by Sean Michael
“No. No, I don’t. I bet if you’d let people know that you were an amazing chef, you’d have gotten better applicants for the job.” It wasn’t the first time he’d had the thought; this was a definite perk.
“I don’t know, Don. I couldn’t keep a man who said he loved me for years.”
“He was an idiot. I mean really. You’re hot, and you can cook like a dream. You have two beautiful kids….” And Jeff kissed like a dream and wanted to do it with him. Donny thought it didn’t get much better than this.
“He is an idiot. And an asshole.” Jeff winked.
Donny laughed; he’d been thinking the exact same thing a couple of minutes ago. “Yeah. That’s a bad combo.” He grabbed a couple of Perrier waters from the fridge.
“Hand me the butter, please?”
He grabbed it and handed it over before opening the water and leaning against the counter to watch Jeff finish up their supper. It was like watching a musician or a dancer.
Soon they were sitting together with this amazing meal on the table. Wow. He dug in eagerly and wasn’t disappointed. Groaning, he took another bite.
“You like it.” Jeff cut a bite, smiled.
Donny nodded, too busy eating to say anything—it would be impolite to talk with food in his mouth, right?
Sweet and savory and rich—God, he was never going to just shove food in his mouth again. This deserved to be savored, even if he was eating it like he hadn’t had food in days. While every bite was awesome, that he was sharing it with Jeff made it that much better.
They pretty much ate in silence, enjoying the food and the company. He actually sighed when he was done. “So good.”
“Thank you.” Jeff licked cherry sauce off his upper lip.
“Oh….” He leaned over, and Jeff moved slightly toward him, enough for him to lick at the corner of Jeff’s mouth. “You missed a spot.”
“Do I taste like cherries?”
“I’m not sure. I think I should double-check.” This time he let his tongue slide between Jeff’s lips and then into his mouth.
Jeff cupped Donny’s jaw, let the kiss deepen, gentle and slow. Donny’s whole body responded to Jeff, from his scalp to his toes, and of course all points in between.
When their lips parted, Jeff smiled at him. “Well? Do I taste like cherries?”
“Huh?” Cherries? Oh! His cheeks heated. He’d totally forgotten, and he chuckled, nodded. “Yeah, I think you do.”
Jeff kissed his nose. “I think you’re addictive.”
“Ditto.” He looked into Jeff’s eyes, wondering if they could hold on to this moment, to this feeling, forever.
“The morning’s going to come early.” Jeff sighed. “I’d better do the dishes so we can get some sleep.”
“No. You cooked, so I should do them.” He gave Jeff another quick kiss and made himself get up.
“We’ll do them together.” Jeff gave him a sideways glance. “Then, if you wanted, we could go upstairs. Together.”
“Yes, please.” It was more than he’d hoped for, and his smile came from somewhere deep inside.
They started on the dishes—Jeff washing, him drying—and Donny marveled at how much more romantic it was than washing up should be.
Chapter Ten
“DADDY JEFF! Daddy Jeff! Donny’s in your bed, sleepin’.”
An incredibly heavy for being so little boy landed right on Jeff’s balls, making him curl up, grunt. Fuck. “Uhn.”
“Oh f—.” Don cut off the curse word, burying his head in the pillows next to Jeff.
“I know, buddy. We were tired. Good morning.” He hugged his son, telling himself not to wig out. They were both adults; they weren’t doing anything wrong.
Don unburied, face appearing above the covers. He smiled at Robin. “Hey, Robin. Did you have a good sleep?” Don’s hand petted Jeff’s thigh under the covers.
“I did! I pottied by myself in the potty.”
“Excellent!” Jeff grinned. “Pancakes or eggs and bacon this morning?”
“O’meal.”
“Oatmeal? Can Daddy have eggs?”
“You don’t like oatmeal, Jeff?” Don blinked owlishly at him and yawned.
“No.” He winked. He hated it. Hated. “You need some more sleep? I can get breakfast started and stuff, since Kimberley’s still—”
A sharp wail filled the air.
“Never mind.”
Don laughed. “Go on and start breakfast—Robin can help you—and I’ll get Kimberley.”
