Page 110 of Their Perfect Daddy

“Kendall. His name is Kendall, Daddy.”

“Hello, Kendall. You’re welcome to come outside as well. Everyone is welcome.”

My new friend bounces in his chair for a minute before standing. “I’m in! Lead me to the chocolate, Monty and Monty’s man.”

“You found a friend, Brat? I’m not surprised one bit.”

I push to standing, then lean forward onto Daddy’s chest. “He found me, actually. I’m not a beacon for all the brats in the area.”

Kendall mock whispers, “You kind of are though. I’m not a brat, but I could sense the vibes.”

“Hey! You have to take my side, not his.”

At my words, my new friend raises his hand and backs up towards the outer doors. “I’ll just get a head start.”

In a blink, he spins around and jogs away. Daddy and I share a look, then laugh at how cute he was. I don’t know who else Kendall is attached to besides Tank, but hopefully he’ll be around more.

“Where’s our princess?”

Daddy turns me around to face the windows. Instantly, I see our boy dancing around with bags of marshmallows in his hands. He’s joined by Finn, Raymond, Jake, and Rodney. Atlas, Timothy, and Jett sit close by, though they’re not dancing. The others sit around the fire pit watching with big smiles.

“You talk about me finding my people, but that boy out there can get into trouble anywhere we go,” I point out.

“I wouldn’t call him being playful trouble.” Daddy goes still for a second before adding, “At least not all the time. This is just a sugar high. He’ll be asleep before we even make it home.”

We slowly make our way outside. The cane helps with movement; however, I still need to take it slow, or I risk slipping. Another fall right now would be career ending.

The thought should terrify me.

Football is all I ever really loved and was committed to.

But then I look at my men, and I know there’s more to life. Maybe this injury isn’t the end of my career. It’s more of a pause.

It’s also the beginning of something beautiful.

Once we step through the back door, we’re spotted by our partner. He hops right over and wraps his arm around us. It’s then I notice he’s got Lahmay, his stuffed llama tucked tight under his arm. He’s obsessed with the fluffy ball of cuteness. It goes pretty much everywhere we do.

“Are you excited about s’mores? I’m so ready. Chocolate is delicious. Finn gets double chocolate because it’s his birthday. His Daddy said so. Should I not call him that though? Maybe I should call him uncle. I’ve heard it’s a kinky thing. Uncle Bellamy? Yeah, that sounds right.” Before either of us can answer his run-on sentences, he looks over his shoulder and shouts, “Uncle Bellamy!!”

Bellport’s head pops up with an amused glint. “Yes, Danny?”

“Just seeing if it worked. Also, I want to be called Princess Danny when with my friends. If Princess Aster can do it, I can too.”

“There is only one Princess Aster, though,” Kendall jumps in to say.

“Well, yeah. It’s more about how I enjoy the title. I’m going to call the Daddies by the title uncle since we’re all one big family anyway. Sounds good, right?” My boyfriend looks to the other boys who all nod in agreement.

Daddy jumps in right as our princess opens his mouth to give another round of information. “Why don’t we go settle to make our s’mores? If you still have a bunch of energy in a few minutes, you can take off your shoes and go run in the yard.”

“Ok, Daddy.” Our princess tosses the bags of marshmallows in his hands over to Jett, who is sitting quietly with my brother in his lap. “Hold those for me brother-in-law. I need to cuddle my men. They’ve missed me.”

Jett nods solemnly as he holds the bags as if he’s protecting the ball in a game. I laugh at the sight even as I’m dragged over to an empty set of chairs.

This life of mine is never boring. And I know no matter what comes next, I’ve got two amazing men supporting me through it all.

At the thought, I reach out to grab Daddy’s arm. “I just… I think I know what to call my project.”

The project being the volunteer efforts we had to get help on recently. While the team was more than happy to step in during my absence, I’m eager to get back to things. Those kids are important to me. I never want a single one of them to feel think they’re alone.

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