sebastian, i love you so much
but i love daddy.
the relationship between sebastian and his (magnificent) dad is beautiful. mutual adoration in action. and respect. sebastian believes he has the best father in the world. it is a lovely relationship to observe, and even though i am an observer, rather than a participant, it is a gratifying relationship to observe because i fostered it.
because in the early days, it wasn’t always that way. the first few times magnificent charles went on business trips and sebastian was old enough to realise his father had been gone for a long time, he ignored his father. cold shoulder, bald head, fleshy thigh and cheek. maybe he took lessons from the cat, because he was very good at ignoring.
i didn’t like that. magnificent charles did and does work really hard and doesn’t travel by choice. being punished by the boy he rushed home to cuddle and being rejected was hurtful for him. i took matters into my own hands.
i started talking up magnificent charles and my willing little pupil listened. and heard how his father loved him so much, loved the way sebastian was so brave, the way he tried new foods, the way he slept so well. we tended to only do the fun things if sebastian’s magnificent daddy was going to be there too. if there was anything positive to endorse, magnificent did it through wifely proxy. we always prayed for daddy when he was gone, and a couple of times i brought out special daddy treats to sebastian while his father was gone.
those factors plus their similarity in body type, personality, athletic prowess, etc equalled for one eventual love fest. sebastian began crawling after daddy, pulling at daddy’s pantlegs, and one day, walking towards daddy. i fed the seeds of his love by unwisely getting sebastian into a frenzy of excitement right around the time his dad was meant to walk in the door. if magnificent’s ETA was 7pm, at 6.40 i would tell sebastian "SOON!" and every five minutes after that i would repeat the promise. and when magnificent did enter, sebastian would charge happily for his dad’s arms.
i did my job thoroughly and well. maybe too well? sometimes as i sit there holding my passport as i try to get into their private country, i think so. but i look at them when they are together and the sheer joy, respect and love on sebastian’s father-cloned face and realise no, i didn’t. i did a good thing.
all because, sebastian, i love you so much. and your magnificent father, too.
