Page 33 of Daddies' Little Cubs

“So there I am, standing in a dark corner of the party just watching this fine specimen of a man walk around talking and slapping backs of all the people in the party. Everyone seemed to gravitate to him and it didn’t take long before he was standing in front of me with the biggest grin on his face.”

Eli’s face heated just a tad. He remembers this night like it was yesterday and it’s one of his fondest memories from the beginning of their relationship. Eli grew up in a totally differenthousehold. One that was loving and accepting of everyone, including their son. His parents never batted an eye when he brought home a guy to meet them. They just opened their arms and welcomed him no question.

“Anyways, after that night, I did all I could to avoid the football star. Every party he was at I would skip as soon as I saw him. I hated the few times we had classes together because it never failed that we would be partnered together for something. It was getting harder and harder to fight the feelings that I had growing for him. I didn’t understand them and felt like I was failing my parents by being attracted to this goofball.”

“But! You know now that there was nothing wrong with you right? That it was okay to have feelings for him?” Jessa questioned, cutting Jackson off. “Yes, Little Bear. I know now that there was nothing wrong with me and that I wasn’t a freak.”

Eli watched Jess nod her head once before waving her hand for Jackson to continue. A chuckle escaped his lips at her action, but he quickly covered it with a cough.

“One Wednesday night after one of our study sessions in the library, Eli finally asked me what I had been longing for him to ask. At this point we spent many evenings getting to know each other during our study sessions in the library. I know now that he was only using the study and tutoring sessions as a way to get close to me, but at the time I was clueless. That Friday night, after the National Playoff Championship game of his Sophomore year, Eli swept me away on the best date of my life and the rest was history.”

Eli decided to chime in, adding a little bit more to the story. “For the next two years of my college career, I fell head over heels in love with this man who would rather have his nose in a book than to sit in a stadium surrounded by his peers. Jackson did it for me though, he sat on the third bleacher up from the fifty yard line cheering me on every game he could make. Afterwe both graduated, we moved in together and continued to build our lives.”

“It wasn’t easy, but we made it work. We faced my parents and explained that we were going to get married one day. Of course at first, they didn’t accept the situation at all. Once they realized that I would continue to choose Eli over them, they overcame their small minded thoughts and beliefs and opened their arms and hearts to our relationship.”

“That leads me to my next question, how long have you been married?” Destiny spoke after a moment.

“We got married in the summer of 2015 about three years after Jackson graduated. It was a private elopement in Italy at a beautiful vineyard on the coast. We came back home and had a small celebration with all our friends and family. The only people in attendance at our wedding was your brother-in-law Emmett and Miles.” Eli answered.

There was a pause in the questions as their food was delivered and everyone began to dig in. Not wanting to break the silence, Eli just continued to enjoy the company he had surrounding him.

“There’s only one more question that I want to ask right now,” Destiny said after everyone finished eating. “Why do you want to add us to your relationship? It seems like you guys already have everything you want, so why us?”

Before Eli could answer that question, Jackson spoke up. “I think that question is better suited for a place that is a little less public. Would you girls be okay accompanying us to our home? We promise nothing will happen but a conversation, but I don’t think that you want to talk about that here.”

Eli watched as the girls communicated among themselves. He was thrilled with the idea of having them in their home, but he wouldn’t push them to go. If they didn’t feel comfortable, they would go back to Emmett’s house and talk there. It wouldbe a little bit harder, but Eli would do anything to make them comfortable.

It was Jess that spoke up, answering, “We would love that.” Eli’s heart soared. After waving down Dahlia and paying their bill, the men ushered the girls once again back to the car and helped them settle in before heading back to their home.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

JACKSON

Jackson couldn’t wait to have their girls in their home. It was like the final puzzle piece was falling into place and their house was finally going to feel like a complete home. He knew that the question that Destiny asked before they left the diner was going to come up eventually.

How would they explain to them that while they were happy with just the two of them, their relationship didn’t feel like it was complete. He knew that Eli would be the better person to answer that question. He was always better at wording things and explaining their feelings. It was the professor in him.

They pulled onto their property and Jackson chuckled at the girl's small gasps from the backseat. He couldn’t lie that their house wasn’t beautiful. It had taken them years to find the perfect one that fit their needs, but when they did, they didn’t hesitate to snatch it up before someone else could.

It needed a little work and because they were always so busy working at the college, Jackson found a contractor that was able to knock it all out within a week. It was worth the extra money that they spent and the peace of mind that was given that all the work had been completed correctly and up to code.

The only room that Eli and he had done themselves was the nursery. Of course, the bones of it were done by the contractor, but then all the painting and designing was something that they wanted to do themselves. It allowed them free creativity, but it wasn’t complete till recently. Once the guys knew that there were two Littles for them, there had been some adjustments done to accommodate them both. The room now held two daybeds, two rocking chairs, a bigger toy chest, and additional book shelves to hold more books for their little girls.

Pulling into the garage, Jackson slid out of the front seat and opened the door behind him to help Destiny out. Placing a kiss on her head before stepping away and leading her towards the house. Taking off their shoes in the mud room, Jackson took both girls by the hand and walked to the couch in the living room, settling them on the couch before taking the love chair across from them.

He wanted nothing more than to hold them in his arms. Jackson loved the feeling he felt earlier when he had Des on his lap, but he knew that this conversation was best to be had with some distance. The last thing Jackson wanted was for them to feel uncomfortable during this talk.

Eli slid beside him in the chair, throwing an arm behind him and pulled him close, “So you asked why we chose you.” Jackson watched both girls nod their heads.

“How about I explain that part. Jackson did a lot of talking this morning and it would only be right,” Eli spoke up, allowing him to relax and let his husband take the lead. “I should first say, we aren’t adding you to our established relationship in hopes to fix something between us. There isn’t anything broken in our relationship that we are trying to fix and it’s important to us that you understand that.”

Once they were all on the same page, Jackson motioned for Eli to continue. “Jackson and I have always known that we wereboth Daddies. It was something we discovered pretty early on into our relationship and knew that it wasn’t something either of us were willing to give up. Jackson will sub for me and while I love that, he would never fill the void I have of wanting a Little. It’s not in his nature and I wouldn’t want him to be something that he isn’t.”

“And I would never ask Eli to submit to me like that either. Which is how we came to the conclusion that we were going to be a family of three. Then we met you and knew that our family of three was going to be a family of four,” Jackson added on, smiling at the girls.

“You both fill a void in us that we couldn’t fill for each other. We refused to lose the chance of love and happiness we had with each other, so we just patiently searched for the part of our relationship that we knew was out there. And that part was you. Both of you.”

“But how do you know that for certain?” Destiny whispered out.

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