“Once you do this, you can never go back. You understand?”

“Yes, daddy”

“What was that,soldier?”

“Uh…I mean…sir, yes, sir!”

“Good boy,” I praise as I crouch down in front of my now five year old, tousling his curly brown hair with fatherly affection as he tries his best to stand perfectly at attention; even throwing in a sloppy attempt at a military salute to complete the tiny army man image we were trying to portray.

That, and the tiny, old fashioned fatigues I ordered offline.

Perfect.

So cute…

I shake my head briefly to rid myself of the less than manly thoughts and stand.

“Good,” I repeat, turning away from my boy and walk over to my desk, picking up the weapon of choice I had procured for Johnny,, specifically for this mission.

I turn back to him, the weapon clutched in my hand, and crouch once more down in front of my son.

“Are you sure, Lieutenant Flint, that you’re ready for this mission?”

“Lou-ten-it?”

“Ill explain later,” I passive him, placing a hand on his small shoulder. “Are you sure, buddy?”

“Yes sir,” Johnny grins, exposing his front missing tooth.

“You’re mother’ll be mad.”

“Pray-bo-lee”.

“Are you okay with that?”

“Mommy’s be mad at you more”.

After a moment of thought, I nod, “probably.”

Johnny giggles before straightening again at my look.

“Well, then,” I sigh with amusement, “if we’re in agreement?”

“We are.”

“Then I wish you luck soldier, you’ll need it.”

And with those final words, i handed the box of crayons I had swiped off my desk over to Johnny and ushered him out of the room to complete his mission.

After all, the living room’s plain white walls weren’t going to draw on themselves.