Page 88 of Just A Little Fling

“Lunch is served. Boys, I need you to go wash your hands,” Barrett said when he came back into the room from the kitchen.

“And that means you can’t touch the catsafteryou wash your hands,” Gabe added.

“Daddy, if the kitty sad, we gotta pet the kitty,” Rory sassed. In response, Gabe crossed the room and booped him on the nose. Rory’s giggle was the surest sign that Rory had absolutely no fear of his Daddy. In the meantime, Anders glanced back at me and then once again whispered something in Nico’s ear. Hexe meowed a few things too and licked Nico’s hand. In response to whatever Anders said, and maybe the cat, Nico unfolded himself from the floor and made his way over to me. Hexe was hot on his heels.

Nico dropped to the space between my legs and leaned against my knee. Hexe settled back in his lap and resumed his nonstop purrs. Finally, I was able to touch him as I wanted. My fingers threaded through his hair while we soaked in each other’s company. The others read the room and left us alone to get reacquainted.

“I’ve missed you, sunshine.” I didn’t expect an answer back from him.

“Missed you too, Babbo.”

“You been taking care of yourself?” Nico shrugged his answer. “Going to your mom’s for dinner?” Another shrug. “Going to bed with Wormie and Saffy and getting your sleep? You get awful grumpy when you don’t get enough sleep.” Same non-response. “Keeping up with work?” Finally, a head nod. “Have you let yourself be little?” A head shake was his answer this time.

“Babbo, I so tired.”

“I know, baby. Babbo’s here, and you don’t have to be a grown-up anymore.”

* * *

I’m not sure how long we sat privately in the living room, but it had to be at least fifteen minutes before Anders stuck his head in the doorway and said it was time for lunch. Nico made no move to get up, and I jostled my knee a little bit to make sure he was awake.

“Baby, it’s time to eat lunch.”

“Sit with you, Babbo.”

“I wouldn’t let you sit anywhere else.” Nico moved a little so I could stand and then grasped my hand so I could pull him up from the ground. Hexe twirled around Nico’s legs as we made our way into the dining room, where everyone waited for us.

At the table, I pulled out one of two adjacent chairs that had been saved for us. The other couples sat next to each other, with the littles having divided plates and their Daddies’ regular paper ones. The only person here alone was Anders. I thought Nico had mentioned something about him having a boyfriend, but I wouldn’t ask where he was. Nico had also mentioned that Anders was one of the nicest guys he had ever met, and he was hopeful he’d eventually find someone as great as he was.

“Gentlemen, dig in. We’ve got chowder, fish and chips, and salad.”

All the Daddies started preparing their little ones’ plates before serving themselves. It was sweet to see how accepting they were of each other. Even Owen, who didn’t seem to speak much when he was in little mode, was interacting with everyone. Rory was being silly and sassing his Daddy. Anders warned Rory he was gonna get it, but he seemed unconcerned.

“Is Reed working today?” I asked as we passed around the platter of fried fish.

“Yeah, he is. They’re gonna come over after he gets off shift. It’s why they’re waiting to have their camping in the woods afternoon. So Jakob can join them.”

“Daddy, Jakob said to save dessert for him, but he didn’t care about the veggies,” Rory said.

“I’m sure Jakob’s Papa has some thoughts about that, but we’ll be sure to save him dessert, just in case.”

Barrett gave Owen the opportunity to feed himself, but he played with it until his Daddy told him to get started before it got cold. Owen, ever the sweet boy, obediently shoved the french fry in his mouth and gave his Daddy an innocent grin. Barrett just shook his head and handed him another one.

With the platters came around to us, Nico pointed to the fried fish and then to his plate.

“Sunshine, you have to use your words.”

“Fishy.” I gave him a look with a raised eyebrow. “Peas.” I began to plate his lunch.

“You want the Italian for your dressing?”

“No.”

“No dressing?”

“No salad. It yucky.”

“No salad, no fries.”

---