"Orion," Ray says. "This is Elijah."
"You can call me Eli, though," he says. He’s older, which makes sense since Ray is older too. Not that there’s anything wrong with an age gap, because Daddy and I have one too. He smiles brightly though and holds out his hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you. Are you ready to get your face painted?"
"Yes, please."
We all take turns getting something done. Instead of the full mask like the actual Ninja Turtles, because Eli didn’t bring enough of the orange color with him, we all get the color on the corner of our eyes and get an animal drawn on our cheek. I go with a sloth, like the one Daddy got me at the store.
When we're all finished, Eli packs up his things and disappears upstairs with his Daddy. I'm aware that Daddy and the others are watching us from the kitchen, but I try to keep from looking, to reassure myself that Daddy is still there. Austin has all sorts of stuffies and toys for us to share, but the others have brought things to share as well.
There is a big castle with a dragon who has eyes that light up and a prince and princess. The others have their own stuffies as well as a doll, or something to bring to the play scene. I join in, choosing to be the horse. Quinton is a unicorn and Luke has a knight with a sword. Eli is in control of the drawbridge that goes up and down.
We all storm the castle, fighting Austin's dragon to get the prince and princess. There are sound effects of us throwing fireballs or clashing swords together and Austin is shouting, pretending his dragon is hurt as he falls dramatically to the floor, like we actually hurt him. As he's laying like a starfish on the floor, his tongue poking out to signal he's dying, we all laugh. He's laughing too, which defeats the purpose of him pretending that we've beat the dragon.
"Oh thank you for rescuing us!" Eli says in a high-pitch tone. It makes all of us laugh harder as he stands up and twirls around with both dolls, pushing them together and making kissy noises. He lowers his voice, now the prince. "Yes, thank you. Now, do you mind if we use you to get back home?"
I offer up my horse and Eli takes it, fitting both dolls on the back and galloping around the room.
We move from castles and dragons to making stories with our stuffies. Austin introduces me to all five of his— Koka, Kola, and Barry who are in a bear-some as he calls it and then Pam-da and Elle who are also together— and explains each of their stories. Quinton shows off his kangaroo stuffie, Luke his teddy bear. Carly and Jewel named accordingly.
Eli doesn't have his stuffie, but he does have his blanket. It's a light gray with a seal head attached to the middle. It's not that big, but it's cute. It reminds me of mine at home.
At Daddy's, not home.
We play for another hour. Daddy brings me out a small bowl of banana pudding at one point and I sit and watch the others play while I eat. I make a bit of a mess and walk into the kitchen to grab a napkin, but Daddy is prepared. He wets a napkin and cleans off my face while the others continue their conversation. They're talking about something with the club, I think. Something to do with Valentine's Day.
"Do you want anything to drink, baby?" Daddy asks when he finishes cleaning me off.
"Yes, please. Juice?"
"Do you want it in your bottle?" Daddy asks the question low enough I'm not sure if the others heard it.
"I should probably ask the others if they want anything," Remington says. "I'll be right back."
Daddy is still looking at me, waiting for a response. "Um, the juice box is fine."
Daddy cups my face in his hand and I lean into it automatically. "Baby, are you sure?"
I'd like the bottle. A juice box is fine and even a sippy cup, but I much prefer my bottle. I dip my head just slightly, but Daddy uses his hand to make me look at him. "Bottle, please."
"That's my good boy," Daddy says with a wide smile. I can't help but return it. Hearing him call me a good boy makes me happy. "Go back to play and I'll bring it to you."
"Thank you, Daddy."
I catch Rachel's words before I'm out of the kitchen. "He's adorable, Gare."
"He's perfect," Daddy says in response.
Chapter Eighteen
Therestoftheweekend is absolutely perfect. Daddy takes me back to his house and I take a bath before we go to bed. Sunday morning, I'm woken up again with breakfast in bed. It's still rather nice out, so we take Riley to the dog park at the edge of the neighborhood to play. I throw the ball for him until my arm starts getting tired. When we walk back to the house, Daddy makes us sandwiches for lunch and we go downstairs and he shows me how to play 8 Ball Pool. I'm terrible, but it's fun and it's something that me and Daddy can do together.
It isn't until Sunday night, when Garrett is dropping me off at my apartment that I remember everything that happened on Friday. I don't have to be at work until nine. I honestly forgot about everything we talked about on Friday too. Garrett reminds me to get as much together as I can so he can look over my financials for me. Despite trusting him with everything else, I'm still worried that he's going to see how I've been living and think I'm too much. I don't want to burst the bubble we've been living in.
Monday morning, I get up at my usual time and throw on a hoodie and my shoes before walking down the street. I don't have to rush this time, so I find a bench and pretend to scroll on my phone. I wish I had the courage to go see my siblings, to talk to them. Talking to them would mean talking to my parents, though. I don't doubt the youngest, at least, would say something about seeing me. It's exactly at seven when someone taps me on my shoulder and I look up.
I'm shocked to see my brother, Jayden. I've been keeping an eye on them all these years, but seeing him only a foot from me, I can see the details of his growth. He's seventeen, only a few months younger than I was when I left. He has the same skin tone as me, but his eyes are a lighter brown and his hair takes after our mom so it doesn't have the curls like mine does. I stand up, not sure what else to do. I'm a few inches taller than him.
"O?" Jayden's voice is deep, but I can hear the confusion as clear as I can see it on his face. "Is that really you?"
