I frowned and supported myself on my elbow so I could face him better. “He’s happy with you, topolino. You’re not his actual kid.”

“I know that. But it’s still our lifestyle. When I’m little, he takes care of me like a parent—and he has more needs than just as a Daddy.” He reached out and played with my fingers that rested on his stomach. “I always knew we’d have to find a third in order for all our needs to be met, but he’s in denial. He worries that something will harm me. Or our relationship.”

I supposed that made sense.

“I saw you two this morning when I went to the bathroom,” he admitted. “I poked my head into his room. You were asleep in each other’s arms, and…it was sweet. And maybe you wouldn’t always sleep that way—I mean…” He backtracked and appeared to struggle to rephrase himself. “Okay, it’s like this. When I sleep with Daddy, I’m always in his arms. Until our skin gets sticky and I gots to move away because that’s gross.”

I chuckled quietly.

“And maybe you and Daddy will sleep like that sometimes too,” he went on. “But I thought it was symbolic to see you share a pillow with him. Like, you were on equal ground? He wasn’t holding you, you weren’t holding him—you were holding each other. Does that make sense?”

I inclined my head.

“That’s what my Daddy needs,” he said. “He needs a partner. Someone who will share his pillow, someone who will be his rock sometimes, ’cause Daddies get tired too.”

I withdrew my hand from his stomach and cupped his cheek, and I pressed a kiss to his forehead. “You’re a sweet, selfless, smart young man, Camden.”

Of course he got stuck on the single word that bothered him, and he scowled at me. “I’m a boy.”

I did my best to suppress my amusement. “A sweet, selfless, smart little boy.”

“That’s much better.” He smiled happily and cuddled up against me. “You smell like sunscreen.”

“Imagine that,” I chuckled. “You know, you’re a little too good at turning me on to the point where I almost attack, and then distracting me with something you say that just makes me wanna hug the crap outta you.”

He burst out in a giggle fit that made my heart fucking soar. That sound—I couldn’t describe what it did to me, only that breaths came easier and it was impossible not to smile at him.

“Daddy says I have that effect,” he laughed. “That’s the good thing about active safewords. It’s always playtime, but it’s also always okay to say red.”