by Quinn Ward
“Shh, it’s okay, sweetheart,” I soothed him. It felt right to brush a hand over his hair, coaxing his head to my shoulder. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You have nothing to apologize for.”
“But you—”
I knew where he was coming from. I’d been so adamant that I wasn’t, and never would be, a Daddy, that he’d been very careful to not say the word I knew he wanted to call me. And that made me a dick. It was a failing because I wasn’t giving him what he needed. But having the word out there between us, I found I didn’t mind it at all. I fucking loved it. I was his Daddy, and the name he called me didn’t change that. “We’re both trying to figure things out, buddy. I’ve never done this before, and until you, it wasn’t something I knew I wanted. But I do, sweetheart. I loved hearing you call me Daddy. It makes me feel special.”
Ash tightened his arms around my neck as he kissed my shoulder. “You’re the specialest. I didn’t know it would be like this. I don’t want to do this with anyone else. Can I call you Daddy more, or do you still want to be my Jay?”
“Whatever you’re comfortable with,” I told him. I didn’t want to push him one way or the other now that I’d opened the door for him to call me Daddy. It was his choice, and as long as he let me hold him and love him, everything would stay perfect. The next step was to see how it sounded to hear myself say it. A lump formed in my throat. Saying it felt like a huge step. Once I admitted I was his Daddy, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to walk away from him, and that was a scary damned thought when both of our lives were just starting. But I owed this to him.
“You were such a good boy about your spanking,” I praised him. “Did you like it?”
Ash nodded; his face still buried in the crook of my neck. “It’s a good hurt. My bottom’s gonna be sore today.”
“That’s the whole point.” I chuckled, reaching down to squeeze his butt. “And Daddy’s got something to help with that a little bit.”
Ash bolted upright. If I’d had any lingering doubts, they would have vanished with that brilliant, slightly crooked, smile. He ran a hand down my chest. “My Daddy. My Jay.”
His everything. I didn’t say that out loud. My beautiful boy had me wrapped tightly around his little finger, and I wouldn’t change a damn thing.
“Yeah, buddy. I’m yours.” I cupped his face in my hands. “And I couldn’t be prouder of you right now. Are you ready to get dressed?”
Ash tucked his bottom lip between his teeth and nodded. I could tell he was working hard to not say anything to show how worried he was. As long as he wasn’t calling himself weird or dumb, we could work through the rest.
I eased Ash off my lap and stuck the binkie back into his mouth. He looked so fucking cute sitting crisscross on his bed, the tails of his shirt framing his still hard dick. Hopefully, my first surprise for him would help hide that issue. I crouched down to open my bottom dresser drawer. All the way at the back, buried under my hoodie collection, I found the package I was shocked he hadn’t seen when I snuck it into the room.
I pulled out one of the pairs of training undies I hadn’t already packed for our weekend, and carefully tucked it into my back pocket as I turned around. “Scoot to the edge of the bed, buddy. Daddy’s going to get his boy ready for our adventure.”
“But I already got dressed,” Ash whined, looking down at his outfit. “You don’t like my big boy clothes?”
“I don’t want you pretending to be someone you aren’t,” I told him as I started undoing the buttons on his shirt. I briefly considered letting him keep the t-shirt underneath, but no. He needed his armor to get through this. Even though I knew what he wore didn’t matter to Mom, this wasn’t Chase. After sliding the button-down off his shoulders and tossing it on the bed, I gathered the fabric of his tee. “Hands up, buddy.”
The neck hole on the tee caught on his binkie, popping it out of his mouth. I caught it before it hit the floor and put it back in his mouth before dropping a kiss to the tip of his nose.
I pulled open the drawer I had helped Chase rearrange so his “little clothes” were all in one place. He opened his mouth to protest and I silenced him with nothing more than one quirked eyebrow. He folded his hands in his lap and started kicking the side of his bed. “You don’t have to hide, buddy. And no one will know why you’re wearing this outfit other than us. I want you to show them how cute my boy is.”
