The Barnstable Chronicles: Book 5 - Beautiful Boy - 1. I'm a Little Different

My name is Noah. I look just like any other seventeen-year-old boy you might meet, except my dads keep telling me I’m beautiful. I don’t know. Maybe I am?

My dads are the people I’m closest to in my life. Charlie became my daddy when I was seven years old. My mom died back then, and Charlie and Papa took me to their house. It took a long time for me to understand that my mom didn’t just go to sleep—probably because that’s what all the grownups around me kept saying. By the time I figured out she had died, I didn’t feel so bad about it. David is my other dad. I’ll tell you about him later.

You see, I already said that I look just like any other kid, but I’m a little different. In most ways, I am like any other kid. I have hopes. I have dreams. I have urges and desires. But I’m autistic. Most people don’t realize it when they see me, and I guess that’s okay.

For me, my autism makes it hard for me to always say what I want to say. I can think about what I want to say. I just can’t always find a way to say it. Typicals—people who don’t have autism—and atypicals—people like me—have a lot more in common than people think. We all hear the same things at the same time. But, a lot of us atypicals don’t know how to block out all that noise other people put into the background without thinking about it.

Things can get pretty loud for us, but sometimes we find people in our lives that help us put all that noise where it’s supposed to be—in the background. Those are the people that are really important to me. I remember my mom being one of those people. Daddy, Papa, Nana, and Timmy are some others. Oh yeah—my other daddy, David—he also makes the noise go away. I’ll tell you about all the other people later on.

The first person I want to tell you about is the most important one in my life. He’s my daddy—Charlie Danner. When Daddy came to get me, he was one of the only people who helped the noise go away.

When Mama went to sleep and couldn’t wake up, I remembered what she taught me to do when something was wrong. So I pressed the numbers nine, one, and one on the phone and told the lady that Mama wouldn’t wake up, and I didn’t know what to do. I was okay until a bunch of people started knocking on the door and making a lot of noise that I didn’t like.

I remember that it scared me—it scared me a lot. They took me away to a place where two ladies tried what they could to make me feel better. It didn’t help, and I remember just sitting on the floor. I remember being scared, and all I could do was hold my arms around myself and rock back and forth. That’s when Daddy showed up. He took me in his arms, and the noise went away.

Daddy and Papa took me to their house, and things started to get better. Jacob made me some cheesey mac, and that made me feel better. Timmy and his mother came to see me. Then those two ladies came over and brought my clothes—but even more important, they had Buzz and Andy with them. Finally, I started to feel like things would be okay. I just didn’t know how to tell everyone when they would ask me if I was okay.

The best part of being at Daddy and Papa’s house was Daddy. He always made me feel better if I started to feel sad. He would let me hold Buzz when I needed to calm down. He even had my favorite movie on his shelf—Toy Story. Daddy would let me watch Toy Story every day and always sat with me. He would let me snuggle up to him, so I would always feel good.

Daddy and Papa got married a few days before I came to live with them. It was pretty cool—I was there and sang a song for them. I wanted to sing “Tomorrow,” and Charlie thought that was a good idea. My friend Timmy was there. He carried some rings on a pillow. He said he was the ring bear, which I thought was a weird thing to have at a wedding, but he was happy to do it.

My birthday is on February 10. Mama always made it a special day, and that was making me miss her. Before I could get too sad, Timmy’s mom took me to their house so we could have a sleepover the night before.

She made chicken nuggets and cheesey-mac for supper because it was my favorite food. After supper, she brought out a birthday cake with eight candles. When she explained that it was an early birthday surprise that she and Timmy wanted to do, I blew out the candles. It was sooooo good, too—chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

The next morning, Timmy and his mom took me back home, and Daddy told me we were going to Toys R Us to get my birthday present. I was a little nervous because it can be real noisy in there, and sometimes there are too many people in the store. It was okay, though. Before we went into the store, Daddy asked me if I knew where the Toy Story section was. I smiled and nodded my head. Then he asked me if I would be okay if he held my hand. I was pretty sure it would be okay, so I took his hand--and all the noise stopped.

