Chapter 15
(Gage)
Glittery Gingerbread Explosion
“For the last time, I swear to you, we did not buy every gingerbread themed thing in the store,” Gage insisted, chuckling as Cooper helped Zachy bring the last of the decorations in from the garage.
They were just completing their fifth trip and damn, had they really bought that much? Gage could have sworn the bags had multiplied since they’d loaded them in the car. No way they’d fit all of this in his fuckin’ Chrysler.
Well, they had tied the tree box to the roof. And used bungee cords to keep the trunk closed enough to be safe to drive it.
Okay, so maybe they’d gone just a smidge overboard.
“Fine, then at least admit to buying one of everything.”
Sputtering, Gage started to protest, until the words died on his lip.
“Uh-huh, you did, didn’t you. I knew it.”
“We may have fallen in love with the theme.”
“Wait until you see the gingerbread kits we get to put together tomorrow,” Zachy said as he started peering into the bags and taking select pieces out.
Ahh, yes, the window clings.
“Let’s start with these,” Zachy said as he started dividing them out between them.
“Uhhh, which windows are fair game?” Cooper asked.
“All of them,” Gage assured him.
After they’d gotten him settled down, he’d admitted to being blown away by the fact that they’d waited to decorate until he could be there, especially when it wasn’t even his house.
Yours, mine, ours, does it really matter, Gage had asked him, pleased when after a little bit of thought Cooper had shaken his head no. They’d finished what cookies didn’t fall prey to their little cookie monster who’d somehow wound up with a little dot of frosting on the tip of his nose that neither he, nor Cooper had been willing to tell him about until they’d taken several pictures.
Learning a bit about Cooper’s past and the parallels it ran with Gage’s own, he could fully appreciate what it had taken for Cooper to ask him to help him be the kind of Daddy Zachy needed. As far as Gage was concerned, he’d taken the biggest step when he’d gotten Zachy’s stuffie back. Righting that wrong and realizing that all his boy had wanted was his Daddy to defend and protect him was one of the most important parts of being a Daddy. Gage had made sure to tell him all of that too, while Zachy, sweet, sweet Zachy, had promised to call him Daddy again just as soon as Cooper was ready for him too.
It felt damn good to have men in his life that he could share the different parts of himself with. As they began placing the clings, he snapped off a few pictures on his phone, then jumped in to join them.
Not only had the gingerbread houses and decorations been colorfully adorned, but the vast majority of them had been dusted with glitter too, a fact that had pleased his boy to no end. If it shimmered, twinkled, or glimmered when the lights hit it, Zachy had snatched it up, but the colors and themes had come together so clearly as they’d been adding thing to the cart, that Gage had been able to picture the way the house would look by the time they got everything up.
Like a home.
They’d be sweeping glitter from between the floor tiles for the next century and yet he’d never felt such joy. Hell, after Adrian Lee’s passing and the decimation of his band, Gage hadn’t been certain that he’d ever be able to feel joy again.
Until Zachy.
That he’d brought him Cooper was better than any five-figure bonus check and he’d seen more than a few of them over the course of his career.
With carols playing in the background, they soon filled the place with garland, lights, bobbles and ornaments, until all the bags lay empty and Zachy started gathering them up to put in the recycling bin.
“I think it’s time for some more of that laced cocoa, don’t you think?” Gage offered.
“Hell yeah.”
“I’ll be right back.”
“Thanks.”
“Thank me by joining me for football this Sunday. I’ve missed seeing the look on your face when your team goes down in flames.”
“If they play any worse, I’m putting my jerseys away for the season,” Cooper said.
“It’s beyond sad at this point and a mile past pitiful,” Gage said, rubbing just enough salt in the wound to bring a smile to Cooper’s face.
“One of these days you’re gonna tell me where you get all of the shit you say.”
“Twenty-five years on the road, it’s as simple as that.”
“Damn.”
He left Cooper to think on that while he made three new mugs of cocoa and found Zachy seated in the easy chair across from the couch, legs crossed with his elbows resting on his knees. How he could sit like that, and why, when the damn chair reclined, was beyond him, but Zachy sure looked comfortable.
Gage sat on the couch beside Cooper, resting a hand on his knee, occasionally squeezing a little.
“Are those little Butterfinger bits you sprinkled on this time.”
“Yup. It’s Butterfinger cocoa too, I forgot I’d hidden that one away.”
“Well, I’m glad you remembered, this is amazing.”
“We um, had something we wanted to talk to you about,” Zachy said, squirming and shrugging. “Well, actually, I do, it’s about my job.”
“Okay,” Cooper said, the wariness evident in his voice.
