Friends Lovers and Family

by M. A. Innes

  Was he curious for a particular reason or was he being friendly?

  “Daddy and Jameson are at the movies, and I’m going to meet them later for dinner.” They had plans to see a documentary at the independent theater downtown that looked entirely too educational. If I wanted to learn, I went to the original source material, not a movie. Luckily, they were going to have fun and I didn’t have to go.

  “I think it’s great that you guys work so hard at keeping each relationship strong.” He was being nice, but it didn’t feel like work.

  Work made it sound like it was long hours of toil in exchange for something. Our relationship was intentional and loving—there was a difference. It wasn’t something we had to work at; it was something to focus on.

  “Everything is great and the house is starting to come together, so that will make it all even easier.” If anything about our relationship was hard, it was living between two different houses.

  Earlier in the week, I’d somehow managed to end up at Jameson’s house to sleep while all my binkies were over at Daddy’s. It was frustrating, but just a few more months and we’d be in one place with enough room to play and have grown-up spaces.

  “That’s wonderful.” The honest excitement in his voice had me smiling as well. “I can’t wait to see it when it’s done. Sometime I want to pick your brain about the whole process. We love our house, but eventually I think it would be great to build something that was perfect for us.”

  “I’d be glad to help. As long as you can organize all the moving parts, it’s not a difficult process.” I’d have to make sure to introduce him to our contractor.

  “Thanks.” I heard him moving around in the background. “Okay, I’m going to let you get real work done. But again, I appreciate your help.”

  “It’s not a problem.” It wasn’t like he’d asked me to hack the IRS or something difficult. “Have a good afternoon and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Daddy kept saying I should invite more people over. In this case, more people always meant other students my age. I’d always pushed the idea away, but maybe Hayden and Trent would like to come over for dinner sometime.

  Making a mental note to talk to Daddy, I went back to the lottery site and started to tinker. My afternoon wasn’t going as planned, but I’d be able to honestly tell Daddy that I’d gotten a lot done.

  Honesty was always important in a relationship.

  Chapter 2

  Ford

  “Should we ask what he did?” As Cody approached the table, even James groaned.

  He dropped his voice low as our boy got closer. “No, we’re going to have a nice evening. He clearly doesn’t feel bad about whatever he did.”

  We were both still chuckling as Cody came around and gave each of us a hug. “How was the movie?”

  If he wanted to talk about the movie, he really was hiding something.

  James cleared his throat, trying not to laugh. “It was interesting. Did you get a lot done?”

  Cody nodded, taking a seat across from us. He glanced over at one of the round booths across the room, and I could see longing flash through his eyes. Yes, he would’ve loved being teased as we ate, but he would’ve had to behave since we were visible to the entire restaurant.

  Behaving himself wasn’t always easy, however.

  “Yes, it was a very productive afternoon.” He beamed, clearly pleased with whatever mischief he’d gotten into.

  It could have been anything from getting distracted by research questions to deciding to look up new sex positions to try with James, so the restaurant might not be the best place to question him. “That’s wonderful. Now you don’t have to worry about taking tomorrow off.”

  Some of the brightness in his eyes dimmed but not enough for me to be concerned. He wasn’t nervous about being little in front of everyone; it was more about their reactions and a bit of fear of the unknown mixed together.

  “I talked to Hayden for a few minutes about…tomorrow.” He glanced around, not sure how close we were to the other customers.

  It was probably a good idea to be cautious since we were so close to the college and knew so many people in the room, but I hated that he had to censor himself.

  Continuing, Cody dropped his voice slightly. “He suggested we bring a toy everyone can play with. He said they’re going to bring a bubble machine. Trent thought it would be fun. What do you think we should bring? A toy would still be polite, right?”

  He had a good point.

  “That would work. Do you have any ideas?” I was curious to see where his mind would go.

  “Hayden mentioned playdough or something like that.” Cody shrugged, not passionate about that idea, but then he perked up again as he reached for his water, looking at it like it held the answers to the meaning of life. “But what about the water paint books we saw at the store the other day?”

  That wasn’t a bad idea. It would be slightly messy, but Sean probably wouldn’t mind. “Let’s stop by after dinner and pick out a few. I’ll text Sean to make sure it’s okay with him, but I think it should be fine.”

  “Great.” Cody took a long drink of water, wiggling excitedly. “Those are going to be great.”

  “The bubbles sound like a good idea too.” James reached out and ran his hand over Cody’s head. Looking at me, he chuckled. “You might want to bring a change of clothes, though.”

  Another good idea.

  “Yes.” I gave Cody a teasing grin. “That might be smart.”

  “Bubbles aren’t messy.” Then he gave us a perfectly innocent, sweet smile. “It’s not like paint or playdough or mud pies.”

  James shivered, his face scrunching up. “I’m not sure about mud pies. We’d be scrubbing out dirt and muck for days.”

  Trying not to laugh, I cleared my throat. “I don’t think Sean will want you guys digging up his yard.”

  Cody gave a little pout and slouched back in his chair. “I can’t wait until I get my sandbox.”

