Page 23 of A Little Christmas! Johnny
I don’t care if he wants me to stand back. There is no way I’m not offering him the comfort he obviously needs right now.
“There is absolutely nothing wrong with you, Baby Boy,” I whisper and pull him into my arms. “They’re just toys and television shows. My aunt used to watch true crimedocumentaries, but it doesn’t mean she was getting away with murder. You’re allowed to enjoy what you enjoy.”
“But what about...”
I cut him off with another peck to his lips. I am going to destroy the people who put this insecurity in his mind. I just have to figure out how to do it without ending up in jail.
“Are you forcing other people to play with you or watch your shows with you?”
He shakes his head slowly, watching me warily.
“Then you’re not doing anything wrong. What you’re doing is exactly the same as going to the garage and working on a project or watching football on a Sunday. They are activities that bring you joy that don’t harm anyone.”
His body sags in my arms and I realize just how badly this worried him. I need to put an end to his worrying and get down to letting him enjoy being Little.
“And personally, as someone who would absolutely love to be Daddy to your Little, none of those activities bother me one bit.”
Johnny tenses in my arms for a few seconds before wrapping his own around my waist and squeezing tight.
“I think I like that idea... Daddy.”
19
JOHNNY
It has been two weeks of living with Russel, and tomorrow is the day when my family will leave for their holiday cruise. Dexter has been helping me to stay firm on the whole dog sitting thing. Typically by this point, I would have caved in and done whatever they asked just to stop the notifications on my phone. Instead, Dexter stepped in as my Daddy and laid down a rule for me:
Wait five minutes to respond to texts.
I never realized how much I let myself get stuck in my own head by being rushed to respond. It’s kind of weird being on the other side of the waiting game and watching the insane mental gymnastics my family is trying to pull off. I said I’m not going to watch any dog other than Peanut in pretty much every possible way, but they keep pushing.
Erica:
just use your key to get into the house. Dogs will be in the basement.
She’s completely ignored every single statement that I’ve made over the last two weeks regarding her plans formyholiday. I watch the clock on the wall of my office tick down five minutes. Daddy bought me a Paw Patrol clock online to celebrate me agreeing to be his Little, and I decided to put it up above the door in my office. It’s a visual reminder that I don’t need to be ashamed of liking what I like.
Me:
I'm picking up Peanut after work and he’ll stay with me while ur gone. If u have other dogs at ur house and leave, I'll call the humane society and report u for animal neglect.
This is the nuclear option that Dexter, Russel, and I came up with last week. I really don’t want to do it because that would mean Peanut wouldn’t be able to go back to Jess and Jamie. My niblings don’t deserve to lose their pup because their parents are trash people.
Erica:
all we have to say is that u were supposed to be taking care of them and who do u think they’ll believe?
I close out of the conversation with my sister and open up the one with Dexter.
Me:
I went nuclear with my sister
Another text comes in from my sister, but I ignore it. Dexter is the only person who the texting rule doesn’t apply to and as long as he’s not actively helping someone at the grocery store, he always gets back to me right away.
Daddy:
stay firm BB *strong arm emoji*