I took Daddy to the Toy Story section, and there were so many cool things there! I couldn’t pick just one thing, but Daddy asked me if I would like the Hot Wheels racing set. It was just like the one in the movie! I smiled and nodded my head, and before I could even think about it, we were on our way back to the house.

When we got home, all of Daddy’s friends were there. They had a big birthday cake with Buzz and Andy on top of it! Then, they sang the happy birthday song to me in nice and soft voices. It was perfect. I was so happy!

After we had cake, Daddy and Papa took me upstairs. Something was different because the door to my bedroom was closed. I was mixed up a little because it’s never closed. Daddy told me I should open the door and go on it.

When I opened the door, I was really surprised! Buzz Lightyear was there! I mean—not my doll, but the real Buzz! He said happy birthday to me and let me hug him! Then he told me that Andy wanted me to have all the toys. I looked around, and my bedroom looked just like the movie! I found out later that Daddy and Papa did the room for me as my birthday present. They told me they loved me.

It felt so good when Timmy told me I was lucky to have two daddies like Charlie and Jacob. I started to say to him that they weren’t my real daddies when I thought I wanted them to be.

I sat on the bed between Charlie and Jacob. I asked Charlie if he would be my daddy and Jacob if he would be my Papa. They said yes, but they were smiling and crying at the same time. It confused me, but everyone was happy. Everybody wanted to hug me, but Daddy said they shouldn’t. He’s a good daddy.

Daddy’s mama was also my new Nana. She always made me feel good. She would take me to school when Daddy was sewing clothes. She would read me stories—she said they were the same books she would read to Daddy when he was a little boy.

Nana would go away a lot of times. Daddy said she went to visit places other people wanted to see and then write about them so people would know what they would find there. I always wanted to go with her, but she said I needed to go to school and stuff. Nana also said I could go with her when I got older.

When I did get older—I was fifteen—it wasn’t me who went away. It was Daddy. He was going to be on a TV show called Project Runway. I was sad Daddy was gone, but I was happy Papa was with me.

At first, Nana was with me, too. But then, one day, she had to go away and visit a ship. I started to get lonely and would cry. That made Papa nervous, and he didn’t know what to do. Then, the noise started to come back, and that made me want to be by myself.

Daddy and Papa made me an apartment on top of the garage, and that’s where I wanted to be. Mrs. Henderson would make food and bring it to me, but a lot of times, I wasn't hungry. Papa would come to see me every day, but he was nervous when he would be there. That didn’t make things any better. It felt like Papa didn’t want to be my papa anymore. That would make me sadder.

The best day was when Daddy finally came home. He came into the apartment and held me. The noise stopped, and I was happy again. But Daddy wasn’t happy. Papa went away and left me with Daddy and Nana. That made Daddy real sad, so I would hold him and help his noise go away.

Things got back to normal, but it was still different. Now, I would go to Papa’s house on the weekends. He was better around me, but he was still nervous. I would just watch movies and talk to Timmy on the phone.

Timmy! I should tell you about Timmy. But, I need to ask you not to say anything to Daddy. Some of the stuff I’m going to say to you might make Daddy upset.

I met Timmy at the theatre group. It was a bunch of kids like me, and we did musical plays. The first one we did was Annie, and they let me sing the song “Tomorrow.” It’s my favorite song.

Timmy and I could be together, and the noise would go away. It’s always good to find people who can do that for me, but when it’s another kid who’s like me—that was really cool.

We were in the same class at school, and the teacher would let us be with each other most of the day. Timmy would come home with me after school, and his mom would pick him up when she was done with work.

One day, Timmy asked me why Daddy and Papa kissed all the time. I just told him that was what people did when they loved each other. Timmy said he loved me. I told Timmy I loved him, too. He said we should kiss. And we did. And it was nice! We thought it was weird that kissing made us feel closer to each other, but I just kept feeling like I kept loving Timmy more and more.

When Daddy and Jacob made my apartment, I told them I wanted Timmy to live with me. Timmy’s mom didn’t think it was a good idea, but Daddy told her it would be good for both of us. He said something about helping us learn how to live in the real world. That mixed me up because I thought I was already living in the real world.

By the time the apartment was finished, the grownups had figured everything out. Timmy would live with me in the apartment when I was there. When I would stay with Papa, Timmy would go home.