“Okay.” He grinned at Don, scooped Robin up. “It’s my good-morning boy!”
He swooped his sweet boy around the bedroom before he grabbed a robe. “Do you want apples or peaches or raisins in your oatmeal?”
“Bananas and raisins, Daddy.”
“Mmm, that sounds good. That’s what I want too.” Don was clearly waiting for him to take Robin out before getting up. Which was probably for the best.
“It’s a deal.” He headed out, trying not to look back to see his new lover’s body.
Don came down with Kimberley a couple of minutes after he got the oatmeal started, Robin carefully putting bowls for himself and Don on the table.
“She’s hungry.” Don bounced her, but she was clearly not happy.
“Her bottle’s on the counter. Do you want eggs?”
“I’m easy. Eggs or oatmeal.” Don’s glance lingered on him.
“I’ll give you oatmeal.” After all, Robin had already set that bowl out for Don. “I’ll make myself toast.” He really needed coffee.
“Whatever you want, boss.” Don grinned at him.
He nodded, cut up bananas, listened to the morning show, found the raisins and the brown sugar. Don fed Kimberley and entertained Robin, throwing him hot looks now and then. It made making the oatmeal difficult, but he managed it.
“Do you have to go to work today, Daddy Jeff?”
“No, son. I have Mondays off. Yesterday was Sunday.”
“Yay!” Robin waved his arms in the air.
Don grinned at Robin’s enthusiasm.
“Yes. Yay!” Jeff waved too, wiggling his butt.
Don laughed, and Kimberley laughed in his arms. Fuck, it was a great morning, the best one he could remember in a long time.
Jeff made himself a cup of coffee, Don a cup of Earl Grey.
“Thanks.” Don’s fingers lingered on his as he passed the cup over.
“You’re welcome.” They shared a slow, secret smile.
“Donny! I need brown sugar on my oatmeal.”
“You do? Are you sure it’s not salt you’re supposed to put on it?”
Robin laughed. “No, that’s silly.”
Jeff chuckled, but he started thinking—salted caramel breakfast oatmeal might be interesting. Don helped Robin with the brown sugar and with adding a bit more milk to his oatmeal to cool it down before shifting Kimberley to burp her. Jeff took the opportunity to grab his book from the cabinet, and he scribbled down the idea. He had thousands of little scribbles in there, it seemed like. Notes for when he had time to experiment at will. For when he was his own boss.
“Come and sit, Daddy.” Don pushed out his chair with a foot.
“Un-hum. Let me write this down and grab my toast.”
“It’s supposed to be your day off.” The chide was gentle.
“I know.” He chuckled. “This is my wish book.” He finished the scribble, put the book away, and came to take Kimberley so Don could eat. She was warm and soft, and she grabbed one of his ears and tugged.
“Wish book?” Don put some brown sugar on his own oatmeal and dug in.
“Uh-huh. For recipes when I build my own restaurant.”
“Oh wow. That’s awesome.”
“Someday.” He nuzzled Kimberley’s cheek. After he paid for college for his two babies.
“I could build you a restaurant, Daddy,” Robin told him seriously.
“Can you? What kind of restaurant?”
“LEGOs!”
He snorted his coffee a little. “Son, you can’t eat LEGOs.”
“They make great building materials, though,” Don noted.
“They do. I like the red ones best.”
“Blue for me,” said Don.
Robin giggled.
Jeff grinned. “Do you hear that? Blue better than red?”
Robin nodded, laughing harder.
“Blue is always better than red.” Don looked affronted, but Jeff could tell it was an act.
Robin tilted his head. “I likes green.”
“Oh, green is okay too.” Don nodded, giving him a grin and a wink. “Why not a restaurant made out of all the colors?”
“Rainbow Restaurant!”
Robin’s words made Jeff clap around Kimberley’s diapered butt. “That’s right, son. That’s what we’ll name it one day: Rainbow Restaurant!”
Don gave him another of those slow, intimate smiles. “I like it.”
“Me too.” He kissed Kimberley’s forehead. “Me too.”
“So what are we doing today, Daddy?” Don asked. Jeff appreciated that, even before they’d become lovers, Don had always been happy to spend the mornings and weekends with him and the kids. It was probably part of why he felt like he did about Don.
