“How about we start with one and see how it goes?” I suggested.
“But what if I can’t have children? What ifwecan’t?”
So, this was what was bothering him?
“Then we can adopt, or we can just be really great uncles to my sister’s litter.”
“But you want kids.”
“I want a loving partner more than I want kids. And regardless of whether we can conceive, I’ll still want to breedyou, baby boy.” At his soft, dewy-eyed expression, I asked, “Still with me?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Where’s Monica?”
“Passed the fuck out. It’s so dark out here.”
“Where are you?”
“By the pool.”
I deposited the night’s earnings in a safe and made my way to the door. I’d make sure he got up to his room at the very least.
“I don’t think I’d be a good father,” Skylar was saying.
“Why not?”
“I’m barely an adult myself. I can’t pay my bills on time, and I don’t eat enough dark leafy greens.”
I chuckled at his reasons. If he were sober, I might try to convince him otherwise, but these were the musings of a highly inebriated boy. “That’s why you have me. Daddy can help you with those things.”
“I’ve never had a good role model. And what if I screw up? I don’t want to fuck up someone else’s life too.”
“Everybody makes mistakes, darling. And we learn.”
He sighed and his gaze drifted upward, probably looking at the stars. “I like you,” he said softly, achingly.
“I like you too, baby.”
“We could be good together.”
“Wearegood together.”
“It’s not just the sex. At least not for me.”
I nodded as a pleasant warmth unfurled inside me. “No, not for me either.”
His summoner shifted then. He must have laid it on his stomach because I could only see the point of his chin and his face tilted upward. His soft regular breaths indicated that he may have fallen asleep. I hustled over to the Purple Pegasus and found him sleeping in a lawn chair, barefoot and in his pajamas. Monica must have already gone to bed.
“Up we go,” I said as I scooped him into my arms.
“You’re here? Or am I dreaming?”
“Daddy’s here, and I’m taking you up to your room now.”
“Will you tuck me in?”
I nodded and carried him upstairs. After placing him gently in bed, I glanced over to see that Monica was asleep on top of the covers, so I turned down one side of the blankets for her to use in case she got cold during the night. Then I tended to Skylar, rearranging him so that I could pull back the bedding and tuck him underneath.