Living in the apartment with Timmy was nice. We would watch movies, do our homework, play some video games, and kiss—we would kiss a lot. We always had breakfast and dinner with Daddy and Papa—after we watched Ellen together.

We were in bed one night when Timmy asked me what color the hair was around my penis. “It’s blond, isn’t yours?”

“No, mine’s black, like the hair on my head.”

“Hmmm.” I thought about it and wondered what it looked like. “Can I see it?”

“Okay. But I want to see yours, too.”

We pulled off our pajama bottoms and underwear and looked at each other’s hair. Timmy’s looked so different—the dark hair next to his light skin. I wanted to touch it and see if it felt different.

I reached down and slowly ran my fingers through it, and Timmy did the same to mine.

“It feels just like mine, Timmy.”

“Yeah, it feels good.”

Our penises started to get bigger while we were touching each other’s hair. That’s been happening a lot lately—my penis getting big, I mean. When I asked Daddy why that was happening, he told me it was a natural part of growing up. So I guess Timmy’s growing up, too.

“Can I touch it?”

I didn’t know what Timmy was talking about, but I still nodded. I was surprised when his fingers touched my penis. I was even more surprised at how nice it felt.

“You can touch mine if you want to, Noah.”

Of course, I wanted to know what it felt like. So I ran my fingers along Timmy’s penis. That felt nice, too. “Oooooh!” Timmy had wrapped his whole hand around my penis, and that felt real good. I did the same to Timmy’s, but I could barely get my fingers around it. Timmy’s big penis was a lot bigger than my big penis.

“Ooooooh, Noah! That feels good!” I had started to move my hand while it was wrapped around Timmy’s penis. He began to do the same thing to mine. It felt so good.

I moved so I was on my side. It was more comfortable to touch Timmy’s penis and make him feel good. He did the same thing, and we looked at each other while we made each other feel good.

It kept feeling better and better, and our breathing was getting faster and faster. Timmy leaned into me and started to kiss me. It was the most amazing thing, all of those good feelings happening at the same time. That’s when it happened.

Timmy started to moan, and then his whole body got real stiff. The next thing I knew, his penis started spraying warm liquid all over us. Before I could even think about it, mine started to do the same thing.

My whole body got real tense, and I felt warm all over. I had to close my eyes as the liquid kept coming out of my penis. We kept kissing and moaning—even after our penises stopped shooting out the liquid.

When we had both caught our breath and calmed down, Timmy pulled away from our kiss and said, “What was that?”

“I don’t know, but it sure felt different!”

“I think it felt good—real good!”

I smiled at Timmy and said, “It felt good. But when we kissed, it felt even better!”

“Do you think we should clean up our tummies?”

“Okay.”

I got up, went to the bathroom, and brought back a towel. I wiped Timmy’s tummy clean and then did mine. I threw the towel on the floor and pulled the blanket over us.

“Should we get our pajamas?”

“I don’t think so. I like being naked with you now.”

“I like it, too.”

“Can I snuggle with you?”

“Yes, please.”

I laid my head on Timmy’s chest, and he wrapped his arms around me. We both sighed and fell asleep real fast.

The next day was Friday. Timmy’s mom picked him up after school, and Daddy picked me up. When we got home, we went into the family room to watch Ellen. I was still thinking about what had happened last night with Timmy, so I asked Daddy, “What is the white stuff that comes out of your penis?”

Daddy looked surprised at first, but then he told me. “The white stuff is called sperm. When your penis gets hard, and you rub it—then the sperm shoots out. It’s called an orgasm. It’s also how babies are made. When a man puts his hard penis inside a woman, the sperm goes deep inside her and helps turn her egg into a baby. Do you want to know more about that, Noah?”

“No, thank you.”

“Did you make sperm come out of your penis?”

“Yes.” I didn’t want to tell him Timmy made it happen. “Am I going to make a baby now?”

“No. You have to do that when you are inside a girl’s vagina. I don’t think you have anything to worry about, Noah.”

“That’s good.”

“Anything else?”

“No, let’s watch Ellen now.”

