Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
“What do you think about taking a long weekend off soon? A Friday and Monday and spending it at my parents’ house?
You can finally meet my family.” Maybe springing it on Sage mid-shovel wasn’t the best idea.
Used straw flew everywhere but into the wheelbarrow he had aimed for.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. I’ll help you clean it up. ”
Probably would’ve been better asked at home while he was playing. Got the best, most honest answers then. My boy had come a long way, but serious conversations made him uncomfortable when it was his sole focus.
Sage was silent for far too long, busy clearing the stalls and avoiding me.
Meeting the parents was a big deal, I got that, and considering I’d never taken anyone home before, it was equally as big for me.
Had the main reason it upset him been because of how awful his were to him? Was he afraid mine would be too?
Yeah, my delivery thoroughly sucked.
#Daddyfail
Maybe a video chat with my folks first would help ease his worries. I’d wait to bring it up again until after I talked to Mom. She was a champ at making others comfortable which was just what Sage needed.
He didn’t say much during lunch, so I let him be, though he did give me a hug and a kiss before he went into the Butterfly room. This was eating me alive, so I called my lifeline on the way back to the barn.
“There’s my boy, thought you forgot you had parents,” Mom answered the phone.
“Sorry, Mom, I’ve been busy.”
“Too busy to call your folks?” Dad hollered in the background.
Guess I was on speaker.
“I um, I met someone and we’re living together.” Might as well rip the Band-Aid right off.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, back that trolley up, son.”
Yeah, didn’t figure that revelation would get past Dad.
“Start at the beginning.”
“His name is Sage, he’s um, he’s twenty-one.” I cringed as soon as I said it, anticipating their reaction to our age difference.
“Little young, don’t you think?”
Yeah, not Dad’s jam.
“I love him, Dad. I can’t imagine life without him.”
“Next time, start with that. How did you meet? What does he do for work?” Typical dad questions.
“We met here at the Ranch and he works with me.”
“Won’t that cause problems with your boss?” Mom asked.
I had to laugh. “Who do you think paired us up?”
“Well, son, that ranch sounds like it’s full of surprises. Most places I worked fraternizing wasn’t allowed. Make sure you mind your P’s and Q’s and toe the line.”
“I will, Dad.” Now, to see who asks first. One, two, three…
“When are you bringing your fellow home to meet us?” Surprised to hear it was Dad.
“That’s what I’m calling about. Sage didn’t have it easy growing up, in fact, his parents literally dropped him off here with nothing more than a bag of clothes.”
“They did what?”
Mom’s angry screech rattled my brain.
“They did not.”
“Yes, they did. There’s more and maybe one day he’ll share it with you, but it’s not my story to tell.
Just wanted to give you a bit of background into why he’s so shy.
When I mentioned bringing him to meet you guys over a long weekend break, he clammed up and has barely said two words since.
I was hoping a video chat with you, kind of a meet and greet, might calm him. ”
“You just tell us when and we’ll be there, son.”
God, I loved my parents. “Thanks, Dad. Sage deserves all the love in the world though it’s gonna take a while to undo what they did to him. He doesn’t feel he’s worthy of being loved.”
Mom sniffled.
“I’ll talk to him at dinner and see if he’ll open up to me. You’ll both absolutely adore him. You can’t help falling for Sage when you meet him. If I had the world to give, it would all be his.”
“Being in love sounds good on you, son.”
“It feels good, Dad. I’ll let you guys know how it goes. For now, I gotta get back to work. Love you both.”
“We love you too,” they said before I ended the call. My parents truly were amazing. They didn’t take any shit from me, but they also didn’t overreact. I’d been nervous as hell the day I told them I was gay and I’ll never forget what my father said.
Warner, the good Lord made you and He intended for you to be you and that’s all we can ask.
Mom chimed in adding, all we ever wanted was for you kids to be healthy and happy. Family loves unconditionally.
Too bad Sage’s family had missed that memo.
It was hard to concentrate on work with this weighing heavily on my mind.
