Page 27 of Love Unlimited

How many bridges are you going to eat? Zhong asked, expression serious. He would probably eat whatever was left, but sometimes Ash’s exuberance needed to be reined in.

Ash surveyed their mushroom town, then pointed with one hand while they counted with the other. One, two, three, four. Four bridges. Plus the one they were already eating, of course.

There wasn’t that much turkey left in the package, maybe six slices, so he added it all to the plate.

Then he just leaned against the counter, watching. When he’d researched age play before seeing Ash regress, he’d kind of assumed it would be boring. But Ash was endlessly fascinating, especially when they made up stories like this. They could come up with more creativity in a few minutes than Zhong could dream up in his entire life.

Let’s go exploring! Ash announced on behalf of the carrot they were holding up. I’ll be the leader.

I’m scared of the forest, responded one of the red pepper pieces, darting over to the carrot.

Daddy Elf will keep you safe, the carrot assured the pepper.

Zhong laughed so hard his shoulders shook. He’d learned a lot about Daddies from watching Ash play. Apparently they were mythic superheroes, daring explorers, and doting caretakers, protecting the small and innocent. Somehow, it never bothered Ash’s characters that their eventual fate was Ash’s stomach. That all seemed to be part of the grand adventure.

Zhong got out his phone. Do your elves want to be in a picture? Ash loved being in photos and videos, mostly Zhong understood, because they liked being on their Daddy’s phone. The modern equivalent of hand-drawn pictures on the refrigerator.

Ash was rapidly filling up his phone storage, even if Zhong didn’t look at the pictures often. Who needed pictures when he could have the real thing? Knowing they were there made him happy, though. Like they were creating something together.

Take a picture of the babies.

Zhong dutifully snapped a picture of the two bowls of peas, and then stepped back to get Ash with their creation. Even when they were using all the components to tell a story, everything was beautifully arranged, a little elf village of flowing shapes and unpredictable constructions that worked harmoniously together.

Zhong looked up when he noticed movement at the side of the room.

Hey, Dustin greeted him. I heard laughter and I figured I needed a break. Oh… am I interrupting something?

Zhong stilled, unsure. He’d talked with Dustin about Ash regressing over here, and he’d been very positive about it. He’d even suggested that since littles liked playdates, they could try one with Landon. He explained that Landon might not regress himself—it wasn’t as easy or automatic for him as it was for Ash—but Dustin was certain Landon would be comfortable with it, too.

And yet, Zhong hadn’t actually expected Dustin to come downstairs for a few more hours, so he hadn’t planned for this.

He felt like something inside of him was pulling apart. He was immediately protective of Ash. This was something special, and he would guard Ash’s little space with all he had.

On the other hand, he didn’t want to make Dustin feel uncomfortable. If he was, it would be Zhong’s fault for setting Ash up in the kitchen. As much as he thought of Dustin’s house as his own, it wasn’t quite true.

All of the rules had been shifting between Zhong and Dustin since Ash and Landon had come into the picture, and Zhong felt like he was struggling to keep up.

While Zhong froze, Ash made the first move in their usual charming fashion. Hey! they greeted Dustin happily. My Daddy got me a present! Then they turned to Zhong. Landon’s Daddy is here, they informed him, in case he’d missed this fact.

Zhong was going to ask them if that was OK, but Ash had already moved on, either ignoring the cautious looks flying across the room or unconcerned about silly grown-up things. Probably a bit of both. Ash was savvy about feelings, even when they were little.

Come see my babies, they urged Dustin. They’re sleeping, so you can’t stomp, stomp, stomp. Apparently the stomping didn’t count when Ash was doing it as a demonstration, hammering the table while they stomped their feet.

Dustin laughed. He took a step closer to Ash, but then he gave Zhong a second questioning look, asking for permission.

Zhong nodded. If Ash wanted “Landon’s Daddy” to see the mushroom village, he wasn’t going to stop it. His only concern was whether Ash and Dustin both felt comfortable with it, and they apparently did. That was a huge relief.

Here’s where they go swimming when they wake up, Ash continued. When they were playing pretend, it was a non-stop monologue. Wake up, babies! Ash jiggled the little purple bowl, and then had some of the peas march across the turkey bridge to dive into the empty blue bowl.

Can they swim without water? Dustin asked, amused.

Oh no! Ash opened their mouth in horror. The water’s all gone.

Zhong filled a small drinking glass with water and poured in enough to cover the layer of peas at the bottom of the bowl.

Daddy to the rescue! Ash announced. Little peas, swim, swim, swim. Swim into my mouth. They popped them in, one after another.

Dustin looked at Zhong, one eyebrow raised.