Letting go of his hand, I patted my thigh. “Good boy, I would love that. Come here, little one.”
Heat bloomed over Tristan’s face as he crawled over and sat in my lap. He reached down for his pacifier and placed it in his mouth before carefully stacking one block on top of the other. His back was a comforting warmth against my chest, melting away any tension I had like ice under a flame. Once he had a tall leaning tower, he looked back at me to make sure I was watching. I nodded in encouragement and placed a quick kiss on his nose.
He squealed in delight and, unlike when we were at the fair, he had plenty of space to swat at the bottom of the tower, making all ten blocks come crashing down. “Boom!”
“That’s right, baby! You made them go boom! Wanna do it again?”
He squirmed in my arms while chanting. “Again! Again!”
Soft suckling noises filled the room as he placed another block, stacking them as high as they’d go. I wrapped my armsaround his waist, keeping my grip loose to avoid impeding his movement. His joy was palpable, and it made my insides gooey and warm.
“You’re doing so well, little one. I’ll have to make more blocks so you can go even higher!”
He gasped, his head whipping around to face me. “You make more blocks… for me?”
Threading my fingers through his hair, I ruffled his soft, curly locks. “Of course! I love creating things for others and selling them. But nothing beats the joy I feel seeing my boy have so much fun with something I made for him.”
“Yay! This is the bestest day ever in my whole life!”
Pure happiness coursed through me as Tristan continued to stack his blocks. Each time he completed the tower and knocked it down, he celebrated with unbridled joy… it was infectious.
I continued to hold him and cheer him on with soft praise and warm kisses to his scalp. After several rounds of stacking and crashing, his movements became less coordinated, and his towers started crashing down before he even had the chance to swat at the base.
I expected him to start getting frustrated, but instead, my boy just kept babbling, undeterred. “Ba- ba- ooooom.”
Tristan said he usually regressed in the older range, but I had a feeling that wasn’t the case. If he’d never had a Daddy before to make him feel safe enough to let go entirely, this was probablythe first time he sank this deep. His soft babbling and delayed movement were precious.
Leaning forward, Tristan placed his hands on the floor and crawled out of my lap. He looked at me and pointed at the blocks.
“Dada, stack!”
My heart instantly turned to mush. “You want Daddy to stack?”
He nodded, “Pwease.”
My sweet boy bounced as he cheered and clapped, looking positively adorable. “Yay, Dada stack! Fank you.”
Tristan watched me wide-eyed as I made a nice high stack of blocks. “All done!” I looked at Tristan, who was now standing up on his knees and waddling forward. His pacifier flew out of his mouth as he roared, blocks crashed and flew as he huffed and grunted, pretending to breathe fire. It took everything in me not to wrap my arms around him and plant kisses all over his face. He was so damn adorable, and I couldn’t get enough.
He asked me to stack them again several times, and after each stack, my cute little dragon roared. His blazing flames and sharp claws destroyed one tower after another. During the last demolition, his breathing became shallow, and his roar was no longer as loud and vibrant as before. My sweet boy was going to need a nap soon.
Reaching over, I grabbed him by his waist and pulled him into my lap. “Did you have fun, little one?” He squealed in agreementbefore popping his pacifier back into his mouth and nuzzling his face against my chest.
“You… my fierce little dragon, are adorable. I loved playing with you.” I placed a kiss on the crown of his head. “My little dragon must be starving after all that hard work. Let’s go to the living room, and you can color while Daddy makes us some lunch.”
“Can I hab nuggies pwease.”
Tristan’s soft voice was slurred by his pacifier, making him sound even more adorable. I couldn’t help but squeeze him gently and bury my nose in his hair. “Of course, little one. Now, let’s get you set up so I can make those nuggets. I wouldn’t want my little dragon going on a hunger-induced rampage.”
“You silly Dada.”
The giggles that followed made my heart soar.
12
Tristan
My whole body felt like it was floating as Daddy carried me on his hip into the living room. A whine tore from my throat when he placed me on the fluffy rug. My hands instinctively shot up, my fingers twitched in a grabbing motion.
