Page 35

We get to the window and I look in. There are three people in the room.

Two men and a woman. The woman is tied up beautifully, colored ropes bright against her dark skin.

The two men have their hands on her, but they're also kissing, making out in front of the woman.

I have no desire to watch more, so I tug on Tyler's hand to move back to the Littles' hallway.

"You know a lot about these rooms," I say, finally catching what he said. "Is that something you want to do?"

"I don't know." Even in the dim lighting, I can see his cheeks tinged pink. He definitely has thought about this. I don't say anything else, but I store away that information. His birthday is a whole nine months away. Maybe we can do something to celebrate. I change the subject.

"Okay, baby. Let's go play."

Tyler leads me to the playroom. It's exactly how Tyler and the others described it to me. There are Littles running around, laughter and chatter swirling around the room. I spot our group by the ball pit and wave. Tyler tugs on my hand and points to the changing rooms. There is one open now.

Tyler brought his newest set of pajamas.

He aced his first test for school and of course, I had to go out and spoil him for it.

He did so good, managing his stress and making sure he was in a comfortable place to take the test. I was in the room with him since he took it in the evening after work, but still.

He did it all on his own and got every question right.

"You know you make me proud every single day to be your Daddy?

" I say the words just as his head pops through the neck hole of his shirt.

It's a cute shirt with two otters forming a heart shape across the chest. The shorts are green, his favorite color, and have little otters waving printed in random patterns.

"Really?" He sounds like he doesn't actually believe that. That hurts me.

"Yes, my Prince. You are amazing and I love you so much. You make me so happy."

"I love you, too, Daddy." He wraps his arms around my neck and hugs me tight. I do the same, holding him close to me. He buries his face against my neck.

"Okay, Ty. Let's get out there and play, shall we?"

I try to take everything in as we walk across the room to our group of friends. A few other Littles stop and say hi to Tyler but he's set on making it to the ball pit. Aussie and Orion are already in there. Quinton is throwing the balls from outside the pit. I don't see Rachel or Luke yet.

"Welcome to Club Thrive," Remington says. Tyler goes right to playing with his friends. I find a seat with the others and nod.

"It's a nice place," I say. "We walked around for a few minutes before coming in here."

"Find anything you like?" Garrett asks. "Orion is best friends with the bartenders at this point. He stops there to talk to them every time we come here. Always gets a free drink out of them, so I can't complain."

The group laughs at that. I can definitely see Little Orion swindling someone with those brown eyes and sweet voice. I know he has Garrett wrapped around his finger.

"I get the hint that Ty wants to rent one of the rooms next year," I say. "I definitely have some ideas, too."

Tyler lets out a squeal and then a round of laughter comes from all of them. I look over to see Tyler is now in the ball pit, with his legs sticking over the edge. The other three are covering him with the plastic balls. "Daddy, save me!"

I don't think I could get him out of there even if I wanted to. The others are crowding him, and he would have to pull his feet in before he could stand up. "Sorry, Ty. I think they took you. It's too late."

"He's ours!" Aussie shouts just before smashing another ball against Tyler's stomach.

We spend hours in the room. Around nine, Rachel and Luke show up. I know he's usually working the night shift, but most weekends he's given a second shift. It has to be hard on them, but Luke always looks so happy when they're around.

The boys stop for their snacks and juices.

Orion climbs up in Garret's lap as usual for his bottle.

The first time he did that, I wasn't sure how I felt, but now it's something that I don't even think twice about.

Orion definitely regresses the youngest out of the group of Littles.

Tyler seems to fluctuate a small amount.

A lot of times, at home, he likes to stay a bit independent.

Tonight, though, he takes my hand and asks me to take him to the potty.

The bathrooms inside Dreamland are occupied, so he guides me out of the room and down the hall to the other bathrooms. The stalls are wide, enough for two, maybe even three, people in each.

Tyler rests his head on my shoulder as I help him aim into the toilet.

We've never done this before, but I love it. I love that he trusts me so much.

I give him a few, teasing strokes before pulling his pants back up and moving us to wash our hands.

When we get back into the room, I check the clock on the wall.

It's almost eleven, well past both of our bedtimes.

The others seem to be heading toward sleepy time as well.

Tyler is meeting my brother and his family tomorrow, but not until lunch, so we don't have to worry too much about bedtime tonight.

"I think we're going to start winding down," Remington announces when we get back to the group. "Aussie has a big day tomorrow with work."

"I get to go to work with Daddy!" Aussie says excitedly. "He's helping me with plans and building things!"

Remington smiles and pulls Aussie onto his lap. "I'm not building anything, baby. I've set up the meeting for you to meet with the construction company we contract out too and also to get the permits you'll need for next year."

"Same thing," Aussie says with a shrug. Remington rolls his eyes, but the rest of us find it funny.

It's only another thirty minutes before we are all saying goodbye. Tyler and I stop at the front desk and have our bands scanned so they can be removed. I'll have to see about getting a membership here; I can see how much Tyler loves the place.

It's late and warm enough that Tyler didn't bother changing out of his pajamas. We walk across the parking lot to the car, hand-in-hand. Tyler's body slumps against mine as we walk and I see his whole face scrunch up with a big yawn. He's so cute.

"Did you have fun, baby?" I walk him to the passenger side and help him in and get him buckled up. His eyes are half closed, but he nods his head twice.

"So much fun, Daddy. So sleepy though."