Chapter Eleven
Taggart
He was amazed at how late it was and how long he’d slept. He never went back to bed once he got up. But then, normally, there was no one to see him have a meltdown and look after him the way his mates had.
It struck as he ate his lunch—dinner, just how much his life had changed in such a short time. He understood it had—how could he not with two people living in his house—this morning had given him a dose of reality. He wasn’t alone. I’m not alone anymore.
It calmed his thoughts, allowing that to really sink in.
Arlo and Soren were there to help carry the burdens with him, as well as being there for the good times.
Yes, they both would carry the burden with him, just in different ways.
Taggart would never expect Soren to deal with the things he looked at, no. Soren was more sensitive.
“You are too,” Arlo murmured, kissing the top of his head before he took the empty plates to the sink.
Realizing he’d projected his thoughts, he glanced at Soren. “I didn’t me—”
“You can stop right there,” Soren interjected, getting up and squeezing in between the table and Taggart to wiggle onto his lap.
“I know you don’t think I’m weak. And you’re right, I am sensitive.
” He kissed the tip of Taggart’s nose, holding his gaze, his hands cupping his unshaven cheeks.
“But so are you.” The earnest expression gave Taggart a warm glow.
“Something upset you, do you want to talk ‘bout it?”
Taggart shook his head as much as the hands would allow, but the uncertainty crept in because it wasn’t good to have secrets between mates. Was this a secret he should share? His gaze shifted to Arlo. Daddy…
It’s alright. If you feel you need to talk about what you’ve seen with Soren, then that’s the right thing to do. But if you feel it will be too much and hurt him, then it’s not wrong to keep it from him.
Having blocked Soren, he frowned, shifting on Taggart’s lap. “Why are you blocking me?” he asked with uncertainty.
Taggart sagged into the seat, sighing with indecision as soft fingers ran over his bearded cheeks. “The stuff I was looking at — it had your flock on it,” he said in a rush, like pulling off a band-aid fast so the pain didn’t become prolonged.
Soren nodded slowly, and it took but a second for him to register what Taggart meant. “I don’t want to know what bad stuff you found…” he searched Taggart’s expression in a way that suggested he was looking for something. “Unless there was something that wasn’t bad… then I’d like to see that.”
Yeah, Taggart didn’t shield his thoughts all that well.
The image of Soren smiling before the attack with the woman, he could print it off.
Maybe some of the other footage before the carnage?
“I’ll see what I can mine from what I have.
” He made no promises until Arlo had seen the images… all of them.
Soren gave him a small smile.
“I think it’s bath time.”
“With lots of bubbles?” Taggart asked excitedly.
“Of course, we can’t have a bath without bubbles, now, can we?” Arlo winked at them both. “Then Daddy’s got a surprise for you both.”
Back was Soren’s bright smile as he wiggled on Taggart, waking up another part of him that made him giggle at getting naked in the big tub with Soren and with lots of bubbles.
“A surprise? What kind, Daddy?”
Soren was bouncing on Taggart at his question, making it impossible to keep his focus when the pert bottom was rubbing over the cotton bottoms he’d thrown on before coming to eat. They were no defence against Soren’s eagerness.
Arlo ran a finger down Soren’s nose. “The good kind.” His grin was mischievous as he lifted Soren off Taggart. “Taggart, you wait here for Daddy to carry you to the bathroom.”
Half up off the seat, Taggart sat back down quickly, wanting to be carried like Soren. He was a little sad Daddy couldn’t carry them both at the same time. Daddy was strong, but Taggart was too big. He sighed half-heartedly at his size.
Less of that. Daddy just needs bigger arms, is all. But when I shift into my rhino, I’ll be able to carry you both then.
Intrigued and giddy at the thought, Taggart’s arousal was more than obvious when Arlo returned, wearing just a wife-beater. His enormous arms making Taggart squirm even more. “Someone is excited to be carried by Daddy.”
“I am.” He clapped his hands. “When will you shift so my meerkat can lie on you with Soren?” His mind skipped about, images derailing him, being unhelpful when Daddy had to clasp him under the arms and hike him up onto his hip.
“Wrap your arms around Daddy’s neck, darlin’.”
Quick to do as he requested, Taggart giggled the entire way to the bathroom.
Soren sat on the toilet seat watching the bubbly water fill the bath. “It’s gonna be deep.”
“Is it big enough for the three of us?” Taggart directed his begging eyes at Arlo. “Pleasssssseeeeee say yes, Daddy.”