  He would end up covered head to toe, but he would have a wonderful time. We were at the point where having the house finished enough to have a sandbox felt like an eternity away. “It’s coming along very well.”

  And the contractor hadn’t thought the playhouse idea was insane. Having someone who understood the lifestyle made things much easier. He’d managed to draw up plans in just a few days and agreed that it would be a surprise for Cody.

  Keeping anything from Cody was difficult. Especially if it involved the house.

  “I know.” He leaned across the table and squeezed our hands before sitting back again. “It feels like it’s taking forever. I just want it done.”

  He was doing wonderfully dealing with the frustration from bouncing between the houses, but I knew it was hard on him. The dorm had been his home for years, and now he was shifting between three different places. None of them felt like home at the moment, so he was always slightly out of sorts lately.

  He’d have denied it if we brought it up, but part of what made him special liked a certain amount of routine, and he wasn’t getting enough of one. Having a schedule and being little helped, but I knew he’d feel better when we were all in one place without the constant shifting.

  The recent binkie incident hadn’t helped either.

  I still hadn’t figured out how they’d all ended up at the wrong house. I was normally so careful about that. Cody might not be the only person just a bit frustrated with the current living situation. But it wouldn’t be much longer.

  James smiled. He’d known Cody long enough that the stress hadn’t surprised him. “They’re making good progress.”

  “It’s going to be great. My room will be perfect.” His eyes sparkled as he imagined it clearly in his head. Of course, a lot of people might have assumed he meant an office, but Cody wanted a nursery more than anything else in the house. Well, a nursery and a big shower.

  He knew where his priorities lay.

  “It’s all going to be wonderful.” Reaching fo
r my glass, I smiled. “You did a great job with the floor plan.”

  If he wasn’t so perfectly suited for teaching, architecture would have been a good field for him. He had sifted through all our different wants and needs like they were points of data in a study and incorporated most of them perfectly.

  “Now we need to get focused on picking the last of the fixtures so they can be ordered.” Cody wasn’t nearly as passionate about the rest of the house, but he could be counted on to have an opinion on everything from the backsplashes to the doorknobs. Sometimes they weren’t based on the aesthetics, but the science behind his choices was always fascinating.

  “We’re going to sit down on Sunday and get those ironed out.” Scheduling a meeting during the week with our contractor was entirely too difficult, so he’d agreed to do as many as he could on the weekend.

  He nodded. “But don’t forget we have a date day on Sunday.”

  Cody read a relationship book recently that talked about the importance of making time for your partners, so we’d sat down and made sure we had specific days mapped out on the calendar where we were going to focus on doing things together. “It shouldn’t take long and I think the house counts as a date-day kind of project.”

  “Agreed.” James shook his head as Cody tried to pout. “Will that behavior work?”

  “Not on you.” Cody huffed and stuck his tongue out at James before giving me a sweet smile. “He’s so mean, Daddy.”

  “Someone is feeling especially naughty today.” I raised one eyebrow, fighting the urge to laugh and give the brat everything he wanted. “Maybe we don’t need to get toys after dinner.”

  Cody straightened in his chair and gave us an exaggerated performance of how good he could be by placing his hands in his lap and beaming at us. If anyone had noticed, they probably would’ve chalked it up to him being silly and left it at that.

  His gaze heated as he looked over at James. “I can be very good.”

  James let out a low groan. “You can’t do that here.”

  I lost the battle against smiling. “If you two get us in trouble here, you won’t like the results.”

  That sent shivers through both of them as I shook my head. They looked so innocent and so straitlaced, but they were both a handful in their own ways. It made each day even more interesting but also meant I got plenty of opportunities to spank naughty subs.

  ****

  “Do we really need a dozen?” James looked skeptically at the growing pile in the cart, but I shrugged.

  They weren’t expensive, and if we didn’t use them for the playdate, they’d wait for another time. The problem was that Cody kept finding more of the watercolor paint books he said he had to have.

  “I think James might be right. There’s only five of you.” Cody didn’t appreciate my logic, but he put back the thirteenth one he was trying to sneak into the cart. “And several of those are duplicates, so I think you’ll be fine.”

  “You said Sean texted and said Kevin was going to come too, and Finn. They might want to play.” His hands inched back toward the display.

  “But that’s only seven. You’ll still have plenty.” Then James dropped his voice lower and leaned in. “And I’m pretty sure you’ve all heard of sharing.”

  Cody gave him a cute little shrug but put his hands back in his pockets. “Yes, Sir.”

  Chuckling, I decided to move him away from temptation. “How about we go look at some board games too?”

  I had no idea what it would take to keep the three nervous littles and two excited ones occupied for a few hours. In other playgroups I’d been to, they were all familiar and comfortable with each other, so that made the events easier. But having a variety of toys at different levels had to be a good idea.

  “Oh.” Cody’s head bounced back and forth down the aisle, looking for the games. “Like Candy Land. I’ve never played that.”

  Because he’d been reading the dictionary when most kids were playing that game.

  “Then let’s go look for it.” Even James couldn’t say no to that.

  James sighed but nodded. “Yes, that will be fun if they like games.”

  “It’s going to be great.” Cody eagerly started pushing the cart down the aisle. “Come on.”

