Chapter 2 #2
Hayley fidgeted in the chair. This had to be bad. Mac wracked his brains, trying to figure out what could have upset his boy. They’d had a quiet evening at home. The store was doing well. Hayley had his brother there, although he probably missed his parents.
“Well, you see—” Jayme started.
“No, Jayme,” Mac said kindly. Mac liked the spunky kid, but he needed to hear whatever the news was from his own boy. “Hayley?”
“It’s not my fault!” Hayley wailed.
Fuck this shit. Mac pushed his chair farther from the table before he picked up his boy and deposited Hayley on his lap. Mac gently grasped Hayley’s chin and made him look Mac in the eye. “What’s not your fault?”
Hayley took a deep breath. “I was talking to my mom. She was saying how sad she was that me and Jayme weren’t coming home for Christmas. And we were talking and talking and somehow by the end of the conversation, she was making plans to come here.”
It took a minute to process everything that Hayley said as his boy spoke so quickly. Finally, it dawned on him. “Here? They’re coming here?”
Hayley nodded.
“Who.”
“Everyone,” Hayley said so softly that it was hard to hear.
“Everyone,” Mac repeated.
“Yes. My mom and dad. And all my brothers.”
“Are coming here?” Mac said again.
“The day after Christmas,” Hayley told him.
Mac’s vision blurred and he couldn’t catch his breath. He knew he’d have to meet Hayley’s family eventually, but he wasn’t ready. He needed lessons in manners or something. He needed… Fuck! He didn’t know what he needed but he wasn’t ready!
“Breathe!” Hayley shouted in his face. “Mac, breathe!”
Mac lifted his head. Hayley’s face swam in front of his eyes. What the fuck? Hayley pressed his lips to Mac’s and Mac gasped into his boy’s mouth. Had he been holding his breath? Hayley’s insistent tongue prodded Mac’s mouth. Mac opened and Hayley deepened the kiss.
Well hell, Mac could deal with Hayley’s family. As long as he had his sweet boy in his arms, he could deal with anything. Help though, he needed help. Maybe he could steal Mitch for a few days. Okay, not steal. And not kidnap. Just borrow his friend. Surely Byron would understand.
He’d have to worry about that later, though. With Hayley beginning to hump against him, Mac could only concentrate on one important thing at a time.
* * *
Jace
Jace set the bowl of homemade soup in front of Avery before tapping his boy’s shoulder. Avery finally managed to tear his gaze from the bay window in the breakfast nook to pay attention to him.
“I know you’re excited about the snow, but you need to eat.”
“Sorry, Daddy,” Avery said quietly. He picked up his spoon and dipped it into the bowl.
Jace turned to grab their drinks. He sighed when he returned to the table to see Avery staring back out of the window again.
“Avery.”
Avery peered up at him. “It looks so cold. Do you think the dogs are all right? Maybe I should have gone to work even though they gave me the week off?”
“Don’t the dogs live in a temperature-controlled building? And someone stays with them?” Jace asked, although he already knew the answer.
Avery nodded.
Jace crouched down next to Avery’s chair.
“I know how much you love the dogs,” Jace said gently, “but the others love them too. They’ll be okay.
I promise.” Jace was terrified of Avery’s reaction once the first dog got placed.
In his head, Avery knew he was training dogs to become companions and helpers for veterans that needed them.
But letting the dogs go was going to be hard on his boy.
Jace hoped that Avery’s special Christmas present helped the transition some.
Avery smiled. “I’m being silly.”
“No,” Jace corrected. “You’re being your regular sweet self. Your kind heart was why I fell in love with you.”
“I love you too.” His stomach growled and Avery giggled. “Hungry.”
“I know you are.” Jace straightened Avery’s bib. “Eat up. If you’re a really good boy, maybe you can play in the snow a little while before your nap.”
That perked his boy up.
“Really? I can play in the snow?”
Jace took his own seat. The chicken and rice soup he’d made smelled fantastic, if he did say so himself. It was also one of Avery’s favorite soups. “As much as you like to play in your sandbox, I bet you’ll be really good at building a snowman.”
Biting his lip, Avery looked at him. “I’ve never built a snowman before. I might not be very good at it.”