Zachy took a big breath and let it out with a bigger woosh. “So, the reason I don’t tell you anything about what I do is that I’m not allowed to. We had to sign these non-disclosure clauses that I can’t break. All I can tell you is that I play a character on a show and sometimes it’s hard and it sucks because I’m the bad guy and it makes me really sad sometimes. I don’t get to play and do a lot of the stuff the other characters do so when I got on the ship and finally had the chance to do stuff, I wanted to do everything all at once, as loud and as free to be me as I’d ever wanted to be. I couldn’t explain it, not just because of the clause but because I didn’t realize how much I hated being excluded and how hard it had become to like my job until I realized everything I missed out on. It wasn’t fair to you that you didn’t know what was going on and wound up feeling like you weren’t a good Daddy because I couldn’t slow down and focus. I wish I could have explained what I was feeling before I did things I shouldn’t have.”
“I think we can agree that we both made some mistakes,” Cooper admitted. “I wanted you to act a certain way because I was afraid of how your behavior was making me look. I didn’t give enough thought to why you might have been acting that way. That wasn’t fair to you. I’m going to do better, and not just when you’re little either.”
“You were always good to me when I wasn’t being a brat.”
“No I wasn’t. I could have kept up our nightly stories. I could have done more things with you when we got back, instead of less and creating distance between us that I know you didn’t want. I could have listened to the suggestions that others were trying to give me when they’d watch us at the club. I could have made better choices, asked more questions, and helped you find a way that you could explain what was going on to me.”
This was the conversation that they’d needed to have so he remained silent beside Cooper, alternating between rubbing his thigh and gently squeezing his knee. That he couldn’t be too upset about Cooper’s failures because of the way they had brought the two men into his life, was something he doubted he’d ever admit to them.
“We get to figure it all out together now, with Daddy to guide us.”
“You’re damn right we do,” Cooper said. “I love getting to come here and spend time with the two of you. Whether you’re big, or you’re little, you’re my Zachy, and I have hated how much time with you guys that my job has been costing me. They’ve made me co-project manager and once we make the final deadline of the year, it’s going to be my mission to see to it that our team reduces their hours before every last one of us winds up alone, divorced, and suffering from terminal burnout, which is where all of us are heading now.”
“You’re not gonna wind up alone because you have us,” Zachy said, firm words and fierce scowl making him look like a rather determined little imp.
Gage grinned at that, loving the little bursts of fire in his boy. The way Zachy had advocated for himself and a change in direction for the show made him a proud Daddy indeed, as did knowing that he’d helped Zachy tap into the courage that had always been inside of him. He’d just needed someone to remind him of how special he was.
Having learned how much his boy missed his Gram and Father had left him hoping that he could find a way for him to see them soon. His boy needed them and reassurances that he wasn’t alone in the world. The show had really battered his spirit, and Gage knew it would take time to build it back up again.
With their conversation rolling along smoothly, he slipped away to stash the rest of the gifts that had been delivered that afternoon. He was running out of places to hide them, which meant he was going to have to be pretty damned creative when it came to keeping Zachy occupied so his boy didn’t go crawling around poking into things and actually find something he wasn’t meant to see.
Like the costume Gage had picked up so he could pass out the gifts, in character, giving Zachy the chance to be on the other side of the fur for once. By the time he finished and snagged another cookie, the conversation in the living room had shifted onto a subject Gage had been curious about ever since it had come up in a conversation with Cooper one night.
“Who looks to hire for anything during that time of year?” Cooper asked as Gage leaned in the doorway.
“A company that suddenly found itself with a very empty time slot,” Zachy explained. “I was supposed to reach the city on the sixteenth, but they canceled and then reissued my ticket, which meant I couldn’t leave until the eighteenth. That would have been okay too, only the bus route took me through Montana, where it was snowing buckets. The eastbound route was shut down because of it, so when we got to Billings, we got stuck. A rockslide shut down the west bound route a few hours later, so the next bus got stuck there too. Where the bus station is there’s literally nothing, not even a place to get food, let alone a hotel. We gutted the vending machines before we were finally able to roll out of there on the twentieth. A few of my transfers had changed, along with a portion of the route. So, I got to the city on Christmas Eve, got a cab, and dragged all my boxes and suitcases into my apartment,” Zachy explained. “I didn’t even have a chance to get furniture until stores started opening up again after Christmas.”
In three long strides Gage crossed the room and plucked his boy up out of the chair and right into a tight hug that was mirrored on the other side by Cooper as they squished their boy between them.
“You will never spend Christmas alone like that again!” Gage growled; his sentiments echoed by Cooper.
“Tell me you at least had heat in that place?” Cooper asked.
