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Ian nodded excitedly and held up the rabbit that probably needed a name. “Too.”
Since that seemed to mean the rabbit was going to get dressed up too, I nodded and brought the clothes over to an oversized chair in the corner of the room. “Should we get your bunny dressed first?”
That seemed to be the best plan to me since we hadn’t talked about limits and I wasn’t sure what he wanted me to do with his clothes.
Yep, should’ve followed Cohen’s lead and had more conversations first.
I was never going to tease him about that again.
“Yes.” That and another enthusiastic nod was all I got, so I sat down and smiled as Ian plopped himself on the floor in front of me before passing me the rabbit. “Too.”
Little Ian was not the chatterbox big Ian was.
“Of course, Sir.” My response had him giggling and poking the rabbit. A sign I should go faster, maybe? “Let’s get him ready.”
Ian’s head bobbed up and down before he pointed to his chest. “Me.”
“Then you.” Well, that answered one question. “Does your bunny want to have dino nuggets and applesauce too?”
That was hilarious evidently because as I slipped the shirt over the rabbit’s head, Ian laughed until he nearly tipped over.
When Bunny was all dressed, Ian settled into quiet giggles before taking back his new friend and carefully placing him on the floor. I had to admit I wasn’t sure what to do next, but Ian didn’t have that problem. He raised his hands high and wiggled his fingers. “Surprise.”
Yep, he needed to get changed so he could have his surprise.
Little Ian was very single-minded in whatever he was focused on. Rabbit. Clothes. Surprise. Then I was assuming dinner…but seeing how that turned out would be fun.
“Yes, once you’re ready, I’ll show you your surprises.” His eyes widened as I took his shirt off as Daddily as I could, no ogling and no flirting.
“Two?” As his head popped out and I laid the shirt on the arm of the chair, he leaned in and questioned again. “Three?”
Well, little Ian could at least count to three.
“We’ll have to see.” My mysterious answer got wiggles and he scrambled to stand up so we could change the rest of his clothes.
As I laughed, his innocent excitement made it impossible to see getting him dressed as anything but sweet and funny. He was delightful, but my favorite part was when he pushed at the waistband of his briefs and shrugged. “Later. Surprises.”
Assuming that meant he’d decided changing briefs wasn’t worth the time it would take, I did my best not to laugh as I helped him into the shorts. He used my shoulders to keep himself steady and started bouncing again as soon as he was dressed. “Now?”
Since saying no would make me a terrible Daddy, I nodded. “Now.”
That had him scrambling to grab the bunny and he took my hand again, dragging me back out to the small foyer where I’d left the groceries. Thankfully, he waited for me to pick the bag up instead of just jumping on it, but I had a feeling it was a close call.
Little Ian wasn’t going to be known for his restraint.
“Now?” He tugged my hand again, looking at the bag with wide eyes. “Yes?”
Laughing, I nodded. “Let’s take it to the table; then you can see what’s inside.”
Ian seemed to agree with that plan based on how fast he moved us into the kitchen. The generously sized room had a good-sized table that would fit all three of us, so I set the bag on it as Ian plopped himself into a chair, wiggling and watching.
“Are you ready?” Slowly inching out the first surprise, I showed him the new coloring book we’d picked out for him.
“Oh…” Snatching it out of my hand at the first chance he got, Ian started paging through the book, studying the animals and houses that were mixed in.
Since Eli had said he loved rabbits, we’d gone with an animal theme that seemed perfect now that I’d seen all the cute stuffies in his room. I knew we’d gotten it right when he pointed to a rabbit that looked a lot like his new one. “Look. Bunny.”
As I nodded, he glanced up at me. “You?”
I wasn’t sure exactly what he was asking, so I took a stab in the dark. “Yes, Daddy and your friend Cohen picked it out just for you. We saw the bunnies and knew it would be perfect.”
Mentioning Cohen could’ve backfired badly, but Ian simply nodded and thought about it for a second before dropping his voice and using a questioning tone. “My friend?”
Nodding, I leaned over and kissed his head. “Yes, your friend and mine. Our friend Cohen.”
Because if we were going to make this work, we all had to be friends at the very least.
