Done Adulting Vol. 1 Ch. 111

“Hey, World Traveler.”

“Morning, Ella,” Jamie said.

“How was your trip?”

“It was fine. Where were you yesterday,” Jamie asked. He’d missed her while he was gone, and she hadn’t been at daycare when he got back.

“I had a doctor appointment all morning.”

“Everything alright?”

“Yeah, just one of my periodic visits. Anything fun to report?”

“We just hung out for the most part. Went canoeing once, went for a couple walks. I met a kid and her little sister I played with.”

“Really? What did you play?” Jamie playing with another little was a minor breakthrough. Tag and sports, sometimes reading to them, but never play play.

“Um, dress up,” he blushed. “They had this littles’ activity room with a bunch of stuff, and, uh, we um …”

“You don’t have to be embarrassed.”

“We just tried on different outfits is all.”

“Like what?”

“Just old clothes, hand-me-downs.”

She smiled to think of him playing dress up, and she liked how he got squirmy when he was embarrassed. “C’mon, what did you dress up as?”

“Well, the clothes, uh, they were, mostly they were, for uh, big kids, and uh, littles and things. Maybe a little, um, younger. It was just a game.”

“Let me guess – the kid wanted to play house.”

“Yeah …”

“And you were the baby …”

“Toddler! Her sister was the baby. Um, it was, ya know, for her. I’m glad she had fun.”

“Did you,” Ella asked, turning serious, “Have fun, I mean?”

“Sure.”

She didn’t want to probe further. He already felt self-conscious enough about it; any more questions would make him feel like she was pressuring him. Ella didn’t care about the dress up game. She cared that he had spent time interacting with a kid and a regressed little. Like she’d told him a few weeks ago, he could talk to other littles if he wanted to. It wouldn’t be the Algonquin Roundtable, but he didn’t need to think his options for friends or at least people to talk to were Ella and bigs only. He could have fun and even have friendships with other littles.

“Well, good for you. I’m glad you had fun. Did you do anything else?”

Jamie shrugged. “Threw a rock at a big.” That, he didn’t seem so shy about saying.

“What? At the lodge?” This was entirely out of character for Jamie. Ella knew him as gentle to a fault. Even when his temper got the best of him, he never got physical except that one time with Bobby.

“No, at the park yesterday.”

“Why?”

“He smacked his kid on the butt.”

“A little?”

“No, an actual toddler.”

“Wait, start over.”

“I was at the park, and I saw some guy scolding his toddler and give him a spank on the butt, and I just picked up a rock and threw it at him.” A very matter of fact description.

“Did you hit him?”

“In the chest.”

“Did you hurt him?”

“Probably left a bruise … It was just impulsive.”

“Was it like a full-on spanking?”

“No, just one pop on the butt.”

“Then what happened?”

“Manda was there. She told him she was working on the ‘no throwing rocks’ rule.”

“So you didn’t get in trouble?”

“No.”

“And you don’t feel bad about it?”

“Feel pretty good, actually. Fuck him. I wanted to do that and worse so many times before I got here. Overdue I guess.”

“Wow. So what did Amanda say?”

“To not make a habit of it.”

“Huh.”

“She knows how I feel about people hitting kids and littles.”

“Yeah, I think everybody here knows after that day with Billy and Bobby’s big … Well, good for you then, I guess. Eventful couple of days all around.”

“Wanna go do something?”

“Sure,” she said grinning. “C’mere.” She stood up and took his hand, leading him to one of the activities tables. A little boy Jamie didn’t recognize was playing with toy cars on the table, and Ella sat down on one side of him, pointing Jamie toward the other chair.

“Hi, Joey,” she said.

“Hi, Elwa,” he lisped.

“Joey, I want you to meet someone. This little boy is Jamie.”

“Hi, Joey,” Jamie said.

“Hi, Jamie.”

“Joey started here while you were gone last week,” Ella explained. Jamie sat there silently, not sure what he was supposed to say. Ella’s eyes went to the cars and back to Jamie and again until he picked up on it.

“Can I play cars with you,” Jamie asked.

“Okay,” Joey answered.

“Which one should I be?”