by Harper Logan
“Of course,” Chandler said.
“Yes, ma’am,” Lexie said.
The principal turned to the boy’s parents. “Considering Eddie’s record, with the series of detentions and the two previous suspensions for fighting, I’m giving him a week suspension from school and will be requiring him to participate in tolerance class during his lunch periods.”
Their mouths dropped. “This is unacceptable,” the mother said, her voice shrill. “Those little monsters attacked my little boy! I demand they be punished accordingly.”
“Oh, she’ll be punished,” Lexie said. “Don’t you worry your little head about that. How about… frozen yogurt and a movie tonight? Doesn’t that sound like a fitting punishment, Izzy?”
Mrs. Cuttingham smiled curtly and stood from her chair, gesturing to the door with an open hand. “Thank you all for coming.”
The boy’s parents left in a huff, pushing past them.
“Don’t worry about coming back to the shop today,” Adrian told Lexie. “And don’t be too hard on Izzy.” He winked, and Lexie laughed.
A brisk wind whipped around the parking lot as Adrian and Chandler walked April to the truck. She looked glum, with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Chandler opened the back door, and she climbed inside.
“I’m sorry,” she said, looking down. “Did I ruin Christmas?”
“No, honey,” Adrian said. “Daddy and I aren’t mad.”
“You’re not?”
“Naw,” Chandler said, firing up the engine. “Hell, just the opposite. I’m proud of you, April. You were brave, and stood up for a friend. Both of you did.”
She nodded. “He was calling you mean names. Really mean names.”
“He just wasn’t raised right,” Chandler said. “You don’t have to like him, but you also shouldn’t hate him. It ain’t really his fault. Maybe he’ll have learned something, getting his nose smashed by a girl.”
They agreed that Adrian would take April back home and Chandler would return to the shop for the rest of the day. After dropping Chandler off at work, Adrian took the truck and headed for home. They drove in silence. When Adrian checked on April in the rear-view mirror, he saw she still had the same glum look on her face. She was such an upbeat girl all the time, it was strange to see her down on herself.
“Don’t be upset, honey,” Adrian said.
“I didn’t like the things he said, Papa,” she said softly. “I like having two daddies. It makes me so mad, what he said.”
“It’s okay to be mad,” said Adrian. “And sometimes you gotta do you what you gotta do to defend yourself. As long as you aren’t the one picking fights.”
She nodded quietly.
Adrian tapped his finger on the steering wheel, mulling over a thought. “Hey,” he said, finally. “You know… Why don’t we swing by the mall on the way home and grab some ice cream? Would you like that?”
She perked up a bit. “Yes, Papa.”
“Good. We’re going.”
He knew the ice cream would cheer her up, but there was something else he wanted to check out, too, and he felt like April deserved to know about it. She’d made him very proud today, and he wanted to make sure she knew that. And what else would be better than letting her know about his Christmas plans for her daddy? After all, if Koko worked out, she’d be a gift for the whole family. She’d be April’s first dog.
They stopped at the Riverwalk strip, a series of shops and restaurants that lined a river canal. It was decked out for the holidays, with Christmas lights and other decorations strung up all along the river and on the buildings’ facades. Street musicians braved the cold to play Christmas songs while families and couples strolled alongside the water. Adrian held April’s hand as she bounced along beside him, her eyes wide as she took in all the glittering lights and splendor. He was glad—it already seemed like she was feeling better.
They stopped at an ice cream parlor, which was surprisingly busy despite the cold weather, and Adrian ordered two cones for them, along with a hot chocolate and a coffee. They walked as they ate, and stopped to watch a trio of musicians jamming out a folksy rendition of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” After gobbling down her ice cream, April danced around to the music while Adrian watched.
At times, he still felt out of place here. Transitioning from army life, to spending nearly five years on the road as a big rig truck driver, it could feel weird being so sedentary. And it wasn’t like he missed that life at all. He was the happiest he’d ever been. But there were times when he felt like an outsider. He knew Chandler sometimes felt the same way, and maybe most vets did. All he could really do was keep his family close to him, and to love them with the fullest of his heart.
After the band finished their song, Adrian called April over to him. “Honey, there’s a little secret that I want to tell you about. I think you deserve to know. Papa’s planning a Christmas surprise for Daddy.”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
“Uh huh. But before I tell you what it is, you need to promise me you’ll keep it a secret. Okay? Can you promise with all your heart to keep a secret?”
“Of course, Papa. I’ll keep it a secret.”
“Second thing I gotta say is that Papa is still working on it. There’s a possibility it might not work out, so I don’t want you to get your hopes up, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Alright. Then I want you to close your eyes and follow me.”
She put her hand over her eyes and started to bounce up and down excitedly. Adrian smiled. He wanted to make this as fun and exciting for her as possible. He led her by the hand along the Riverwalk to a small pet store called Nikki’s Pets, and walked her inside to the dog section.
