Chapter 24
Leonardo
Was there any way to politely ask if my boy liked his house?
Being out in the middle of nowhere was nice but the rest was odd and looked like we’d walked back in time a few decades. And outdated furniture aside, his room was empty…weirdly blank like he’d just moved in.
“You need to help me pick out clothes. Mine are boring according to Emerson but I think he also called them creepy?” My sweet boy frowned as he studied his closet. “I’m not sure why they’re creepy, though? Boring makes sense.”
Emerson was a pain in the ass.
“I don’t think he was calling your clothes creepy.
They’re fine and very appropriate for going out in public.
” Thankfully, Grandma had been weird in a variety of ways but had been normal when it came to letting Cece pick out what to wear.
“We just need to pick out some fun things that match your personality more for when we’re home. ”
We could figure out where else they’d work once we knew what he actually liked wearing. Everything he’d said made me think he didn’t like standing out in public, not yet anyway, so we’d stick with neutral for the time being.
“What’s creepy then?” Turning back to me, his frown got deeper. “He was mumbling. I really think he said something was creepy but he wouldn’t repeat it.”
Which made my boy frustrated.
“First of all, I think he was doing his best to be polite once he realized he’d said something rude out loud.” There were other ways to explain the issue without muttering about the room being creepy.
Even if it was.
“Secondly, I think he was confused about why your room is so…let’s call it devoid of personality.
You have a wonderfully bright personality and none of that is coming through in here.
” There wasn’t even books or art or anything that was remotely connected to a hobby.
“Emerson has such an oversized personality, the blankness might’ve been strange to him. ”
“Oh.” Frown shifting to something more thoughtful, my boy did a circle to take in the room. “You’ve got a lot more stuff in your room, but it’s all about things you like. I never really had that.”
“We’re going to figure out what you like over time and then we’ll add them to the house.” Hmm. “Um, I was thinking the other house but we can do that here too.”
Maybe?
It felt like this was just a badly designed rental he’d ended up living in, not his childhood home.
Had his grandmother done this or was it related to something else?
As much as he’d talked about growing up, I had a feeling I was missing big parts of the trauma I knew was hiding just around the corner.
“I…I would like to take time and think about that.” Cece was still studying the room, but it felt like he was seeing it for the first time. “I don’t know why but that sounds overwhelming.”
Was he really sure he didn’t want to talk to a therapist?
“Okay.” Doing my best not to sound worried, I grabbed him up in a dramatic hug that made him laugh. “I don’t make any promises about buying you things, though.”
“You like…you like shopping.” He got the teasing words out between gasps of laughter, but it just earned him tickles. “I…I…can’t lie…you…”
Finally releasing him, I tipped him backward and got more barks of laughter as he clung to me with his fingers grasping my arms. “I’m what?”
“Perfect, Master.” Wrapping his arms around me, he had a beaming smile again. “You’re going to buy me silly things and make me art, aren’t you?”
Now I was.
“I’m not going to tell you.” Because I had to figure out what it would be first. “I think I like surprises.”
He crashed his face into my chest as I let him up, and it was clear he wasn’t ready to be released yet. “You’re so silly but I think I’m going to like surprises too.”
God.
Grandma hadn’t liked presents either.
What had his mother done that it turned his grandmother into a nut case?
Had she always been crazy?
“We’ll have to see.” Kissing his head, I tried to keep my tone light and teasing. “But first we need to get your stuff so I can take you on a date.”
The you’re a silly goose kind of tone got another giggle from him and seemed to keep him lighter as he pulled away and bounced over to the closet. “Do you think I’ll like regular dresses or just the cute playtime kind?”
Well, as far as a change of topic it was a good one.
“I don’t know.” What did he mean by regular dresses? “I know I want to explore finding some boy outfits for you. We need variety once in a while.”
That got another laugh from him, but he focused on pulling out clothes to bring with him. “You like variety.”
He found something about that to be very funny.
“When I think about having a doll to play with once in a while my thoughts go toward feminine and playful and cute. However, you are not a part-time doll. You’re my boy and you belong to me so that means I have to think broader.
” It was entirely possible I hadn’t really assumed I’d find a full-time partner.
But I had.
“I never thought about being cute or owned, so I need to think too.” Cece frowned at the jeans he was holding up. “A lot of people wear these.”
But he didn’t want to?
“A lot of people wear other things, though.” What would he like? “Are they annoying against your skin or do they just have the wrong personality?”
“Oh.” His frown shifted toward the adorable as he laid the pants on the end of the bed like he’d never seen jeans before. “I hadn’t thought about the issue like that.”
So I obviously needed to be patient as he mulled it over.
I wasn’t good at being still and quiet, though, so I went over to his dresser and pulled out a couple of boringly manly briefs and socks that would go with whatever he took out of the closet…because it all kind of went together like a casserole at dinner.
My best guess was that he’d either picked up his entire current wardrobe in one trip or he’d been patterning it off someone else. He looked a bit like a generic college student most of the time which really didn’t fit his personality. I just couldn’t decide why.
Cece was considering a lot of different things as he picked out a few more outfits and started setting other things on the bed. It was all things like shoes and practical bits like an extra charger for his phone.
Just when I started to wonder if I’d sound crazy asking questions, he proved that nothing I asked would be crazy.
He pulled a fucking e-reader out from under his mattress…and yep…his prostate massager.
“I think I’m going to use these more at the other house.” Setting them on his pile gave me a moment to get my face under control before he looked over at me again. “I’m sleeping at the other house, right?”
