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“So long as you’re sure, Daddy.”
“I am doubly sure.”
Right then, a squeal went up behind us. I turned to see Ean with his hands raised as he chanted, “Bounce!" over and over. It seemed as if we were going to open the bouncy house and have little time this morning. I wondered if we should stop them before breakfast or let them burn off some energy before they ate.
It was honestly so early in the day that either answer was appropriate. None of us had made it up to the big house for breakfast yet.
Come to think of it, that probably explained why Rhett and Ean were here. If they could get to us early, then we wouldn’t be knee-deep in chores, and we probably wouldn’t stop to play.
The group of littles hurled themselves out the bunkhouse door. A reluctant set of Daddies followed. I pressed a kiss to Ashley’s cheek before we went to catch up with them. The more hands we had to help set up the bouncy house, the better.
A few minutes later, the house was up, and the boys were jumping like crazy. We pulled out the folding chairs and settled around to watch them. Harlan loaded up breakfast, and Jackson, along with Bobby Allen, set up a couple of the folding tables for the food. We basically had a cookout when it was all said and done.
About an hour into playtime, I noticed my boy looking pained. “What’s wrong, baby?”
He bit his lip and shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
“It is something if it bothers you. Remember how we talked about you telling me things?” I gave him my most serious Daddy expression.
It took seconds for him to fold. “It’s just that… I’m not little, but that looks like a lot of fun.”
“Then go do it. No one is going to judge you or stop you.”
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m kind of a big guy. I would hate to destroy this amazing bouncy house because I weighed too much and popped it.”
I wanted to laugh at his pitiful expression only because the idea was so ludicrous to me. But as his Daddy, I had to take my boy’s feelings into account, which meant no laughter. I had a job to do.
Standing from my chair, I made my way to the bouncy house. When I got close enough, Ean dropped down to the netting to greet me.
“I never would’ve pegged you as a Daddy. It’s good to see you happy though Corey."
“Thank you, Ean. I appreciate the support. It would be great if you could help me with one more thing though. It’s for my boy.”
His eyes lit up. “Anything. I’m your guy. I’ll help. Name your price. I’m good for the money!”
“There is no price. It’s just that he'd like to jump, but he’s nervous about his size and everyone else being in there too. Do you think you could give him just a couple of minutes to jump alone so he can have the memory? It wouldn’t be for very long. I think it’s more that he's afraid of missing out because you guys make everything look so fun.”
Ean’s hands moved to his chest. “I almost wanna cry. That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. We'll get out right now.”
He turned away from me and yelled to the others that it was time to get out. They shuffled out without question, following Ean, their fearless leader for the day.
“Now it's time to practice our cartwheels,” he declared. “Ashley is going to jump while we play here. Then if we want to go back, we can.”
It should’ve been strange to watch these grown men doing cartwheels in the grass after they had just been in a bouncy house, but it wasn’t. Turning to the Daddies, I found Rhett sitting in a chair with the balloon hat Ean had worn earlier atop his head. He gave me a wink, then his gaze went to his husband.
Seemed us Daddies were no better than the boys. We just preferred the control.
“Come on baby,” I called out to my boy.
He ran over quickly, his face beet red. I helped him slip his shoes off, then I tapped his bottom so he could slip through the flapping door.
Once he was inside, his natural instincts took over. He bounced and jumped and dove around the inflated contraption. And all the while, I heard the sweetest sound.
My baby was giggling. It was soft and melodic. I had never heard him so carefree. This one activity had wiped away every bit of his worry from before.
I knew that no matter what happened, I would make sure he got some alone time every chance he could when we blew this thing up. He deserved to have his joy as much as the others did. Even if he fought me on it, I would make it happen.
“I can’t believewe still haven’t heard back from him.” Travis lamented his woes at the dinner table a few days later.
