We put a new binky, a few toy cars, and a Lilly Lion stuffie in the cart along with the clothes.
“That’s a lot of stuff.” He bit his bottom lip as we scrolled through.
“It is, and it’s not. I’d give you everything if you’d let me, Gilly.”
“Let’s start small.”
“You need a place to put this stuff too. We can get a dresser and a toy box for the front room.”
Gilly’s wide-eyed stare met mine. “Daddy…”
“What?”
“No one…” He swallowed hard. “Not even my parents were this nice. At least not since I was very young.”
“Well, it’s well past time my good boy be treated right.” I clicked on the checkout and paid. “I want you to be comfortable here and to be able to relax and be yourself.” I wanted him to trust me and turn to me with his problems and feelings. These things took time, I knew that, and I didn’t want to scare him away by rushing, but I was ready for much more.
“Thank you.” He teared up, and I couldn’t have that. There was one thing I knew that could help this.
“Come on, baby boy.” I took his hand and led him upstairs to the bedroom where I got ready and leaned back against the headboard, motioning for him to join me. “Get comfortable first.”
He took off his shirt and pants, leaving him in only his boxers as he crawled onto my lap. It didn’t take him more than a second to latch on and start his adorable, contented moans. I rubbed his arms and back, giving him as much comfort as I could, knowing he’d had a rough day even if he hadn’t shared the details.
When he was finished, he snuggled against me contentedly for a while, but then he started squirming, and I felt like he had something on his mind. “What is it, Gilly?”
“I don’t want you to think my parents were bad. They really weren’t. It’s just that when I got to high school, I was so independent, I guess they felt they didn’t need to look after me much. They did a lot of adult social things, but I was always with Grandpa or my uncle.”
“That makes sense, but did you still feel like they didn’t pay enough attention to you?”
“Sometimes.” He flopped over on his back and stared at the ceiling. “I guess I didn’t mind when I had Grandpa and work, but…it also felt like I had to worry about everything.”
“You said you left home at seventeen, was that your choice?”
“Yes and no. Uncle was always around, providing me a good role model, and I wanted to be closer to Grandpa since he was getting older. We had a good relationship…”
“What are you leaving out?”
Gilly huffed. “I felt like Dad would have put him in a nursing home if I hadn’t moved in with him. That kind of solved both of his problems of what to do with Grandpa and what to do with me. But I swear they were not bad parents.”
“I believe you, Gilly. I know you love them.” I turned to my side and kissed Gilly’s head. “You still took on an awful lot at a very young age. Why don’t we do this… While you’re here with me, you don’t have to think about any of it. Just be. If you want to play with toys, or take a binky, whatever you want. And I’ll take care of you.”
“That sounds like a plan.” He leaned up and smacked a kiss on my lips.
“Now, how about dinner, a bath, and then bedtime?”
“I am still hungry…”
“Come on then, angel.” I took his hand and helped pull him off the mattress.
Dinner was quick and easy. I made a baked macaroni dish earlier in the day, since I knew he liked that, and we only had to reheat it, so it was fast. “Mm, Daddy. This is really good. Yummy.”
“It’s cheesy.” It was basically mac ‘n cheese with broccoli florets and shredded chicken breasts. Since I baked it, it came out super cheesy with a bit of crispy crust on top.
“Yes.” He took another bite. “I don’t even mind the broccolis.”
“Good. Want more?” I dished a second helping onto his plate, happy to see him eating well.
When we finished, he helped clean up, which wasn’t much more than loading our dishes into the dishwasher, then we went back upstairs.
