Chapter Six #2
Aiden normally wasn’t one for pictures, but when Santa’s elf had him smile for the camera Rocky marveled at the huge, genuine grin he gave while holding up two peace signs with his hands. Adorable.
Aiden made his way to where Rocky stood waiting for him, a sly grin graced Aiden’s lips and his eyes held that naughty twinkle Rocky had come to associate with sexy times, making Rocky even more curious what the other man had whispered into Santa’s ear.
Somehow, he didn’t think Aiden was about to share though.
“Aren’t you going up to ask Santa for what you want for Christmas?” Rocky’s heart swelled at Aiden’s question.
Placing his arm around Aiden’s shoulders, he pulled Aiden closer, replied, “I already have the best Christmas present a man could ask for right here,” and squeezed a bit to make it clear he was talking about Aiden. “Come on, let’s get that picture and head to the next adventure on our agenda.”
“There’s a whole agenda?”
“Oh, yeah, baby. I’m making this a day you’ll never forget!”
As he purchased the cheesy Santa picture with his love, he thought he heard Aiden whisper, “It already is.”
Jesus, what was it with New York traffic?
How did anyone get anything done in this city when half their days were spent getting from one location to another.
Rocky had never seen so many vehicles on the roads before.
He and Seth had traveled a lot in their time together, but New York traffic was like nothing he’d ever seen before.
Aiden enjoyed the drive though; they moved so slowly through the streets that it had been easy for Aiden to enjoy the sights and even get pictures as they passed.
That would probably be a good thing if all of their travel took so long.
They wouldn’t be able to fit in as much simple sightseeing as Rocky had hoped with how long it took to get places.
Hell, even the people on bicycles and walking the sidewalks were moving faster than the vehicles built for speed.
When their driver finally pulled to a stop close enough to their destination, Rocky was more than ready to get the fuck out of the vehicle.
He knew it would be worth the frustration of traffic for Aiden to experience what they were about to, but it didn’t mean he could bring himself to enjoy sitting in a car for so long.
He preferred to open road with his legs astride his purring bike to a four wheeled vehicle any day of the week.
Rocky helped Aiden out of the car and, just as before, turned him so they were eye to eye. He dug into his pocket, reproducing the ear plugs he’d tucked away after Macy’s. Aiden still had the sand in his own pocket. Then, Rocky pulled out the thing Aiden would need most in their new destination.
“Plug your ears baby, it’s going to be another noisy place.” He handed the plugs over and waited patiently as Aiden put them in. Once Aiden was satisfied with the fit, he handed over a small tin, “Don’t open it yet, just know it’s something you’ll need. Tuck it in your pocket for now.”
Aiden followed directions without any argument or comment, clearly eager to get to the next place in their tour. Rocky was as eager as his boy. Aiden was going to absolutely go nuts when he saw where they were headed.
Taking Aiden’s hand, Rocky led his excited Little to live another dream.
Aiden
As they walked down the sidewalk, the chilly wind biting at his cheeks, every store brimming with lights and garland and so many Christmas trees it boggled Aiden’s mind, he’d never felt more Christmas spirit.
He’d always loved the holidays, but he’d felt more like someone watching the joy in a movie or television show.
In this moment, he felt truly a part of the holiday magic and it was one of the best feelings he’d ever felt.
Like his blood had turned to hot chocolate, warming him from the inside out.
He was so focused on the decorations and festive atmosphere that it didn’t take more than a moment, once they’d turned the corner, to realize where his Daddy was taking him. As soon as the flagship store’s logo appeared in his vision, he understood what all the gift cards had been about back home.
Aiden’s mind filled with awe at the Christmas displays in the windows all made of LEGO bricks.
His heart leaped in his chest as the excitement that had been boiling in him since they’d arrived at Macy’s earlier finally boiled over.
Rocky let out a deep laugh as Aiden bounced in place, unable to think of another way to release the energy and adrenaline.
“Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Ohmygod!” he shouted loud enough for passersby to take interest. “Are you kidding me right now? The LEGO Flagship store! You’re taking me to the LEGO Flagship store?