There were times such as the whole moving in together where Sage was dead set on what he wanted and went for it.
Then in ones such as this, meeting my family, he was terrified and it was my fault.
There were more positive ways I could’ve handled it and this fallout was one-hundred percent on me.
Horses were exercised, fed and tucked away in their stalls for the night.
Now for this Daddy to get his act together.
With time to spare before I picked up Sage, I popped into the store and grabbed a surprise and called in a to-go order for dinner.
Once home, I’d let him put on a movie. Maybe that would relax him enough so he’d feel safe to mention whatever it was that was bothering him.
Pushing him at this point felt all kinds of wrong and risked pushing him further away. Something I would not let happen.
“Hey, sweetheart.” I opened my arms wide and he ran right into them. Off to a better start for sure. “How was school?”
“It was fun. I made a new fridge pic. It’s in my backpack.” Sage was so dang cute wearing the turtle backpack I got him. “What’s for dinner?”
“Your Daddy called in a mix of your favorites. Let’s pop in and pick it up.” He skipped along beside me, singing away. “Is that a new song you learned today?”
His curls bounced around as his head did. “Yup. Miss Price taught it to us. Daddy, can we get a bean bag chair? They’re squishy fun to sit in.”
“I’ll put in a call to Santa and see what he can do.”
“Silly Daddy.” He rolled his eyes.
“Silly boy.”
“What’s in the other bag?”
I’d wondered how long it’d take him to ask.
“A surprise for my nosy boy.” Those pretty blue eyes widened and a smile spread across his face. “There’s that smile I fell in love with.”
“Is it my birthday and I forgot?”
“Would you really forget such an important day?”
The smile faded and his head fell. “Wouldn’t be the first time it was forgotten.”
“Your birthday will never be missed by me. It’s the most important day of the year. The day the love of my life came into the world.” Which this year would be celebrated while we were with his bestie in Cali. Devon and I were already making plans, and I couldn’t wait to see the look on Sage’s face.
“Thanks, Daddy.”
“For what?”
“Always ’membering me.”
There was no way my mother wouldn’t fall head over heels for this pure soul, just as I had.
“You’re my every waking thought, Sage.”
“Yup, no take-backsies.”
“No take-backsies ever.”
He slipped off his shoes just inside the door and hung his backpack on the hook.
“Why don’t you pick a movie while Daddy gets our food set up.”
Sage’s eyes went from the prezzie bag to the food then up to me. Ah, his Little was itching for their surprise. “’kay, Daddy.”
So full of energy, his legs wiggled as he danced around, flipping through the channels until he switched over to the streaming service and selected a favorite we’d seen many, many, many times.
“Turtles?”
“Yup, they’re my favorite. Look at all the nummies, Daddy.” I’d sat out the spread on the coffee table while he shimmied through the shows. “All my favorites.”
“Yes, and after you eat you can have your prezzie.”
Sage’s mouth morphed into fishy lips. “Kisses, Daddy.”
“Muah.” I made a loud sound as I kissed him. “Let’s fill your tummy and watch some turtle power.” I loaded up his divided plate that matched his beloved show. “Juice box or sippy cup?”
“Sippy with apple juice, please and thank you.”
With food and drinks sorted, we dove in.
The silence now was much different than it had been earlier today, thankfully.
Not as uncomfortable. Inside I was a ball of nerves, waiting for Sage to bring up the parental meeting, though on the outside I managed to keep my cool.
Beside me, he hummed away as he dipped his food and watched the show.
Sage wasn’t messy when he ate, food didn’t land in precarious places or get flung through the air.
A quick mouth and hand wipe when he was done was it.
I got the leftovers put away and brought the gift bag back with me. “Here you go.”
Sage dug in and pulled it out, smiling like it was the best gift ever.
“Thank you, Daddy. Now my stuffies have an elephant to play with them. I’ll call her Cora.”
“Cora?”
“Yup, Cora the elephant.” He gave her a kiss then glanced away. “What if they don’t like me. Will you leave me then?”
