Chapter 16
DEXTER
It’s fascinating to see the way that Johnny flips between almost Little and Big while still half asleep.
I’ve been around plenty of Littles and Middles at the club in addition to knowing Russ for the last five years, but Johnny is different.
It’s like he’s constantly on edge so the bits and pieces that leak through are purely instinct for him.
One example is when I yelled at him to stop picking up the shards of broken ceramic.
He froze and let me take control, even sitting nicely while I cleaned up.
Most men, especially subs that I’ve known, wouldn’t be able to sit by while I cleaned up a mess they made.
Yeah, he grumbled a bit, but it was adorable to watch him sulk.
When he suddenly ran upstairs, I was curious what triggered it but didn’t worry about it.
.. until I heard him scream. I don’t think I’ve ever moved that fast in my life, but by the time I hit the doorway, I had already decided that whoever made him make that sound would pay dearly.
Looking in the room, I see a lump under the blankets on the bed.
I know he’s hurting for some reason, but I don’t know why or what I can do to help him.
I lift a corner of the blanket to see his red-rimmed eyes with tears pooling on the pillow.
He hurries to pull his thumb out of his mouth, but I gently guide it back in place. He obviously needs the comfort.
“What happened, Sweetheart?” I pull the blanket down to his shoulders so that I can rub his back. He scooches over to give me room to sit down on the bed but doesn’t give any indication that he doesn’t like what I’m doing. Instead, he pulls his phone out from under the blanket and hands it to me.
“Mommy Dearest?”
I can’t help but chuckle at the reference.
My grandmother loved that movie for some reason and to this day I won’t keep wire hangers in my home.
Unfortunately, my mirth ends there. I see the most recent text exchange between Johnny and his mother.
I had hoped that she was a stepmother with the obvious animosity, but it’s quite clear that they are biologically mother and son.
“Has she always talked to you like this? Treated you like this?”
It’s a struggle to push the anger down so that he doesn’t think I’m upset with him.
He just shrugs. Shrugs! Like this is no big deal.
It’s a very big fucking deal that the one person who everyone should be able to count on to love them has no problem with treating him like a dirty secret who should be at their beck and call.
“Do you mind if I go back further? Look at other texts?”
Johnny shrugs again and yawns around his thumb.
He doesn’t look upset at the thought of me reading more – just tired and sad.
I hate seeing him like this, but at least I know he’s safe here with me.
With my right hand, I continue to rub circles on his back and scroll through the phone with my left.
Some of the shit I’m seeing has me seeing red.
If I had any say, he’d never speak to any of these people again.
Erica:
i need seven hundred dollars for a dress for Jared’s boss’s dinner party
Erica:
So what if Sonia’s kid broke it. It’s just a toy. It’s not like it was worth anything
Erica:
when are u gonna grow the fuck up. My daughters don’t need a freak show in their lives
His sister is a fucking bitch. I think I counted two text messages over the last six months that weren’t berating him or asking for money.
And I’m pretty sure both of those were just leading up to asking him for something in person.
Her husband at least doesn’t seem to hide the fact that he’s a dick.
I at least respect the honesty even if he should probably be castrated.
Okay, so I’m getting a little worked up.
Glancing down, I notice Johnny has drifted back to sleep. Instead of leaving the room, I shift my position to brace my back against the headboard, resuming the small circles on his back when the soft snores turn into a whimper. There’s a lot more reading to do for now.
Mommy Dearest:
your father needs $2000 for the deck
Me:
What deck?
Mommy Dearest:
the deck for the pool
Me:
u need a privacy fence to put in a pool
Mommy Dearest:
then we need the money for that too
Me:
i just gave you 10k for the roof
Mommy Dearest:
my grandbabies deserve a pool
Me:
Jess and Jamie don’t even like swimming
Mommy Dearest:
Jack, Simon, and Suzy love swimming
Me:
those aren’t even YOUR grandchildren. Those are Pete's kids who are only ever around when Pete is is cheating on their moms
Mommy Dearest:
well the pool is being put in next week
Me:
how did you even buy a pool?
Mommy Dearest:
the roof can wait another year
Every single fucking exchange between him and his family, with the exception of the two teenagers, seems to be them demanding more and more from him.
