Page 6 of Brock’s Lost Lunchbox

I gave my first picture to a little who’d used so much glue, they had it break a hole in theirs. She was really nice and promised to share her bear crackers later if I came to find her.

I grabbed another piece of paper. I wanted a blue one, but they had a blue plastic tablecloth taped down to try and keep from having a full-on glitter-tastrophy and it would blend in too much. Silly Ms. Lily. There was no saving the room from the glitter bounty we littles left behind. As much as I didn’t love that glitter was a sometimes craft item, I completely understood why it was.

“I like your picture,” Ms. Lily said. “It looks like you are having fun.”

I loved that she never commented on what our pictures were. I hated it when a daddy, mommy, or other little tried to be nice and complimented my dog or house only to have it be neither of those things. I wasn’t here to create artistic masterpieces. I was here to have fun.

“I am. I love stars.” I drew them a lot, but crayons and paint never sparkled enough, even when the package said they would. I did try the glow-in-the-dark paints once, and that was pretty cool.

There were some new littles here today. I didn’t know all the people who came here to play, obviously, but you could tell when someone was new. The way their eyes filled with awe and how they flitted from one thing to the next out of fear of missing out. I’d been there. There is no feeling quite like it.

Lake and Abbott came over to join us at the craft table. They had been new not too far back, and we’d semi adopted them over a block-building contest. I didn’t know them as well as I knew Sammy, but I could see them becoming good friends.

“It’s story time,” Ms. Lily announced, and we dropped what we were doing to rush. Everyone wanted to hear her share her newest book.

Ms. Lily was the best at finding books. Sometimes she read huge ones that needed a stand because they were too large to hold and read at the same time. Most often, she had the kind of storybooks a daddy or mommy might read to you before bedtime. Today’s featured a set of twins who decided to venture into space and made their own rocket ship out of boxes.

“That one looks like your lunchbox,” Sammy pointed out, and he was right. It did, and that had me smiling wide.

The story was fun and had me wanting to build a box fort one day soon. Sammy and I did that once when someone moved into an apartment in my building and left all their garbage in the hallways. It was rude and disrespectful, but when all was said and done, I was glad they’d done it. We’d had such a blast.

Sammy tugged on my sleeve. “I wanna do more art.”

“Same.” I grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the craft table.

Even though he had a daddy, the two of us sometimes fell back into the taking turns being in charge mode we’d used when we were both alone. Although we weren’t really alone, were we? We’d had each other and still did. I had to remind myself of the second part from time to time because there were days when I felt very much alone, and that was my fault. I allowed work to consume me. As bad as that was, I never changed my work goals. It was time to change that, but knowing and doing were two very different things.

“I’m going to find more gold.” I went to the restock station to refill my sprinkle bottle.

“Is that for Sammy?”

I looked up to see Will, his daddy, and he wasn’t alone. Usually, I recognized the people with him. He was definitely a daddy. There was nothing little about the man or his outfit. But he also had that sense of wonder new littles had here, only he was attempting to hold it back.

He had all my attention to the point where I nearly forgot to answer Will’s question.

“It’s for whoever. Does he look out of glitter?”

“No, but if he was, I was going to surprise him with it.”

That was typical Will. He knew Sammy and I were playing together and wasn’t going to get in the middle of it, but also, he wanted to see his boy. So adorable. Not that I’d tell any daddy they were adorable.

“I think he needs more glitter.” I handed it to Will and caught a glimpse of what the daddy behind him was holding.

“Why do you have my lunchbox?” I stepped around Will.

“This is my friend Zeph, and he found it outside.”

If we had been anywhere but in the little room, it would’ve been weird to have Will answer for his friend. Here, it was his way of letting me decide how much interaction I wanted with the stranger. Littles controlled this room in that way. It was the safest little space in a club I’d ever played in.

Outside? That had to mean it fell out of my car when I was grabbing my clothes. I nearly lost my lunchbox. That slammed into me a bit harder than it should, especially since it was just a lunchbox. Except it wasn’t just, was it?

I reached out for it, and Zeph handed it straight to me. I didn’t think twice about hugging it tight, like I would have in the same exact situation in any other space. I bounced up and down, so grateful to this hot, sexy daddy who saved me from losing my favorite thing.

“I’m Brock, and you are a super daddy.”

“I’m Zeph and I will accept the compliment.” He went on to explain how he knew Will and Sammy, and I couldn’t make out all what, because I was far too focused on memorizing his face. What was wrong with me? He was just a Good Samaritan, and here I was practically drooling over him.

“This is my favorite. I’d have been so sad if I lost it.” I still hugged it tight but wanted to be hugging the stranger instead. I couldn’t remember ever feeling this connected to someone new.