I barely heard him but once the words sunk in, so did my heart. “Come here.” I patted my lap and he crawled up. “Do you trust your Daddy?”
“More than anyone in the world.”
“Why would your Daddy ever take you to meet people that might not like you?” he shrugged. “I wouldn’t. Because if they don’t like you, then they’re not the right people for me either.”
“But this is your family. That’s different and family comes first.”
“Yes, family does come first and that includes you. Would you feel better if we did a video chat with them?”
“Maybe.” He plucked the pink bows on Cora’s ears. “Are they scary?”
“Not at all.” I pressed my lips to his head. “Daddy’s one of the lucky ones. I have a great family, and I know they’re gonna love you just like I do. When do you want to call them?”
“Now?”
Guess this was one of those do it while you have the courage times for Sage.
“You got it. Let me text them and make sure they’re awake. You know how early old people go to bed.” That got the giggles I sought.
“That’s not nice, Daddy.”
“Nope, but it made you laugh and that’s what I wanted.
” I fired off a text to my parents who must’ve been sitting there staring at the phone waiting because they immediately replied.
“Looks like now works for them too. Grab Daddy’s laptop for him, please.
” Sage hopped off and snagged it off the counter.
“Sit next to Daddy so they can see you.”
“How do I look?”
“Adorakable, like always.”
“Daddy”—those cute hands went to his hips—“I’m not a dork.”
“You’re my adorable dork and I love you.”
He kissed my nose which he’d never done before. “I love you too.”
I made sure we were both in frame then connected the call.
“Hey, Mom and Dad, I’d like you to meet my partner, Sage.” Sage gave a nervous wave. “Sage, these are my parents, Sherry and Mike.”
“Hello, Sage, it’s nice to meet you,” Dad said.
“Isn’t he just the cutest,” Mom was already in mom mode. “Look at those adorable curls and big blue eyes.” That earned a shy giggle from my boy.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” Sage said. “You look just like your Dad, Da, err, Warner.”
“You can call me Daddy,” I whispered, or so I thought.
“Sage,” Dad began, “we may not understand our son’s, um, lifestyle? But we trust him and if you call him Daddy, then you go right on ahead and do it. We just want you boys to be happy.”
“Thanks, Dad.” It meant a lot that he said that.
We’d never really talked much about my kink preferences outside of explaining what the Ranch was all about.
From there, they came to their own conclusions though they never questioned me.
If they ever wished to discuss it, I’d be open to that.
I wasn’t embarrassed by it nor by Sage. My parents always told us kids if we were old enough to ask the questions, then they needed to be mature enough to answer them and that worked both ways in my book.
“How was your day, boys?” Mom asked.
“It was good,” I replied while Sage’s head bobbed beside me.
“What’s your favorite food, Sage?”
Ah, right into cooking. Mom would find her way into his heart through food and killer hugs.
“Um, I’ll eat anything but if I get to pick, probably dino nuggets and pepperoni pizza.”
Mom laughed. “What’s your favorite dessert?”
“Hmm,” he thought hard. “Ice cream, pie, brownies, choco chip cookies.”
I don’t know if she laughed again or was still laughing from the first time. “Basically, anything with sugar I take it?”
“Yup.”
“When you boys come and visit, I’ll make sure we’re stocked up with all your favorites, Sage.”
“He’s not a picky eater at all, Mom.”
“I like hugs,” Sage chimed in beside me.
He had both my parents smiling. I knew they’d love him.
“Good, because I like to give them.” Mom winked. “Sage, you are just a bright light, aren’t you?”
“That’s what Daddy says too.”
I kissed his head. “That’s because you are, sweetheart.”
We talked for a few more minutes until Sage started yawning then said our goodbyes. Reaching out to them was a smart move as well as letting Sage come to me with his fears. Guess this old dog could learn new tricks. It was funny how schooling Sage had turned into schooling this Daddy too.
Now, to give my boy tubby time. It had been a long, stressful day for him and this would help him relax.