Chapter Three #3
Nicky bobbed his head. “So nice! I have company outside doing the house lights and inflatables. You can reach the high places.”
Jude hadn’t noticed anyone outside. He turned to peer out the window, seeing several men outside working. Had this been planned? Law doubted it. Getting a crew there must have cost a fortune this late in the season.
“You already have help?” Liam dropped his shoulders as he pouted.
“Only the hard outside stuff,” Nicky said, returning to his bestie’s side. “We have lots to do inside!”
“Oh, okay.” Liam perked up. “Daddy be Frosty!”
“Fine!” Jude took the Frosty hat from Nicky before shoving it on his head.
“We need Christmas music,” Nicky demanded.
“I love Christmas music!” Liam shouted.
Law winced at the volume. It was going to be a very loud day. And he’d really had his fill of Christmas music already since that was all Liam would let them listen to on the way to Nicky’s house.
“Me too!” Nicky waved a hand around the room. “Gotta finish tree too.”
“Lights!” Liam bounced. “Where lights?”
Nicky pointed to a mass of lights wound together.
How big was the tree?
“Need lots of pretty colors!” Nicky demanded.
“Lots of pretty colors,” Jude repeated. “Nicky, that is a lot of lights.”
Nicky nodded. “Big tree. Color!”
“How big is the tree?” Jude questioned. Thankfully Law wasn’t the only one concerned.
Nicky jumped up and down with his hands over his head. “Big.”
“It sounds like we need reinforcements,” Law suggested.
Nicky giggled. “Hard work.”
Great, just great. “Are we starting with the tree then?” Law asked.
“Santa village.” Nicky pointed to the mantle.
Liam raced over. “Cool! I wanna help.”
“I guess we’ll start with the tree while you boys finish the village,” Jude said. “Nicky, where is the tree?”
“Garage,” Nicky said although he was busy pointing things about his Santa village to his bestie.
Jude shook his head while strolling out of the room. “We’ll find it.”
Law followed, since he had no idea where they were headed.
They walked back down the hall but instead of going to the front door, Jude turned right.
A gorgeous huge kitchen was spread out in front of his eyes.
The marble countertops sparked, the cabinets gleamed, every stainless-steel appliance shone.
Jude chuckled. “Don’t get a hard-on for the kitchen.”
“It’s gorgeous,” Law said. The one thing that all his friends knew about him was his love of baking.
Law wasn’t much of a cook on a normal day.
But baking was something that Law did for fun.
In fact, he’d already started to load his employees down with freshly made cakes, cookies, and desserts for the holidays.
It was how Law filled the long, lonely nights.
Worked out the stress from owning a protective security company. Thought out his plans and ideas.
“I knew you would love this.” Jude ran one hand across the island in the middle of the room.
Law had to force himself not to smack his friend for getting his fingerprints across the clean surface.
Instead, Law focused on the little details around the kitchen.
The kitchen was any chef or baker’s dream.
Already Law could feel the itch under his skin to pull out some flour and lose himself preparing something for the boys.
“Tree first,” Jude said. “And color lights. Then you can see what ingredients Nicky has in stock.”
He had promised to help decorate, even though it about killed him to leave the gorgeous kitchen.
Law nodded as Jude headed for a door across the room.
Jude unlocked the door then pulled it open.
Law stepped behind Jude into the three-car garage.
There he found the vehicle that he’d had towed with a repaired tire to Liam’s house.
Warmth filled him, seeing that Nicky had been able to drive his car home safely.
“Only one car?” he asked Jude.
Jude shrugged. “Nicky’s not really a big car guy. He once told me that he could only drive one at a time so why own more than one? Then he asked me what if the other cars got jealous if he didn’t drive them.”
Chuckling, Law had to smile. What a sweet and little outlook on things.
“I know, it’s adorable,” Jude said. He pointed to shelving along the wall of garage. “That is not adorable.”
“Fuck!” Law spat as he took in the size of the green plastic container with Christmas Tree printed in black Sharpie. That was a big fucking tree. This was going to suck.
* * * * *
Nicky
“I can’t believe we did it.” He hugged Liam tight.
“You love Christmas,” Liam said as he rocked Nicky back and forth. “You were sad and I want my bestie to always be happy.”
Drawing back, Nicky beamed at Liam. The entire downstairs of his house was decorated.
It had taken all damn day but that just left Nicky to put some personal touches upstairs later.
He looked over to the three new Santas that had been added to his village.
The village now took over the mantle and three tables in the main living room.
“You didn’t have to do all this.” Not that Nicky really minded the fact that Liam had bought even more decorations. So many decorations. And more Santas. He loved the Santas so much.
“You love getting new stuff every year,” Liam pointed out. “I know you didn’t have time to shop.”
He nodded. Nicky always bought new holiday décor so that he was able to change the theme every year. Except for his very special village that had a big meaning for him.
The donations that he made of his barely used decorations were also appreciated by the families that received them.
Nicky had been worried that he would let people down this year if he had to reuse some of last year’s and that hurt Nicky’s heart.
Now he didn’t have to worry about that. Jude and Law had already put five boxes in the garage for Nicky to have picked up that week.
It would be late but surely some family would appreciate the decorations.
“You said you wanted to do the North Pole this year, so that’s what I picked. I got everything you needed,” Liam said proudly.
Nicky tackled his bestie. He just couldn’t help it! Time had been running out and Nicky was so happy. And his North Pole theme was awesome! The best ever!
They bounced off the couch cushion and onto the carpet, making them both laugh.