“Ta-da,” he said, moving her hand from her eyes.
April looked around and gasped. “Oh my goodness. Papa! Papa!” She started to jump up and down, squealing and swinging her arms all over the place. “Are we getting a puppy?”
Adrian laughed and put his hands on her shoulders to keep her from flying away. “Remember what I said? There’s a possibility it might not work out. But if it does, then yes, we’ll be getting a dog.”
“Oh my goodness!” she squealed. “I’m so happy! But why wouldn’t it work out?”
Now that he’d told her and seen her reaction, it was difficult to imagine not getting a dog, even if they couldn’t adopt Koko. There was no way he could let her down after getting her so worked up.
“The dog I’m trying to adopt is a very special one. She used to be in the army with Daddy and me. Daddy and her were really good friends. She was really special.”
“She’s a military working dog?”
Adrian was surprised. “Yeah, you know what they’re called?”
“I’ve read about them,” she said matter-of-factly. “What’s the doggy’s name?”
“Koko. You’ve seen a picture of her before, in the photo album. Do you remember?”
April thought for a moment. “Oh, yeah! The German shepherd! That’s Koko. She’s so cute!”
“Koko is deaf now, so it’s going to be a challenge if we do get her. You’ll have to be very patient with her.”
“I can be patient with her.”
“Good.”
He really didn’t want to get April’s expectations up any higher than they already were, but now that he was here at the pet store he couldn't help but want to look around at potential things to buy for the dog. He was taken with her enthusiasm. They walked up and down the aisle, pointing out toys and beds. April went to a shelf of books, picked out one that said Caring for a Special Needs Dog, and started to flip through it, reading it carefully.
Adrian watched her happily. Yeah, they definitely were going to get a dog, no matter what happened.
“Pardon me.” A young woman with tortoiseshell glasses turned down the aisle, smiling. She wore a t-shirt with Nikki’s Pets stamped on the front. “Excuse me. Hi. Um, I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. You’re
planning on adopting military service dog?”
“That’s right,” Adrian said.
“Oh! That’s so wonderful. Hi. I’m Nikki, I’m the owner here.” She held out her hand and Adrian shook it.
“Adrian. Nice to meet you. This is my daughter, April.”
“Hello, April. Oh, how excited must you be?”
April grinned and hugged the book to her chest.
“Were you in the army?” Nikki asked Adrian, adjusting her glasses. “Sorry if that’s rude to ask. You have the build is all, so I assumed.”
“Not at all. Yeah, I was in the army.”
“Oh, that’s great. My dad was a marine. Brother, too. Were you a handler? I heard you say you served with the dog you want to adopt. Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but it’s a small store…”
Adrian smiled. With the rapid-fire, hyperactive way the woman talked, she kind of reminded him of a Chihuahua or some other small excitable dog.
“I think it’s wonderful you want to adopt your old pupper-in-arms. I can’t even imagine how strong your relationship must be with that dog. That’s so wonderful. Here, here. I have a whole bunch of books that you might find interesting on the subject. Oh! Looks like April’s already found one. That’s a great one.”
Nikki spent a good thirty minutes showing them around, explaining different ways to care for a deaf dog and what things they would need in their home. The best part was seeing April’s enthusiasm building as she eagerly followed Nikki, soaking up all the information like a sponge.
“Thank you for your time, Nikki,” Adrian told her as they were leaving. “We both appreciate it.”
“Oh, no problem. No problem. I’m just happy you’re adopting. When you get approved, please come back to visit and I’ll take care of you with what you need.”
When they got home, April bounded around the house making plans for where Koko would sleep and all the things they’d do together. “I bet she’ll be able to learn sign language,” April said. “I’m gonna learn sign language so I can talk to her!”
“Remember the two things I told you, honey,” he told her. “What were they?”
“It’s a secret,” she said, “and… Don’t get my hopes up.”
Adrian hoped he hadn’t made a mistake by telling April about Koko. She seemed to be even more excited about the idea than he was. It would be heartbreaking for the both of them if it didn’t go through. He hadn’t wanted her to get her hopes up, but now they both had.
When Chandler got home from work that evening, April remembered her promise and didn’t say a word about the pet store. “We went down to the Riverwalk and got ice cream,” she told him after he’d asked what they’d done the rest of that day.
“Ice cream,” he said, nodding. “Well, I hope you learned you lesson today, sweetheart. Don’t take nothing from bullies.”
Before bed that night, April spent some time scooting around on the floor in front of the tree, looking at all the decorations and her presents. Afterwards she brought out the photo album from the side table and flipped through it. Adrian sat on the couch and sipped on a beer as he watched her. Chandler was stretched out next to him, his feet up on Adrian’s lap, completely absorbed in a copy of Debt of Honor. The complete opposite of his book addicted six-year-old daughter, Chandler had never been much of a reader. The only book Adrian had ever seen him read before was Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy, and so after they got married he encouraged him to read more. Despite his efforts, Chandler still wasn’t able to get into most literature, so for his birthday Adrian bought him a collection of Tom Clancy’s other works. That did the trick—Chandler had read nearly a book a month. “More damn words than he’d ever read in his whole life,” he’d said.