There was one Friday when we were watching Ellen, and Daddy got sad. He started to cry when they said one of Ellen’s guests was David Chase, a piano player. When I asked Daddy why he was crying, he told me that David used to be his boyfriend. I said he should be Daddy’s boyfriend again. David Chase is very pretty. And he plays the piano really, really good!

We were getting ready for dinner when Daddy got a phone call. It was a real important call because Daddy kept listening and writing things on the pad of paper by the phone.

He told Nana that it was the TV show he was on before. They wanted him to come back. I thought he should do the TV show because it was in New York. David, the piano player, was in New York. Daddy could find him and make him his boyfriend again.

Daddy said he didn’t want to leave me alone again. He forgot that I had Nana, Mrs. Henderson, and Timmy with me. I wouldn’t be alone this time.

The next morning, Daddy took me to Papa’s house. Daddy and Papa had a long talk, and when Daddy came to pick me up Sunday afternoon, he told me he would go to New York to do the TV Show.

“And find your boyfriend?”

“Yes, Noah. I will try to find David. Then we’ll see what happens.”

Nana and I took Daddy to the train that would take him to New York. I was going to miss Daddy a lot, but everybody made sure I was happy. That was nice of them.

It was especially nice of Timmy. The night after Daddy left, we were in bed and making sperms like we always did. Only this time, he said he wanted to do something he found on Google. I said he could.

I was surprised when Timmy moved down to my penis and put it in his mouth! Oh! That felt better than anything I ever felt in my whole life!

“What does it taste like, Timmy?”

He took his mouth off of my penis and said, “It tastes like—I don’t know—I guess it tastes like you?”

He put his mouth back and started to move his head up and down. “Ooooooh, Timmy! I’m gonna spray in your mouth!” He didn’t stop, though. Instead, he kept moving his head faster and faster.

I kept moaning, and the next thing I knew, my body lifted off the bed as I sprayed sperms in Timmy’s mouth. He didn’t move his mouth off of my penis until I stopped spraying. When he finished, he looked up at me and smiled.

“Did you like that, Noah?”

“Yes, please. It was good. Can I do that to you?”

“Yes, please.”

Timmy laid down on his back, and I moved down to his big penis. It was bouncing up and down on his tummy, and there was some clear liquid coming out of the top. I put my hands on the bottom of his penis and held it up.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes, Noah! Do it, please!”

I ran my tongue around the top of Timmy’s penis and tasted the clear liquid. It tasted pretty good. It wasn’t sweet, but it wasn’t sour, either. I opened my mouth and put the tip of his penis in. I was glad it didn’t taste like pee.

Timmy’s penis was hard and smooth at the same time. It kept leaking that clear liquid, which I kept swallowing. Then, I started to move my head up and down like he had done. Timmy must have liked what I was doing because he kept moaning, and his head was moving back and forth on the pillow.

I decided to try and do two things at the same time. I moved my hand up and down with my head.

“Noah! That feels so—Oooooh!”

The next thing I knew, Timmy’s body got stiff, and he started squirting the sperms into my mouth. There was so much, and I couldn’t swallow all of it. Some of it leaked out of my mouth. When he finished spraying, I licked what leaked out off of his penis. He liked that, too.

“Did I do it right?”

“Yes, Noah. It was good.”

I smiled and crawled back up to meet him at the pillows. This time I held Timmy, and he fell asleep on my chest.

A week or two after Daddy went to New York, Nana told me she got a phone call from David Chase. He invited us to his house for Mother’s Day weekend. Nana asked me if I would like an adventure. I told her I was nervous because I didn’t know David.

She took me to the kitchen table and got her iPad. She went to the Google and looked him up. He must be really important because there was a lot of stuff about David on the internet.

We spent the next two hours watching videos where he was talking about stuff. He has a nice voice, too. We listened to him play the piano, and I was surprised at how fast he could move his fingers.

When we finished, Nana asked me if I would like to have an adventure and go visit David.

“Yes, please. David’s nice—and pretty. Will we see Daddy, too?”

“No, dear. Daddy is busy doing the TV show. But I bet David will have lots of fun things for us to do.”

“Okay.”

The next day, I was watching Toy Story in the family room and wanted a drink of water. I went to ask Nana, but she was on the phone. She was on the phone with David, and she asked if I wanted to say hi to him. Usually, I didn’t want to do that kind of thing, but after watching so much about him on the Google, I felt like I could say hi.

