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“Merlin it is then,” Jensen said as he slid the coloring book in front of me while Mitchell grabbed the crayons from the tray. “Why don't you tell us more about Henry and what Henry's favorite things are while we watch you color. We'd like to get to know you better.”
My head popped up, “Really? Daddies want to know Henry?”
“More than you know, sweet boy. More than you know,” Jensen replied.
“Yay!” I grabbed the sparkly pink crayon from the box and started coloring, my tongue poking out as I concentrated on staying inside the lines, deep in thought. “Henry likes cars, and trains, and books,” I rambled on in one giant sentence. “I love to read. Henry wishes for a Daddy to read him bedtime stories. Do you like to read to your boys?” I asked them.
“I do,” Jenson said. “I've had many boys that I've taken care of over the years, but Mitchell is new to being a Daddy.” Jensen glanced at Mitchell, like he was waiting for him to add to the conversation.
“Yes, that's right, I am. I never thought of myself as a Daddy until I met Henry,” Mitchell said, and his words surprised me. What about me made him want to be a Daddy?
“Do you want to be Henry's new Daddies?” I excitedly asked, filled with hope. The hole in my heart carved out by longing and need was to be filled because the alternative—having my bubble burst—would crush me.
“We would,” Jensen replied for the two of them. “Maybe after we've finished playing tonight, both Daddies can take Henry out to eat and we can all talk?”
“Henry would like that. Let me finish this picture for my Daddies.” Calling them my Daddies felt so natural, though fear this was a one-time deal or they were about to propose an option that would only end in heartbreak wasn’t far from my mind.
“No rush,” Jensen said, “take your time, little man. We're patient men and we believe Henry will be worth the wait.”
No matter his words, I still hurried through my picture, thankful that the playroom coloring books had the easy to tear pages in them. I wanted my Daddies to take this home and hang it up on their refrigerator, though I wondered if they lived together. But I'd tuck that question away for later. For now, I needed to finish their picture, so they'd always think of me when they saw it. “There, Henry’s finished. Will Daddies walk Henry to the changing room?”
“That was quick,” Mitchell said, smiling fondly at the picture he held.
“Let’s clean up the crayons and coloring books,” Jensen said, just like a real Daddy, “and then we'll walk Henry to his room and wait in the hallway for him to finish.”
Hand in hand, we left the room and walked down the hall toward the changing rooms. “Daddies wait here?” I nervously asked, pointing to where they stood as we reached the door. I feared that once I stepped inside, they'd leave.
“We promise, Henry,” Mitchell was the one to speak up this time. “We will be here waiting for you.” Could he sense my nerves, or did he share the same fear that I’d not return? I nodded and stepped inside, dressing faster than ever. When I opened the door, there they stood grinning down at me.
“Thank you,” I mumbled under my breath, only they’d heard me.
“You have nothing to thank us for, Henry. We came here tonight hoping to find you and we did. Now the three of us can get a bite to eat and talk. Is that okay with you, Henry?” Jensen asked.
I bobbed my head, “Very okay.”
“Mitchell,” Jensen began, “if it’s all right with Henry, why don't you ride with him and the two of you can follow me to the restaurant.”
“Is that all right with you, Henry?” Mitchell asked.
“Very okay.”
“I'm sensing a theme here with your responses,” Jensen smiled. “Are you sure you're all right, Henry?”
“Never been better.” Once we were strapped in and headed down the road, I couldn’t hold back the questions any longer, the eerie silence in the car propelled me forward. “So, have you and Jensen been a couple for long? I’ve never seen you at the club before. Has he had lots of boys?”
Mitchell chuckled. “Let me see if I can tackle all these at once. I may have never been a Daddy before, but I'm drawn to you in ways I can't explain. I've never been to the club, but Jensen is a member. No, we're not a couple but Jensen’s hinted at the possibility of us becoming one. We’ve been best friends for nearly twenty years. Also, you're not the only one who's interested to see how this conversation goes tonight, and by that I'm assuming based upon your rapid-fire questions that you are interested in us.” Mitchell glanced over at me, and I bobbed my head. “But having never been a Daddy before, I don't wanna screw it up.”
I appreciated his honesty more than he knew. “I don't think you could screw it up. You were a natural tonight and to be honest the two of you made my day. Hell, my year.”
Mitchell and I talked about music, the arts, different things we were both interested in as far as hobbies went. I didn't broach the subject of our parents living in the same memory care facility. Bringing down the vibe of the evening would be a buzzkill, and nobody wanted that. Plus, in all honesty, being Little Henry for all these years was what kept me going. Before long we pulled into the parking lot and the spot next to Jensen. Jensen was out of the car and opening my door before I had a chance to reach for the handle.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet with us tonight, Henry.” He proceeded to draw me into a hug, and the warmth of his arms nearly melted me.
Using the word meet made me wonder—were they about to pitch me a business proposition? Was this a date? My head swirled in so many schematic colors it was like a kaleidoscope exploded in it. “I'm interested to hear what you have to say,” I replied and left it at that, not wanting to get my hopes up. But I also didn't want to end up tricked into some mad pyramid scheme, though I had higher hopes for the two of them, by following my lonely heart.
“Table for three or a booth?” the hostess asked as we stepped inside. Given the late hour the place was nearly empty.
“Booth if you have one, please,” Jensen answered for us. We followed her to the far back corner, which I was thankful for. At the very least, that would allow us privacy for whatever conversation was taking place. She took our drink orders and wandered off, giving us time to make our meal selections.
