Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 60077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Was this the point I was supposed to tell him I was a Daddy?
“Yes.” Was it wrong I hadn’t told him? “In that situation, hypothetically, I would make sure my boy knew I came first and I would handle nosy relatives.”
Orlando nodded earnestly and went back to focusing on his car. “Terrence is doing good at managing them because he realized Enzo isn’t good at it. He said that it’s his way of taking care of Enzo, but I think he just likes fucking with the family. He’s smart.”
Smart sounded like another word for troublemaking drama queen, but I wasn’t in a relationship with the guy, so it wasn’t something I had to worry about. Besides, thinking about their family, it’d take an asshole genius to get one over on them.
“He sounds very interesting.” That got a giggle out of Orlando, but he didn’t seem offended. “I think only one person in each relationship needs to be good at dealing with your family, so if you don’t want to, we need to make sure your Daddy can do it.”
I’d said something stupid or dangerous because Orlando smiled again. “You’ll help tell him how to handle them, right? My Daddy, I mean.”
Picking up another truck, it seemed clear that he meant his Secret Santa Daddy as he started racing the two trucks side-by-side. “He’s nice and gets me good presents but he might not understand that they’re high-maintenance.”
And crazy.
And didn’t have enough grown-up supervision by people who could make good decisions.
“Yes, I will do my best to help explain your family and how to handle them.” At the very least it would give me a good chance to interrogate the asshole sending him toys and flowers. “But that’s something you can’t compromise on. If your Secret Santa guy can’t handle your family, then he’s not the right Daddy for you.”
There was no way he could handle them, so I didn’t have anything to worry about.
“You handle them really good, so you can teach him.” Zooming the trucks again, he giggled when the dump truck won. “You’re a good teacher, so you’ll do a good job helping me learn about being a little and helping my Daddy be good with my family.”
Fuck.
I needed to learn to just shut up so he could play and not get me into trouble.
“I’m glad you think I’m a good teacher.” That wasn’t promising anything, so I didn’t need to worry about lying. “But we’ll handle that when we come to it.”
“Yes, family first, so we need to plan our dates first.” As I mentally groaned, Orlando peeked over at me again as he restarted the race. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure Secret Santa Daddy knows you’re just a good helper, so he won’t get jealous about kisses or questions or that kind of stuff.”
I wasn’t sure that conversation would go as expected based on how I could imagine myself reacting. “I’ll help with that conversation too.”
Yes, I was just a good helper.
No nefarious intentions here.
“Thank you.” Looking littler with each smile, Orlando didn’t lose focus on his toys for long. “I didn’t know there were grown-ups that didn’t have to be big and could keep their toys and play with them. My family said collectors got to keep their toys in boxes but they didn’t play with them.”
I probably shouldn’t think of his family as assholes since a lot of people believed the same thing, but they were assholes for a variety of other things. Lumping in something new wouldn’t tip the bucket one way or the other.
“Yes, I’m glad you know that now.” Should I have been the one to tell him that? “I wasn’t sure if that was a conversation we needed to have.”
He’d been so fucking innocent that it’d been hard to tell what he was into and what was just him being him.
Shrugging, he didn’t seem upset about it either way. “I didn’t know it was a thing, so I was glad when Enzo had to explain stuff because of Terrence.”
Was it appropriate to ask how the fuck that’d come up?
Probably not.
“Well, now I know it’s something you’re interested in, so I can answer questions.” At least I could answer them more factually than the internet could. “I won’t get embarrassed or upset about them, though. So ask anything you want to know.”
Hopefully just not stuff about my own preferences and life.
“And you won’t get squirmy?” It wasn’t a word adult Orlando had ever used, so I took it as another clue he was sharing a new side of himself with me. “You get squirmy.”
Huffing dramatically, I loved the giggle it got me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I never got squirmy.
I was just careful around him because he’d been young…and innocent…and…very Orlando.
“I’m talking about squirmies. You get squirmy.” His evil villain snicker had me trying not to laugh. “But if you’re going to be my helper man, you can’t get squirmy.”