“I don’t know. What do you want to do today? Is it pretty outside?”
Don looked out the big window behind him and nodded. “Looks like it’s sunny.”
“We could go to the park. We could play in the yard.” He stopped, thought. “We could go downtown and look at the farmer’s market.”
“Your daddy likes food, Robin. A lot.” Don was talking to Robin, but had a teasing smile for him.
“Yes. I want a tree house,” Robin announced.
“A tree house?” Don frowned. “Like in the yard?”
“Yep. Like on Dora.”
Jeff blinked. A tree house. In his perfect yard. Wow.
“We’d have to figure out what to do with the pool.” Don gave him an apologetic look. “You know that’s not safe, right? It needs to be fenced in or something.” This wasn’t the first time Don had mentioned it.
“Can we swim?” Robin bounced. “I like to swim.”
Jeff nodded. “I guess. I haven’t even been outside in the back in weeks.” They’d talked about Robin taking lessons at the Y or something a few weeks back, but Don had called around and apparently their timing was wrong at the moment.
“You could get a cleaner,” Don suggested. Then he turned to Robin. “You remember the rules about the backyard, Robin?”
“Only with Daddy Jeff or you. Ever-ever.”
“That’s right. Never ever on your own, and you never try to get into the pool without me or Daddy Jeff.”
God, sometimes Jeff realized how unprepared he was.
“Only with Daddy Jeff or you. Ever-ever,” Robin repeated again.
Don smiled and nodded. “Good boy.”
Jeff gave Kimberley her bottle back to finish, watching her as he held it. Maybe they should move. Find somewhere more… kid-friendly.
“I bet we can find someone to fence the pool in if you want to keep it.” Don sat back with his tea, his oatmeal finished.
“Keep it? You can’t just get rid of one….”
“No? I bet you can. It’s probably cheaper, though, if you just fence it in so the kids can’t get to it.”
“Yeah.” He leaned against Kimberley, tried not to sigh.
“Jeff, man.” Don waited until he looked up. “Don’t beat yourself up about this kind of stuff—you weren’t prepared to have little ones here.”
“No. No, I wasn’t.” And now things were… askew. Not bad; he loved the kids, and this new thing with Don was fucking amazing, but… they weren’t right either.
“Well then, it’s just a matter of figuring out what all you still have to do.” Don was always so positive.
“Yeah.” He nodded. He wasn’t sure if he was capable; all he knew was that he’d try.
The way Don smiled at him made him feel like he could do anything.
“You okay, Daddy Jeff?” Don asked softly.
Jeff nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good. Just thinking.”
“Thought I smelled smoke.” Don grinned at him.
“Why do you smell smoke?” Robin sniffed. “I don’t smell smokes.”
Jeff goosed Don. “He’s making a joke, son.”
Don yelped a little, laughed. “Yeah, I was. There’s no smoke, Robin.”
“Oh.” Robin looked almost disappointed.
Don tousled Robin’s hair. “Have you had a fire in the fireplace yet?”
“Hmm? No. No, not yet.” He’d been worried Robin might associate it with what had happened to Beth, but maybe he’d been wrong. Maybe it was different enough….
“Sounds like Robin might like it.”
“Yeah.” It had. “You think it’s cool enough to try?” Summer was coming, but it had been a very rainy and cool spring so far.
“How about this evening? We could have a campout for supper.”
“Oh. Oh, Daddy…. Daddy, please! Like Dora, with a tent and sh’mellows and hot dogs. Oh….” Robin’s eyes were huge.
How could anyone say no to that? Certainly not him. “I think that is a fabulous idea. I think we should do it.”
“Cool! We’re having a campfire tonight. There’s no sleeping bags, are there? We can use sheets to make bedrolls instead. We’ll figure something out.” Don looked almost as excited as Robin.
Jeff chuckled and shook his head. “I have sleeping bags in the garage, but we’ll have to make a tent.”
Robin started jumping and bouncing, making noise. He ran around the room yelling “tent” and “sh’mellows.”
“Some blankets, a couple of chairs. I remember building some of those when I was little.” Don rubbed his hands together.