He smiled when I held up the bright blue shirt with all of his favorite characters on it. I wanted to put him in one of the pairs of shorts he unpacked and put in the dresser last weekend, but it was a bit cool outside. Instead, I grabbed a pair of black joggers. The combination was so neutral, no one would know there was a reason for the choices but us. As soon as I had his character socks and his bright red sneakers, I was just about ready to get him dressed.
I pulled his undies out of my back pocket and held them up. I held them out of his reach as Ash tried snatching them out of my hand. He tried glaring at me, but the effect was lost when he giggled. “Are those for me?”
“Do you like them?” I asked as I kneeled in front of him. He stared down at me as I lifted one foot and then the other, standing as I pulled the thick briefs up his legs. He ran a finger over the bright red piping and waistband. He moaned when I reached inside to tuck his dick in a more comfortable position. And because I was a bit of an evil Daddy, I held my hand there, cupping his length as I spoke. “These will be better if you get sticky when you’re not supposed to. And they’ll hide your winky when you have naughty thoughts.”
“I won’t do that,” he promised breathlessly. I knew he didn’t plan on staying hard, but I wasn’t going to make it easy for him. I wanted to tease my naughty boy a little bit. “They’re perfect, Daddy.”
“Just like you.” I curled my hand around the back of his neck for a quick kiss before getting back to the task at hand. The spanking had put us behind schedule, and I didn’t want to keep Mom waiting. The sooner we ate, the sooner she’d leave, and I’d finally have some time completely alone with my boy.
13
Chase
He’s okay with me calling him Daddy!
I was so excited that I didn’t have to be so careful, I didn’t have time to be nervous about meeting Jay’s mom and maybe seeing his uncle again. Jay was the best Daddy. He held my hand the entire drive across town to his mom’s, came around to my side of the car to open my door after parking on the road, and immediately grabbed my hand again for the walk to her front door. If he noticed how clammy my palms were, he didn’t mention anything. He simply leaned in and whispered, “Relax, buddy, she’s going to love you.”
He seemed so certain of that. On the ride over here, I tried imagining what my own parents would say if they came to pick me up at the end of the semester and I introduced him as my boyfriend. They knew, in theory, that I was gay, but it had always been not-so-subtly suggested that my gayness should be something that was known but never shown. I really hoped he was right.
There was no fanfare. No mother waiting behind drawn curtains watching our approach. No front door being thrown open before Jay could turn the knob. No ambush as soon as we walked into the house. It was not what I’d been expecting. Jay must have noticed my shock because he pulled me tight to his side and kissed my temple. “I told you there was nothing to worry about. Remember, I’ve been through this before. She’s a master at trying to play it cool so she doesn’t scare anyone. You only have to worry once she gets to know you a bit better.”
“What happens then?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
“Then she’s going to insist that you come home with me every weekend and she might make what she thinks are helpful suggestions, but they’ll scar you. But don’t worry, I’ll be here to protect you.” He guided me through the house, stopping to set down our bag and my backpack at the bottom of the stairs. I’d argued that I was capable of going forty-eight hours without my things, but Jay had insisted I should be comfortable.
“Jayden, is th
at you?” A friendly voice called out from the back of the house. Unless she had a friend over, it had to belong to his mom. She met us in the hall, and her expression went all gooey when she saw her son with his arm protectively around me. “Oh, and you must be Chase. It’s so good to finally meet you. Jayden can’t stop talking about the cute boy who landed at his doorstep.”
“Mom, stop,” Jay pleaded. His body tensed. I wasn’t sure why he was so uncomfortable. I was cute, and I did all but fall into his lap. Nothing she said was wrong. “Don’t mind her, buddy. She’s trying to make a good impression.”
“I don’t mind.” It wasn’t until her bottom lip stuck out and her eyes went soft with that ‘oh, how cute’ expression only moms could pull off, that I realized she’d heard him call me buddy. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. “It’s good to meet you. Thank you for letting me stay the weekend.”