Daddy eyed the bath and then shook his head, Taggart pouted. “Are you sure, Daddy?” he pleaded, not giving up.
“I am, but I’ve an idea about that for the future.” He kissed Taggart’s pouty mouth and sucked on his lower lip, nibbling.
Taggart groaned, clinging a little tighter, then small hands roamed over his bottom before Soren cuddled into his back.
He couldn’t get over how being in the middle of a mate sandwich made his belly quiver.
“I’m the peanut butter and jelly filling,” he said breathlessly when Daddy stopped kissing him.
A wide grin appeared as Arlo lowered him to the floor. “Is that so, then what are Soren and Daddy?”
He giggled joyously as Soren wound his arms around his waist and pressed a cheek against Taggart’s back. “The bread, silly.”
Arlo
His mind played over the continued security issue as he witnessed easily his boys slipping from their little spaces back to big ones as they sat pressed against one another, Soren’s arm around Taggart’s waist as the bigger shifter leaned against him.
It had been twos days since Bash’s crew had installed the cameras which it turned out were so sensitive that the security app opened on Arlo's phone several times a day to show him a trio of squirrels and a bunny who’d made the yard their home.
While Taggart’s yard had a fence, it was wooden and only four feet tall, adorable and covered in flowering vines, it was wonderful to look at, but good for little else.
Still, he hesitated about making any decisions beyond the cameras, not without a full discussion with Taggart first. He hadn’t even moved his possessions in, the last thing he wanted was for his new boy to feel like he was taking over.
Not until he gave explicit permission for Arlo to handle any and all security matters that cropped up.
“I don’t want to look at anymore video today,” Taggart said, pulling Arlo from his thoughts as they sat cuddled after taking an afternoon break to play.
“I-I know I need to, there is still so much to look through, but I-I just, I need a little longer before I go back to it. T-there was just so much. I know everyone needs me to do this, b-but—”
“Shhhh,” Soren said before Arlo could speak up, so he waited to see how their little bird handled such a big problem. “You don’t need to go back to it until you’re ready. Why don’t we go outside and pick up some sticks?”
“Sticks, why?”
“Because it’s windy out,” Soren replied, grinning widely. “And when it’s windy, it’s the perfect time to make a kite.”
“Make a… you know how to make kites?”
“I sure do, and I’m going to teach you, but first, we need to go outside and find sticks, then we need to see if Daddy will sacrifice one of his T-shirts.”
Startled, Arlo watched as first Soren and then Taggart turned bright, hopeful expressions towards him.
As if one set of slightly watery eyes and pouty lips wasn’t enough, having two was more than sufficient to prompt him to strip his T-shirt off and pass it over.
Moving in tandem, his mates lifted it and brought it to their faces, inhaling his scent together before sighing and rubbing their faces against it.
“Thank you, Daddy,” they replied, peering up at him over his shirt.
Grinning, he gathered them in his arms, hugged them tight and kissed the tops of their heads.
“Soren is very right, darlin’,” Arlo murmured in Taggart’s ear. “You do not have to look again today or any day when you feel like this. My priority is looking after you, now let’s go outside and find those sticks.”
Arlo felt Taggart’s weight increase against him as Taggart melted between them. He shifted to take more of it.
“Thank you, Daddy,” Taggart murmured.
“You never have to thank me for looking out for you,” Arlo replied before turning them loose and following them outside into the bright, beautiful blustery day that awaited them.
While they collected sticks, Arlo walked the perimeter, looking for the marker plates on the property boundary lines.
“Taggart,” he said, when he was finally ready to broach the subject that had been on his mind, “would you be opposed to having a stone fence installed behind the wooden one?” Arlo was already figuring out logistics.
“You could still enjoy the wooden one and its flowers, though we may need to move it forward a little so the stone one fits inside your property line. It would be taller, and we would have privacy when we were back here.”
“Would we be able to have a wallow too?” Soren questioned hopefully. “Or are they only allowed on crash lands?”
“You lived beside a wallow, didn’t you?”
“Uh-huh, my whole flock did. Sometimes three and four generations in each big house. We just added on when we needed space. But we always stayed near the wallow because the rhinos had their homes there too.”
“Were there any meerkats?” Taggart asked, his curiosity peeking out.
Soren smiled and nodded that soft, sad nod of his. “Yeah, they were amazing, I grew up with several meerkat friends. We were a whole community.”
“The same as we have become here,” Arlo assured him.