” Aiden threw his arms around his Daddy, still bouncing and jostling the other man.
Thankfully Daddy didn’t seem to mind, because he just hugged Aiden back and chuckled as he confirmed what Aiden already knew.
This really was the best day ever!
“The tin in your pocket holds all the gift cards you got from the others and one extra one from me. Ready for a shopping spree?”
Was he...Of course he was. He didn’t see any reason to waste time with words, however, so he simply grabbed Daddy’s hand and started pulling him to the entrance.
There seemed to be a line of people waiting to get in, but it was a short line and moving quickly so they got into the queue and used the time to inspect the intricate and detailed LEGO creations.
One depicted New York City at Christmas.
Planes flying overhead as they carried people home for the holidays, and in the background a LEGO Santa’s sleigh, pulled by all his reindeer, was loaded down with gifts for good little boys and girls and flying in front of a LEGO moon.
Another display was a holiday ski lodge surrounded by a thick forest of LEGO trees.
A LEGO ski lift, carried little LEGO skiers up the kills of snow.
The lodge itself was an intricately detailed, tiny bricks creating an array of decorations and lights twinkling in the windows.
Aiden stared in wonder, curious who the artist was, because whoever had done this display truly was an artist.
Finally they found themselves in the doorway to someplace Aiden would have considered the closest a person could get to Heaven on Earth. He took a deep breath, holding it in his lungs as they stepped through the door into a wonderland of LEGO delights.
The store was two stories of displays and shelves, bins, and boxes of blocks.
Right by the entrance was a life size LEGO taxi cab.
One a person could actually sit in, lines of people queued up to take pictures in the bright yellow car.
Aiden wanted his own chance to “drive” the LEGO cab, too.
But first, he needed to explore or he might literally burst.
He made his way past the groups of people waiting, and to a wall of interactive displays.
The sets in boxes beneath and above the built sets in little cases with openings so people could actually reach in and test the moving parts.
Aiden, of course, had to take a turn exploring each and every set as he went.
He picked a few of the more fun ones to build later at home.
Daddy followed behind holding each of the boxes as Aiden chose them.
By the time Aiden had explored each of the sets, Daddy resembled a pack mule more than a Daddy.
But he never complained, just let Aiden explore at his own pace, and when Aiden needed to stop for a minute and ground himself with the sand in his pocket, Daddy would stand beside him murmuring how proud he was, and how happy he was that Aiden was enjoying himself.
By the time they left, Aiden had created custom LEGO people, himself and Daddy of course.
He’d picked out countless blocks of odd shapes and sizes, multiple sets, and had even gotten some LEGO block candy that he could actually build with before eating.
He’d explored all of the displays and had gotten his chance to be photographed in the cab and with several of the displays.
He’d also spent the obscene amount of money he had in gift cards and then some.
He may have gone a bit overboard, but the grin he wore as they left hours after entering was so big it made his cheeks ache.
He couldn’t get the grin to go down, no matter what he did though, and he was okay with that.
Daddy got them a cab back to the hotel and they had to carry some bags into the cab with them because they wouldn’t all fit in the trunk. Aiden worried about how they’d get everything home, but Daddy put a quick stop to that, stating he’d handle it. Aiden just needed to enjoy himself.
Rocky
The original plan had been to find somewhere to eat this evening and take Aiden on a proper date in New York, but Rocky could easily see that even though Aiden was grinning from ear to ear because of their day, he was peopled out as well.
So, Rocky adjusted their plans, ordering dinner from an app while they drove at a snail's pace back to their hotel.
By the time they’d returned and lugged all of Aiden's loot into the room, there was a soft knock at the door, indicating the food had arrived. Perfect timing. He answered the door and accepted the food as Aiden sat in the living room of their suite, arranging his treasure by type and size.
Rocky set out their food and cutlery, poured drinks, and got napkins. Arranging the table to perfection to give Aiden just a few more minutes before pulling him away to eat.