“Sweetie, you’re welcome anytime,” she assured me as she turned back to the kitchen. “I have the sandwich stuff out. I hope my son warned you there’s work to be done this afternoon. I don’t expect you to do anything, of course, but I have to use my cheap labor while I have him.”
“I don’t mind helping.” I looked down at my outfit and frowned. I was wearing one of my newest pair of pants and my favorite shirt. If Jayden had told me ahead of time that we’d be helping her around the house, I would have asked for different clothes.
“Don’t worry. I have play clothes in the bag for you,” Jay whispered low enough only I could hear him. “I knew you’d want to make a good impression, so I didn’t dress you in them right away. We’ll go up to my room after lunch.”
We? I wasn’t sure I was okay with his mom knowing he helped me change. I might be his little buddy, but I was a big boy, too.
And wasn’t that some of the funniest stuff I’d thought all day? A big boy? Really?
“Come on, boys. Your uncle helped me pick up some plants for the front of the house and I want to get them in,” she explained as she handed each of us a plate. I listened, even though I was sure she was speaking to Jay more than me. “I swear, that man doesn’t understand the meaning of taking it easy. He tore up the beds in front weeks ago and I wasn’t ready to do anything with them. Now, he’s talking about inside renovations. This is not what I envisioned when I bought a fixer upper.”
“You knew he was like that before you invited him to move into the garage apartment.” He sounded bitter that his uncle lived up there instead of him. I understood why that would be difficult, but I couldn’t find it in myself to be upset on his behalf. If he hadn’t been living at Talbert, we never would have met. I was glad his mom gave the apartment to his uncle.
“Yes, but then you wouldn’t have met this cutie.” I swear, it wouldn’t have shocked me if she had reached over to pinch my cheeks. “You boys get something to eat, although I know it won’t live up to your roommate’s cooking. I do have a roast in the crock pot for you boys to eat tonight, and there’s a container of cookies for you to take back when you leave.”
“You’re the best.” Jay finally released me long enough to draw his mom into a tight hug. “Before you know it, Matt’s going to insist on coming over on the weekends for oven-fresh treats, and Brandon’s going to take over your kitchen.”
“You say that as if it’s a bad thing.” His mom laughed. “Tell him to give you a shopping list and I’ll even make sure it’s stocked before you boys get here.”
I tried to imagine a life where all four of us could escape the suites for a weekend. It would be nice to have a place where Matt and I could play without feeling like we were on top of one another. Jay and Brandon would be sitting on the couch chatting, as they watched the two of us. And then they’d put us down for naptime. Matt needed to be in a place where he could be him. Jay’s mom’s house could be that place.
I tugged on Jay’s arm, pulling him off to the side. “What’s up, buddy?”
“Can we invite them to come with us sometime?” It was too early in the visit to know for certain that we could be ourselves here, but I had a good feeling about Jay’s mom. She was the one who found my binkie and she didn’t think anything less of me. She was nice, and Jay was right; I felt loved already.
“Does my boy want to have a playdate?” Jay and I had talked a lot about Matt and how he didn’t know what kind of little he was. Jay agreed that I could help him. He’d mentioned The Lodge as a possibility, but I wasn’t sure I was ready go back there yet. Being little around people I didn’t know was scary.
“I think so. Would your mom be okay with that? Can Matt and I play in your bedroom?” I was eager to get upstairs and see the toys Jayden said his mom still kept in his bedroom even though he’d outgrown them.
“That’s a great idea.” Jay kissed me before guiding me over to the counter. “Let’s get you something to eat, and then maybe you can lay down for a nap.”
“Jaaaaaaaaay,” I whined. He wasn’t even trying to be quiet. His mom giggled before turning away. At least she was attempting to let me hold onto a thread of my dignity. Out of the corner of my mouth, I scolded him. “Don’t say things like that in front of your mom. She’ll think I’m—”
I couldn’t get the last word out when Jay leveled me with a glare. Crud. I wasn’t supposed to talk bad about myself. If I didn’t watch it, I was going to get a time-out. I couldn’t imagine Jay would spank me with his mom right there.
