Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
H ayden had a feeling that Daniel was avoiding him.
In the great scheme of things, that was probably the best he could hope for. The worst being that Daniel would run off down the mountain into the snow in a panic and freeze to death or something, and that he couldn’t abide.
But after the day in the sand pit, Daniel hadn’t come back to his bed to sleep. He took care of Jacks, bringing him to Hayden’s office and dropping him off when it was time for daddy time and disappearing.
He let it go on for a few days, maybe more than a few, but they were coming up on Thanksgiving, and that was one of those holidays that Hayden had embraced wholeheartedly. And he thought Daniel wanted to too, considering the shopping spree he’d gone on.
So it was time to do what Jacks kept urging him to do with his big eyes staring into Hayden’s, and that was get Daniel back into the fold.
Jacks, sweetie, where are you and Daniel? he asked in a tight mental conversation.
We play in snows! Jacks was getting clearer and clearer in his communication every day. You too. Come.
Especially when it was something that Jacks wanted. No question.
He left his office and went to grab his coat and mitts by the kitchen door, smiling at the sight of one of his two favorite ladies on earth. “Can you please put some towels in the dryer, Rita?”
She winked at him. “Of course. Go bring Daniel in. He looks sad and worried. I think he’s afraid that he’s insane.”
He sighed and started buttoning his coat. “That’s a lot to understand, and he’s starting to change.”
She nodded to him, grinned, the expression glinting and excited. “Beautiful scales. Pale yellow and bright blue? I’ve never seen that before. He must have very fascinating parentage!”
Hayden nodded. “His ancestors must be special. I’ve never seen a yellow dragon before.”
She shrugged. “He’s beautiful.”
“He is,” Hayden agreed. “He’s perfect. It’s time to go play in the snow for a few minutes, and then I’ll bring them both in and let them get warmed up.”
“Sounds perfect.”
Da, come!
I’m coming! He rolled his eyes. “It’s so nice before they learn to talk.”
Rita nodded “Yes, and he’s early. I think he was older than they thought when they found him.”
“Not you too!”
“He’s just very advanced. I think maybe he’s a bit older…”
“Does it matter?” he growled. It didn’t matter to him.
“No.”
“Then we won’t discuss it.” He didn’t know why the thought of Jacks being older than he’d thought or whatever made him feel like an asshole, but he just wanted Jacks to be able to be a baby and enjoy himself, and for Hayden to enjoy him too.
Rita rolled her eyes but made a zipping lip motion on her lips, and he sighed before heading out.
Da! Jacks saw him as soon as he turned the corner to where Jacks and Daniel were just off one of the patios rolling snowballs into tiny snowmen. He waved his chubby little arms, and Daniel looked up to see what was going on, his eyes widening when he saw Hayden.
“Are we making a snowman army?” Hayden asked.
Daniel chuckled, and for a minute he looked so unguarded that Hayden immediately felt better. He should have gone after Daniel much sooner than he had.
“Maybe. I’m not quite sure what the rationale is, but Jacks seems happy.”
“He does, doesn’t he?” He walked right up to give Daniel a little kiss.
Da. Mes too.
He laughed, bending down to grab Jacks up and kiss his little cheeks.
“Are you having fun, little beast?” he asked, and Jacks answer with an earth-shattering — Rawr!
Jacks grinned at him and clapped and waved his hands at Daniel.
Daniel nodded and smiled. “He wants many snowballs, but his little hands don’t want to make them yet. So I’m making them. He can help roll or destroy.”
“Well, I’ll help too. It’s getting chilly out here. We’re going to have to go in soon and warm you both up.” He bumped shoulders with Daniel. “Hey, I miss you.”
Daniel blinked up at him. “You do?”
“I do. A lot.”
Daniel blew out a soft little breath that he could see in the cold. “Me too! A lot. I don’t know what to do.”
“But we could not know what to do together . It’s got to be easier.” He wrapped one hand around Daniel’s back for a second, holding on. “It would absolutely feel better for both of us.”
“Do you think so?” Daniel hugged him, and they squashed Jacks between them, making Jacks giggle.
“I do. I think it would be way easier. I feel kind of lost, Daniel. And itchy and achy.” He felt all those things that a dragon felt when someone was trying to resist the mate bond, or when they were too close to understand that was what was going on.
He got it. Daniel didn’t know he was a dragon, really. He still didn’t believe that, and he hadn’t been brought up to be a dragon, so he didn’t understand what was happening. But Hayden was ready for them to be together.
