to cut it up for you. It’ll be in the perfect sized bites for a hungry boy.” He blushed when his tummy rumbled. It was always strange to watch a boy sink into little space. It was like rolling back the hands of time. While it would never be the life for me, I envied littles and their ability to depart from the adult world for a time. I opened the drawer between us, wrapping my hands around my next surprise. “And you might get messy, so I bought you this.”
His eyes went wide when I held up an oversized bib. It would still be too small for him, but that was okay because it meant more mess I’d get to clean up later. Sammy clutched it in his hand against his chest. “This is so cool. I’ve never had one with unicorns on it. How did you know they’re my favorite?”
“A little birdie might have told me.” I winked at him before patting his backside. “Now scoot. Dinner will be done soon, and you don’t have the table set. Bring back your cup and I’ll get you some milk.”
Soon, he was going to have to use the bathroom. I was counting on it, because I wanted to see what he’d do when I offered to help him.
“Daddy, there’s only one placemat here.” A shiver rushed through me the same as it did every time I heard him call me Daddy. I wasn’t going to force the issue because I wanted it to come naturally, but I did hope we’d get to the point where I was Daddy more often than I was Theron to him.
“That’s because you have a special plate for messy meals.” My sister-in-law swore by these contraptions she’d found that were an odd cross between plate and bowl with the placemat attached. It was made out of silicone, and she swore even the crabbiest kid couldn’t slide it off the table and onto the floor. I wasn’t worried about that with Sammy, but it would make clean up easier.
After draining the pasta, I dished some onto his plate and the rest into a pasta bowl for myself. Both got a big scoop of sauce and then I cut his up, just like I’d promised to do. While the food cooled, I filled his sippy and took it over to the table. Sammy immediately complied when I nodded toward his chair, climbing up the same way my nephews did. He flipped around, placing his hands on the table in front of him.
“You’re being very good for Daddy,” I praised him as I grabbed the bib. He sat up straighter when I wrapped the bib around his neck. “After dinner, it’s going to be bath time, unless you have more work to get done.”
“No, Daddy. I think I got enough done already. After bath can I have my new jammies? I think I want the dino ones first. They’re softest.” I knew better than to read too much into his lack of enthusiasm about the pajamas.
He’d been upset that they didn’t have any unicorn jammies made for boys, but when I’d suggested we look in the girl’s section for something he wanted more, he’d gotten seriously grumpy. It had taken me a minute to figure out what had set him off because, to me, he was Sam. I didn’t see someone who was born in a female body at all. He was a precious little boy and I never wanted him to feel bad about anything he liked because inanimate objects weren’t gendered, it was society that placed labels on them.
“I agree. They’re going to feel extra silky on your skin after we give you a bath and I put some lotion on you.” He stilled, cocking his head to the side as he looked up at me. “Yes, baby, I bought new lotion, too. It’s still cold and dry outside, and I don’t want you to get itchy.”
I quickly grabbed our dinner and placed his in front of him. He poked at the silicone, giggling when, no matter how he pushed at it, it wouldn’t move. The fork only lasted a few bites before he got frustrated and slammed it down on the table. I ignored him, watching out of the corner of my eye as he picked up the spoon. He wasn’t doing much better with that, and he wound up half using the spoon and half pushing the food into his mouth, not stopping long