Epilogue
“ Didn’t you get adopted by Ollie? Why aren’t he and his pack of hellions here helping?” Marv said as he helped maneuver Malcolm’s old mattress through the front door.
Coming in behind him with a box full of kitchen stuff, Malcolm laughed. “I did, but most of them had to work today.”
Malcolm had told him that he’d texted Ollie right after they’d gotten back from his parents’ last weekend, and he’d been really disappointed he wouldn’t be able to come and help.
Apparently, Ollie had to work one Saturday a month, and the following weekend just so happened to be it.
Most of the rest of the Sub Club had to work as well, or at least that was what Bull had been told.
That and that Ollie had invited the group over to his and Malcolm’s place for the next waxing session. He’d reiterated to his boy he still wasn’t getting any of his hair ripped out, and Malcolm had laughed and called Ollie to tell him.
“I’m here!” Emmett said from where he sat on the floor, playing with Rose and Dorothy.
Marv glanced at him, his face softening. “You’re not a hellion, but you’re also not helping very much.”
Emmett giggled as he trailed one of the cat toys on the ground in front of Rose as she chased it.
Bull wasn’t worried about it. Anything in decent shape that Malcolm hadn’t wanted to keep had been boxed up for Marv to take to the domestic violence shelter on Monday, and the rest they’d been able to bring over in one load in the back of Bull’s truck, with a couple of boxes stuck in Marv’s car.
Once they got the mattress up to the second floor and into the spare room he’d never used for anything other than the cats, Bull clapped Marv on the shoulder. “I really do appreciate you helping.”
“Goes without saying, baby bro.” Marv waved him off and led the way back downstairs. “I was just giving him shit.”
It wasn’t that Bull didn’t believe him, but there was something in his voice, and he’d seemed distracted all day.
“Everything okay?” Bull asked.
Marv grunted. “Just tired.”
He didn’t really buy it, but he let it go, knowing when his brother was finally ready to talk, he’d be right there ready to listen, just like Marv had always been for him.
After a few hours, they had everything unloaded, and most of what went in the kitchen or living room was unpacked.
Pretty much all of Malcolm’s clothes had been at Bull’s place for a while, along with most of his toiletries.
He’d go back over to the apartment sometime that week and give it a final sweep before leaving the keys on the counter.
Malcolm had tried to say he would run over and do it, but Bull had put his foot down.
He didn’t care that they hadn’t seen a hint of Dale as they’d sorted and packed things up all week.
There was no way Malcolm was ever going over there by himself again.
Dahlia and Becca had arrived about forty-five minutes ago, Dahlia still salty that he’d made her work.
He hadn’t told her yet, but he and his mom had decided to start giving Dahlia more responsibilities to see how she handled them before asking if she’d like to be trained to be a manager.
With Sally working less, Bull needed someone else up front he could depend on when he wasn’t there or was in the office.
Becca had made herself at home on the couch next to Emmett, and Dahlia had disappeared into the kitchen to complain about him to his moms. Even without helping with the actual move, he knew his boy was grateful they’d come for such a special day.
Just as he was about to offer Marv a beer, his brother returned from the bathroom, face pinched.
“I’m gonna take off,” he said, stepping close and giving Bull a quick hug, slapping him on the back twice.
Bull frowned and glanced toward the kitchen, where Malcolm, Dahlia, and their moms were making a spaghetti dinner for all of them. Emmett’s boyfriend, Rooster, would be there in less than twenty minutes, having just gotten off his shift and gone home to change.
“Are you sure, man?”
“Yeah, I have something I need to do,” Marv said distractedly. He hollered a goodbye to their moms and Malcolm, rubbed a hand through Emmett’s hair on his way past, and then he was gone.
“That was kind of weird,” Emmett said absently, running fingers through his hair to fix it, then going back to petting both of the cats curled up on his legs.
“Good, glad it wasn’t just me who thought that,” Becca said, cradling Blanche like a baby. She’d coaxed him out of his hiding spot and had been showering him with affection ever since.
Bull couldn’t help but smile at the sight of them. Sophia was still MIA, and had been since his moms arrived that morning, but Rose and Dorothy loved all the attention Emmett was giving them. He had a feeling he’d be seeing the sweet boy more often.
“A little,” he admitted, scratching each cat’s head. “I’m sure he’ll be okay though.”
He wandered into the kitchen to see if he could help and found Ma putting a second large pot of water on the stove and turning the burner on beneath it. He glanced at Malcolm, who waved his phone at him and then tucked it in his pocket.
“Ollie just texted me,” Malcolm said. “He said he and Six would be over shortly because, and I quote, ‘they wanted some damn spaghetti too.’”
“Whoops, sorry,” Emmett called from the living room, not sounding apologetic in the least.
“It’s alright, sweetie,” Ma called back. “We have plenty of pasta to go around.”
“I don’t know,” Dahlia called from the dining room where she was laying out plates. “I can eat a lot of pasta.”
“If we run out, I’ll go to the store,” Bull said when he noticed Malcolm eyeing the ingredients on the counter.
