“I love you, Daddy.” I cuddled into his side a bit closer. “Thank you for the perfect day.”
Daddy kissed the top of my head. “Thank you for spending it with me. Have a nice rest, my sweet boy.” He pulled the blanket up slightly. “And remember that Daddy loves his good boy.”
And for the first time, I felt like I truly owned that title.
Chapter 10
Riggs
I didn’t need nearly so many composition books anymore because I wasn’t assigning myself lines. With each day I spent with Daddy, my confidence grew, and I became happier inside and out. My apartment didn’t rain anymore, but that would soon be someone else’s problem. Daddy had invited me to move in with him, and I didn’t say no. I just packed up everything, ready to move it across the hall so we could spend as much time together as possible.
Funny how you could miss someone even though you saw them every evening and all weekend.
Some weekends, we didn’t do little at all. It depended on our plans and what I needed. This weekend was the big move, and I couldn’t keep my feet from tapping under my desk nearly all day long. I had everything in boxes all lined up and stacked and had taken the chance to sort and get rid of things I didn’t like anymore because a move was a fresh start. I kept picturing where everything would go. Daddy had a lot of furniture, so except for a few pieces I loved, like my grandpa’s dresser and my favorite chair, the rest was going to be donated to the local shelter thrift store to help people in need.
I couldn’t stop thinking that tomorrow when I woke up, I’d be in Daddy’s bed. And the tomorrow after that and the one after that. Every part of our life was good together, and I was so proud that Daddy chose me to be his little boy. When the endless day finally drew to a close, I pulled the flat paper bag out of my desk and headed for the elevator.
The traffic was terrible, making me tense and cranky, but when I pulled into my parking spot, all of that went away. I hurried up to the apartment that wouldn’t be mine for much longer. Just one more thing to do. Tiptoeing past Daddy’s door, I slipped my key in my lock and hurried inside. I found a pen in the box marked Office and sat cross-legged on the floor. Forehead squinched in concentration, I pulled the card from the bag and set it on the hardwood in front of me.
I’d wanted to make a gesture to thank Daddy for his invitation and for everything he did for me all the time. He knew just what I liked and what I needed, and when. Sometimes I was afraid he didn’t know how much I appreciated the little things that made up our every day together.
I sank into little space, loving my daddy more than anything.
The card was oversized, and on the front was a picture of a Daddy in a suit, holding the hand of his little boy who wore shorts held up by suspenders and a striped T-shirt. His socks sagged into his dusty brown lace-up shoes. It was an image from the 1960s maybe, but I liked it. They were standing in front of a house, and it said: To the Best Daddy Ever. Smiling, I opened it up to the completely blank inside. That was the part I liked. But also a little scary. It had seemed such an opportunity in the store, but now it was all that open space staring back at me, and those old doubts came back, but then I could see my daddy looking at me and saying, “Oh, but you are a good boy. Of that I have no doubt. You are a good boy, Riggs, and the mommy or daddy who made you feel like you weren’t—they were the bad one.”
Doubts were not helpful, and Daddy always showed me that I could do anything, so I carefully wrote out, across the whole card: I am Daddy’s good boy. Looking at the words, it said it, but it needed more. And then I knew! And I wrote: Of that, I have no doubt.
With the card sealed in its envelope, all I had to do was slide it under Daddy’s door. Then I went back and sat down to wait.
I didn’t have long. Five minutes later, a knock came on the door and I opened it to be swept up into the embrace of the best daddy ever. His smile was so big, his hug so warm, and his eyes so twinkling when he said, “Yes, Riggs, you are Daddy’s good boy. Let’s get you moved in so we can have some cocoa and cookies and celebrate.”