“Noah, would you like to say hello to David?”

“Daddy’s boyfriend?”

“Yes. This is him on the phone.”

“Yes, please.” Nana handed me the phone, and I said, “Hello.”

“Hello, Noah. It’s so nice to hear your voice! Do you know who I am?”

“Yes. You’re the man who plays the piano on Ellen and my Daddy’s boyfriend.”

“That’s right. Are you excited to come and see me with your Nana?”

“Yes. We’re going to have an adventure.”

“Do you like the ocean?”

“Yes. We have a little ocean in our backyard. Nana said you have a big ocean.”

“I do! And we can play in the waves if you want to.”

“Okay.”

I handed the phone back to Nana, but I didn’t understand why she started to cry. Sometimes I just don’t understand grownups.

Nana took me to the mall and got me a lot of new clothes for our adventure to David’s house. I was starting to get excited as the trip got closer and closer. Well, until we got to the airport. Too many people! Too much noise! At least I had my headphones with me. That made the noise go away—well, that and Nana holding my hand.

It wasn’t a very long plane ride to New York. Nana told the people on the plane that we would be the last ones to leave the plane so we could avoid some of the crowd. When we finally got off the plane, we walked and walked and walked. We stepped onto a moving stairway, and Nancy—Nana’s friend and David’s mom—started waving at someone. I looked and saw David waving back.

Nana waved and showed me David. “I know.” We made it down the steps and walked up to the prettiest man I have ever seen.

“Hello, Noah. How has your adventure been so far? Have you been having a good time?”

“Yes. There are a lot of people, but Nana helps me with that.”

I took a good look at David and told him, “You are pretty. My Daddy likes that.”

“Well, thank you, Noah. You look really nice too.”

“I know. Nana got me new clothes.”

Nana took me outside while David and Nancy got our suitcases. When they came out, David got on his phone and told someone we were ready. The next thing that happened was a giant black car pulled up in front of us. That made me smile. “Oh. That’s a big car!”

David helped the driver load the luggage into the trunk, and then the passenger door was opened for us. We got in our seats, and David leaned over to open a small refrigerator.

“It takes about ninety minutes to get home. Would you like a glass of wine?” Nana and Nancy said yes, and David poured them a glass of wine. “Noah? I have apple juice, water, and I think I see some Coke in here. Would you like something to drink?”

“Apple Juice, please.”

“You got it! I think that sounds good. I’m going to have apple juice, too!”

That made me feel good. David was treating me like a normal person. I knew right then that I liked David Chase. Everybody tapped their drinks. Daddy calls that toast.

I don’t know when it happened, but I fell asleep. David woke me up, and I was leaning against his shoulder. We went into his house. It was real pretty. David took me up to my room, and I was so surprised! He filled it with posters and things from Toy Story! He knew it was my favorite movie!

We went back downstairs, but I went to sleep on the sofa. The next thing I remember was when I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t figure out where I was. I got scared and cried out, “Nooooooo!”

David was in the room real fast. He sat on the bed and took me in his strong arms. I started to feel better as soon as David made me feel safe. Then, David did the best thing in the world—he rocked me in his arms and sang to me.

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed
You just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you've got a friend in me
Yeah, you've got a friend in me.

--from the Pixar motion picture Toy Story

David started to sing it again, and I sang it with him. It made me so happy!

When we finished singing together, I asked David, “How did you know that was my favorite song?”

“I just had a funny feeling. But you know something?”

“What?”

“It’s true. When you are far away from your bed back in Barnstable, you don’t have to be frightened, because I’m your friend. Buzz’s, too.”

“Okay.”

“Do you think you can go back to sleep again?”

“I might get scared again.”

“I have a big giant bed. Would you like to sleep in there with me tonight?”

“Can Buzz come, too?”

“Of course he can.”

“Okay.”

David picked me up out of bed and took Buzz and me into his bedroom. He had the biggest bed I have ever seen! Nana came in and handed me one of the Toy Story pillows. I went right to sleep when David started to rub my arm with his finger.

In the morning, David made breakfast for us. It was Mrs. Henderson’s breakfast casserole! David must be magical. He knew about my favorite movie, and he knew how to make Mrs. Henderson’s best food!

