“Little Midge?”
“Yeah, she’s the tiny uni that was in one of our baskets. I wanna keep the baskets and give them to Mom. She makes giftsout of them for her friends. We can put the stuff I got Mom and Dad in them and bring them prezzies Saturday.”
“Such a sweet boy, that’s a wonderful idea. Let’s keep a couple of your super-d-duper shopping bags to carry what won’t fit in the suitcases.”
More giggles. Daddy was so silly. “See, my Daddy is super smart.”
“I don’t know about that, but I have a feeling we’ll be adding more to these bags today.”
Of course, Daddy was right. The hosts running all the games today didn’t want to take the remaining prizes with them, so we added even more prezzies to my overflowing bags. Good thing my car was parked at the station ‘cause this was way too much to carry very far.
“Daddy,” we were curled up on his bottom bunk, just how we’d slept since I fell on him that first night. “You should write our story down.” He’d told me new bits and pieces each night. We hadn’t even read the real books we won yet.
“I should, huh?” His lips made kissy tickles all over my neck. “Maybe. We’ll see.”
Daddy claimed he wasn’t a writer, but I got a peek at his lyrics and he really was. “You don’t give yourself enough credit.”
“Years of beating myself down for pissing away the dream I once lived.”
“No more of that. You’re gonna find your dream again and you’re gonna be happy.” I’d make sure of it.
“Wow, bossy boy.”
“Daddy! Daddy! I’m gonna fall off!” Tickles made me squirmy and squirmy on a tiny bunk was bad news for my tushy.
“Nope, Daddy won’t let you fall,” he snuggled in tight. “Goodnight, sweetheart,” Daddy kissed me. Kisses are fun.
“Night, Daddy.” I laid there, thinking about our new life and moving stuff around in the apartment so he had space to makehis own. Making sure Daddy was comfy and happy was my number one priority. As soon as I heard his snores I whispered the words I was afraid would scare him away but I just couldn’t hold in any longer. “I love you, Daddy.”
The snores stopped, and I panicked. This was usually when I was told I was too clingy or it was too soon. But I knew what I felt for Daddy was real.
Daddy squeezed me tight. He didn’t push me away like I expected. “Daddy loves his little unicorn too. Let’s get some sleep, we have a busy day ahead of us.”
Only I didn’t sleep. I made a mental list of all the things we’d need. Groceries, more clothes for Daddy, stuff like that. Oh, and a phone. I need to add him to my bill so he can get one. Otherwise, there’s no way for a potential employer to get a hold of him.
As soon as the alarm on my phone went off, I hopped out of bed all bright and shiny. “Good morning, Daddy, time to get up. We have lots to do today.” Before I’d forget, I opened a new note in my phone and added all the stuff swirling through my mind to it. “First stop after we get home is the phone and grocery store.” Silly Daddy, still half asleep he just blinked at me. “Come on, Daddy,” I tried to tug him up, but he just pulled me back down with him.
“Did you eat all that candy in your bag? Where is all this energy coming from?”
“Nope, just been thinky all night long. We have a big list of stuff. We need food and you need a phone and interview clothes.” Daddy groaned. “Are you groaning at your excited boy?”
“I’m groaning at the word interviews. Been a long time since I’ve had one of those and from what I remember, they’re not any fun.”
“What about working for yourself? I’m sure there’s lots of things you can do, and I can build you a website and make business cards.” Now I was the thinky one. “But you have to decide what you want to do first or the cards won’t make any sense.”
“I’ve got a few ideas. How long is the drive home?”
“Well, depending on L.A. traffic, around an hour and a half.” The station was further from home than I normally drove. Avoiding L.A. was high on my list because the traffic was a nightmare.
“Alright, let’s get this show on the road.”
By the time we got off the train and had my car packed full, an hour had gone by but finally Daddy and I were on our way home.
Our home.
Never thought I’d have that after getting dumped and in hindsight, that was the best thing that ever happened to me because now I had a real Daddy who loved me.
Chapter Twelve