“Sweetie, you’re fine,” his mom reassured me. “Trust me, I’ve spent enough time around my brother, Jay’s uncle, that nothing fazes me at this point. If Jayden says you need a nap, you should probably listen to him.”
Shoot me now. His mom totally knew. There was no way she didn’t, but she wasn’t acting like it was anything unusual to suggest her son’s boyfriend take a nap.
When Jayden cut the sandwich he’d made into four triangles, placed a few plain chips on the plate, added some grapes he’d pulled out of the fridge, and handed it to me, my gaze darted to his mom again. She smiled at me.
Yeah. She knew.
It was nearly impossible, but I pretended there was nothing off about him making my lunch. I kissed his cheek and mumbled a quick thanks before sitting down at the table overlooking the backyard. I smiled up at him when he placed a plastic cup of chocolate milk in front of me, even though he was having a soda.
Jay made his lunch and the two of them joined me. The rest of lunch was uneventful. It was silly, but I kept waiting for his mom to grill me on why I was a little and what that meant for any relationships I might have, but she kept things blessedly vanilla. She asked about my major, my plans for the future, my family—basically everything any normal parent would ask their child’s partner.
“Do you want another sandwich?” Jay asked when I inhaled everything on my plate faster than usual. I dipped my chin and shook my head. It wasn’t that I was starving so much as keeping my mouth full kept me from having to talk too much. Jay stacked my plate on top of his and took both to the garbage. He returned and held out a hand to me. “Come on, buddy. I want to show you my room.”
“It was nice meeting you, Chase.” His mom pulled me into a hug. “You’re good for him. I hope you’ll start coming home on the weekends, too.”
“Thank you.” I swallowed hard around the lump in my throat, not saying anything else because there wasn’t much to say.
She leaned back, cupping my face when she released me, and patted my cheek. “Such a sweetheart.” Then to her son, she said, “Don’t screw this up, Jayden. You’ve got yourself a good one.”
“I don’t plan on it.” Although he was speaking to his mom, he looked directly at me. “Let’s go.”
“Do we have to? I’m not tired, Jay,” I protested as he led me up the stairs. Naptime when we were in the privacy of our room at school was one thing. When the guys didn’t see us out in the common area, they assumed we had taken off for the day. And when Jay called me on the weekends to tell me it was time to shut down for a while, I’d never had an issue. But her
e it felt different knowing his mom knew what was going on. I thought I’d done a good job not showing how nervous I was.
“Just because we’re away from our room doesn’t mean your schedule changes,” he told me as he swung open a door at the end of the hall. “What sort of Daddy would I be if I let you go full speed all day? You’ll be sleepy and too tired to enjoy tonight.”
“I get a bath tonight.” I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a bath. Maybe it was dumb, but it was one of those things I fantasized about. My Daddy would draw me a bath and help me into it before crouching next to me and washing all my bits. If I was a good boy today, maybe I could get Jay to play out that fantasy with me, right down to carrying me back to bed and having sex with me.
It was definitely dumb, but I felt like things between us weren’t really real yet because he made no effort to do that. He was great about the other things—the things I thought would push away anyone who might be interested in me—but sex was just on the other side of some invisible line he’d drawn. And I couldn’t stop myself from worrying it was because he didn’t see me that way, that someday he’d go out and find someone more manly to fuck before coming home and putting me to bed. The very thought of it had me tripping over my feet.
Jay rushed to my side, wrapping an arm around my waist as he combed his fingers through my hair. “Talk to me, baby. Why are you sad?”
He motioned for me to sit on the edge of the bed. He didn’t pressure me to answer him as he crouched to untie my shoes. He was patient as he slipped off my socks. Didn’t force me to talk as he turned down the comforter on his bed. It wasn’t until I was laying in the center of the bed that he grew impatient. Even then, he smoothed his thumb over the creases in my forehead and kissed the tip of my nose. “Talk to me, buddy. I can’t make things better if I don’t know what’s got you upset.”