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"Yes."
"Fabulous lords and ladies?"
"Indeed, my lord," I drawl in my best regal voice.
BJ hugs me. "Yes, it’s a deal."
I guide BJ to a digger's scooper, then help him in. I plop down on the seat, then place him on my lap.
He nearly passes out as I start the machine, moving the digging part to the dirt like it’s an oversized toy.
"Now, this is a real digger, boy, so you need to be careful not to touch anything."
BJ looks at Bob. His face contorts as if he’s restraining himself from doing anything.
All at once, he presses every button at once. "I’m sorry, Daddy! Accident!"
I groan as the digger charges toward the dirt, then begins scooping of its own accord. "You pressed the auto-scoop button!"
BJ wiggles on my lap. "We’re doing it, Daddy!"
I turn off the auto-scoop. There’s nothing wrong with technology, but today I want to be in control so my boy can see how a man digs a hole.
I gently lower the digger, then lift up dirt. "Look at Daddy."
BJ watches with wonderstruck eyes. He doesn’t move his gaze away—he studies my every move as I dump the dirt in a real-life dump truck, and then do this a few more times until the truck is full.
One of my working guys drives a second dump truck next to the pile, and I repeat the motions with this truck.
BJ watches the entire time, his eyes glazed over. He counts the number of scoops I make, muttering under his breath, "One, two, three, four" and on and so forth.
At last, BJ hands Bob to me. "Bob would love a turn."
"This job isn’t suitable for a teddy, but since Bob is wearing a hardhat, I assume he knows what to do."
BJ smiles. It’s the widest, sweetest smile to ever exist.
A boy mustn’t smile like that. It’ll give a man like me a heart attack. Talk about a smile fit for the gods.
BJ is my construction Ganymede and I’m the Zeus of Upstate New York.
I place Bob on my lap, then bring his little hands to the control mechanism. "Bob" lifts a pile of dirt, then brings it to the dump truck.
BJ bursts into applause. "You can do it, Bob."
I issue BJ a curt nod after "Bob" drops the dirt into the truck’s dumper. "Yes, he can—and yes, he did."
BJ pushes out a breathless whisper. "Me next?"
Smiling, I haul BJ onto my lap. I take my time bringing his hands to the steering mechanism, because I know this is a big deal to him. BJ has dreamt, fantasized, and daydreamed about this moment for years. Decades.
BJ tenses up. "I’m gonna mess up."
I rub BJ’s waist. "You’ve got this. If anyone can pull the mission off, it’s you. No one else. I wouldn’t trust a single one of my working guys with the task right now. Only a boy who’s wanted to scoop dirt for a long, long time is capable of doing it well. Everyone else will let me down. You’re my only hope."
BJ pulls it off. Exactly like I knew he would.
He turns around and kisses me. Hot. Hard. On the lips.
