I frowned. “I’m not sure—”
“Is your Little’s favorite friend in need of repairs, Luke, or is it not?”
I hung my head. “Yeah, yeah, it is. Thank you.”
Except, my Little didn’t even admit that he was one, and I wasn’t sure what this would do to him with the added trauma of almost losing Tonya like this.
“Anytime, buddy.”
I put my phone down, grabbed a box of tissues, and went to the couch, then gathered the bundle of Bear, pillow, and blanket into my arms. I gave him a couple of tissues, then helped him blow his nose.
“Daddy’s gonna take care of this tomorrow, first thing,” I promised him. Then I winced. “Or on Monday, probably, but that’s only two sleeps.”
He nodded and hiccupped against my chest. “I’m so sad, Daddy,” he whimpered.
“I know, sweet boy, I know.” I stroked his hair and held him close.
When he started to calm down some more, I realized I had a question to ask.
“Bear? Do you want to sleep next to Daddy tonight?”
He froze a bit, and I knew he was surfacing some, if not completely. “C-can I?”
“Hey, you need a sleep buddy, right? I can give a mean cuddle even while I’m asleep.”
He let out a sound that was somewhere between a sob and a giggle. “Okay, I wanna sleep in your bed.”
“Let’s go get ready then. Tomorrow, we’ll see if we can find some friends for Tonya so she’ll have a whole posse for when she comes back from the hospital, okay?”
“Hospital?” Bear looked confused.
“Yup, my friend Robbie, Shauna’s Daddy, he’s gonna give me the info on a toy hospital.”
Bear’s eyes shone with surprise and relief. “Oh…,” he breathed, then hugged my neck almost violently as he burst into tears again. Relief was a strong emotion.
I held him and let him get the sadness out again. As horrible as the situation was, very few things had made me feel as right as holding Bear while he went through something so upsetting. I feltneededin a way I hadn’t felt in a very long time, maybe ever.
“Okay, baby boy, let’s go get ready for bed.”
He nodded, but didn’t let go of me. “Okay.”
“Sweetheart, I can’t get up if you don’t stand first,” I told him gently.
Bear gigglesnorted and blew his nose, then stood up.
“Good boy. Let’s go figure out what you’ll wear to bed and go brush teeth and pee first.”
He blushed a little, but took my hand when I offered it. As I led him from the living room, I kept myself between him and the kitchen, because I’d stupidly left Tonya on the island in plain view.
“Daddy’s not gonna be able to have treats tomorrow,” I grumbled under my breath.
Bear giggled. “Were you mean, Daddy?”
I couldn’t help but to grin at the easy way he called me Daddy now. I wasn’t sure if it had been the time he’d played with Jamie or if almost losing Tonya had switched something inside him, or hell, maybe he even did it consciously, but he seemed to be embracing his little side right now.
“Yes.” I tugged him into his room. “Choose what you want to sleep in, Bear. I’ll go get you some water.”
“Okay.”
