We ended up buying him. I loved being with a daddy who didn’t mind having these kinds of conversations with salespeople, a daddy who wasn’t embarrassed by who I was, to the point that me showing my love of cute things in public didn’t bother him at all through his actions.
Package secured, we wandered through the different aisles. We picked up some handmade soap, tea that looked more like honey that you added hot water to, caramel corn—because who doesn’t love caramel corn?—and a picture of a train just little enough that it made me smile.
“One more row,” Vaughn said with a shoulder bump. “It’s a good thing we have many other weeks we can come because I’m already sad it’s almost over.”
Hudson called again, but this time it was a phone call. “I better get this.” I showed Vaughn who it was, and he nodded.
I stepped out of the aisle to be able to hear him better and answered. Hudson’s question definitely could have waited till later. I appreciated his love of his new hobby, but I wasn’t exactly an expert.
“Gotta go find Vaughn. I left him alone on an aisle with lots of toys. I have no idea what I’m about to walk into,” I said.
Hudson chuckled. “The spoiled life is the best, isn’t it?”
“You know it.”
When I caught up to Vaughn, he had two more bags in his hand and was buying a set of homemade blocks.
“Everything we buy we have to carry,” I reminded him.
“I’m aware.”
After a quick stop for the spring rolls, which were better than I remembered, we went back to the car to deposit our purchases.
“Isn’t the first restaurant you took me to near here?” I asked.
“A few blocks. Want to grab lunch there?”
Of course, I did. We walked to the restaurant. The food was great, the privacy was great, and there was something special about revisiting the place with such happy memories.
“I got you something today,” he said, putting a box on the table in front of me.
“You bought me lots of things. Be careful. I could get used to this life.”
“That’s all part of my evil plan.” He tapped the box. “Open it.”
When I did, there was a key chain I recognized from one of the booths we passed today. It had a teddy bear on it and a key on the ring, if you could call it a key, given it was a blank that hadn’t been cut yet.
“I’m confused.” I held it up. “What’s this key for?”
“I don’t know, but I thought maybe we could find out together.”
I ran my thumb over the teddy bear. “Maybe explain it a little more. I feel like I might put these pieces together incorrectly.”
“Let’s buy a house together. The two of us.”
“A house? Moving in together?”
“Moving in together. I can’t imagine life without you. I want you to be the last person I see when I fall asleep and the first one I see when I wake up. Please tell me you feel the same.”
“I do,” I said, squeezing the key.
Buying a house and dealing with our current places took a solid four months, but we eventually moved into our perfect home with room for a nursery, an office with two desks for days we might want to work remotely, a kitchen with enough cabinets there could be one just for my little things, and a tubbie big enough for both of us.
Either of our places would have been fine and a whole lot easier. When I asked Vaughn about that one night, as we weredrifting off to sleep, he said it was because he never wanted me to feel like I was living in the shadow of the past.
Not once had I ever felt that way. I never would. Because Vaughn loved me completely. I was his boy, and he was my daddy. He’d always treasure his past, and, as I learned more and more about Bron, I did as well. But never was that past a burden because that past led me to my daddy.
My daddy.
My true love.
My everything.
Best Christmas present ever.
