“Now I want to go in the tubby.” I wasn’t back to a little space yet, but I wanted to be. I had my Daddy and Me ring on, and it was time to be taken care of. I stood up, and he helped me in and then dumped in the bucket of toys he’d dug out for me.
“Who do you want to play with?” I held up both an alligator and a swan, not at all remotely the same, but they were the first toys I reached.
“I’ll be the alligator.” He took it from my hand and started making noises I suspect he thought were an alligator’s but sounded more like grunts, and had it climbing up my arm.
“Daddy, that tickles!” I giggled.
“Did you want me to stop?”
“No, Daddy, keep going! I want to play until my fingers look like raisins.”
And we did.
It was the first activity of a very long day of Daddy and Me time, and a glimpse I caught of my ring reminded me that he chose me and this life. How did I get so lucky?
Chapter Seventeen
Paxton
October, and the resort was officially closed for the rest of the year. Autumn was a beautiful season here, with all the changing colors of the leaves. We had calls constantly asking for retreats, but Nico had decided from the very beginning that part of moving here was having time to just be, and that included all the days from October through early January. It wasn’t an idle time—projects always needed to be done—but there were no change-overs, no loud groups, no getting up at five a.m. to start coffee.
As stunning as it was here, we weren’t staying this weekend. At least, that was the plan. I had a surprise for my sweet boy and hoped he would love it. Two suitcases, one normal size and one little and bright orange, waited by the front door, all packed and ready to go.
Before he headed in to shower, I told him I had a surprise for him, and we were going out. I didn’t say that it was for the weekend, or that it was far away and not just to the downtown shopping area. He didn’t ask. My sweet boy did love a surprise. At least the happy kind. The power going out in the middle of the night on a day we were fully booked, we both took a full pass on.
Nico came out, his hair still damp, looking well-rested. This place had done wonders for him. When we looked at pictures from before, I could see how haggard we both were. The city life, that kind of working, was wearing. This was definitely better. Still hectic at times but a different kind.
“Do I look all right?” He looked great in jeans and a button-down. He always did, but this was more like what he used to wear before he came here, and it took me back for a second. “I mean, am I dressed appropriately for the occasion?”
“Yes, you are, although we might change when we get there.” I pointed to the bags at the door.
“It looks like we’re going to be gone for a few days, not the afternoon.”
“Because we are, unless you’d rather not.”
He crossed over to me. “You and your surprises. It’s not even my birthday.” He pressed his cheek against mine. “Of course, I want to go. What’s the occasion?”
“Sometimes a daddy wants to treat his little. And besides, it’s your vacation, and we’re going to make the most of it.”
“My vacation goes into January, and I’d hardly call it one. We have a long to-do list of things to handle before we reopen.”
It was true. He did have a list of projects a mile long, but none of them were imperative, and all of them were going to wait.
The beginning of the drive there was stunning and would be until we reached the highway. Then it was mostly concrete and billboards. The landscape of colors surrounding our home looked more like a painting than real life.
“I love it here.” I took his hand.
“It’s beautiful. It’s home.” He squeezed my hand back. “Now that you’re here, it’s home.”
Our first stop was the hotel. I’d booked a nice room, but nothing too extravagant. I didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable about the weekend, although I had been itching to get the grand suite. “They say the steak house next door is one of the best in the city,” I said as I grabbed the suitcases out of the car.
“Mmm, is that what we’re here for? A fancy dinner out, just the two of us?”
It hadn’t been, but I added it to the list for tomorrow, maybe. “But first, there’s someplace I want to take you.”
We settled into our room, and I pulled up the website for Chained on my phone and handed it to him. “I was thinking we could go here.”
His eyes went wide. “I don’t have a membership.”
