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Chapter Eight

Roen

Daddy Mark had already moved some of the tables and was laying out the tarps to protect the floor when Daddy and I walked into the mess hall this morning.

Littles tended to get a bit messy while doing arts and crafts.

Daddy set up the easels while I placed a blank canvas on each one, then Daddy Mark draped a smock over them.

The plan was that we’d paint our smocks first, then swim while they dried, then come back for lunch, and end the afternoon painting the canvases.

“I’m painting a gnome on mine,” I excitedly cheered. “I choose this easel.”

“Then that easel shall be yours, Sprite,” Daddy whispered, his lips so close to my ear I shivered.

“You better park your derriere there because the troops are funneling in.” Daddy sat a stool in front of it for me, then helped Mark sort the others out.

I wonder if he’d let me paint the stool so it would be mine forever.

“Good morning and welcome back,” Daddy greeted the families.

“If each little will pick an easel we’ll get started with the paint your own smock event.

These are one size fits all, so no need to check the sizes because they’re all the same.

” Intently he watched as each chose an easel, probably making sure there wasn’t any arguing.

So far, so good with no issues this week.

“Mommies and Daddies, these paints are meant for clothing and are not water soluble. Please feel free to have your little wear the disposable gloves and plastic covers we’ve placed on the table to protect their clothes. ”

Mark took the microphone while Daddy made sure I was covered up. “After this, they can play outside and explore while the chefs get lunch ready, then come back and paint the canvases, and go for an afternoon swim.”

It was so nice ending each day in the lake. Wore me out but I slept soundly. Probably the combination of swimming and having Daddy read and sleep curled up around me. I was finally the little spoon.

“Yay!” the group cheered as Mark and Daddy handed out the paint kits after the mommies and daddies covered them in plastic.

“Everyone has the same colors and fabric markers. We can’t wait to see your finished smocks. Have fun!” Daddy finished his speech and took a seat beside me. “I love his hat. What colors are you going to paint it?”

“Rainbow, of course.” I’d outlined my drawing with the black cloth marker and drew the stripes I’d paint the colors between. “Five stripes, five colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.”

“No purple?”

“I’m making his shirt purple.”

“Such a smart boy.”

“Daddy, I’m gonna have a Dr. Tim coat like yours, but better,” Jamie told his Daddy as he painted away beside me. Jamie and I hit it off, and I’d played at his house a couple of times. We both loved animals and had tons of fun together.

“Yes, sweet boy, you do. Now when you come to visit daddy at work you can wear it.”

“Yay! Now, I’ve got to make the sun and put my name on it. There. Daddy’s Shiny Star.” I thought his daddy was gonna cry. “See the cute puppy and the turtle and the bunny and Sloffers. We can’t forget him.” Sloffers was Jamie’s favorite stuffie, a black cat.

“I do, sweetheart. It’s the best smock I’ve ever seen.”

His daddy was silly ‘cause I knew mine was the best even without Daddy whispering those words in my ear. “He-he, that tickles, Daddy.” Daddy was gonna be sad when I left on Sunday, so I was gonna make sure he had lots of stuff around to remind him of me and that I’d be back really soon and forever.

I had big plans for my canvas this afternoon that would make him happy to look at while I was gone, and I couldn’t wait to paint it for him.

I added some grass underneath my gnome’s feet, a bright yellow sun above his head and a cute blue birdie on his shoulder. Nothing was painted on the front, that way if I accidentally got paint on me while wearing it, it wouldn’t ruin the scene. “There, all done.”

“Wow. You’re quite the artist. Did you put your name on the front?”

Oops, guess I better fix that. With the blue material pen I wrote my name on the front pocket. “Sprite.”

“Perfect.” Daddy kissed the top of my head. “Did you see the others?” I shook my head no and got up to wander around and stretch.

“Daddy’s Songbird, I love that Chase.” He was a professional singer, and the nickname his daddy gave him was perfect. “The music notes are so pretty.” He’d swished them around the giant songbird he painted on the back and wrote a few chorus lines above the bird.

He blushed. “Thanks, Roen.”

I hadn’t heard much from him since he got here. “Are you having fun this week?”

“Yes, it’s nice not to have to worry about anything and my Daddy made new friends too. Maybe we can come back some time or with my bandmates for a week.”

“We’d love that,” Daddy replied. “As you can see it’s very private here and your anonymity is guaranteed.”

Chase smiled, then Daddy and Casey started talking about planning another trip. I couldn’t wait to live here full-time with Daddy and meet all the wonderful people who came through and stayed with us.

“What’s been your favorite part?” Chase scrunched up his nose as he thought about it.

“Everything. You have a playground, swimming, fun food and I love being outdoors and not getting sunburned.” Chase was from Vegas too so that made total sense.

“My best friend, David has a boyfriend who’s a boy but not a little, but he’s a chef with Rhone’s husband, Ely.

They make the best fun food with lots of dippy sauces.

Maybe they could come too and cook for us? ”

“That would be so much fun. I’m gonna see if Daddy will let me build a big ball pit to play in.”

“Ooohhh that would be awesome. You build stuff?”

“I do. That’s my day job. I’m not a full-time little.”

“Same. It’s my escape when I’m offstage. Singing in front of people is so stressful. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job but sometimes it’s a lot.”

“I totally get that.” It was exciting learning so much about my friends. Chase and I both grew up in Vegas, but I’d never heard of him until his band, Embrace the Fear, hit the big time. I loved their music, but it was even better getting to know the real person who belted out their lyrics.

“Do you go back to Vegas on Sunday too?”

“I do but it’s just to get my stuff. I’m moving up here to live with my Daddy.” I was all smiles. I was happy, my face was happy, and my tummy did the tickly butterflies when I thought about my daddy.