He wanted Daniel to move into his room. He wanted to be in a space where they could go to bed with each other every night and wake up together every morning.
Yay! Dan Dan wif Da!
That’s right, little beast.
Beast! That me, Beast! Beast! Beast! Jacks didn’t seem the slightest bit concerned about Daniel, but then he never had, had he? He loved Daniel with all his heart
Daniel beamed. “Is he a beast?”
“You can hear him too?”
“Sometimes I think so, yes. In fact, I think I heard him first.” Daniel grinned at both of them.
“Well he is very definite,” Hayden admitted. “And he has loved you from the moment he saw you.”
Jacks waved wildly at Daniel. Dan Dan!
“Yes, your Dan Dan.” Daniel beamed at his son. “I love you, too, little beast.”
Rawr! ‘no!
They started playing again, Daniel building one snowman after another after another until Hayden started noticing that his mate was beginning to turn blue and shiver, kind of violently.
“Let’s go in. Rita’s got hot towels, warm milk, hot cocoa—whatever we need to warm up little dragons and big dragons.”
Jacks’s lip pooched out, and he pouted.
Daniel wrinkled his nose at Jacks. “The snow will be here tomorrow, and it’s cold. Let’s go in and get warm. We can play with our blocks, lay on the floor in front of the fireplace…” And have a nap because someone needs a nap desperately, right?
I totally concur. He met Daniel’s eyes. You can hear me.
I think I’ve been hearing you, but the thing is, can you hear me?
I can. I don’t know if Jacks can hear us though. We need to work on that . Maybe he knew he could communicate without Jacks hearing, but could Daniel? He wasn’t sure. Hopefully it was instinctive.
He’s not pouting even harder, so maybe not.
Hayden scooped Jacks up and then kind of got Daniel under the other arm, hauling them both inside. Even Jacks was getting a little pale around the edges. He just didn’t want to admit it because he was so stubborn.
“Silly little beast.”
Jacks made a little growling noise and suddenly his armpit, where he held Jacks, was very, very warm.
You stop that now. No fires.
Daniel glanced up at him. “Did you just say no fires?”
Yeah, now didn’t seem like the time for another revelation, but at the same time, Daniel really needed to be aware. “Jacks can kind of burn holes in the carpet every once in a while.”
“Oh wow, dude, that’s kind of scary.”
“There is a fire extinguisher in every room.”
“That seems to be something you might have told me earlier, but fair enough. Thank you for not starting any fires, sweet boy. I can see how, living out here in the snow, that could be a very handy skill.”
There was his very calm, very straightforward, amazing mate. Every single time he thought that he’d pushed Daniel too far, he just popped back up like a bobber on a fishing line.
Daniel shrugged one shoulder. “What am I supposed to do? You have to meet every child where they are. And if this was where Jacks is, then this is where I’ll meet him. Right, love? I bet you would like a bottle, huh?”
Jacks whimpered softly, starting to shiver, holding his hands out to Daniel. Dan Dan.
“I’m right here, silly. So’s your dad. Let’s get everybody undressed.”
This child had Daniel wrapped around his teeny tiny fiery little finger.
Soon enough, though, Jacks was undressed, his diaper changed. He was wrapped in a warm towel and then put in fuzzy jammies.
A bottle of heated milk was in his mouth, and Daniel was rocking him in front of the fire.
Every so often, the baby would look over at Hayden with a look like “ See, I’m getting loved on, you’re not.”
Hayden rolled his eyes, ready to just hop in and get his own, but he waited for Daniel to put Jacks to sleep because he was a patient and good alpha mate, and he wasn’t going to make his little baby miserable or make his mate feel like he was doing something wrong.
Patient, good. Breathing. That was what he was doing.
When they were finally able to put Jacks in his little pack-and-play-style bed with his toys, Hayden snatched Daniel up and kissed him because he was getting impatient.
Daniel wrapped around him and kissed him back, proving that he had missed Hayden just as much as Hayden had missed him.
Is this called meeting me where I am too?
Daniel bit his lower lip. “No, it’s called, I’m horny and I want my loving now. I’ve been a very good boy.”
Hayden had to laugh at that because it was the most perfect answer you could think of. “Well, never let it be said that I don’t give you all the satisfaction, baby.”
“Rawr.” He made the sound that Jacks usually made when he wanted something, and then jumped on him.
He was ready for it, in fact he was there for it all day long.
He knew he shouldn’t have been avoiding his mate, or at least letting Daniel avoid him.
Now he was just going to act on it. They were definitely going to be better together than they were alone.