Page 96 of Their Perfect Daddy

The group breaks apart, each boy going with their partner (or in Jake’s case, partners) to change. I take my bag into an empty guest room on the second floor. Before I even consider changing, I call Daddy.

“Hey, sweet boy.”

At the sound of his voice, tears fill my eyes. “Daddy,” I whine.

“What’s wrong?! Are you hurt?? I can get on a plane —”

“No! I’m fine, Daddy. Well, not fine. I’m… overwhelmed. You surprised me even when you’re not here.”

His sigh echoes through the line. “Oh, my boy. I was worried for a moment there.”

“Don’t worry. I’m happy. Too happy.”

“Too happy? I didn’t think that was possible.”

“It is,” I declare. “But I’m also not because you’re in another place instead of here with me.”

Daddy makes a clicking noise, then says, “True. I’ll be home as soon as this is over. In the meantime, you should go play with your friends. I think you’ll find a few more surprises in store, as well as maybe some kinship.”

I frown at his words. What is going to bring kinship? The only way to get my answer is to do as he says.

“Ok, Daddy. I love you.”

“I love you too, sweet boy. Happy Valentine’s Day. I want pictures later. Be sure one of the other Daddies gets some of y’all together too.”

“Yes, sir.”

Once the line disconnects, I quickly change and head back downstairs. Whatever else Daddy did is waiting for me. No reason to put it off.

When I make it to the main area again, the others are waiting around the large table. I step into the empty space. Looking around, I notice they’re all watching me.

“Is something wrong?” I ask.

Bellamy is the first to answer. “While we understand the basics, we all figured you’d know the best way to take care of all this.”

His hand waves over the collection of items before us. Paint, paintbrushes, and several different size train kits sit unopened. It’s a pot of gold for someone like me who loves trains.

“There’s not much to it. You pick the kit you want and paint it. The instructions in the box help.”

They all blink at me as if I’ve grown a second head or something. I wait them out to see if someone will explain what the hell I’ve done.

“We just thought…” Finn’s voice trails off.

“We thought you’d want to do one of your long train monologues,” Rodney Merry, Aries’s brother says. “I mean, I’ve never heard one, but they all say you can go on and on. I expected a lesson in trains today.”

I deflate at his words. “I can do that.”

“Excuse me,” a soft voice calls from across the table. I look up to see Brutal Bishop and his boy Atlas staring at me.

“Yes?”

“I don’t think you want to talk about trains, do you?”

My head shakes right away.

“You can’t talk facts and regress, can you?”

Again, I shake my head.

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