“Lucky. It’s so pretty here. I could sit outside all day and write and play. I’m for sure coming back.”

“Good. It’ll be fun to have my friends here again.”

“What are you guys talking about,” Henry asked as he and Jamie joined us.

“Coming back. Roen is moving here to be with his daddy full-time.” Chase’s announcement had me grinning like a silly gnome.

“Yay!” Henry and Jamie cheered, and all heads turned our way.

“Is Chase gonna sing?” Darcy asked. “I love his voice.”

Chase blushed. “No. We’re happy because Roen is moving up here to live with his daddy.”

The mommies and daddies congratulated Daddy while the rest of the littles gathered around us.

“But if you want, I could maybe sing a song tonight if we’re making s’mores again?” I wanted to hear Chase sing as much as I wanted s’mores. But this was his time off and I didn’t want him to feel like he had to.

“Daddy, did you hear that?” I yelled louder than I meant to. “Oops, sorry. That was too loud. But can we have s’mores tonight so Chase can sing?”

“Chase sings for s’mores?” Daddy teased, but Chase’s head bobbed up and down.

“I love s’mores.”

“My silly little songbird,” Casey kissed his cheek. “If it’s okay with Daddy Kyler then it’s okay with your Daddy. You’ve given your voice a good rest this week.”

Every little stared at Daddy, holding our breath while we waited for his answer. Gosh, how long was he gonna make us wait? We’d turn blue like Smurfs before he…

“Works for me.”

Finally. Sheesh.

“Yay! S’mores and songs!” We did our worst dancing to date, strange little butts wiggling around the room, but we had fun doing it. Even Chase joined in shaking his tush.

Sandy, the other little girl who was here with her mommy, Talia, was so excited she ran around hugging everyone. This was the most she had talked to any of us. She was super sweet but really shy. Who knew something as simple as songs and s’mores would make us so happy?

“Alright, munchkins,” Mark’s voice rang out. “Why don’t you head out to the playground while we get set up for lunch?”

Never saw so many cases of the zoomies in one place before. Ralphie pretended he was an airplane, Darcy and Sandy held hands and skipped out the door, while the rest of us ran as fast as our legs could go and dove into the sandbox.

We played and swung and climbed the rock wall up to the top of the fort then down the slide we went until Daddy called out, “Lunch time!”

“Tots and mini corn dogs. They’re so cute.

” This time the littles all sat at the long table while the mommies and daddies talked about boring grown-up stuff and ate at the round tables surrounding us.

They had some kind of salad and chicken from the looks of it.

We played dippy-dippy-dippy with our sauces and chomped away.

After we were wiped down, we got to wear our new smocks to paint our canvases.

“Now these paints are water soluble and will wash out of their clothes and smocks. After this they can jump in the lake and swim with the fishes.”

Jacob shuddered at Mark’s comment. I forgot the fishies had played with his legs yesterday.

Hopefully now all the zoomies were gone so we could focus on our paintings. Mine was super important, and I didn’t want any distractions while I focused on it.

Daddy helped me slide into my pretty new smock. While the others got to work painting, I took the time first to trace out what I wanted to paint before I started.

“What are you drawing, Sprite?”

“This is the Daddy gnome, and his little gnome, Sprite, is holding his hand.”

Daddy gasped. “If it’s possible to fall in love in four days, I have.” Daddy and I both froze. We didn’t dare move or we’d have to address those magical words I don’t think he meant to say yet. But if he said it, well, kinda said it, did that make it okay for me to say it back?

“Sprite, I-I. I didn’t mean to just blurt it out and I don’t want to scare you off. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay Daddy, I love you too. Kisses,” I puckered up and my silliness brought his smile back before he pressed his lips to mine. “Thank you, Daddy.”

“Thank you, my perfect Sprite.”

Daddy’s perfect Sprite. It had a nice ring to it and Daddy was no longer freaking out, so I handled it like a big boy. That was until Mark passed us by. He was an instigator for sure.

“Did I hear the faint whisper of I love you’s?” Neither of us said anything but my face was on fire. I didn’t dare look at daddy because I was sure his was too. “I believe my work here is done.” Mark merrily whistled as he walked away.

“There will be no living with him after this,” Daddy shook his head.

“That’s ‘cause you’ll be living with your Sprite now, Daddy. Did you forget already?” I shook my head and teased him. “Silly Daddy.”

“Silly Sprite.”

But his smile as he watched my canvas come to life said it all. He enjoyed watching me as much as I enjoyed showing off my talents. I had a mountain of drawing notebooks filled to the brim with sketches. I wondered if Daddy would enjoy flipping through them.

“What was that giggle for, little one?”

“Just my brain being silly and wanting to show you all of my drawings.”

“I’d love that, sweet boy. I can’t wait for our time together to really start.”

For me, it started a while ago. “Me too, Daddy. I’ll only be gone a week though.”

“A week is too long but it’s not like me to be selfish and I’ll not start now. Your family must miss you something awful. I know I will.”

A week that will take too long after just living the best week of my life that went way too fast. How does time even work like that?

“When that’s dry, I know exactly where it will hang.” I loved that Daddy had thought about that. “In our new home directly above the fireplace.”

I squealed and threw myself at him. Thankfully he was strong enough to hold us up. “Oops, sorry. Forgot I was holding a paintbrush.” I’d tagged Daddy’s cheek with the bright yellow that matched the sun above our gnomey heads on the painting.

Daddy poked his finger in the red and dotted my nose. “Your happiness is worth wearing all the paint in the world, Sprite.”

Swoon.

For a man with zero Daddy training, he sure did slide into the role like a natural.

With zero care for prying eyes, I slid the rest of the way onto his lap and kissed him. Our silly friends around us clapped and cheered. My face was boiling, but I didn’t care. I was a happy boy in love with his daddy.