Little Bedtime Snack (The Lactin Brotherhood)

14. Mason

14

MASON

Seeing Eli wearing himself out to the point of exhaustion while I was a thousand miles away was crushing me. I knew why he had been holding back letting me know how bad it was, not wanting me to worry. What would be the point, practically speaking. From where I was, I couldn’t really do much to help him.

Understanding his reasons and liking them were two very different things. I wanted him to come to me no matter what and was glad when he finally did. I told him as much, and he promised to try and be better about it. It wasn’t like I was one to talk. There had been times I hadn’t been as open with him as I should’ve been. This kind of love was new to me. It wasn’t me enjoying spending time together with a like-minded man. No, this was a relationship, one I wanted to last forever.

When I got the idea to fly him out here, I called Jeb first to make sure that it was doable. His bestie was the reason I met Eli in the first place, and since they worked together, he had the intel I needed. Their work wasn’t what you’d call overly employee-friendly, and I didn’t want to put Eli in a position where I was asking him to choose me over work—which I had inadvertently done when I invited him on my trip.

But also, it was either I cut my time here short and messed up some very big deals to go and take care of him, or I flew him here, gave him a fun adventure, and took care of him here. Obviously, I liked one of the options much better, but if it meant risking his job, I’d take the other without a shred of disappointment. My goal was to be there for Eli, whatever that looked like.

Jeb surprised me by letting me know that it was his day off and that he would gladly help cover his shift. He, too, was an adorable Little. I was hoping he was going to find a Daddy of his own soon. The two of them were great friends, and it would be nice for him to find what he wanted in life.

In between meetings, I drove to the airport and waited at the door to baggage claim for Eli to walk out. Every time the door swished open and a new group came through, I looked eagerly for him.

And then finally, there he was.

I saw him before he saw me, and I got to witness the exact moment he realized I was there. His face lit up, and, carry-on in hand, he started to run in my direction, dropping it and throwing his arms around me.

“I missed you so much.” He hugged me so tightly.

“I missed you too, sweet boy. I missed you too.” More than words could describe.

The ride back to the hotel was short, and he spent it telling me all about his travels—about how he kept his bunny in his hoodie pocket the entire time, how the person next to him said he reminded her of her grandson, and how he learned far more about said grandson than he knew about some of his own friends.

But in between talking points, he yawned.

My sweet boy was exhausted.

I’d already checked into a new room, getting us a suite with a nice bath, a place where we could dine if we chose to stay in, and an amazing view of the city. My boy deserved to be pampered.

“I’ve never been in a place like this,” he said, twirling around, taking it all in. “Wow.”

“I thought you’d like it.”

“When do you have your meeting?”

I looked down at my watch. It was soon—and it wasn’t going to happen. Now that he was here and I saw firsthand how badly he needed sleep, that was my priority.

Before I set my phone down for the afternoon, I texted my apologies, telling them I was stuck in another meeting and would see them at dinner. Then I did something I rarely did to my boy: I lied.

“Tomorrow, sweet boy, and I don’t have to be anywhere else today until happy hour.”

“Did you want to go someplace?”

Did I, yes, but not yet. Eli needed to be taken care of first. I didn’t bring him all this way to make him more tired.

“Nope. You, my darling boy, need a nap and a shower.”

He scrunched up his nose. “The lady next to me bathed in perfume before she got on.”

“How about this? I do one better than a shower. How about a bath?”

“I love baths.”

I began to fill the tub and helped him get set up in the room, placing his suitcase on the stand for easy access. They even had some bath bombs that made the water all fizzy and blue. Inside was a little rubber ducky, making it extra adorable. I wouldn’t exactly call it a bath toy, but it was something to play with.

I got him undressed and helped him into the hot water.

“Are you coming in with me, Daddy?”

I hadn’t been planning on it, instead hoping to pamper him. But I couldn’t say no to my sweet boy, so I got undressed and climbed in.

As much as I wanted him to be able to relax in the hot water, he did need a good scrubbing. The perfume scent had saturated his clothing.

I started by washing his hair and his body, and then we played a silly game of Make the Duck Go. The entire time, he kept starting to close his eyes, catching himself before he fully drifted off.

“It’s nap time,” I announced.

I didn’t waste time getting him out of the water and dried off before leading him to bed and covering him up in the warm blankets.

“Is it your happy hour now?”

“No, not yet.”

“Can I have milkies then, before I go to sleep?”

“Of course.” I climbed into bed beside him, and he latched on, sucking greedily for a couple of seconds before almost instantly dozing off.

He slept in that position until my phone alarm went off, letting me know it was time to get ready to go.

“Daddy has to get ready to go to happy hour. Did you want to come with me?”

He looked up at me sleepily. “To a work function?”

“Yeah. What do you think?”

“Am I allowed?” The fact that he asked made me grumpy about his past relationships. Who was with such a wonderful man only to keep him in private?

“Of course you are. You can be my date.”

His eyes went wide, his smile wider. “I could be your date for work?”

“You can be my date for every occasion.”

I pressed a sweet kiss to his lips. “I love you, Eli. And having you on my arm makes me the happiest Daddy there is.”

“I love you too, Mason.” He hugged me tight. “Help me pick out an outfit for the event?”

“Absolutely.”

An hour later, I walked into the bar with him on my arm. I got a couple of knowing looks from people who knew me best. They understood why I missed the meeting, and not a single one of them looked upset about it.

Everyone he met at the function liked Eli. It was impossible not to.

And by all accounts, the event was a success. There were even some soft closes on a few contracts I’d been working on. And then, as people moved on to go to dinner, we bid our goodbyes.

I brought him back to our room, where I had a wonderful steak dinner set up for us so we could have our date night, just the two of us, to make up for all the lost time from the week.