“Yeah, and a couple blankets and an Afghan my Gram had packed for me,” Zacky explained. “They were comfortable enough until I could get a bed and a lecture from my Gram about not letting her and her friend pick me up and drive me across the country in their RV the way they wanted to.”
“And why didn’t you?” Gage asked.
“I thought the time on the bus would give me a chance to get used to moving out,” Zachy explained. “I’d just graduated high school; I’d never been anywhere without them. One or both went to every drama club activity I ever attended. Gram was always up to being a chaperone. I guess I was kinda sheltered and yet I’d gotten this awesome, amazing job that there was no way I was gonna turn down. Even when it meant that I’d have to leave them.”
“And you were afraid that if you let her see you to the door, it would be more jarring to say goodbye and be in your own place alone,” Cooper filled in, his hand brushing against Gage’s as they both tried to stroke his hair.
“Yeah.”
“That was such a brave thing you did,” Gage told him. “Far braver than I was. I didn’t leave home alone. I left with some buddies. We stayed together for over a year before the first guy broke off to do his own thing. Me and the other buddy kicked it around for a little while longer before we took jobs that sent us in opposite directions.”
“Do you still talk?”
“Sometimes too much. He’d the biggest damned gossip I’ve ever met, which is saying something with how many dirt rag reporters and shit stirrers I’ve met over the years. He’s a good guy, and you’ll get to meet him come spring when the band he plays with rolls through here. You’ll get to go to the show too, if you want. He always hooks me up with tickets whenever we’re in the same area.”
“Which band does he play in?”
“Blissfully Immune.”
“Holy shit I love them!” Zachy squealed, wiggling between them.
Had that really just come out of his sweet boy’s mouth? Cooper looked just as surprise, their eyes meeting over Zachy’s shoulder.
“Should sweet boys be cursing?” Gage asked.
Zachy’s cheeks pinked up as he shook his head. “No, Daddy.”
“So, what do you owe Daddy?”
“A dollar for the swear jar,” Zachy replied sweetly. “Yey, more dollars for the awesome prize at the end!”
For the second time in, well, seconds, Gage found himself struggling with how to respond to Zachy. “Have you and your little friends decided to make a game of adding to the swear jar?”
Zachy squirmed a little more, like he was trying to wiggle out from in between them.
“Mmmaybe,” Zacky hedged, until Cooper started tickling him. “Okay, okay, not maybe! Not maybe!”
“I guess Mimzy, Hank and I will just have to put our heads together to think of a more interesting punishment for cursing. Hmmm, I know. For every curse word you utter you get to warm Daddy’s cock for an hour.”
Zachy, his sly, sassy boy with a deviously wicked side, looked positively thoughtful as he looked from him to Cooper and back again.
“Is that supposed to discourage me from cussing or encourage me to curse more?” Zachy asked in that syrupy sweet tone of his.
“You know what, in this instance, either one you pick will be perfectly fine with me,” Gage admitted.
“I’d be thrilled to have a firsthand view of him on your cock that way,” Cooper declared.
“You’re not the only one,” Gage said. “I’ll put the dollars in the jar myself if it means he takes the other punishment instead.”
“I get to choose?” Zacky said, grinning up at him.
“Yup.”
“Ohh, that’s hard,” Zacky said, a mischievous grin and little wink giving me a clear sign that his cheeky side had emerged full force, leaving me hopeful of the option he’d choose. “It only takes a minute to drop in a dollar. An hour is long, long, long.”
“Just like Daddy’s cock,” Gage growled, loving the way his boy’s eyes dipped low at the growl in his tone, even as he tipped his head back, baring his neck and the spot Gage loved to nip so he could watch Zachy shiver.
He mewed, sucked in a ragged breath, then gazed impishly up at him. “I’ve got a dollar in my pocket.”
“And I’ve got a hard, eager cock in mine,” Gage grumbled, loving the game they’d slipped into.
He could see Cooper dancing his fingers up Zachy’s spine, adding to the shivery sensations the boy was feeling. He’d break soon, they could all feel it, but Zachy still had one more trick to try. He licked his lips, went up on tiptoes, and brushed a kiss over Gage’s lips. “How many fucks, shits and damn do I gotta say before I get to warm Daddy’s cock for the rest of the night?”
“You just said ‘em.” Gage growled, staring down at the wicked smirk on Zachy’s face. “Now get that sweet ass of yours out of those clothes.”
When Zachy opened his mouth, no doubt to give him shit for the curse word he’d uttered, Gage fixed him with his sternest look. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Yes Daddy.”
“Now what did I tell you to do?” Gage asked.
“Get naked!” Zachy said as his pants hit the floor.
“You’re damn right!”