Chapter 5
Mitch
Mitch walked out of the bathroom quietly. Byron was still in bed, which never happened. His Daddy was always the first one awake. Byron usually started coffee and sometimes breakfast before he came upstairs to wake Mitch. And give Mitch his morning spankings.
Mitch’s bladder had been insistent that morning, though. Too many cups of eggnog the night before. But now that he’d peed, Mitch was completely awake. And Byron wasn’t.
“It’s Christmas!” Mitch screeched as he ran toward the bed. He bounced onto the mattress just as Byron jerked away. Byron rolled to the side, out of bed, before landing on his feet.
Mitch continued to bounce on the bed. “Christmas, Daddy! Christmas!”
“What the fu—”
“Daddy!” Mitch stopped jumping. He placed his hands on his naked hips and frowned. “Bad word.”
Roughly running his hand over his face, Byron grunted. “Seriously?”
Mitch tilted his head to the side. “Christmas?”
Finally, Byron looked at him. “I’ll show you Christmas, boy.”
Mitch tried to evade Byron as he tackled Mitch to the mattress. His Daddy was fast. He tried squirming away, but Byron held Mitch down on his stomach.
“Look at this cute little bottom,” Byron said, rubbing his hand over Mitch’s ass. “I think it should be as red as Santa’s suit.”
Oh, Mitch could totally get behind that. Behind! He giggled. He was so funny.
Byron sat up, leaving his hand on Mitch’s lower back to hold him in place.
Mitch wiggled his ass. “I need extra Christmas spankings.”
“Extra spankings?” Byron asked. “Are you sure that’s what you want? You know how that makes you feel. What about your special breakfast and opening presents?”
“Extra spankings could be my first gift?” Mitch asked. He knew that Byron was trying to warn him that if he went into subspace, their morning would be delayed. His Daddy never cut the aftercare short. Not even for Christmas, it seemed.
“You know what?” Byron ran his hand over Mitch’s back and down to pat his butt. “You are the smartest boy in the whole world.”
Mitch rolled his head to the side so he could see Byron. “Really?”
“This is our day. Our Christmas morning. I’d like nothing better than to give my boy a good spanking then hold and love on you. We can have a late breakfast and have all day to open presents. We should do what we want.”
Mitch grinned. Byron was so good to him. It might be an unusual Christmas, far different from how his friends would be spending the morning.
“In fact, I happen to have your first gift right here and it’d be perfect for your special Christmas spanking.” Reaching under the bed, Byron pulled out a red-wrapped gift.
Knowing his Daddy, Mitch expected it to be anything from a butt plug to a notebook to use when he had to write lines as a punishment. His Daddy had a devious mind that Mitch loved.
“What is it?” Mitch questioned with enthusiasm.
“Guess you’ll have to open it and see.”
Mitch grabbed the gift. Huh, it was sort of heavy. So not a butt plug or notebook.
He ripped into the wrapping, revealing a white box, still not giving him any idea of what it could be.
He shook the box.
“If you just opened it, you would know what it is.”
Mitch shrugged. He was enjoying the guessing game.
Christmas had never been a big deal in his childhood home. He’d been expected to attend Christmas parties for his father’s clients and partners from the firm, but there’d been no early morning Christmas exchange.
The decorations had been done by a decorating company. The latest and most expensive to show off the expensive home. His father’s secretary had bought Mitch’s gifts when he was a child and, around the age of ten, he stopped getting presents all together.
It was depressing, but Mitch was over it. His father was in jail now. While Mitch was in bed with the man he loved, his father was alone in a cold cell.
“Hey.” Byron gripped Mitch’s knee. “You okay?”
Shaking his head, Mitch pushed his thoughts away. His father wouldn’t ruin anything else in Mitch’s life.
“Is it a new pair of undies?” he asked.
Byron grinned. “I don’t know, is it?”
Mitch was glad Byron played along and didn’t ask him where his thoughts had gone. Of course, Byron knew him so well, he probably already figured it out.
“A new paci?”
Byron groaned. “Open it.”
Laughing, Mitch pulled the top off the box before sucking in a sharp breath. He reached inside and lifted the object from the green tissue paper. As he lifted it out of the box, Byron moved the box off the bed.
“It’s so beautiful,” Mitch whispered.
The dark suede paddle was the prettiest instrument he’d ever seen. Mitch remembered admiring some on a website, but this one had his and Byron’s names burned into the handle. It was theirs specifically.
“Byron.” Mitch raised his eyes to peer at his Daddy. “I love it.”
Leaning forward, his Daddy kissed him long and deep. When he pulled back, Mitch saw love reflected back at him. “You want to try it out?”
He shivered. “So much.” Yeah, he was probably going to go into subspace. That white, floaty, peaceful place that only Byron could take him to.
