Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70558 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70558 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
He tried to hide his worry about that idea but it came through loud and clear. I managed not to laugh, but it was hard. “Kind of.”
“Oh.” Pausing to rock back and forth, he smiled brighter. “I’m so proud of you.”
He was so cute…and didn’t trust me at all when it came to decorating.
It wasn’t unexpected but I wasn’t dealing with a me space that I didn’t really care about it. I’d been designing an Addison space and I had a pretty good idea about what that should look like.
Princessy.
Pink.
Not empty.
With those criteria in mind, I thought I’d done a pretty good job, but my stomach was in knots as we got to the guest room and I opened the door.
“Oh, Daddy…” Addison let out a soft sigh and leaned into me. “It’s so pretty.”
Thank God.
He liked his nursery.
“I know your list said it wasn’t something you needed all the time, so I kept that in mind. I did my best to make sure everything was easy to put away if we didn’t want it out and we needed to convert it back to a guestroom.” Not that I thought we’d need to do that very often.
“It’s so pretty.” Just repeating what he’d already said, Addison released my hand and slowly walked around the room. “Oh, my pretty bed, Daddy. It’s like a crib.”
Almost.
Turned and pressed against the wall, I’d added a safety rail to the double bed and dressed it up to look like a crib. Just shifting the bed had changed the look of the room, so I was glad he appreciated how it looked.
“And Daddy, oh, new cuddly friends.” His new stuffed animals were lined up on the edge of the bed near the wall like little soldiers ready to meet their leader. “They’re so cute.”
Addison wandered around the room, petting the chair in the corner that was now covered with a soft pink blanket and all the little touches I’d tried to include. From the way he was smiling and awing over everything, I’d done a pretty good job of making an Addison room with soft pinks as the main color scheme.
“You did so good, Daddy.” Twirling around, he bounced over to me. “I don’t have to fix anything.”
Thank God.
Wrapping my arms around him, I kissed his nose. “I’m glad I got it right. I did my best to think about what you would like.”
And I’d tried to imagine what would make him frown and look at me like I was a few crayons short of a box…like he had when he’d first seen how plain my house was.
“You did wonderful. I’m so proud of you.” Addison kissed my cheek, thoroughly distracted and seemingly entertained at the whole thing. “I knew you could learn.”
“I still need lots of help.” I hadn’t turned into a decorating guru in one afternoon. “Don’t worry.”
Addison nodded seriously. “I’ll help. I’m a great teacher.”
And adorably confident, at least when it came to making our house pretty.
“You are.” Kissing both his cheeks to make him giggle, I nodded toward the bed. “I even did my best to think about making sure we had soft blankets for my cute little Addy to cuddle with.”
Yes, sunshine and princess were for my older little and Addy would be for his younger self…the one who would have fun snuggling with Daddy after a stressful week of being big and having more worries than he could sometimes handle.
He giggled, nodding and snuggling closer. “I like blankets.”
He liked all kinds of snuggly things and playing imagination, so I’d done my best to combine them, and thankfully, the internet was wonderful and had given me some great options.
“And you like playing dress-up and looking cute.” Chuckling as he gave me a very greedy grin and nodded, I kissed his forehead. “And you like having your Daddy take care of you.”
So we were going to toss all of those together as we played a new kind of game and hopefully Addison would get a nap eventually.
“I do.” Wiggling against me, he seemed to inch deeper into his little side as he smiled brightly. “I take care of Daddy too. I big boy.”
“You always take good care of me, no matter if you’re a big boy or my sweet little princess.” Running my hand along his back as I held him tight with the other, I raised one eyebrow. “Do you want to try taking care of me in a new way?”
Yeah, I could work with that.
Eagerly nodding again, he wiggled side to side. “Yes, I’m Daddy’s good boy. Yes. Pretty princess good boy.”
“You are.” Mirroring his motions, I swayed us side to side in a rocking motion. “But can you get dressed up nice and cuddly and help snuggle me? I worked so hard today. Do you think you can do that?”