“Nonsense,” Jace said. “I know my boy.” He picked up his spoon, hoping that Avery would follow suit. Not that Jace would mind feeding his boy if it came to that. Almost a year had gone by since the first time he’d brought Avery home.
Jace had been watching Avery for months before the night he’d finally brought Avery where he belonged. He hadn’t been sure Avery needed what Jace had to offer. Now, looking back, it was glaringly obvious that they were a perfect match.
Avery’s sweet nature had been tested. The struggling he’d done hadn’t made him bitter or angry.
Instead, Avery was the kindest and gentlest soul Jace had ever met.
Jace got to take care of Avery and make certain that his boy remained innocent.
Plus, Jace finally found the fulfillment he’d spent his life searching for.
Jace had always been attracted to men who’d been submissive and needed him.
He needed to be needed. But while he’d found partners for a night or two, boys who wanted to submit, it had been the connection that had always been missing. Until the first time Jace had seen Avery in that small coffee shop.
Slurping drew Jace’s attention to his boy and out of his own thoughts. Avery was eating quickly. Jace guessed the promise of making a snowman was enough to finally motivate his boy. Jace had the entire day planned.
After lunch, he’d take Avery outside to play in the snow before giving his boy a warm bubble bath then letting him color or play before they settled down to watch a movie while cuddling on the couch. This week off for the both of them was just what they needed.
Avery scraped his spoon against his plastic bowl. “All done, Daddy!” He held his bowl up proudly.
“Good job,” Jace praised. “Finish your water and when we come back inside, you can have some hot cocoa.”
As Avery picked up his yellow sippy cup, Jace knew he didn’t have much time to finish his own lunch. He quickly ate the remainder of his soup just as Avery set his cup down.
“Run upstairs and wait for me in the nursery,” Jace told Avery.
Avery didn’t wait for Jace to finish his sentence before he pushed back his chair and raced from the room. Jace took his time cleaning up their mess and making sure the hot cocoa was ready to heat up before he followed his boy up the stairs.
When he walked into the nursery, Avery was on the floor, wrapping some of his stuffies up in blankets.
“Are they cold?” Jace asked. He knelt beside his boy.
“Yes, Daddy,” Avery answered sweetly. “They don’t want to play outside. They’re ready for a nap. But they said I could still go.”
“That’s nice of them,” Jace responded. “Do you want me to help you tuck them into bed?”
“Please.” Avery handed him Buster Brown and Albert the Eagle.
Jace rose and took his two charges to the daybed against the wall. Avery slept with him in the king-size bed in their master bedroom at night, but he still preferred to take his naps in the nursery.
Avery walked over and the two of them tucked in five of Avery’s favorite stuffed animals.
“I don’t know if they’ll be enough room for you,” Jace teased.
Avery giggled. “They like to cuddle. They won’t mind when I join them.” He patted Jared the giraffe’s head before spinning around to face Jace.
“Snow?”
“Do you need to be changed? You don’t want to go outside with a wet diaper.”
“Oh yeah.” Avery ran over to the changing table, but he couldn’t seem to stand still.
“Come here, baby.” Jace lifted Avery up and set him down. “Fresh diaper and warm clothes then we’ll go outside.”
“I’m going to build the bestest snowman ever!”
Jace smiled down at his boy. “I’m sure that’s very true.”
* * *
Byron
Byron laughed at the snowman he and his boy had built. The damn thing was tilting to one side and was way too slender. Not that Mitch seemed to mind as he wrapped a scarf around the snowman’s neck.
Backing up, Byron moved out of view and bent down.
He quickly made snowballs as Mitch was preoccupied.
A good old-fashioned snowball fight would be the perfect way to finish their afternoon.
Then they could go inside and cuddle in front of the fire.
Byron waited until Mitch stepped away from the snowman before he pelted him with a snowball.
Mitch spun so quickly he almost toppled over.
“Daddy!” Mitch yelled.
“Yes, sweetie?” Byron replied innocently, one hand behind his back, holding another snowball.
“Did you throw a snowball at me?”
“Of course not,” Byron lied. “That would be mean.”
“It would,” Mitch agreed. He stalked forward. “If you had thrown one, I—”