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No, Daddy Tate was very smart and could learn anything, so it wouldn’t be a problem.
“Does it bother you?” I wasn’t sure if that was what I wanted to know, so I tried again before he could talk. “I mean, do you think it’s something you could… explore?”
Exploring sounded fun, right?
Daddy Tate looked thoughtful and took his time, slowly nodding. “I think so, but you’re going to have to explain to me what being your Daddy would look like. That’s the only thing that matters.”
Oh, Daddy Tate was going to be such a good Daddy.
I was already the center of his world.
Nodding, I stopped wiggling again once I realized I was squirming. “I can do that. I like telling you things because you’re a good listener and you smile and I don’t annoy you.”
Daddy Tate managed not to laugh but I could see he wanted to. “Hmm, are those the only reasons you were going to ask me out?”
Shaking my head, I knew I was blushing because of the awkward date asking out thing, but I ignored that part. “No, you look like you would be a good cuddler and you play with me and you tried to take care of me even when you didn’t really know me.”
Those were all very important things too.
Daddy Tate’s smile got even wider. “Those are wonderful reasons. Thank you for sharing them with me.”
Aww, he Daddied me again.
“You’re welcome.” Don’t say Daddy. Don’t say Daddy. My brain didn’t like that idea so I distracted it. “Have you decided what you’re going to have?”
I must’ve looked guilty or silly or something because his smile got cheeky, but he let me change the subject. “I can’t decide if I should get chicken strips too, because they are really good here, or if I should do something else.”
He frowned at the menu like he didn’t appreciate it being so difficult. “What do you think I should get?”
I wasn’t sure if it was a real question or just a being polite one but I knew what he should get. “Meatloaf. With the mac-n-cheese and mashed potatoes. You like meatloaf.”
He’d told me that when I was asking about ideas for dinner that weren’t nugget-based. Daddy Tate said it was one of his favorite meals but he didn’t make it homemade for himself because that meant he’d be eating it for days and days.
“You won’t have leftovers here because if you don’t eat it, I will.” I was very helpful.
Daddy Tate’s nod said he thought so too. “You’d probably eat the macaroni and cheese if I couldn’t finish all of that either.”
“You remembered.” That was one of my other favorite things right behind chicken nuggets.
“I remember all kinds of things you’ve told me.” Daddy Tate looked very pleased with himself when he made me squirm. “But do you think we should have something green? I’m not sure the little green dots in the ranch count.”
I did.
But Daddy Tate thought green things were important.
“Um…” I looked down at the menu, searching for something green that wasn’t squishy. Too many vegetables had no texture. “A salad? We could share a side salad? And then… and then we could get the cookies with fruit in them like the cherry ones or the raisin ones.”
Daddy Tate wanted to laugh. He wasn’t subtle when he was smiley, but he nodded and didn’t tell me I had to eat more green things before I could get cookies. “I think that is a very good plan and I think I’m going to like sharing with you.”
Oh, that sounded very good.
But before I could say anything that might sound like I was assuming sharing might mean something like kissing or sharing toys, the waiter came over and saved the day. But it got even harder to be a good grown-up when Daddy Tate ordered for both of us. He looked so confident and even told the waiter what sauces I wanted—and he’d ordered the big cookie plate too.
By the time the waiter had left to go put our order in, I was squirming again and Daddy was back to looking very proud of himself. “You liked that, didn’t you?”
There didn’t seem to be any reason to deny it, so I nodded. “Yes, regular dates won’t do that because it steps all over my autonomy and they think doing things on my own is wonderful.”
That was baloney and Daddy Tate’s snicker said he thought so too. “Somehow I don’t think being your own island in life is your top goal.”
