Once I got seated on the couch with Tristan sitting on my lap, drinking his chocolate milk, I motioned to the other end of the sofa for Ellery to join us. They sat down and began taking small sips of their milk, unlike my boy, who was currently sucking it down like it was going to disappear.
Ellery was wearing a shimmery purple princess dress and a silver tiara sat tucked into their dark curls. The dress had a long, poofy skirt and had beautiful gold detailing.
“Before we get to the fun parts, I just wanted you to know that while this isn’t really a scene, both of you can use the stoplight system at any time if needed, and we can stop and talk about what happened. My goal is for both of you to have some much-needed fun together and help you anyway you need, but for that to work, I need both of you to promise to communicate if you need anything or are uncomfortable.”
Ellery practically slumped into the cushions. “Thank you for saying that. It takes me a while to warm up to new people, especially in little space. In the short time I’ve known you, you’vemade my best friend incredibly happy, and have gone above and beyond to assure me I’m welcome and safe with you, so I promise I’ll let you know. You’re a really good Daddy, and I’m so happy Tristan has you.”
Ellery was an amazingly kind human, and I’m so glad my boy has them in their life. I was quickly beginning to see them as my friend as well. “Thank you, Ellery, that means a lot. I want you little ones to relax and have fun.”
Ellery sighed longingly and then chuckled. “You wouldn’t by any chance have any hot friends your age who are also a Daddy and like princess play?”
Both Tristan and Ellery giggled, but my thoughts went immediately to David. My best friend was definitely a Daddy and didn’t have a preferred type of little. He was simply a Daddy through and through, wanting someone to care for and provide whatever they needed, no matter what. Not wanting to get his hopes up since I wasn’t totally sure David would be on board, I just laughed along. “I’ve met a lot of fellow Daddies over the years. I’ll have to think about it.”
Tristan handed me his Empty cup and gazed at me with the most lethal of puppy dog eyes. “Dada, can we pwease go show Ewwie my room?”
“Yes, little one, we can go show Ellery your room.”
Ellery looked at me sheepishly and said, “You can call me Ellie if you’d like. All my friends call me Ellie, especially when I’m little.”
My cheeks practically ached from how big I was smiling. “Well then, come on, boys, let’s go show Ellie the hoard.”
Tristan squealed. “Yay dragon hoard!”
22
Tristan
Daddy carried me into his room with Ellie following behind us. “I don’t have many people over, but this room is very special to me, so I decided to have the only entry point be through my room.”
I looked over Daddy’s shoulder at Ellery. “It’s so cool, it’s like a secret cave.” We both giggled with excitement, but Ellery suddenly stopped, their mouth dropping open with surprise.“Oh my gosh, bestie! This room is amazing… Daniel, you did this?”
“I made most of the furniture and a few toys... pretty much everything except the mural was something I made or purchased. My best friend David painted the mural. He’s very talented.”
Holding onto Daddy, I watch Ellery spin around the room, their eyes bouncing from one thing to another, taking it all in. They walked over to the mural on the wall, staring at it with awe. “This is gorgeous, I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”
Daddy chuckled and smiled. “David is a great guy and an even better artist. I’d offer to pass along the compliments, but he’s like a brother to me, so I’m sure you’ll meet him sooner or later, and you can tell him yourself. He’d love to hear it.”
Ellery was still staring at the mural, completely enthralled. They shook their head, as if trying to shake themselves from the painting’s hold. The smile on their face was damn near blinding. “I would love to meet him and tell him how beautiful his art is.”
“Wook,” I pointed over to the bookshelf where the dragon blocks sat. “He painted dos too.”
Ellery bounced over to the shelf and picked one up, twirling it and taking in every detail. “Whoa, these are so cute. You hit the Daddy jackpot, bestie.” I knew my bestie was incredibly happy for me, but I couldn’t miss the slight sadness in their voice. I just hoped Ellery would find a Daddy as awesome as mine, and soon.
“Okay, little ones… would you like to play a game?”
Both Ellie and I squealed and clapped our hands. “Yes, please.”
Daddy put me down, and my hands instinctively chased him, but he pulled away. He stepped over to the shelf and grabbed the Dragon egg toy and a blind fold.
Ellery and I both cocked our heads and looked at him with curiosity. “So one of you will be blindfolded, and the other one will be tasked with hiding this dragon egg somewhere in this room. Once you are done hiding it, the person who is blindfolded walks around the room searching for the egg while the other helps them find it by saying ‘cold’ when they are far away or ‘warm’ if they get closer.”
Ellery jumped up and down, clapping their hands. “Oh yes! I love this game.” I nodded furiously in agreement. “Me too”
“Okay, who wants to be the first one to find the egg?”
“Me me me! Ellery squealed,” I nodded in agreement. Watching Elerry stumble around the room blindfold honestly seemed more exciting than finding the egg myself, so I was more than happy to let them go first.
“Alright then, Ellery, come here, and I’ll get you blind folded so Tristan can hide the egg.”