“I have another surprise for you,” Byron told him.
“What?” Mitch was going to become as spoiled as his friends.
“We’re going to visit Cole, Stone, and Colin for New Years. We’ll spend the night bringing in the New Year at the club.”
Mitch looked down at his lap. “With my new paddle?”
“If you want.”
Mitch grinned. “Colin is going to be so jealous!”
“He probably will,” Byron agreed, before patting his lap. “Now assume the position, my boy.”
“Yes, Daddy.” Mitch scrambled to obey. He’d be a good boy for the day. It was Christmas, after all.
Once he was lying over Byron’s legs, Byron patted his bottom.
“Merry Christmas, Mitch,” Byron told him.
“Merry Christmas, Daddy. Love you,” Mitch said, right before the first strike landed.
* * *
Caleb
Caleb bounced on his toes and peeked around the corner. “Now?”
“Not yet,” Grant yelled back. “Patience, pretty baby.”
Caleb huffed. He’d been waiting forever.
Grant said he couldn’t go into the living room until he had checked to make sure that Santa had come.
Caleb was pretty sure that Grant had meant to get up earlier and prepare Caleb’s surprise, but Caleb woke up before his Daddy, excited for his first Christmas morning.
“Now?” Caleb called. He really, really, wanted to see his surprise.
“Would you like to skip the presents and spend time in the corner?” Grant warned.
Oh no, that wouldn’t be fun at all. “No, Daddy.”
“Then be good,” Grant reprimanded.
“Fine,” Caleb muttered under his breath. He dropped down onto the soft carpet, immediately getting trampled on by his fur babies. His Daddy wouldn’t even let the babies in the living room with him.
The waiting was killing him, so he gave out kisses and belly rubs so he wouldn’t annoy his Daddy.
Caleb had already gotten so much from his friends the night before he couldn’t imagine what was left.
His Daddy always gave him the best presents, so Caleb knew it was going to be good.
He heard Grant grunt, then footsteps headed in his direction.
Caleb glanced up as Grant came around the corner.
“Ready?” Grant asked.
“Up!” Caleb held up his arms.
Bending at the waist, Grant lifted Caleb off the ground. Instead of carrying him, Grant gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before placing him on his feet.
“I think it will be better if you walk,” Grant told him.
Caleb shrugged. “Okay.”
Taking his hand, Grant led him around the corner and into the living room. The furniture had been pushed to the wall…and a giant ball pit had been set up.
“What! I…Yes!” Caleb screeched as he ran across the living room, up the plastic side, before diving into the ball pit. He swam around in the balls, laughing until he was almost crying before peeking over the edge. “You rented me a ball pit?”
“No, I bought you a ball pit. After the snow melts, it can go in the backyard, but I thought for a few days we could leave it in here. That way you didn’t have to wait to use it.”
“You’re the best Daddy ever!” Caleb exclaimed.
“I’m glad you think so.” Grant was smiling back, and he looked so proud of himself.
Caleb had to admit that it was a pretty awesome gift. So awesome that Grant deserved a kiss. Climbing out of the pit wasn’t as easy as Caleb expected. Tripping and stumbling several times, Caleb was grateful when Grant reached in and lifted him up.
“My hero!” Caleb announced before placing a sloppy kiss on Grant’s cheek.
That was when he saw another present.
“Put me down! Put me down!” he yelled.
Instead, Grant tightened his hold. “Why?”
“Daddy! Daddy!”
“Yes, pretty baby?”
Caleb wiggled and kicked his feet. He had to get to it. He had to. “Daddy!”
Finally, Grant set him on his feet and Caleb was running again. He dove and landed safely in a huge unicorn bean bag chair.
“Careful, boy,” Grant told him. “You don’t want to break it. Those little beans would be a bitch to clean up.”
Nodding, Caleb barely listened. He squished his butt around, finding the perfect position. That was the bestest chair in the whole wide world. A unicorn bean bag chair! Who thought of such things?
“Can I open my presents from here, pretty please, Daddy?” Caleb asked sweetly.
“Of course you can. But remember after presents and breakfast we’re heading straight to Avery’s to drop off his special gift.”
“I remember, Daddy.”
Avery was his best friend in the whole world after Grant. The special gift that Jace had gotten him was so great. Caleb knew that Avery was going to lose his mind. And he was so happy he had a part in bringing the joy to Avery.
“Now, what present should we open first?” Grant asked, walking over to the tree.
The number of gifts were ridiculous. Caleb hadn’t seen so many presents until they’d gone to Hayley’s the night before. It seemed like his Daddy wasn’t the only one trying to make up for past Christmases for their boy. Each one of them was going to be truly spoiled that day.
Grant picked up a stack of gifts before walking over.