Encouraged by Ulysses, Andrew tried again. He placed one carefully on his tongue the way Ulysses did, then ate it.
I laughed and turned to Ulysses. "Wow, if you can make him eat a flower petal that easily, I'm gonna need you around when he starts refusing to eat vegetables."
I was just joking— well, mostly— but Ulysses responded with a serious nod. "Ask and you shall receive. I will be waiting for your call."
I blushed. Something about the way he spoke, so regal and genuine, struck me to the core. Even though we just met, I knew his offer was serious. How was it that this man who only came into my life an hour ago was kinder and more helpful to me than my ex had ever been?
With a start, I remembered the wish I made earlier. It was a silly joke, just a spur of the moment thing. I wasn't dumb enough to think it actually meant anything. But now here was Ulysses, ticking off all the boxes.
Not a date, I reminded myself firmly.Ulysses does not belong to you, No matter how many sweet offers he makes. He's not your alpha.
But god, I wished he was.
Man, how many ridiculous wishes was I at today? I was starting to lose count.
"Something on your mind, Ryan?" Ulysses asked quietly.
I quickly put a smile on my face. I didn't want him to think I was having a bad time with him. "Not at all."
He examined my face, lingering on it like he knew I was hiding something, but he didn't press me. There was no way he knew what was going on in my mind, was there? If he did, that would've been even more embarrassing than the stroller incident.
As we made our way down the path through the aisle of cherry blossoms, Ulysses asked, "Ryan, do you own an intelligent phone?"
I laughed. "A what? Oh, you mean a smart phone?"
He made a face like he was tasting something sour on his tongue. "Smart phone… Yes, one of those."
I scratched the back of my head. "No, actually, I don't have one anymore. I did have one but I dropped it and broke the screen and now it's just an expensive piece of junk sitting on my counter." In a lower voice, I added, "I can't afford to have it replaced. So the only phone I have is this cheap prepaid burner phone." I shrugged. "It makes calls and gets texts, and that's all I really need for work."
Ulysses nodded solemnly. "Good man. That gives you more time to spend with your son during his critical development."
Once again his comment took me by surprise. Usually when I told people I didn't have the latest smart phone with all the popular apps, they usually thought I was either joking or pitied me for being poor. I'd never beencommendedfor having a simple phone.
"The only reason I ask is for the photography function," Ulysses explained. "Does your phone have that ability?"
I pulled out the little grey hunk of plastic and handed it to him. "It doesn't have the best camera, but it works."
"Excellent," Ulysses said. He glanced down at the phone in his hand like it came from another planet. "And how does one exactly utilize this thing?"
I chuckled, not because I was making fun of him because he was so endearing. "Like this." I opened the camera feature for him. "But we should ask someone else to take the picture, because I want you to be in it too."
"Yooshy!" Andrew added in agreement.
Ulysses beamed. He had a perfect smile. "Then I must find a suitable photographer."
It didn't take long for him to get someone to take our photo, since Ulysses radiated charisma. A nice middle-aged woman took the phone and readied it.
"I haven't used one of these in ages!" she said. "I kind of miss them, you know? Maybe I'll trade-in my new phone for this older model. Alright, everyone pose and say cheese!"
"Wanna uppy!" Andrew demanded.
"Okay, let's go up," I said as I leaned down to pick him up.
"No!" Andrew argued. "With Yooshy!"
I shot Ulysses a sheepish smile. "I think he wants both of us to hold him."
"Not a problem at all," Ulysses said.
