“Yes, Daddy.” Henry took the silverware so carefully it looked like he was handling explosives. So damn cute.
His bright yellow sippy cup got filled with cranberry juice, and I filled a glass with water for me. When I walked over to the table, Henry had already placed the silverware neatly by our plates. I sat down and handed him his cup. For a second, Henry just stared at it. Then he looked at his divided plate, back at me and back to his plate. When he looked back up at me, I smiled.
“Something wrong, sweetie?”
“You forgot something, Daddy.”
“No. Everything’s there. Nuggets and broccoli. And you got your juice.” His mouth dropped open in the most adorably way. He raised his hands and signed so quickly that I had a hard time following him.
“No. You forgot the ketchup and the cheese sauce.”
“Oh. You wanted ketchup and cheese sauce?” His eyes went wide.
“Yes.” He must have caught my lips twitching because suddenly, he huffed. “Bad, bad Daddy. You’re not allowed to tease me.”
“Says, who?” Finally, I gave in and laughed.
“I do. And every Little would agree with me.”
“Maybe you should write a guide then. The “Little” Guidebook for Daddies.” He raised his hands to answer, but then he dropped them and tilted his head. There was a look of concentration on his face that I’d never seen before. Then, without saying another word, he jumped off his chair and rushed over to his desk. I watched him rummage around until he found a notepad and began writing in it. Okay, lesson learned. Never give an author ideas when dinner was on the table.
I expected him to slip out of Little mode when he made his notes, but when he came back, he was pouting.
“I’ve written it all down. No teasing. No hiding dips and ketchup from Littles. And more dessert for the Little when Daddy is bad. Oh, and no tickling.”
Those were the most adorable rules ever that made me laugh. The other Daddies would kill me if he ever published them. When Henry sat back down and glared at me, I took a deep breath and smiled at him.
“Here, I thought I was so sly. I wanted to use the ketchup and cheese sauce as a bribe.”
“A bribe?”
“Yes. I want you to sit on my lap and let me feed you. I thought it would be easier to bribe you with ketchup and cheese sauce. Guess I was wrong.”
For a moment, Henry stared at me, and I thought that I made a colossal mistake. But then he jumped up, rushed over to the fridge, and came back with ketchup and cheese sauce. Before I could even blink, he plopped down on my lap and pulled his plate over.
“You could have just asked, you know.” Henry still pouted a little but handed me the ketchup and pointed to his plate.
Interesting.
Henry had a bit of a sassy little brat in him, too. I squeezed ketchup into the compartment next to the nuggets. When I put the bottle back on the table and grabbed the cheese sauce, Henry looked at me.
“I know I could have asked. But your reactions are so adorable.” Henry blushed and watched the dip pooling into a little sea on his plate. When I finished, I placed the cheese sauce next to the ketchup and gently tapped his chin. His big, blue eyes focused on me immediately. “Are you mad at me, Little Boy?”
Henry tilted his head. “Can I have chocolate milk and cupcake when we finish the movie?”
“For dessert?”
“Nope. After dessert. As a bribe to not be mad at you.”
“Sneaky. But I guess I deserve that.” I laughed and kissed his nose. “One cupcake and chocolate milk after dessert.”
“Okay. I’m not mad at you.” Henry grinned and tried to turn to eat, but I held him back.
“You’ve already wrapped me around your little finger.” Henry blushed but smiled at me. “You’re going to be the most spoiled Little ever.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“No. No, it’s not.” I leaned forward and kissed him. “Now, let’s eat before your dinosaurs enter the next ice age.” Henry giggled. I speared a bit of nugget and dipped it into the ketchup and fed it to him.
It wasn’t a bad thing that he would be the most spoiled Little ever. Henry deserved it. I could only guess how cold his childhood must have been. It sure sounded like it hadn’t been pleasant. Henry deserved little treats. Chocolate milk, cupcakes, and dinosaur nuggets with ketchup would be his. Along with so much love, and I wanted to be the one to give it to him even if that meant being seen as the world's softest Daddy ever.
Henry grinned at me as he munched on a dino nugget. His cheeks had smears of ketchup, and his blue eyes were sparkling with joy. Yes, I would do everything in my power to make my beautiful Boy happy.
Chapter 9
Henry
An hour later, I lay in our blanket fort. Cuddled up against some pillows, I nibbled the rest of my bribe cupcake. Daddy shook his head and had teased me when I asked for my bribe cupcake moments after I finished my dessert. He said he would have to roll me into the bathroom for my bath. My bath. Daddy had promised me a bath after the movie, with bubbles and toys, and I couldn’t wait. But first, there would be the rest of Zootopia and a bottle with chocolate milk and more cuddling.
It was nice how affectionate Caden was with everything he did, and I loved it. The little treats, cuddling, nose kisses, even when he blew raspberries on my belly. It was precisely how I