He smiled gratefully at Bull.
“You know, sometime I’d like to come over for dinner and not cook the meal,” Ma said, throwing a wink over her shoulder at him when Malcolm sputtered.
“I said I could handle the spaghetti!”
“I know, dear.”
“I really could have,” Malcolm huffed.
“Of course, but with the extra mouths, it’s better that you have the help.”
“What extra mouths?” Sally asked, appearing next to Bull. She hip checked him and added, “I watered your flowers, but I think the begonias are getting too much sun.”
“Thanks.” He didn’t even know what a begonia was. “I’ll help you replant it.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s in a pot. I just need your muscles to move it, but it can wait.”
“The extra mouths are Ollie and Six,” Malcolm told her, emptying jars of sauce into a pan. “They’ll be here in a little bit.”
“Oh, good,” she said, grabbing a stack of paper plates and silverware. “I want to ask them about these sex parties I’ve apparently been banned from talking about.”
“WHAT?” Dahlia yelled, dropping the plate in her hand. Thankfully, it was paper.
“Mom,” Bull groaned, rubbing at his face. Ma cackled and pulled open the oven to check on the meatballs, their familiar heavenly scent beginning to fill the whole house. “Tomas told you?—”
“Yeah, yeah. Discretion. Invite-only. Public relations nightmare.”
He stared at her as she went in to help Dahlia in the dining room, the two of them immediately whispering to each other, and then decided it wasn’t his fight to have with her.
Following Malcolm to the fridge, he asked, “Do you think it’ll just be them?”
He wanted to snag a beer before going out to the living room and relaxing, maybe turning the baseball game on to check the score before the others arrived and the food was ready.
“He said he was going to check with CJ to see when he was going to be done at the tattoo shop,” Malcolm said, digging around on one of the shelves. When he popped out and spun around, he bumped into Bull.
“Shit,” Bull said, steadying him and then moving out of his path. “Sorry. I know I’m taking up too much space in here, so I’ll get out of your way.”
Malcolm frowned up at him for a long moment before handing the block of cheese to Ma and saying, “Hold down the fort, please. We’ll be back in just a minute.”
“Yeah, sure you will,” she said, snickering. “‘Oh, I can handle everything, Bo. I don’t need any help.’”
Malcolm stuck his tongue out at her. “Good thing you ignored me.”
Bull shook his head, immeasurably pleased at how easily Malcolm fit in with his crazy family, and followed his boy through the house and up to their bedroom. He couldn’t wait until everyone left and they could spend their first official night together in their house.
He had a list of things he wanted to do to celebrate.
There was a large plastic bag stuffed full with yarn, crochet hooks, and everything else his boy had looked at for more than three seconds at the store still sitting on their bed from when he’d moved it out of the closet earlier.
His heart had broken when he’d found out that Malcolm had given up the hobby he’d shared with his gran because of the cost of the supplies and surprised him with a trip to buy whatever he wanted the other day after work.
The thank-you he’d gotten afterward had made him consider buying out the whole store to keep his boy happy… and bouncing on his dick in gratitude.
He watched, unsure what was happening, as Malcolm shoved the bag out of the way and then gestured where it had been, raising his eyebrows.
Bull slowly stepped over to the bed and lowered himself onto it.
He grinned widely, though, when his boy immediately climbed onto his lap, legs straddling him and arms going around his shoulders.
“Hey,” Bull said softly, closing the distance between them and pressing a soft kiss to that tempting mouth. They hadn’t had a moment alone all day, his moms having arrived about twenty minutes after they’d gotten out of bed.
“Hi,” Malcolm said, almost shy as he laughed lightly. He pressed his forehead against Bull’s. “You know I love how big you are, right?”
The unexpectedness of the words caught Bull off guard, his heart lurching in his chest and fingers twitching on Malcolm’s hips. He wasn’t sure what to say in response. For the first time in weeks, he struggled to express himself to Malcolm.
His boy didn’t seem to mind, sliding over until his face was pressed against the side of Bull’s and saying, “Because I do. I absolutely love how big and strong you are. It makes me feel safe, like you could protect me from… I don’t know, an avalanche.”
Bull snorted out a laugh. “An avalanche?”
Chuckling, Malcolm tightened his arms around him, wiggling closer. “You know what I mean. I don’t wish you took up less space.”
“Okay,” Bull croaked out.
“You take up all the space you need, Daddy.”
His eyes burned, and he wrapped his arms fully around his boy, hugging him close, letting the words and the sentiment behind them seep inside him.
You aren’t too big.
I love you just the way you are.
For the first time in his life, he thought he might actually believe that.
“Thank you, baby,” he said softly.
Malcolm hummed, laying his head on Bull’s shoulder and pressing a quick kiss to his neck. “You give me so much. Making sure you know how amazing you are is the least I can do.”
“I give you exactly as much as you deserve,” Bull corrected.
“I must deserve a whole lot,” Malcolm said, a smile clear in his voice.
“The whole damn world, baby boy.”