Page 26 of Love Unlimited

This time Zhong couldn’t hold back his laughter. No, we’re going to go down to the kitchen.

I can eat it!

Nope. It’s not food.

Ash latched onto that tidbit. But we have to use it in the kitchen?

No more clues. We’re going downstairs. Are these good play clothes?

Ash looked down at their body, as if just noticing what they were wearing. You put them on me, Daddy. That means they’re perfect.

Zhong chuckled. He had definitely been schooled many, many times about appropriate outfits for different situations, and he was trying to figure it all out because it was clearly important to Ash. On the other hand, Ash usually looked like they were dressed in costume for a performance, so perhaps it was just better to keep asking. Either way, their shimmery shirt and jean shorts looked as childlike as anything else.

Ash had a lot of cute outfits for their little side, but they didn’t seem to need them. And as they’d just pointed out, he’d already gotten them dressed once this morning, gently sliding the clothes along their long limbs and kissing their knees. Perhaps that was what made the outfit appropriate.

Let’s go downstairs, then. He offered them a hand that they clung to happily, swinging his arm as they walked down the stairs. At the bottom, he steered them toward a stool at the kitchen island. You wait here, he told them with a kiss on the nose.

He returned a few minutes later with a wrapped present. That was one trick he’d figured out after missing the opportunity when he’d given Ash a key to his apartment. He could wrap practically anything in colorful paper—this one had rainbow hedgehogs—and Ash would unwrap it like it was a priceless jewel. Well, like the four-year-old equivalent of unwrapping a precious jewel.

He set it down on the counter.

Thank you, thank you! Ash gushed. I love it.

You haven’t opened it, Zhong pointed out, though it bore out his wrapping paper theory.

Ash scowled. I can love it before I open it.

True. Very good point, Zhong agreed with a laugh. All of these gifts weren’t about things. They were about communicating love.

Ash tore into it, paper flying.

Daddy! Look! It’s a rainbow! A queer rainbow, they added, using two almost identical signs based on drawing an arc with four fingers. And I can put my snacks inside!

Yep. That’s what I was thinking. It was a set of eight malleable silicone bowls that nested inside each other in rainbow order. The smallest one could hold a couple grapes, while the largest would be good for soup.

Ash decimated the cardboard packaging and, as expected, fell instantly into playing with them. They turned over a few of the bigger ones, then started stacking some of the smaller ones on top to make domed towers. It looked a bit like a city of bubbles. Or maybe a flower garden. On Mars. Zhong couldn’t wait to hear what Ash thought was happening.

Where are all the people? Ash asked.

People? Was Ash asking about Dustin and Landon? Zhong followed Ash’s eyes back to the bowls. They were picking one up in jerky motions like a crane, then settling it on top of another bowl. OK, presumably Ash’s people were snacks, because that’s what Zhong was going to give them.

The people who live in the mushrooms. Little, little people, Ash explained, scrunching their fingertips and eyes to show how small they were.

Are these the type of people who are yummy in your tummy?

Yes!

Zhong found himself grinning. There were just no words for the satisfaction and love he felt when he got things right for Ash, whether they were little or big.

Zhong had tried to write down his thoughts about it, but every time he just came up with greater than signs, the Vs tipped on their sides. Somehow giving Ash a small gift led to great happiness. And watching Ash receive the gift amounted to even more happiness for Zhong. He couldn’t explain it except that there was some vast inequality in the universe that always led to him receiving more joy back from Ash than he put in. A runaway feedback loop.

I’ll go get the people. Zhong turned to the fridge where he already had a few items figured out. Fresh baby carrots, frozen peas, and frozen corn were always a good start. He’d planned to put them in the new bowls, but since the colorful dishes were already in use and upside down, he got out a regular plate and started making little piles.

Ash started immediately with the corn. These are the fairy guards. They glow and keep everyone safe. Ash set them up around the amorphous perimeter of the bowls. And these are the babies. They scooped up some of the peas and carefully placed them into the two tiniest bowls. The Daddies take care of them, they explained, leaning the carrots against the side.

Zhong followed this with half his attention while he got out some turkey slices and a few types of crackers, and then started cutting up some fresh veggies in different sizes.

Ooh! A bridge! More bridges, please! Ash held up a turkey slice, which they’d rolled into a tube and balanced between two bowls.