The day just kept getting better and better. Finally, David took us to the aquarium, and I think that turned out to be the best day of my life.

There was a real nice man named Mike. He showed us around. He told me he had a little brother that was like me. That made me feel good. Mike also made the noise go away.

The first place he took us was to see the snakes and lizards. They were okay, but I wanted to see the sharks! The second place Mike took us wasn’t the sharks, but it was still a lot of fun—penguins!

Mike took me right up to the glass and said I could sit on the floor. As soon as I sat, a group of penguins came up to the glass, and I could hear them tell me hello. I put my hand up to the glass, and before I knew it, a whole bunch of penguins came to see me!

In my mind, I asked them if they were having fun. Some of the penguins told me they liked being at the aquarium, but they wish they had more ice and snow so they could play more. I told Mike what they told me, and he was surprised that the penguins could talk to me.

The next place Mike took us was to a room that was full of aquariums. There were so many different kinds of fish! But none of them were sharks. After we looked at all the fish, Mike asked if I was ready to see the sharks. Yes!

Before we left the house, David showed me how we could go into the water with the sharks. I was really excited to do that, but once we started to put on our suits, I started to get a little nervous.

Mike put the helmet on my head and then took it right off. It was a little scary, but he asked me if I could see everything when it was on me. I told him I could. He told me that David and I could talk to each other when the helmets were on. I was still nervous, but I wanted to be in the water with the sharks so bad!

I asked David to hold my hand when Mike put the helmet on. As soon as it was on, there was cool air blowing in, and David told me he was proud of how brave I was. That made me happy. I watched Mike put his helmet on, and the cage we were in started to go in the water.

As soon as the water went over our heads, the sharks started to swim to me. They told me not to be afraid—that they were my friends. The biggest shark said he was called a Great White and that he hoped I would come back to see him a lot. Another big shark said she was a Tiger Shark. She asked what I was called. I thought that was funny, but I let her know I was called Noah. I heard all the sharks say my name, and that made me smile.

When they all said my name, a whole bunch of little yellow fish swam around my head. That made me laugh, and David squeezed my hand. I looked at David, and he was smiling at me. I like it when David smiles. It makes him even prettier.

The cage started to move out of the water, and the sharks started to swim away. When we got our helmets off, Mike said he had never seen the sharks swim to the cage like that. I told him that the sharks wanted to be my friend, and they asked me my name. They also said they wanted me to come back and see them again. David smiled and said he hoped that we could do that again, maybe with Daddy the next time.

David made dinner on the grill, and I got sleepy after. When I yawned, I said, “Nana, I’m sleepy.”

“I’m sure you are! You had quite an exciting day, didn’t you?”

“Yes, please.”

“Would you like to get ready for bed?”

“Yes, please.”

Nana started to push her chair out, but I stopped her.

“Nana—no. David.”

“You want David to help you get ready for bed?”

“Yes, please.”

“I can do that, buddy. But you might have to show me what I need to do to help you, okay?”

“Okay. We can go now.” I got up from his seat and held my hand out to David, leading him inside and up the stairs. “This way. Upstairs.”

David would smile and chuckle when I would tell him what he needed to do—and then showed him how to do it. I brushed my teeth, changed into my sleep shorts, and crawled into the bed with Buzz. David smiled at me and said, “You know something, Noah? You just did all of that by yourself. You really don’t need help, do you?”

“No.”

“Then why did you want me to come up with you?”

“Sing.”

“What?”

“The Toy Story song. Sing it to me, please.”

David smiled and sang to me.

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed
You just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you've got a friend in me
Yeah, you've got a friend in me

I sure hope Daddy lets David become my other daddy. That would make me so happy.

The next day was a big day for David. A lady was coming to the house to take his picture for his next album. There were a lot of people, but David let me stay with him most of the time. There was a lady who helped him pick out clothes. There was a man who made his hair pretty and another man who made his face pretty.

After lunch, the lady went with Nana to pick out some clothes for me. One of the men took me to David’s shower and sprayed a suntan on me! It was fun, and it looked real good when he finished!