April turned to the page of army photos, with the picture of Koko. She gazed a while at the picture, and Adrian said a silent prayer for this whole thing to turn out right.
The two of them tucked April into bed and took turns reading to her from her latest favorite book, Because of Winn-Dixie. She seemed to be even more taken with it, now that she had the idea that they’d be getting a dog. Adrian was worried that she might slip up and reveal something to Chandler, some hint that would make him suspicious, but she was completely mum about it.
“Alright,” Chandler said as he wedged a bookmark into its pages. “That’s enough reading for Daddy tonight, I think. My eyes are gonna fall out of my skull.”
“You’ve had a long day today, honey,” Adrian said, kissing her on the forehead. “Time to sleep. No secret reading, okay?”
“Okaaay.”
Chandler gave her a kiss goodnight and turned out the light, and the two of them closed the door behind them.
“Long goddamn day,” Chandler said, stripping off his shirt on the way to their bedroom. “Was she okay? She wasn’t upset?”
Adrian turned off the Christmas tree lights and downed the remainder of his beer. “’Course she was,” he said, going into the bedroom. “Not so much about the fight, but because of what that little shit stain said.”
“About Izzy?”
Chandler dropped down to the floor and burst into a series of explosive pushups, something he did if he was feeling tense at the end of the day. Adrian sat on the end of the bed and watched the muscles on his husband’s back ripple like moving rock. He felt his cock begin to stiffen as blood rushed between his thighs. Seeing Chandler working out had always been able to give him an instant hard-on, which had become a slight issue back in Iraq. There were all sorts of things that the man unwittingly did to get him hard—stripping and cleaning a gun, shaving, working out, fixing a car… Which meant that work could be torture if he found himself checking Chandler out too much.
Adrian shifted his position and chewed the inside of his lip as Chandler flipped onto his back and started to do crunches. Settling down into dad-hood hadn’t meant a dad bod for Chandler—though Adrian still would’ve found him sexy as hell. No, he was just as ripped as the day he finished deployment.
“No, dumbass,” Adrian said. “About you and me. I guess it was bound to happen eventually, even in a place like Rosebridge.”
Chandler dropped into pushups again. “Yeah,” he grunted. He counted off until he reached one hundred pushups, and then got to his feet, his chest glistening with sweat. “I used to have this fear. I couldn’t stand the idea of April getting teased because of me. I wanted to protect her from all that. But, you know? I realized hiding would be worse. Teaching her to run away from things…” He shook his head. “That would’ve been the greater sin.”
Adrian got up from the bed and slipped his arms around Chandler’s neck. “You’ve raised a hell of a little girl. She never ceases to amaze me.”
Chandler planted a quick kiss on his lips. “We’ve raised a hell of a little girl. She’s learned a lot from you this past year. You’ve always been braver than me. She’s picked that up from you.”
Chandler moved away, unbuckling and stepping out of his jeans as he walked to their bathroom. Adrian smiled to himself as his heart tingled with love for his husband and their daughter. He was so glad to have April in his life. Seeing her grow and learn, and helping her on her path, had given his life a whole new level of purpose, even beyond what Chandler’s love had opened for him. She inspired him to be the best person he could be, every day.
The hiss of the shower turning on drifted from the open bathroom door. Adrian removed his clothes, stripping down to bare skin. His cock was half aroused, slightly swollen and on the verge of a full erection. He wanted him badly. Moving quietly, he entered the bathroom and drew open the shower curtain. Chandler had his eyes closed, and was shampooing his hair.
“Mind if I join you?” Adrian said.
A smirk spread across Chandler’s lips as he continued to shampoo his hair, his eyes still squeezed shut. Adrian stepped into the shower behind him, and the hot spray of water ricocheting off of Chandler’s body peppered his skin. He lay his hands onto Chandler’s shoulders and rubbed his muscles. Then
he moved his body in closer, drawing his fingers up Chandler’s neck as he did so, and began to massage them through his hair, lathering up the shampoo for him. His chest pressed against Chandler’s back, their wet skin gliding together, and his cock immediately grew and pushed up against Chandler’s ass.
Chandler tipped his head under the water, and the suds of shampoo ran down his body, dripping off of his own hardened cock. Adrian dropped his hands down, following the contours of Chandler’s pectorals, down to the ripples of his abs, until he reached his target. He wrapped his fingers around him, gripping his solid girth tightly. He stroked him as he pressed his face into Chandler’s neck, kissing and sucking him there. Chandler tilted his head to the side to give him better access, and reached behind him to pull Adrian even closer to him, grabbing a handful of his ass.