by Luna, David
He moved the people around, outside of the diner. “Help! There’s a fire! Help!”
Once he made sure the fire was out and everyone was okay, he crawled over to a different section of track and pulled the long line of train cars over a drawbridge, under the highway overpass, and around to the old covered bridge by the farm. A tree got knocked over by his knee. “Oh no, there’s a tree on the track! We have to stop the train!”
He made screeching noises as the train’s brakes finally stopped the train, just in time. But it was such an abrupt stop, two of the boxcars in the back tipped over, straight into the fence and halfway through the field, narrowly missing the sheep.
“Oh my goodness! Daddy, did you see? The train almost hit the tree and then the box cars knocked over the fence! The farmer is gonna be so upset! And look, now the sheep might get loose.” He turned, mouth agape at the tragic accident.
He cocked his head when he saw the camera on Daddy’s phone aimed his way. He scrunched his nose and then giggled. “Are you capturing real-time footage of the crash for the six o’clock news?”
Turning his gaze Daddy’s way, Asher was surprised by his expression. It was serious, and yet a tender smile played around his lips. He looked poleaxed and mesmerized, but with what, Asher didn’t know. Asher waved his hands in front of his face. “Daddy, did you see? The crash?”
Daddy blinked himself out of his daze, and a brilliant smile lit his face. “I did. And I think I caught it all on tape for the news team.”
Asher beamed and clapped. “Oh good! Maybe Farmer Bob will use the fallen tree to cut into pieces for the new fence he has to build.”
Thornton chuckled. “That’s a good idea, little man. I’m so proud of you for building such an amazing track. It’s the best one yet. But I see a spot that might need a little something extra.”
Asher turned and surveyed the whole room, unable to see what was needed that he hadn’t already added. “I dunno. I’m pretty sure I used everything, Daddy.”
“Not everything. I might have a little something that could go perfectly over there.” Daddy pointed to a section behind him and to the left, where there was a big loop of track.
He turned back, a grin growing. His whole body vibrated with excitement, and he squeezed his fists together, shaking them in excitement. “Did you get me a prezzie?”
Thornton chuckled, nodding. “I did. Don’t move. Daddy’s gonna be right back.”
He wiggled back and forth on his butt, so excited. He loved prezzies! When Daddy returned, he had a box in hand that had been wrapped in blue paper with trains all over it. “Trains!”
“I thought you might like that. This is a good-luck-tomorrow gift I thought you might like. I was going to give it to you later, but the track you built is perfect for it.”
He wanted to snatch the box out of Daddy’s hands, but he waited patiently. Daddy smirked, like the meanie he was, but finally handed it over. He set it on the floor and went to town on the wrapping, unable to slow down in his enthusiasm. When the manufacturer’s box showed a picture of what was inside, he gasped. “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Daddy! It’s the roundhouse and turntable I saw last week on your iPad! Look, it’ll fit perfectly over there.”
He pulled the huge, semicircle train garage and attached spinning turntable out of the box, ran over to the other end of the track, and slotted the roundhouse into place. He crawled to the closest train and coupled coal car and rolled them towards the roundhouse. “Chugga chugga, chugga chugga, choo choo!”
He rolled the train through the turntable and into one of the many garages in the roundhouse. “Look, it fits!”
“It does. That’s exciting, isn’t it?”
Asher wanted to show Daddy just how excited he was, so he scrambled over to him on his hands and knees and launched himself on him, knocking Daddy back off his heels and flat on his back. “Whoa, careful, little man.”
Chuckling, Daddy caught him and kept them from crashing too hard into each other as he wrapped his arms around Asher, tugging him in close against his body protectively. Asher peppered his face with kisses. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!”
The adoring smile on Daddy’s face made Asher’s tummy do flipflops. “You’re welcome. Is it the one you liked?”
“Yes, yes, yes. It’s perfect.”
“Good. I’m glad.”
Asher groaned as his ribs protested, suddenly realizing launching himself at anything still wasn’t a good idea. They were nearly healed, and he felt great compared to where he’d started after the crash, but sometimes he forgot he was still healing and went a little too far.
Thornton’s hands ran up and down his back as Asher tucked his head under Thornton’s chin. “You gotta be careful, sweetheart.”
He sucked in a breath and nodded. “I know, Daddy. I forget sometimes.”
“I know you do, baby.”
Asher’s tummy decided that was a good time to start talking. “Uh-oh. My tummy is mad.”
Thornton chuckled. “Well then, let’s go to the kitchen and eat lunch. I might have a tiny surprise on your favorite plate as well. Why don’t you go see?”
At the thought of another surprise, he was up like a shot, ignoring his protesting ribs and running out of the room. “Ash, slow down. Don’t hurt yourself.”
Grumbling, he slowed to a power walk and made it to his place setting at the table, where his new train place setting was, and… “Oh my gosh! Daddy! It’s train-shaped sammiches!”
“It is! How fun is that?”
“So fun, Daddy!” He clambered onto his seat, knocking the table in the process, which in turn knocked over his milk cup. He gasped as it fell over and tried to catch it as it rolled towards the edge of the table but couldn’t catch it in time. It hit the floor on its side with a clatter, the lid popped off, and chocolate milk went everywhere.
He gasped, and tears filled his eyes. “I’m sorry!”
Thornton clasped his shoulder and squeezed. “It’s okay. Accidents happen.”
Asher started to get up to grab some paper towel, but Daddy stopped him. “You don’t have shoes on, little man. Stay in your seat while I clean it up.”