Every time he tries to stand up for himself, they claim he’s not doing his job as the man of the family.
Or worse, they tear him down for not being man enough, good enough, smart enough.
.. One thing is certain as I finish going through his texts.
He’s not fucking watching those damn dogs.
I spend the next hour scrolling back through all of the texts in his phone to make sure I’m not missing anything.
Yes, I understand that I might be slightly overstepping and he likely didn’t think I would go through EVERYTHING when he gave me permission to look.
But to be fair, I need to get the full picture of what I’ll be dealing with when it comes to my future in-laws.
Even though it’s been less than a week since we met, I can’t imagine my life without Johnny going forward.
Another text comes through and my boy flinches in his sleep.
I resume the circles on his back to soothe him and turn the sound off on his phone.
He obviously needs the rest. Honestly, so do I, but I will absolutely take care of him first. I go back to the main screen of the text app and see that this new message is from one of the few people in his contacts that I can tell he cares about.
Jess:
i volunteered to stay home and watch the dogs but dad said no
they are such shit heads for doing this! It wont be christmas without u there
I take the opportunity to text back because I know Johnny would not want to leave them hanging like this. But there’s not a chance in hell I’m interrupting his sleep unless it is an actual emergency at this point.
I decide to send a response: Johnny is currently sleeping. This is his ...
What do I put in there? Neighbor doesn’t work. Friend doesn’t cover it. Can I claim him as his boyfriend without asking him? For damn sure, I can’t say that I’m trying to be his Daddy.
Me:
Johnny is currently sleeping.this is his boyfriend
I hit send and wait for the inevitable response. The teen doesn’t disappoint me, rapidly firing off one text after another.
Jess:
OMG Uncle J finally got a boyfriend!
y have i not heard of u before?
NVM our family sux
don’t u dare hurt him tho!
Uncle J is the sweetest funniest most loyal person on the planet and my sister and i will chop u up into tiny pieces to feed to the mutant fish in the Mon if u even THINK about hurting him
I chuckle silently and move my hand to run my fingers through Johnny’s hair while I consider what I’m going to tell them.
I noticed in most of the texts that Johnny makes it a point to use gender neutral phrasing for Jess, so I’m making an active effort to get into that habit early with them.
It’s not as difficult for me to manage as it is for some of the older generations, but I still get tripped up from time to time with gender presentation not matching pronouns.
I appreciate when people like Ash at the club wear the pronoun pins, but Ash is gender fluid while I don’t yet know how Jess identifies.
I don’t know if they are agender or non-binary or trans or if they just frankly prefer neutral words.
I’m getting side tracked...
Me:
technically i haven’t actually asked. him to be my boyfriend yet but we’ve had our first date and he stayed the night last night
Okay, so I’m stretching the truth a bit on this. But to be honest, I can’t exactly tell a teenager that I want to eat her uncle’s ass before mounting him on my cock and then tucking him in with a bedtime story and a binkie and it’s been that way since I first saw him last week.
Jess:
did u steal his phone? R u a stalker?
Me:
not a stalker. He's staying with my neighbor and ended up falling back asleep while showing me the fucked up texts he got this morning
Jess:
Ew. Yeah. Mom's pissed that he says he wont watch BM1’s dogs.
It takes me a second to put together what they mean by BM1 and chuckle softly when it clicks – Baby Mama One. I go back to the phone to continue reading what Jess is sending.
Jess:
if he comes over for Peanut mom and dad are just planning on leaving the other dogs here too so he has to watch them
I kind of had a feeling that was going to happen. Johnny’s family doesn’t seem to ever take no for an answer from him. When he says it, they just act like they didn’t see it.
Me:
i won’t let them do that to him
Jess:
can i get ur number so that i can check in on him while I'm stuck in family hell without him? He won’t be honest with me about how he really is.
I'm not a kid anymore
Says the sixteen year old. Nevertheless, I go into the contacts and forward Jess’s contact information to my number, adding my own information into Johnny’s phone.
Me:
I'll text you from my phone when i grab it after ur uncle wakes up
And just like that, I have an ally on the inside – someone who Johnny knows and trusts that will most definitely put me in my place if I fuck up.