He smiled and tilted his head, curious. “I’m lookin’ forward to learning everything about your work. And hopefully, there will be more concerts.”

Fucking hell, he made me happy.

A few weeks later

“You really don’t like Manhattan, do you?” August was thoroughly amused.

I was mildly annoyed by all the people. Fucking Times Square, of all places. Or rather, the M&M Store right next to the square. But most of all, I was ready to cut a fucker if they crowded Camden again.

“I wasn’t kidding when I said I avoid coming into the city.” I eyed the man nearby who was here with his son and daughter. Camden was there too, looking through the coloring books, and the man had already acted like his kids deserved more access than anyone else.

It was possible I was being slightly overprotective, but it was rare for Camden to even wanna leave the house when he was in a regressive period, and I didn’t want him to regret it. There was no role-playing or costumes today. It was just us.

After another moment, Camden looked up and waved me over.

I was there in a second, and I wove my fingers through his hair. “Did you find something fun, ragazzo?”

“This one.” He stayed close to me, self-conscious about who might overhear, and extended a coloring book to me.

“I can hold it for you. Did you wanna go upstairs and look at the stuffies?”

He nodded hesitantly and grasped my hand. “I saw M&M stuffies holding candy tubes.”

“You did? Well, if it comes with the stuffie, then I guess we have no choice but to get you the candy too.”

That made him grin.

These little outings were important to me. Slowly but surely, he was filling his new room with toys, stuffies, clothes, posters, and movies. He slept with the bunny I’d given him at the food festival every night.

According to Camden, the bunny loved New York very much.

Last weekend, the boy bought a new entertainment unit, a TV, and a PlayStation. His plans were to spend the evening playing video games with an online friend while August and I had dinner at Nonna’s.

And bless that woman. While Pop had gone out of his way to let me know he was on board with me having two partners, he was still part of a more conservative generation, and I could tell he found it a bit weird. Nonna, though, despite that she probably didn’t understand everything herself, dove right in with acceptance. She also adored Camden an absurd amount. She liked August very much too, but he was a professional chef, and she was an Italian woman. She was a little careful at Sunday dinner, torn between laying down the law in the kitchen and hoping this famous chef liked her cooking.

He did, for the record. He was a gentleman through and through.