When we’d first gotten together, I often worried that “surprise” could mean something bad. It was the way my head worked. But now? Now he made sure to let me know from the get-go that it wasn’t.

“It’s not my birthday.” Although, for my birthday, he “had a surprise” for me too. He was pretty much the best Daddy ever. No. There was no pretty much to it, he was.

“I know, and I wanted to have it for your birthday, but there was a waitlist.”

A waitlist? I couldn’t think of anything that I needed that might be on a waitlist. In fact, I couldn’t think of anything I needed at all. Daddy made sure all of that was taken care of, even when it was something I didn’t know I needed, like a sleepy mask.

“What are you up to, Daddy?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, the anticipation almost worth the uncertainty.

“That’s for my good boy to find out.” He pulled me closer to him.

“Can we play a game?”

“Why do I feel like this is a trick?” Because he was a smart Daddy, that was why.

“Maybe because I was going to ask to play 20 questions?” I stuck out my tongue.

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