“I take it that I did good?” Liam asked.
“You did the bestest a bestie could ever do!” Nicky was enthusiastic in his reply.
“And Daddy and Uncle Law did all the heavy lifting and tall stuff,” Liam said.
That was probably what Nicky was most thankful for. There was no way he could have done all this on his own.
“I can’t believe that you actually hired a company to do the outside,” Liam commented.
It had been a hard decision. Nicky always did the lights and inflatables outside because his neighbors weren’t as fun as him. When people drove by his house, they just expected it to be a winter wonderland of color! The kids especially loved it.
“I was thinking of skipping the outside this year,” Nicky confessed quietly.
It normally took him weeks to do on his own.
It wasn’t something that Nicky wanted to get in the habit of doing, but just this once he’d hired a company.
Of course he’d had to pay about three times the normal fee since it was such late notice and he wanted it done that day.
Oh well, it was just money.
And Nicky had his blinds and curtains open in the living room so he could enjoy the colorful lights from inside.
He was glad that he hadn’t skipped out this year.
Growing up, Nicky had been jealous of all the houses around town that decorated for the holidays.
His father had refused to do more than allow a tree to be put up.
Even when Nicky had a part-time job and offered to buy the lights himself, his father wouldn’t allow it.
Which was total bullshit. Between his father’s work and drinking time, Nicky was the only one that spent any time in their house anyway.
Nicky had done all the cleaning, cooking, laundry, grocery shopping, house maintenance, and making sure the bills were paid on time. His father supplied the money and that was it.
Even at ten, Nicky had known that he wasn’t supposed to be the adult of the house.
He’d vowed one day that he would create his own traditions and stick to them.
In his first apartment, Nicky had hung lights, had a huge tree, and decorated every space that he could.
Now that he had a much bigger house it was harder, but Nicky wouldn’t let his younger self down.
“I would never let that happen,” Liam whispered back. “Jude and Law were all ready to spend the day outside hanging them.”
It really worked better this way. The entire downstairs was actually done and the boxes and mess cleaned up. Now Nicky could spend the next few days making sure everything was ready for their celebration. “I love you,” Nicky told his best friend.
“I love you too.” Liam kissed his forehead. “Don’t forget that you are my very best friend forever. I’m sorry that Thanksgiving got so messed up. I should have insisted you fly home for the day. Or we had gone to you. It will never happen again. Not ever!”
“Not ever!” Nicky agreed. “I’m glad I made a friend in Freddie though. I think you’re really going to like him.”
“If you like him, then he’s already my friend,” Liam told him. “But he’s not your best friend.”
“You’re my best friend,” Nicky said with an eye roll. “Forever.”
“And ever,” Liam added.
“Should we go check on your Daddy and Law?” Nicky asked, suddenly worried that they were messing around when Jude and Law were handling the worse part of decorating, the cleanup.
Liam shrugged. “I’m sure they’re fine. Daddies like to clean up messes.”
Nicky laughed. “You are becoming a brat.”
“I am not,” Liam argued but he was smiling way too big. “It’s nice being able to flow in and out of my littleness. I’ve written about it. It’s something that I always wondered about.”
Nicky understood. “Yeah, scheduling little time is hard.” It was why he was happy Liam had found Jude. Liam’s ability to be little when he wanted had made Nicky’s best friend happier than he’d ever been. And the books showed, with Liam writing more age play in the stories, which Nicky adored.
“You’ll find a Daddy,” Liam said softly.
“Of course I will.” The words tasted bitter on his tongue.
If Nicky was to be honest, he could only think of one man that he wanted to fill that role for him.
Two evenings with Law and Nicky was certain that Law was the Daddy of his dreams. Not that Nicky was going to confess that.
Nicky didn’t need Liam to get any grandiose ideas about him and Law.
If something was to happen between him and Law, that was their business.
Liam lifted his head and peered around the room with wide eyes. “This is a lot of stuff.”
“Winter wonderland,” Nicky replied seriously.
Liam shuddered. “As long as the snow stays inside and not real. I moved here so I didn’t have to deal with that.”
“True,” Nicky agreed. It was cold enough in the low sixties for him. Snow was only fun when it was fake.
“I am thirsty though,” Liam complained. “And a little hungry.”
“Snacks!” Nicky shouted. They stopped decorating and had a late lunch at around two but there was always room for a snack.
“Cookies!” Liam shouted.
“I ordered groceries this morning, but I think I forgot the cookies,” Nicky admitted.
Liam stared at him with a gaping mouth.
“I really wish I was teasing,” Nicky said. “I have cheese and crackers.” That was what Nicky had been craving.
“Fine.” Liam pouted then perked up. “But I bet Law will make us cookies!”
“Law makes cookies?” Nicky questioned. He knew that Jude made homemade cookies. That was how Nicky figured out that Jude was first interested in his best friend. He hoped that Law’s cookies were as good as Jude’s had been.
“The best cookies,” Liam responded as he rubbed his belly. “But don’t tell Daddy.”
Nicky mimicked locking his lips. He’d just keep that secret until Liam was a brat again. He mentally cackled. And he would get cookies. All the cookies!
Liam crawled over to the strands of garland that were spread out over the floor. Nicky sat there as his bestie started to wrap him up.
“What are you doing?” Nicky asked even as he tried to bat Liam’s hands away.
“You the best prezzie ever!” Liam announced. “And this way you can’t eat all the cookies.”
That was probably a good plan on his best friend’s part. Except now Nicky wondered if Law would hand-feed him cookies. That seemed like a Daddy thing to do.