“Yes.” Finders keepers. “You belong to me.”
His nod was adorable but the serious expression just made me want to bend him over the bed and claim him right there. “That’s what I thought.”
“I’m glad we’re on the same page about that.” I’d just have to figure out how to get him moved out of the horror movie set sooner rather than later. “Now we can move to being on the same page about lunch.”
****
“I have questions about your art, but I don’t know what kind of questions are offensive in real life.” My boy’s brain was the most interesting place. “So I need you to give me some parameters for that.”
Okay, what had he said and what had he meant?
Real life?
“Was an artist in a book you read offended by the questions he was asked?” His nod made his worries clearer. “I’m guessing the big issues were about money and being a real artist?”
His whole face lit up. “You really are smarter than other Doms.”
Trying not to laugh, I shook my head. “You just make more sense than you think.”
Disbelief flashed over his face before he got it under control and smiled politely. “Thank you…um…yes…nothing else. Just thank you.”
The only part of our date he was struggling with was not calling me Master.
“First, the art thing. I understand that anything you ask is coming from a place of support and worrying about me. I bet if you were to ask me about money it would be because you wanted to make sure I could take care of myself.” A tiny nod said I had good aim when it came to his worries.
“I think if you were to ask about art it would be asking what kind of pieces people buy or how I got into it.”
Another head jerk said I was still on the right track but he was still nervous. “Yes…just yes.”
We had to fix that.
I was pretty sure his brain needed something else to use as an honorific, so we were going to come up with some options he could use in public.
“My grandmother’s estate was bigger than I expected so that’s helped me be financially secure.
” I could almost hear him quoting a lawyer or financial advisor, but I kept my expression neutral as I nodded.
“I’ve read books with artists in them and I’ve seen documentaries about artists that are real.
Most of the time the only ones that are financially secure are the fictional ones. ”
I could see that.
“I’m not offended because you want to make sure your partner isn’t worried about money.” I had similar questions but we’d get to that eventually. “I will admit I might’ve been prickly about that question when I was in my early twenties, but I’ve grown up quite a bit since then.”
His barely suppressed snicker as he reached for a breadstick said he was feeling lighter about the conversation. “I can’t imagine you being a little porcupine.”
I’d been a big porcupine.
“I’ve been working on my art since I was a teenager.
My parents were very supportive even though they didn’t really understand it.
They just kind of took the approach that it was cheaper than what our neighbors were paying for travel baseball and counted their blessings.
” It’d turned out to be a good decision in the end.
“Oh. I hadn’t thought of it that way.” His cute frown made me want to lean across the table and kiss him, but we had to behave, so I kept my ass in my seat. “I watched a documentary on that. It’s…well…I have questions on the money in that setup.”
Based on what Fred’s parents used to tell mine, I did too.
“But they treated it like a hobby all of their friends’ kids were doing and took me to different shows and helped me enter contests.
” They’d actually done a good job without realizing it.
“It let them complain about how hard it was to have a teenager and it gave me exposure most kids might not get.”
The goal at that point had been to talk about how often we were traveling for my activities so they’d kept me insanely busy without realizing the effect it would have on my art.
“That basically put me ahead of my peers and gave me a leg up when it came to transitioning my passion into a career.” Seeing what I needed to do to become a full-time artist had made it all seem like a much more reasonable goal than most people would’ve assumed.
“I’ve had almost 25 years of working on my art at this point, so it’s given me plenty of time to make it work as my job as well as what I love to do. ”
Thank goodness because it’d been easy to see I was not meant for working customer service anything.
“That’s good.” Relaxing back in his seat, he let out a long breath. “I wasn’t sure what I needed to worry about because you really like shopping.”
Brat.
“I’m going to ignore that.” Even if he wasn’t exactly wrong. “But I will promise to show my monthly budget if you need to see it to feel more comfortable.”
And his thinking frown was back.
“The internet said we’re not supposed to do that until we’re serious and talks of marriage are on the table.
Then if we haven’t done it by then we’re morons.
” The way his brows pulled together made me wonder what else he’d seen about relationships and money.
“I’m not sure where we cross the line from being private to morons, though. ”
I could see the internet giving him conflicting advice on that.
“Were you looking at articles or advice from regular vanilla couples or people in the lifestyle?” And that had the frown disappearing in a flash.
“Vanilla.” Sighing out the answer, he smiled. “That’s the problem.”
“Different timelines for different types of relationships.” And for people who knew they were going to be together versus regular dating around kind of people.
“We’re going to talk about money just like we do everything else, with limits and good communication.
We’ll just have to figure out what our limits look like. ”
That seemed to strike a chord with him because he leaned closer to the table and rested his elbows on it. “What will our limits look like?”
I should’ve expected that.
“Well, first we’ll think about what’s the basic level of communication we need to be happy and feel safe.
That might be looking at budgets or that might be seeing that all bills are paid on time.
It could be a variety of things but it’s whatever makes us happy and what we can agree on.
” He was nodding but I could see him finding new worries.
“What do you think I will tell you about my limits?”
That seemed to startle him enough that I thought it brought the worry train to a halt. “Oh.”
He thought for a few moments but it was the way he leaned back in the chair again and started playing with his breadstick that made me think he was on a better track. “I think you’re going to tell me that you’ll do whatever makes me happy.”
Oh, that glare.
“But that’s not how we do this. You need limits too.”
He was so cute when he was going to protect me from myself.
Hmm…what kind of outfit went with overprotective and kind of growly?