Chapter 1
Avery
“Baby, you have to stop bouncing around and help me pack up the car.”
“Daddy! I buckled Jared and Buster Brown in the backseat. Can Albert sit up front with me?” Avery hollered. Jace was in the cargo area, making sure all their camping equipment fit. Buckling in his stuffies was helping. Sort of.
“Yes, he can sit up front with you,” Jace responded. “Grab the backpacks by the door, please.”
“K!” Avery raced back to the house. He was excited and a little scared to be going camping for the long weekend.
Okay, he was trying to convince himself he wasn’t mostly scared.
But his friends were coming too. Avery had to be a big boy and not show that he was afraid.
It was gonna be a blast, he told himself again.
It’s just that he’d never been camping before.
There were lots of things that he hadn’t done before. With Jace, he got the chance to try so many new things. And having his best friends with him would make it even better. He could do this. He stared around the living room, already forgetting what he’d been sent inside for.
In his safe space with his Daddy, Avery was able to be as little as he needed. Jace never seemed to mind that Avery regressed often. Like really-really often. Neither did his friends, actually. No one judged him. Avery had an inner circle who understood the feelings inside him.
And they were going away for a long weekend.
All together, Daddies and boys, friends.
The trip had been Grant’s idea.
Grant had been trying to talk Caleb into going camping for months.
Caleb wasn’t big on sleeping outside in a tent or that was what he’d shared with Avery.
When Avery had said that he’d never been camping and he wouldn’t mind sleeping in a tent, the idea had taken root, and all the Daddies had been on board.
Which had sounded like a good idea at the time.
Until Avery made the mistake of looking up local wildlife and found out that there were bears close by. Bears! Like scary bears with big teeth and claws. Avery had been hoping to see small cute animals or birds. Not bears! He hadn’t wanted to go camping after that.
All his friends were going though, and Avery didn’t want to be left out. So, he was going to go camping. And have fun. And not get eaten by bears.
“Boy?” Jace called. “Where’d you go? Don’t you see the backpacks?”
Oh, he’d gotten distracted again. Backpacks!
That was what he’d come inside for. “Coming!” he yelled.
He grabbed both backpacks before hurrying outside again.
Avery hoped that Jace didn’t forget anything.
His Daddy was good about remembering everything Avery would need but they’d never been camping together before either.
Avery slowed down when he reached the back of the SUV. “Here, Daddy.”
“Thank you, baby boy.” Jace took the backpacks and neatly lined them in the back.
That didn’t look like nearly enough stuff.
“Hey, baby.” Sitting in the cargo area, Jace pulled Avery to him. “What’s wrong?”
Avery bit his lip. He might be his Daddy’s baby boy, but he didn’t want to come off as a baby-baby.
“Avery, tell me what’s wrong.”
Avery ran his fingers over Jace’s soft shirt. He liked his Daddy in jeans and a T-shirt the most. Jace looked handsome in his suits but a relaxed Daddy was much better. But he needed to stop getting distracted. “Are you sure you didn’t forget anything?” he asked quietly.
“We made a list that we both went through last night. We double-checked the bags this morning. We aren’t going to forget anything. Plus, we’ll have Grant, Caleb, Byron, and Mitch there. Between all of us, we’re going to be fine.”
“And no bears?”
“Well, I can’t promise that we won’t see any bears. But remember what Grant said? How to avoid them?”
Avery nodded.
“Baby, I just want you to have a good time. You worked hard in school last semester. You’ve almost finished all of your qualifications for the volunteer job. This is three days of having fun with our friends. That’s all. Nothing to worry about.”
Avery knew that. And when they got on the road, he’d feel better. It was the waiting. The waiting always got to him. “I’m sorry. I really do want to go.”
“Do you want to get settled in your seat? Make sure that Albert is comfortable?”
“But Mitch is coming! I want to see him.”
Jace checked his watch. “They should be here any minute. Byron already texted that they left his house.”
“I can’t believe they’re going to ride the whole way on a motorcycle. You can’t nap on the back of a motorcycle.” Road trip naps were great. When you went to sleep you were in one place and then you woke up and you could be in a different state. Awesome.
His Daddy chuckled. “I agree about the car. Although I don’t seem to manage a nap during our road trips.”
Avery grinned. They’d only gone on day trips up to that point, but Avery always got at least one small nap in. He loved naps. “That’s because you’re the Daddy,” he said sassily. “Boys get to have all the fun.”
“Oh yeah?” Jace growled before picking Avery up and swinging him around.
“No!” Avery shouted as Jace tickled him. “No!”
Jace didn’t stop though. He dropped to his knees in the grass before laying Avery down. Then Avery was rolling around in the grass, getting dirty and sweaty as Jace kept tickling him.