  Getting out with only two games and twelve paint books was a win in my opinion. James thought I was spoiling him, but he didn’t put up much of an effort to stop us, so I wasn’t worried. Besides, soon we’d have a good space to put them. His new room needed more toys and games anyway.

  I rode home with Cody, and he kept up a never-ending conversation about all kinds of random topics from silly comments students had made to odd facts he’d found online. It was funny and soothing all at the same time. I loved hearing what was in his head, and it was comforting to know he felt safe enough with us that he didn’t hide the interesting things he found entertaining.

  We got to see the real Cody not many people did.

  But as we arrived back at the house, it was clear Cody was ready to calm down and relax. As we piled into the house with the packages and Cody’s work bag, I started getting him organized. “Okay, go put your bag in the kitchen and head upstairs. It’s time to get you cleaned up.”

  “Bathtub?” Cody might have been attempting to say more, but it was lost as he yawned.

  “Shower tonight.” He was going to be in his role for long enough on Saturday that I wasn’t worried about making sure he had little time tonight.

  He nodded as he headed into the kitchen to set his bag by the table. “Yes, Daddy.”

  James and I had the games and books reorganized and waiting on the couch when he came back out of the kitchen, yawning again. “I put my stuff down, Daddy.”

  James chuckled and walked over to wrap his arms around Cody. “You got up too early this morning.”

  Cody shook his head, but his protest didn’t carry much weight because he yawned again before he could respond. “I had to write down my idea. It wasn’t too early.”

  There was no arguing with him. Once his brain woke up, he was off and going ninety miles an hour. But luckily, he crashed just as easily if given the right structure. James hugged him close and Cody snuggled against him. “It’s all the food.”

  “You’re tired because you ate too much dinner?” I was pretty sure that excuse was just to be used for Thanksgiving-sized meals. “Let’s see if a shower helps.”

  One attempt at bad logic deserved another.

  Cody nodded but didn’t lift his head from James. “It will. Then we can watch a movie or do something.”

  He was the king of burning the candle at both ends. Luckily, he had us to help him with that wonderful habit. “Okay, we’ll see what we want to do after your shower.”

  Nothing but sleep would happen, but I wasn’t going to have that conversation with him. He could come up with a thousand excuses about why his reason was perfectly correct. So the best way to combat that was by going around him.

  “Okay, Daddy.” His head seemed to be a thousand pounds as he lifted it and stepped away from James. “I’ll go start getting ready.”

  Yes, it wasn’t going to be a late night for my tired boy.

  James obviously agreed because as Cody headed up, he smiled at me, shaking his head. As Cody reached the top of the stairs, I walked over to James, keeping my voice quiet. “I think giving him a bit of…physical exercise will help him relax.”

  James chuckled. “Exercise, huh?”

  “Of course.” I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close, cuddling him the same way he’d done to Cody. “The release of chemicals as you…exert yourself is very beneficial.”

  Still smiling, James rested his head against my shoulder and took a long breath. His schedule wasn’t quite as bad as Cody’s. That was because he had the common sense to sleep and not go chasing every thought that ran through his mind, but he seemed to be having difficulty relaxing lately too.

  They would both be better emotionally once we were all in one pla
ce.

  Every time I had a stray worry that we were going too fast, all I had to do was look at them and see how much happier they were when we were together.

  As I stroked a hand down his back, James let out a quiet moan. “Am I going to get to exert myself too?”

  “Possibly.” I kissed his head, smiling over the way he worded the question. His submission would never be as obvious as Cody’s, but it was something I treasured just as deeply. “Let’s go put our boy to bed.”

  Chapter 3

  Jameson

  He was stunning—exhausted, but still stunning.

  A naked Cody was leaning over the small desk in my office, making random notes on my electricity bill as we walked in. He was utterly devoted to pleasing both of us, especially his Daddy, but sometimes obedience was hard.

  Especially when inspiration struck.

  “Cody?” Ford’s voice was stern and dry, but I could see the laughter he was barely holding back.

  Cody’s head popped up. “Daddy?”

  Ford walked over and took the bill and crayon from his hand, giving him a stern look.

  Where had he gotten a crayon?

  “What were you supposed to be doing?” It should have been an easy question. He was naked and had only gotten the instructions minutes before, but Cody stood there blinking for several long seconds.

  “Oh.” He looked down and finally noticed he wasn’t wearing clothes. “A shower?”

  He was exhausted. Ford and I had both found him up at crazy hours last week making random notes he said would be a fascinating paper. I was starting to wonder how many times we hadn’t caught him.

  “Yes. Are you supposed to be working right now?” It was another easy question that took entirely too long to answer.

  “No, Daddy.” He was sorry, but he glanced back at the paper, making it clear he wasn’t that sorry.

  “Turn around and bend over the desk.” His stern voice had both of us shivering, and Cody’s cock went from interested and half-hard to fully erect and all in for whatever would happen.

  Mine had the same idea.

  “I’m sorry, Daddy.” He’d have come across as more apologetic if he hadn’t been hard and giving us a hungry look as he turned around and bent over, offering up his ass.