“It is to me,” he chuckled. “It’s just comforting—a way to connect with Daddy and spend time with him. Which frustrates him, cuz I just lie there with my head in his lap and suckle. So he gets horny but can’t, you know, thrust. And sometimes, I stop wanting it before he comes.”

Yeah, I could feel the frustration seeping into me, and it hadn’t even happened to me.

“I’ll also ask him to cut up my food more when I’m nonsexual,” he added. “I don’t like crusts on my toast. And I walk around with my stuffies more. I love stuffies. I have thirty-six of them.”

Could he get any more adorable? Camden was waking up a side of me I hadn’t known existed. To this extent, anyway. My friends and family knew I was a caregiver, but this urge to protect and nurture was bringing things to a whole new level.

I wanted to buy Camden a stuffed animal.

“I saw some cool stuffed animals at the festival.” I threw that out there.

Camden’s blue eyes flashed with excitement before he narrowed them. “But I can’t go.”

“You can.” I figured it was a good time to bring up my idea. “What if you dressed up? You could go as Darth Vader or Deadpool and be our super-secret agent. I saw several head masks on your shelves.”

He chewed on the inside of his cheek and looked skeptical. “Darth and Deadpool aren’t agents, Sir. Don’t you know anything about comics and sci-fi?”

Well, forgive me, then.

“Unlike some little punks, I actually saw Return of the Jedi in the theater as a kid.”

He found that hilarious. “Because you’re old like Daddy. He said he saw the first movie in 1977 with his sisters and mom.”

We didn’t need to discuss us being old. Compared to Camden, we were practically ancient.

“Hey, back to the topic,” I said pointedly. “What do you say? Wouldn’t it be fun to go in costume?” Preferably one that didn’t become too hot in the sun.

“Maybe,” he conceded, chewing on his lip. “I’ll ask Daddy.”

I doubted he’d say no.

Speaking of, though…

I twisted my upper body to reach my phone on the side table. Damn, time flew when you were having fun. “Topolino, you might wanna get a move on and clean your room. I think Daddy will be back soon.”

The table over on the patio was still full of his arts and crafts too.

“That’s so boring!” Camden whined.

I was undeterred, for once. August had given him chores to complete, so that took precedence.

“Sometimes we have to do boring things before we can have fun,” I replied. “You don’t wanna disobey Daddy, do you?”

“But, ohhhhh!”

I withheld my grin and smacked his butt lightly. “Come on, ragazzo. The sooner you finish, the faster we can play.”