“Daddy, stop! Daddy! I can’t breathe.”
“Obviously you can breathe just fine if you’re talking to me.”
“Daddy!” Avery whined.
Jace laughed evilly, wiggling his fingers.
Just then the sound of a motorcycle pulling up caught his Daddy’s attention.
Avery wiggled out from under Jace as his Daddy looked toward the driveway. He brushed the grass off his shorts and T-shirt, frowning.
“Interrupting playtime?” Byron teased after he cut the engine.
Avery scowled. “Gonna be itchy now.”
Jace merely chuckled while shaking his head. “Don’t complain, boy. You have a long ride with me in the car.”
“Yes, Daddy.” Avery scrunched up his nose. He was so going to get his Daddy back. But he’d just look cute and innocent until then. Caleb had been trying to school Avery on being a little bratty. Avery just wasn’t very good at it.
“I know that look, boy.” Jace pointed a finger at him. “Don’t get any ideas.”
“Who, me?” Avery batted his eyes. He spotted movement and saw Mitch getting off the back of the bike. “Mitch!”
Mitch’s Daddy removed Mitch’s helmet for him. That was kind of cute. Byron loved Mitch just as much as Jace loved him.
“Hey, Avery,” Mitch greeted. “Are you ready to go camping?”
Avery shrugged. “I guess.” Now he was nervous again. He wanted to be excited again. Couldn’t they just get on the road already?
“I have something for you,” Mitch told him. Mitch turned to Byron and Byron nodded.
“For me?” Avery ran over. “Is it a present? It’s not my birthday.”
“No, but I wanted to keep our tradition going.”
“Tradition?” Avery didn’t know what Mitch was talking about.
Byron pulled out a plastic bag and handed it to Mitch.
“You totally need a camping companion,” Mitch announced.
“A…” Avery started but stopped and stared as Mitch pulled out a bear stuffie. He blinked at it before looking at Mitch. “For me?”
“He’s a black bear,” Mitch said. “I read that black bears don’t have to be black though. They can be brown or cinnamon. This guy is going to go camping with you. To protect you from the other bears.”
Avery danced in place. He loved stuffies! He wanted to hold it. He wanted it so bad. But grabbing it would be bad.
“Do you like him?” Mitch held out his bear.
“Yes!” Avery grabbed the bear before he launched himself at Mitch. Mitch wasn’t like his Daddy though. Instead of catching him as Jace would, he and Mitch fell, in a tangle of arms and legs.
Laughing, Avery clutched his bear. “Daddy, I’m ready to go camping now.”
Jace and Byron were both laughing hard. Avery grinned. This was going to be an awesome trip. And look at that, he was excited again!
* * *
Caleb
Caleb waited until Grant buckled him into the front seat of the jeep before he peered up at his Daddy. The camping trip had been Grant’s idea. Caleb didn’t want to ruin his Daddy’s fun, but he was not looking forward to sleeping in a freaking tent.
“We don’t have to go,” Grant told him.
“I want to go,” Caleb lied.
Grant shook his head. “Really, boy. It was just a thought. I had no idea that the others would run with it and make it into this big thing.”
If he had to be stuck out in the middle of the woods, Caleb would prefer to have all his friends along. Still, he just knew that if anyone screwed up this trip, it was going to be him.
Caleb wasn’t an outdoorsy person. He liked lace and silk. Not dirt and trees. What was Grant thinking? Caleb couldn’t do this.
“Sweetheart.” Grant cupped his face. “I am not going to take you somewhere you’ll be miserable.”
“I want to go,” Caleb repeated. This time he sounded more convincing. He hoped. “I want to do this for you. I’m just afraid that I’m going to screw something up.” Caleb took a deep breath. “I always do.”
“Hey!” Grant gripped his chin. “I will not have you talking that way. You are a wonderful person. A perfect partner. You aren’t going to screw anything up.”
“I’m sorry.” Caleb felt worse now. He wasn’t supposed to have those thoughts any longer.
His life was near perfect. He had his partner, his Daddy, and the fur babies.
He was spending more time at the shelter in town and had already helped them raise three times the funds as the last two years combined.
And he had friends. Real, true friends, like he hadn’t ever had before.
Those that loved him and accepted and supported him. Caleb needed to remember that.
“Don’t be sorry, baby,” Grant said gently. “Just try to see yourself how I see you. I love you so much. I’m so proud that I get to introduce you as my partner.”
“You always believe in me.”
“And I always will,” Grant told him. He pressed a sweet kiss to Caleb’s lips. “Now, all you have to tell me is that you don’t want to go. That’ll be the end of it. And I know our friends won’t be mad either.”