Page 20 of A Little Bit Naughty

When Neil gave him a questioning look, Remi cocked his head in the right direction.

“Sebastian's not my Daddy,” Neil informed Isaac.

Sure he wasn’t. Unless maybe he wasn’t into threesomes, though the way his eyes shifted next to Jamie put that all in question.

Isaac made a face of disbelief. “He can be your temporary Daddy. Daddy Remi is my temporary Daddy. He’s just going to take care of me until I get on the airplane to go far, far away.” He made an airplane with his hand and almost spilled his cup as he sent it into the sky. “Woosh!”

Remi squeezed his eyes shut. He already hated that airplane. How could the universe have cursed him to drop Isaac almost literally into his lap… and then take him away before they could see if anything developed between them?

Anything more developed between them. He was already feeling pretty attached and it had only been a single day.

Suddenly, Remi was feeling jealous of all the time that Isaac was spending with other people, any other people. If he only had this dear boy for the next two days, he wanted him all to himself.

Plus, it looked like Neil was feeling a bit overwhelmed, and he had his own Daddy to take care of that, at least as far as Remi could tell. There was no reason to hang around.

“Come on, baby boy.” Remi took Isaac’s empty cup and set it on the table so he could claim his hand. “I think Neil needs some space right now. Want to go look for some toys?”

“Toys!” Isaac jumped up and down with enthusiasm and began pulling Remi toward the door. “Bye, Mister Neil!” he called over his shoulder.

4

Remi

Remi gave a quick wave, already looking forward to some alone time with his boy. Isaac pulled him right over to the shelf of mixed books, toys, and DVDs, bouncing with excitement.

“Look, Daddy!” Isaac’s voice was full of wonder.

Remi wondered what had caught his fancy. He pulled down the plastic bin of toys from the higher shelf that had mostly action figures and fashion dolls for older children, and dragged out the crate from the bottom shelf with soft stuffies and wooden blocks for younger children. The shelf also had a long fire truck and two plastic dinosaurs that were too big to fit in either basket. He put them all on the carpet, ignoring the twinge in his back that came with every bend and twist.

Bracing himself against the couch, he sank to the floor. Damn, his back hurt with that move. It would probably hurt even more getting up. He was so sick of the constant pain, the way that his body didn’t give him a break. It didn’t even feel like it was his own sometimes.

Maybe Isaac could help with that, too, he figured. Though even the best therapy would only take some of it away.

The pain receded to a dull throb once he stopped moving. Right now, he just wanted to play with his boy. “Come here, sweetheart.”

Isaac plopped down beside him, taking in the treasure trove of gently used plastic and stuffies. He pulled the dinosaurs closer to him first, and then the fire engine.

After that, he looked between the two baskets, and somewhere in there he seemed to have gotten nervous. He gave Remi a hesitant look, though Remi couldn’t imagine why. His boy wasn’t at all shy, and he was already wearing a dinosaur outfit with cute little claws and a tail. Was he concerned that his interests might set his age as too young or too old for Remi’s preferences? That was the only thing he could think of.

Remi pulled the two baskets right up next to him. “Come sit in my lap, baby boy. Let’s look at the toys together.”

With a grateful sigh, Isaac crawled over to him and plopped down on his folded legs. Remi tried not to be distracted by the perfection of just having him there. He was warm and soft, and the way he was so clearly counting on Remi to comfort him pulled him in.

“Alright, Isaac. Let’s see what we have here. Ooh! This little squirrel is cute. Would he like to be friends with Roarasaurus?”

Isaac pulled the little stuffy to his chest. Then he reached in and pulled out a matchbox car, watching Remi with suspicion.

“That looks like it goes really fast,” Remi commented approvingly. He still wasn’t quite sure what the problem was, but he figured that Isaac would tell or show him sooner or later. Maybe not with words, but it would come. In the meantime, he could just be supportive.

Isaac lined the car up next to the fire engine. Then he went back for a truck. A muscular action figure. A rocket. A robot. After each one, he looked to Remi like he was waiting for confirmation.

So Remi kept making little comments about where the rocket might fly, or whether the action figure was a good guy or a bad guy.

He was truly mystified though. He’d thought this would be a relaxing time for both of them, but Isaac still seemed tense.

Out of the baby bin came a plastic hammer and oversized screwdriver, a squishy airplane, and a cement mixer. Isaac considered a plush horse, then added it to the row. Remi couldn’t see any rhyme or reason to the selection or how they fit together.

When that was done, Isaac started inching the baby bin away. First with his fingers, and then, when he couldn’t reach any farther, with his feet, all the way to his tiptoes. He started the same process with the basket of older kid toys and Remi finally looked inside to see what was left.