Page 26 of Their Little House Tristan
“I could use a breather,” I replied. “But we can clean the kitchen afterward.”
“I’ve got it. Don’t you worry.”
We changed into our soft overalls, and Tristan had a onesie underneath. We held hands going to the playroom and made a beeline for the new record player James had bought us. He’d also gotten us a collection of little music that brought smiles to our lips and helped us settle in. James was the best daddy. He thought of everything to make our lives as easy and calm as possible. Once we chose a record that told stories about trains, we sat with our new train set and set up the tracks to be as silly as possible. Tristan pulled back the train once the tracks were set and let it go. It wrecked over the bridge we’d built, and we both laughed at our silliness.
“I think we made it too high. It can’t go over the top.”
We were immersed in play when the doorbell rang. We listened in while James greeted the delivery person and as we knew from experience, probably gave him a generous tip.
“He’s the best,” Tristan said, leaning his head on my shoulder.
“He really is. We should do something special for his birthday.”
For a few minutes, we planned James’ birthday. We both had good ideas, and it would be one heck of a celebration.
“What are you two conspiring about?” James chuckled. I hadn’t noticed he’d come in. And from Tristan’s surprised expression, neither had he.
“Something special, but it’s a secret,” Tristan answered him.
“A secret from me? That’s not nice.”
“It’s a good secret,” I intervened. “Nothing bad. We promise.”
“Of course,” James said. He opened his arms for us and we ran to him, again, so eager for his embrace and affection. I didn’t think I would ever get enough. “You two are so sweet. I’m sure it’s something very special indeed. Now, who’s hungry.”
We went to the kitchen and ate together, and James promised us a long bubble bath but only if we ate our veggies. That was him, always taking care of us.
Chapter Eighteen
James
Quite the birthday party my littles had planned for me. We had cake and ice cream and games, coffee and tea for the bigs and chocolate milk or lemonade for the littles. Finger sandwiches, which the littles made to look like real fingers, lots of fresh fruit to dip in chocolate fondue, and dishes brought by all our friends from Chained. It was wonderful and fun and messy and not a single piece of glitter was used in any of the party games and crafts.
“Because it’s our favorite but not yours,” Tristan told me. “And there’s a big glitter project next Tuesday at the club.” My mood went up and down very fast on that one.
“He’s teasing, Daddy,” Bell said with a severe glare at the other little.
“Oh, okay.”
“The glitter project is in two weeks.”
But even that couldn’t stop me from having a wonderful time sitting with my daddy friends and watching the littles have a blast. Even the City GoldenDoodle owners came, and turned out, while they were not club people, they really enjoyed the playdate vibe of the birthday party.
Was it a surprise? I’d never tell, but I made sure to act like it was, and they were so gleeful when they led me blindfolded into the playroom where all our friends were waiting that it was worth anything in the world to maybe pretend.
Balloons and streamers galore, all held up with big triangles of blue painter’s tape leftover from painting the playroom. So many decorations. Bridger, sipping a cup of jasmine tea, took another stitch in his crochet and pointed to the ball pit I’d added in the corner. “You know I’m going to have to get one of those for Hudson, now.”
I laughed. “Or you can just come over here for playdates anytime you like.” In the past several months, I’d gone from starting to think I didn’t have it in me to want a little of my own again, to realizing it was because I only wanted these littles. They brightened my days and nights with their laughter and their need for macaroni and cheese and when we curled up on the couch with King, we all shared the popcorn.
I looked around at all of them and noticed Ray and Georgie were nowhere in sight. “Did you see where the GoldenDoodle people went?”
Mark shrugged and Bridger shook his head. “They were just here,” he said. “Maybe the restroom.”
“Probably.” I settled back in to watch the fun, but suddenly everyone stopped and faced the doorway and the question of where the rescuers had gone was answered. Ray entered first, and said, “Recently, we have found homes for so many of our residents, and we give the people of Chained much of the credit.” He smiled. “And all the funds raised upgraded our facilities so much, but we also had something happen we hadn’t anticipated. You see, since a certain dog was rescued, his mother gave birth to one more pup we didn’t know about. He wasn’t hurt or neglected, but he did come into our care, and we thought, that is if you want…”
Georgie pushed past him with an armload of fluff and thrust him into my lap.
Ray cleared his throat. “If you want him, this is Duke, and we thought he’d be nice company for King.”