“Yeah?” Jeff wasn’t sure he did, but he didn’t remember wanting to do it, either.
Don nodded. “Yeah. It was one thing my sisters and I agreed on.”
“Well, it’s a good….”
His words trailed off as Robin banged himself against a chair and went crashing to the ground.
Robin started screaming, and Don jumped up, went over. “Hey, hey, it’s okay, Robin.”
“Mommy!” That cry broke Jeff’s heart. Then Kimberley started wailing too, her brother’s upset setting her off.
“Shh. It’s okay. Me and your daddy are here. We’re right here, sweetie, and you’re okay.”
“I want my mommy! I got a boo-boo!”
Jeff stood up, juggling Kimberley, reaching for Robin. “Come here.”
Don stood and took Kimberley from him, nodding at him. “Daddy Jeff is here for you, sweetie.”
Robin hurtled into Jeff’s arms, and he hugged his son. “I want Mommy.”
“I know, but I’m here.” What else could he say?
Don’s gave him a sad little smile, support there for him, for his son.
He kissed the little bump on top of Robin’s head. “So, we need to plan our campout.”
Robin’s lower lip pouted out, quivered for a moment as his son teetered on the edge of starting to cry again.
“We have to have songs and s’mores. Do you know what a s’more is, Robin?”
Don’s question had that lower lip pulling in between Robin’s teeth as he pondered the question and then shook his head. “No.”
Jeff chuckled. “Oh, s’mores are so good. Graham crackers and chocolate and marshmallows all squished together.”
“The important bit is that the marshmallows are toasted over the fire, so they’re all melty. And you, lucky boy, have two people who can help you toast them—me and Daddy Jeff.”
“Oh….” Robin’s eyes were wide. “Can I do Kimmie’s too?”
“Kimmie’s not old enough for s’mores yet, but you can help me with mine. I bet Daddy Jeff will let you help with his too.”
“Absolutely. We’ll do it as a family.” He loved that they were one, a family,
all four of them.
“That sounds great.” Don got this little smile whenever he said stuff like that, warmth in those pretty eyes.
“It does.” He hugged Robin. “Come on. Let’s get dressed and get your room picked up. Then we’ll start planning.”
“I’ll get Miss Kimberley changed and get dressed myself and then join you.”
“You don’t mind?” He didn’t want Don to think this whole… thing… was about taking advantage.
Don blinked at him and then shook his head. “No, of course not.”
“Yeah? Cool.”
“Yeah, cool.” Don glanced at Robin, and then blew him a quick kiss.
Jeff couldn’t have stopped smiling if you’d paid him. Then Robin put those little arms around him and rested his head on Jeff’s shoulder. So he didn’t even try.
Chapter Eleven
THEY’D SET up a makeshift tent in the living room with the coffee table, the couch, a couple of chairs and three sheets. There were pillows and sleeping bags for sleeping on, and a blanket on the ground in front of the fire to sit on, like they were at a real campfire.
A couple of plates—one with hot dogs and one with the s’more fixings—and three mugs of hot chocolate sat on the hearth. And there were a couple of hot dog/marshmallow sticks made out of metal with wooden handles.
Not bad at all for cobbled together, if Donny did say so himself.
Robin’s eyes were huge, so excited, and they were all in their pajamas. Jeff’s were SpongeBob. Donny had laughed when he’d first seen them. They still made him chuckle. Of course, he had Oscar the Grouch ones himself. Robin’s were covered in dinosaurs, and Miss Kimberley was in her swing wearing butterfly pajamas, laughing and kicking her feet.
Donny leaned over and asked Robin quietly, “So, you wanna do the s’mores first?”
“Daddy Jeff says we hafta do hot dogs.”
“Aww, come on, Daddy Jeff. It’s a campfire in the middle of the living room. Can’t we do dessert first?” He batted his eyes at Jeff.
“Oh, that’s totally unfair.” Jeff chuckled, and Donny knew he’d won.
He grinned and clapped his hands. “Yay. Come on, Robin, in case he changes his mind back.”
Robin hopped into his lap, and Jeff chuckled, shook his head, smiling at them both with obvious fondness.
