His words warmed my heart. He was truly a great guy. I was thrilled for my best friend, but I couldn’t help the pang of longing that shot through my chest. I sighed and let out a chuckle. “You wouldn’t by any chance have any hot friends your age who are also Daddies and like princess play?”
Tristan and I both giggled as Daniel seemed to be pondering my question. I meant it mainly as a joke, but it warmed my heart that he seemed to be taking it seriously. “I’ve met a lot of fellow Daddies over the years. I’ll have to think about it.”
Hope bubbled in my chest, but I pushed it down, not wanting to get excited in case nothing ever came of it. Sadness and longing settledsomewhere deep within me, threatening to pull me under. Thankfully, Tristan was oblivious as he looked at his Daddy with the biggest puppy-dog eyes I’ve ever seen. “Dada, can we pwease go show Ewwie my room?”
His voice was quiet yet full of excitement and joy, and I felt the sadness lift as I grew excited to see his special room.
“Yes, little one. We can go show Ellery your room.”
Warmth filled me. I may not have known him for very long, but so far Daniel had been open and kind, and I wanted to give him the same. “You can call me Ellie if you’d like. All my friends call me Ellie, especially when I’m little.”
Daniel beamed, letting me know I made the right choice. “Well then, come on, boys, let’s go show Ellie the hoard.”
“Yay dragon hoard!” Tristan squealed and cheered as Daniel carried him and led us down the hall. When we approached the last door at the end of the hall, Daniel slowed down as he led us inside.
“I don’t have many people over, but this room is very special to me, so I decided to have the only entry point be through my room.”
Tristan poked his head over Daniel’s shoulder, his eyes gleaming with excitement. “It’s so cool, it’s like a secret cave.” We both giggled as Daniel shifted Tristan onto his hip so he could open the twin doors to the playroom. When the doors opened, I gasped, my jaw going slack with shock. “Oh my gosh, bestie! This room is amazing... Daniel, you did this?”
Daniel’s chest puffed up with pride as he led us deeper into the room. “I made most of the furniture and a few toys... Pretty much everything except the mural was something I made or purchased. My best friend David painted the mural. He’s very talented.”
I spun around the room, my eyes bouncing from one object to another. When my gaze landed on the painting on the wall, I froze. My body moved slowly as if on its own. I had to get closer. The mural was absolutely breathtaking. The colors blended seamlessly, and the dragon flying through the sky nearly jumped off the wall. I was captivated by its beauty.
My voice was soft, almost reverent. “This is gorgeous. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”
Daniel smiled, chuckling fondly. “David’s a great guy and an even better artist. I’d offer to pass along the compliments, but he’s like a brother to me, so I’m sure you’ll meet him sooner or later. You can tell him yourself. He’d love to hear it.”
The soft yet vibrant colors mesmerized me. They spoke of passion and hidden beauty. I suddenly couldn’t wait to have the chance to meet the man who brought this painting to life. It called to me in a way nothing ever had—except my pretty dresses, of course.
Shaking my head, I pulled myself from the painting’s hold and turned toward Daniel and Tristan. “I would love to meet him and tell him how beautiful his art is.”
“Wook!” Tristan shouted and pointed to a bookshelf with blocks stacked on it. “He painted dos too.”
Excitement and curiosity were bursting from me as I practically bounced toward the shelf. My jaw dropped in awe as I picked up one of the blocks.
Each block had a painted dragon. Each creature had its own theme and cute facial expressions. They were adorable. Every block of wood was like its own art piece, damn near sparkling with joy and creativity. “Whoa, these are so cute. You hit the Daddy jackpot, bestie.”
Holding back a sigh, I placed the block back on the shelf with the others. “Okay, little ones, would you like to play a game?” Both Tristan and I squealed at the mention of a game.
“Yes, please!”
Tristan and I jumped in excitement as Daniel grabbed a wooden dragon egg and a blindfold.
“One of you will be blindfolded, and the other one will be tasked with hiding this dragon egg somewhere in this room. Once you’re done hiding it, the blindfolded person walks around the room searching for the egg. The other will help them find it by saying ‘cold’ when they’re far away or ‘warm’ if they get closer.”
Excitement barreled through me, my little side surging toward the surface. “Oh yes! I love this game.” Tristan nodded his head in agreement. My bestie seemed to go into verbal shutdown when he regressed super deep. It was new, but it didn’t bother me one bit. As long as we were together, I didn’t care how my bestie chose to be little or communicate. I was so happy for him.
Daniel blindfolded me and asked me to spin around. I couldn’t help but giggle as I spun around and counted to ten. I was going to find the egg!
Tristan cheered me on, shouting one-word directions as I walked slowly around the room. When I finally found the egg, we both cheered.
Waiting patiently, I bounced excitedly on my toes as Daniel blindfolded Tristan so I could hide the egg. Once he was done, he leaned over and whispered in my ear. “I think Tristan is far too small right now. Can you please hide the egg low to the ground?”
My heart nearly melted at his consideration, and I felt even closer to him. Tristan was like a brother to me... my family. The more I saw Daniel’s love and care for Tristan, the closer I felt to him. I was thankful to have another wonderful person in my life.
I nodded and headed toward the bed. It was on the floor, and the surrounding bars would make it a little harder to find, but hopefully, being low to the floor would offset the difficulty. At least this way, he couldn’t accidentally trip over it.
When I was done, I looked up to find Daniel smiling at me. Gratitude and affection shone through his eyes with such intensity. We were going to get along just fine. Our love for Tristan alone was bringing us closer together than I thought possible.
