His eyes went wide when I held up an oversized bib. It would still be too small for him, but that
was okay because it meant more mess I’d get to clean up later. Sammy clutched it in his hand against
his chest. “This is so cool. I’ve never had one with unicorns on it. How did you know they’re my
favorite?”
“A little birdie might have told me.” I winked at him before patting his backside. “Now scoot.
Dinner will be done soon, and you don’t have the table set. Bring back your cup and I’ll get you some
milk.”
Soon, he was going to have to use the bathroom. I was counting on it, because I wanted to see
what he’d do when I offered to help him.
“Daddy, there’s only one placemat here.” A shiver rushed through me the same as it did every
time I heard him call me Daddy. I wasn’t going to force the issue because I wanted it to come
naturally, but Ididhope we’d get to the point where I was Daddy more often than I was Theron to
him.
“That’s because you have a special plate for messy meals.” My sister-in-law swore by these
contraptions she’d found that were an odd cross between plate and bowl with the placemat attached.
It was made out of silicone, and she swore even the crabbiest kid couldn’t slide it off the table and
onto the floor. I wasn’t worried about that with Sammy, but it would make clean up easier.
After draining the pasta, I dished some onto his plate and the rest into a pasta bowl for myself.
Both got a big scoop of sauce and then I cut his up, just like I’d promised to do. While the food
cooled, I filled his sippy and took it over to the table. Sammy immediately complied when I nodded
toward his chair, climbing up the same way my nephews did. He flipped around, placing his hands on
the table in front of him.
“You’re being very good for Daddy,” I praised him as I grabbed the bib. He sat up straighter when
I wrapped the bib around his neck. “After dinner, it’s going to be bath time, unless you have more
work to get done.”
“No, Daddy. I think I got enough done already. After bath can I have my new jammies? I think I
want the dino ones first. They’re softest.” I knew better than to read too much into his lack of
enthusiasm about the pajamas.
He’d been upset that they didn’t have any unicorn jammies made for boys, but when I’d suggested
we look in the girl’s section for something he wanted more, he’d gotten seriously grumpy. It had taken
