Page 19 of Lance & Clayton

I laughed and nodded. "Of course, sweetheart. You have a heart of gold for taking care of Dino. He would thank you if he could speak."

He stared at me blankly as he gaped. "What do you meanifhe could speak? He speaks to me all the time when I press his mouth up against my ear and listen carefully. He's just shy around grownups, so he won't speak around you."

It was adorable how he thought stuffed animals could have feelings. As he fell asleep last night, he'd been talking to Dino, telling him how he hoped his brothers and sisters to have found a happy home. He was willing to adopt them all if they hadn’t, and lord knew I didn't dare say no to such a sweet face.

I washed us both as he played with his bath toys. As always, when it was time to clean his privates, he blushed and popped a semi. He was shy about telling Daddy what he wanted. I knew he'd soon be comfortable enough to ask me to take care of it for him. But until then, I'd have to wait for him to be ready. He was sexually inexperienced and it was understandable that he didn't know what he wanted, or was too shy to ask for it.

I put a hand in the water. "It's time to get out, bright eyes. The water's too cold."

"Just a few more minutes, Daddy?" He said, racing the sailboat around. "Pwease?"

"Do you want to catch a cold, sweetheart? Who's going to take care of Dino if you're sick?"

Sometimes boys wanted things that weren't good for them, as it was a Daddy's duty to decide when to give in and when it was time to draw the line.

"Fine," he said after a sigh and stood up. "And I know you'd take care of Dino if I ever got sick or wasn't home."

"That's right." I nodded and stood next to him. "Because anything valuable to my boy is just as important to me."

I towel dried us and then we headed over to the bedroom. I offered him animal-themed Little clothes again, and this time he chose the ones with little elephants on them. After I changed him into his jammies, he put an arm on his nose and raised it before trumpeting like an elephant.

"You seem to be enjoying the elephants. What do you think? Are they a close second now after the dinosaurs?"

"Maybe third," he said. "Bears are a close second, because they're ferocious yet cute, just like dinosaurs."

Only Clayton would find bears cute. There was something about Little boys and finding dangerous animals cute.

"You know what, I've got a little surprise for you downstairs." I took his hand and led him out the door. "I've got it all set up and I know you'll be just as excited as Michael gets over it."

"Is it another pressie, Daddy?" He beamed as I swept him off his feet and carried him into my arms. "You've already given me so many of them. Nothing compares to being with you, Daddy, not even pressies."

I chuckled. "So what I’m hearing is you don’t want any presents going forward. Got it."

He shook his head frantically. “No! I didn’t say that.”

Once we got downstairs, he wiggled in my arms and clapped excitedly at the sight before him. I had prepped for our brunch in the kitchen, everything from various toppings, cheeses, and herbs.

"I want us to have a special afternoon, especially since you've had a tiring day yesterday." I put him onto the table where a coloring book lay. "Can you guess what Daddy is making?"

"Oh, is it pizza?" he said, joining his hands. "Please let it be pizza."

"I knew you'd love it." I laughed and walked over to the side of the table. "You know what, you could help me make it if you'd like. That's the best part about making pizza. Little boys can help grownups make it."

When he nodded, I gave him some of the dough and guided him on forming the base of the pizza. When he couldn't, I placed my hands on his and showed him how. It was good enough once it roughly looked like the shape of a pizza.

"Oh, no," he said, pushing his lower lip out in a pout. "Mine looks like it's taken a bad beating. Yours looks like the ones in pizzerias."

"You know what, you can have the nice one," I said, switching our base.

Then it was time to spread the tomato sauce while he preferred green pesto, followed by choosing the toppings and cheeses.

"I want all the greens, Daddy!" he said when I gave him the choice. "All for me and none for you. Growing boys need their nutrition and they need to eat their greens. Am I being a good boy, Daddy?"

I laughed and kissed his head. "The best, sweetheart. You're right. Some boys are picky and they need their Daddies to make them eat greens. I'm glad you like them."

He picked broccoli, spinach, and kale to go on top of his pizza. Among the cheeses, he picked gorgonzola, edam, and mozzarella. By the time he was done, his pizza was overloaded with greens while mine was scantily topped with meat.

"And off it goes into the oven." I placed them in and turned to him. "Now all we do is wait. Wasn't that easy?"

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