Mikey opened a door on the right, and they stepped into a little boy’s bedroom. Devlin’s heart warmed. Phex had clearly spared no expense here, going for a theme of cars and trains on the wallpaper, as well as a bed in the form of a train. That had to be custom made, since Devlin had never seen a full-size bed in that style. Mikey let go of his hand and yanked open a closet door. “I want my Thomas T-shirt.”
“Excuse me?” Devlin made sure his voice wasn’t too strict, but he couldn’t let this slide either.
Mikey froze, then turned around. The battle between Phex and Mikey was easy to spot, but Devlin waited. It had to be Phex’s decision to allow Mikey to take over completely. Devlin couldn’t force that.
Mikey took a deep breath, then peeked at Devlin from between his lashes. “Sorry? I meant… Can I please wear my Thomas T-shirt…Daddy?”
He had him. Pure joy bloomed inside his chest. “That’s better, Mikey. Can you show it to Daddy? Is it with Thomas the Tank Engine?”
Mikey nodded, smiling carefully, then whipped around and grabbed it from a pile of T-shirts, making a few tumble to the floor. He hadn’t done it on purpose, Devlin was certain of it, but his shoulders drooped.
“That’s okay, Mikey. Daddy will clean that up later. Show me the T-shirt.”
Mikey held it up, a cute light-blue shirt with Thomas on it that would fit snugly by the look of it.
“Perfect,” Devlin decided. “Now let’s find some pants.”
Mikey picked sweat shorts and, without hesitation, started undressing. Devlin let it happen. As much as he would’ve loved to help him, he had to take things slow. Mikey dropped the expensive slacks where he stood, and his dress shirt followed. He realized the problem at the same time as Devlin did, judging by the way he froze.
He wasn’t diapered…and he wasn’t wearing fun underwear either. His Calvin Klein boxer briefs might be super sexy on him, but they fitted Phex, not Mikey. Devlin waited, not wanting to force a decision Phex might regret later.
“I have pull-ups?” Mikey said, his voice small.
“Can you get those on yourself, or do you need Daddy to help you?”
The sigh of relief was audible, and Mikey’s posture relaxed. “I can do it myself, Daddy.”
“Perfect.”
Devlin watched as Mikey got a pair of pull-ups and, with a shy glance at Devlin, dragged down his underwear and put themon. Once that was done, he quickly dressed in the shorts and T-shirt. “Look at you, so cute,” Devlin praised him. “And such a big boy for dressing yourself.”
He reasoned that Mikey wasn’t ready for Devlin to help him get dressed yet, and that was fine. Or maybe he was a little who preferred pull-ups over diapers. All good. Devlin would allow him to set the pace.
“Thank you, Daddy.” Mikey beamed. “Can we go play now?”
4
Mikey was beyond excited to play in his own playroom. It had been ready for two years, but he’d barely used it. He had every toy he could ever want to play with right there, but it wasn’t much fun without a Daddy to watch him, now was it? But this time, he had a Daddy. And this Daddy had been really good so far.
He’d felt a little shy undressing in front of him, but Daddy had made it so easy, acting as if it was the most normal thing in the world. For him, it probably was. And Mikey liked that he hadn’t demanded to put his pull-ups on…or a diaper, which he didn’t really like. Pull-ups were awesome, but diapers were different to him. But Daddy had given him the space to do it himself, and Mikey had loved that.
He hop-skipped to the playroom, which was right next to his bedroom. Phex’s bedroom was across the hall, but that one was all adulty and booooring. His room was way more fun!
He opened the door to the playroom, smiling broadly when he entered. Oh, he was going to have the best time. What would he play with first? He looked over his shoulder to make sure Daddy was following him, his belly tickling when Daddy senthim a sweet smile. This Daddy was nice. He smiled a lot, though Mikey had no doubt he could be stern as well.
Daddy whistled between his teeth. “That’s a wonderful room, Mikey. You are such a lucky boy.”
He was, Mikey knew that. He had toys and things other kids could only dream of. At the same time, he’d trade all that luxury for a Daddy who would truly understand him. All of him. Who would love both Mikey and Phex? They were the same and yet so different. But maybe he was asking for too much with that. The chances of him finding someone who could accept both sides of him were slim.
He pushed that sad thought down. Not something he wanted to think about now. If he allowed that in, he’d switch right back to being Phex, and he wanted to be Mikey. Nope, he was here to have fun.
“We’re gonna play for an hour, and then we’ll have a little break for drinks and snacks, okay?” Daddy said.
“Okay, Daddy.” Whatever. Mikey had more important things to focus on than a schedule. “I’m gonna play with the hot wheels,” he said, already dragging out the bins with all the tracks.
“That sounds like fun,” Daddy said. “Wanna build a track together?”
Mikey’s heart skipped a beat. Was he serious? One look at Daddy’s face confirmed he was. Wow, Mikey had never had a Daddy who wanted to play with him. “I’d like that, Daddy.”