Chapter Seventeen
Abbott
I couldn’t remember a time in my life when I’d been this happy. Things between Daddy and me were going great. Work was good, I had a solid group of friends, and I never had to eat grocery-store ice cream ever again. There wasn’t much better than that.
Soren and I had become a part of each other’s lives in a way that worked for us and had even come up with a semi-routine for which nights we were at my apartment and which nights we were at his house.
We had clothes and toothbrushes and travel mugs in both locations. It was nice, comforting, and safe.
We weren’t talking marriage yet or anything, but I could see that happening in our future.
He was my daddy, and I was his little. We had our big dates and our little dates and the times we were together doing boring normal-life things.
I’d spend time with my friends. He’d spend time with his.
All of our friends would spend time together.
Every aspect of our lives seemed to fit together perfectly.
We just worked.
Except, I was tired of trying to figure out if I had the right clothes at the place I was spending the night, if I had the right ingredients for the lunch I wanted to bring to work, if I had my favorite blankie with me, where my good charger was, and where my spoon, the one that brought us both together, was.
I had backups now, thanks to having a wonderful daddy, but I still preferred the original.
Not for the first time, I started to wonder if maybe it was time we moved in together fully.
It was a huge decision, and not one I should even be thinking about without having a conversation with Soren.
But I was also worried. Dating was one thing.
Being his boy was another. Going back and forth was yet another.
Until now, we’d always had our own spaces, and moving in together would change that.
If I brought this up, I wanted to be sure it was something I wanted. I didn’t want it to happen too fast and regret it. I also didn’t want to bring it up and have him reject me because he thought it was too soon. That would be awkward.
I met Soren at the ice-cream shop at the end of his day.
I’d taken to doing that on the nights he stayed later instead of having his employees do it.
It was nice to see him in his element. Access to great ice cream was also good.
Besides, on his late nights, I didn’t want to wait until he got home to see him.
I got there later than I planned, thanks to an issue with my computer at work, but it all worked out. He was just finishing up the paperwork.
“Let’s grab a quick bite on the way home,” he said.
“Thai?” A new restaurant had opened up on the corner that we’d been talking about trying.
We walked hand in hand to the restaurant and had some of the best food we’d eaten in a long time. We’d definitely be back.
“I know we were going to your place, but can we stop at mine first?” Soren placed his card on the tray with the bill.
“Yeah, that’s fine.” I didn’t see any reason not to.
I suspected he was up to something by how nervous he was acting when he asked, but there was no doubt left when we arrived.
As soon as we got there, he didn’t wait for me to turn off the car and walk in with him.
Nope. He raced inside. And when I knocked on the door, he opened it, but he didn’t smile.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” Only he said it in the way that let me know it was absolutely something.
He took my hand. “I want to show you something. Close your eyes.”
I did.
I half expected to go into the kitchen to discover a new ice-cream bowl or possibly a new hook on the bathroom door that would work well with my pajamas. Instead, he led me to the spare bedroom.
When he opened it, my jaw dropped. This wasn’t just a spare bedroom anymore. In fact, it wasn’t a spare anything. It was a little’s room. It had a sticker wall even larger than the one I had, and mounted on the wall next to it was a basket filled with stickers.
There were shelves with books and toys on them. A couple of baskets on the floor held blocks and cars. One of those human dog beds was on the floor. A small table with a rolling cart next to it held craft supplies. And in the center, a huge rug had dinosaurs all labeled with what kind they were.
“You made this for me?” I choked up. How could I not? Everything in here was tailored to me. This wasn’t generic by any means. It was mine. “When did you do this?”
“I’ve been working on it,” he admitted.
“Why now?” It wasn’t my birthday, and there were no holidays coming up.
“Well, I’ve been thinking. You have some clothes here. You have some of your food here. You have some of your little things here, but what you didn’t have was a place that was your own. And I thought if maybe you had one, you might consider being here all the time.”
“Are you…are you asking me to live here?”
He took both my hands. “I love you, Abbott. I love waking up beside you. I love falling asleep with you in my arms. I love coming home to you.”
He kissed my forehead.
“Right now, in some ways, you’re a guest. And when I’m at your house, I’m a guest. I thought maybe when your lease is up, you could be here always.”
I chuckled.
“Did I say the wrong thing?”
“No. You said all the right things. I’ve been thinking about this recently too—that I wanted to be with you all the time. But I didn’t want to go too fast and scare you away or, worse, make you feel awkward.”
“So, what do you think?”
“Of course it’s a yes, Daddy.” I threw my arms around him and held him close. “It’s an absolute yes.”