Little Ezra || agere (ON HOLD)

T W E N T Y F I V E

𝑬𝒁𝑹𝑨

"Muffin!" I exclaimed excitedly, as I watched my favorite cartoon dog walk onto the TV screen. I was situated in the middle of daddy's bed, surrounded by fluffy pillows and blankets as I watch my newest obsession, Bluey.

Daddy was making dinner and told me he wanted it to be a surprise, so he put me in here to watch my show so I wouldn't be able to sneak a peek at whatever he was concocting in the kitchen.

I fell forward onto my stomach, raising my feet in the air behind me, to fully immerse myself into the show on the screen. After a few episodes, I got bored, deciding I wanted to go out onto the balcony.

My eyes made their way over to the door, which was slight ajar in case I needed to call daddy in here for something. One part of me was saying to ask him if I could go out there, but the other part was telling me to just do it.

I mean, he had told me to keep myself occupied in here, but he never specified how to do so. He basically left all possible options open to me.

After a few more seconds of contemplating, I hopped off the bed, making my way over to the sliding glass door. It was already unlocked from when we had a tea party out there earlier in the day.

I could just go out for a few minutes and then come back in like nothing happened. Daddy wouldn't suspect a thing, I'm sure of it. Before I knew it, I was opening the door, stepping out onto the balcony.

The tea set that we used was still out here, along with a few of my stuffies. But not Arlo and Leon, they were in daddy's bed watching Bluey. I sat down at the table, picking up a teacup to take a pretend sip from.

"Hello, Khloe!" I grinned at my stuffed bunny. I had gotten her when I was little, she was my favorite until I go Leon. But she still holds a special place in my heart. I imagined her saying hi back and picking up her teacup as well. A giggle escaped my lips as I continued to play tea party with my stuffies, having make believe conversations with all of them.

Just as I was about to 'pour' some more tea, I heard my name being called from inside. My eyes widened and I quickly jumped up to run back into daddy's room. Unfortunately, in the midst of me doing that, I knocked Khloe out of her chair by accident.

Of course, I couldn't just leave her on the ground, so I stopped to pick her up, but it was already too late.

I had gotten caught.

"Ezra, what are you doing out here?" I could tell daddy was disappointed just by the tone of his voice. I refused to look him in the eyes, so I was unsure of his facial expression at the moment. "W-Was gettin' Khloe" I told him, hoping that me holding the stuffed rabbit would make my statement more believable.

"Ezra, look at me"

Yeah, daddy is mad at me.

I slowly raised my head up, looking him in the eyes. "Tell me the truth, what are you doing out here?" He asked again, crossing his arms over his chest. Just seeing the look on his face scared me, I could tell he was mad at me.

Next thing I knew, I was crying. "Ezzy sowwy" I managed to get out between sobs. "Don't be mad at Ezzy" I ran into daddy's arms, discarding Khloe along the way. I made sure to take a mental note to apologize to her for that later though.

"Daddy isn't mad at you, lovebug" He picked me up, rocking me and shushing me every so often. "I promise you, daddy isn't mad, he's just disappointed in you for not listening" He said after a while. By now my crying had subsided at least a little bit.

"Ezzy just wanted to have another tea party" I whispered truthfully, knowing it was better to just tell the truth instead of continuing to lie, which would most likely just get me into more trouble.

"Why didn't you just ask daddy to bring everything in so that you could?" He questioned, rubbing my back to soothe me, which ended up causing me to close my eyes. "Dunno" I mumbled with a shrug.

Part of me was fading out of the conversation. Between daddy holding me and rubbing my back, the sound of his voice, and breathing in his natural scent.

He smelled like cocoa butter and vanilla, which are two of my favorite scents. "Next time Ezzy wants a tea party he's gonna come ask daddy right?" By now, daddy was carrying me back inside, towards the dining room so we could eat.

"Yes, Ezzy promise" I mumbled out, cuddling closer to him.

"Nuh uh, you gotta stay awake, baby" He pulled me away, attempting to sit me down in my high chair, but I only whined, clinging onto him for dear life.

"Sit wif daddy" I said.

"Alright baby, you can sit with daddy" He agreed, obviously noticing that I was entering one of my clingy moods.

Daddy sat down with me in his lap, moving my plate from my high chair to next to his. I looked at the plates, and excitement rushed over me when I realized he had made my favorite food ever, spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread.

In the moment, I was suddenly feeling smaller than I was before, so daddy fed me instead of me feeding myself. After we were finished eating, daddy gave me a bath, saying it was needed because I was covered in spaghetti, which in my defense was mostly his fault because he was the one feeding me.

Afterwards daddy dressed me in a footed onesie designed to make me look like Muffin from Bluey. We then laid in his bed, watching Bluey until I fell asleep in his arms, dreaming that one day I would get to meet Bluey and her family in real life.

==