When we finished making me look sun-tanned, he put some stuff on my face to make me look pretty. Then, the other man made my hair look pretty—just like David’s! David took me to his bathroom so I could see myself in the mirror.

“Ooooh. Pretty. They made me pretty!”

“Yes, they did. You are a beautiful boy, Noah.”

“Yes, please.”

“Are you ready to go downstairs and sit for Miss Annie?”

“Yes, please.”

Miss Annie took a whole bunch of pictures of me. Some were of me sitting on the sofa with David. Then we went outside and played in the sand and the water. I had a lot of fun, but the best part of the day was when David gave me a camera! He taught me how to take pictures, and I took pictures of Nana, her friend Nancy, David, the ocean, and I also took pictures of the people taking pictures.

The next day was Mother’s Day. Nana got a phone call, and it was from Daddy! He talked to Nana. Then he talked to me. Then Daddy talked to David. Whatever Daddy said to David wasn’t very nice. David got sad and ran out of the house to the beach. When he got to the water, David kept running. Then he started swimming real hard.

I’m glad I know how to swim good. I ran out to the water and dove in—I had to save David! He was my buddy now!

David stopped swimming and turned around. Then he started swimming to me. David was kind of angry that I was swimming out to him, but I told him I was scared and had to save his life. He held me close and told me I saved his life the minute he met me. That was weird. Grownups are weird.

When we got back to the beach, Nana was on the phone with Daddy again, and he wanted to talk to David and me. Daddy said he was sorry for the way he acted before and that he loved me. I hope he told David that he loved him, too.

The last adventure I had at David’s house was in the kitchen. We were getting ready to go back to the airport, and David asked me to help him make lunch for everybody! I got to help David cook sandwiches! That made Nana happy, and she said she would teach me to help her when she cooked when we got home.

When we got back, it was fun telling Timmy all about my trip. I showed him how I could take pictures, and we made sandcastles on the beach. Then, at night, we would go to bed and put our mouths on each other’s penises. I liked making Timmy feel as good as he made me feel!

About a month later, they started showing Daddy’s TV show. It was so much fun seeing Daddy on TV! I was surprised that David was on the first show, too! He played the piano in a great, big theatre. Then, they showed Daddy sitting with the other people from the TV show.

Nana thought it was funny that David didn’t pick Daddy’s coat, but she reminded me that David wore it for some of the pictures. I remember that coat. It was sooo pretty!

For the next month, I would send emails to David and show him some of the pictures I took. He would always send me an email back and tell me how much he liked my pictures.

One day, Nana asked me if I wanted to go on another adventure. Of course I did! My last adventure was so much fun! Nana said that this time we were going to another house. She said David just got a new house in New York City and he invited us to spend some time there. She also said that Daddy would be there for dinner.

We got to the big city and took a taxi to David’s house. Nana took the key David sent her and opened the door. Wow! It was a big house! David left a piece of paper that told us what was on each floor.

Nana took the piece of paper, and we went to every floor and saw everything. David has eight floors in his house—and an elevator to take you up and down! After we looked at everything, Nana went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She was happy that David got the groceries that she needed for dinner. She asked me to help her make lasagna, salad, and garlic bread.

After we started cooking, the doorbell rang. Nana told me to stop cutting until she got back. There were two people at the door who I didn’t know, except I remembered them from Daddy’s TV show. Nana talked to them a little, and they got in the elevator. Nana said they were going to finish setting up Daddy’s workroom.

While we were fixing dinner, Nana’s phone rang a few times, but she wouldn’t answer it. Instead, she would just smile and end the call. That was weird. She never did that before. Grownups!

The lasagna was in the oven, and I was brushing garlic butter inside the giant loaves of bread. The door opened, and it was Daddy! Not just Daddy, but Daddy and David! We all ran to see them, and everybody hugged!

My family was back together again. Only now, it was even better! It was my family and David! This was going to be a good adventure!

When we finished eating our dinner, Daddy told me that we were going to move to New York, and that I’ll be going to a new school. He said the new school was for kids like me.

I was excited that we were moving into David’s big house. But I was also sad because Timmy wasn’t going to come with us. But I was excited about the new school. But I was sad because I didn’t know anybody there. I didn’t know you could be excited and sad at the same time.