He watched as Thornton cleaned up his mess, tears streaming down his face. He knew it wasn’t a huge deal, but he felt awful. He’d just been given two super-fun gifts, and this was the thanks he gave his Daddy? He whispered, “I’m really sorry.”
Thornton looked up from his final swipe of the floor with the paper towel, his smile turning into a look of concern as he dropped the paper towel on the floor and turned more fully to kneel in front of Asher. “Hey, hey. What’s this?”
He swiped at Asher’s tears. And Asher drew in a ragged breath. “You got me prezzies and I wasn’t careful and now I ruined lunch, and…”
Thornton pulled Asher down on his lap so he was straddling him. He kissed Asher so sweetly another tear fell. “You haven’t ruined anything, Ash. It was an accident. I promise. I’m just gonna make you some more chocolate milk, and then things will be right as rain.”
He sniffled. “Yeah?”
A kiss on his forehead made Asher feel better. “Yeah, sweetheart.”
“I can help?”
“With your milk?”
“Yeah. I can be really careful. I promise. I just got so excited because of the train sammiches.”
Thornton chuckled, nodding. “I know you did. Okay, hang on a minute. Let me finish this and get the milk and chocolate syrup.”
Thornton came back with a new cup, milk, and the syrup, and Asher helped make himself some fresh chocolate milk. When he was done, he’d only dribbled a bit of chocolate on the table. He swiped it up and licked his finger, making Daddy chuckle at him. “All better?”
Asher nodded. “All better. Thank you, Daddy.”
“You’re welcome. I think your emotions are running pretty close to the surface today, so everything seems bigger, more overwhelming.”
He bit into his peanut butter and jelly train a
nd shrugged. His mouth was full when he mumbled, “Maybe.”
“Asher, what have I said about speaking while your mouth is full?”
He swallowed and ducked his head, feeling sheepish. “Sorry, Daddy.”
“It’s okay, but don’t do it again.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Good boy.”
Chapter Twenty
Thornton
Thornton set the table for dinner, which was chicken fajitas and Spanish rice, a meal Asher had said was one of his favorites. Asher had been in little space most of the day. After lunch, they’d gone on a walk, and then he’d wanted to color and watch a movie. He’d wanted to make his boy’s last day at home as stress-free as possible. The more time Asher had to regress before his first day back, the better.
His boy was healthier than Thornton had ever seen him, happier too. His posture was more confident, his smile ever present, he laughed easily and seemed to feel more comfortable and able to sink deeper into his little headspace. As Thornton watched Asher settle into the little boy he’d always kept hidden away, he’d felt as if his own growth as a Daddy had happened simultaneously. They were both learning from each other and growing stronger together.
“Hey, Ash. It’s time for dinner. Can you turn the TV off and clean up your coloring stuff, please?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Good boy. Wash your hands afterwards, all right?”
“Okay.”
The sweet timbre of Asher’s little voice was music to his ears. It was higher than his normal voice and had all the earmarks of full regression into little headspace. His boy had taken to the lifestyle like a duck to water, and Thornton was happier than he could ever remember being.
When Beast had barked outside his office during a conference call earlier, he’d barely excused himself from the call before hanging up and running upstairs, scared to death what he’d find. Seeing Asher on the ground struggling to breathe had his heart racing a mile a minute. He hated when his boy suffered with his anxiety.
After he’d gotten Asher settled, he’d notice the bag on their bed, half full of Asher’s things. His heart nearly stopped, seeing that. He’d failed his boy, obviously. He hadn’t even entertained the thought of Asher leaving. In his mind, Asher was still recovering and only working part-time, and after that they’d chat about him moving in, but the fact that Asher had doubted for a second Thornton wanted his boy there for always broke his heart.
He’d put off that discussion for the remainder of the day because the most important thing was for Asher to get the time he needed to let go of himself and let the stress of what was to come drift away while he played with trains and colored pictures in his new train coloring books.
He knew his boy was worried about the impending business buyout, and he couldn’t blame Asher one bit for it. Over the last couple weeks, he’d been working with Asher and Madi to understand the ins and outs of running The Glasshouse.
While he did not know the details of the financials, he knew enough about them from his conversations with his boy to have a rough idea of what was to come for Asher and his soon-to-be new business partner. Madi had a good head on her shoulders and, if he wasn’t mistaken, would thrive in the role Jenn would be vacating when she sold the successful business to her two most trusted employees.
He had helped them see different ways of looking at their jobs from an ownership perspective. He knew it wasn’t easy making that mental shift, but they were both willing, and eager, to learn. Jenn had stopped by a week prior, to check with them about their interest in the business. When Asher and Madi had finally told her they were interested, the excitement in the room was palpable.
Jenn hadn’t stayed long. In her words, she had just stopped by to check on Asher and see if they had any questions for her in order to help them make a decision. When they’d explained their decision had been made, she’d been just as excited as Asher and Madi about it. And she hadn’t pressed for anything more. Had made it clear Asher was not to be worrying about work while he was recovering, and when he came back, they’d talk about it and start nailing down the details.
All Thornton had done was talk to them about running a business, any business, and the many different things owners ran into. They’d both been pretty stressed after that conversation, and he’d done his best to assuage their worries. They weren’t building a company from the ground up; The Glasshouse was a successfully run business that they were essentially taking over.
Once they understood that they had a leg up because of how much they already knew about the business, they both had relaxed and been able to talk to him and hear some of his advice. Other than that, he had done his best to only step in when he was asked to do so. But over the last couple of weeks, Asher had been picking his brain, and the questions he’d asked, the advice he’d wanted, was that of a man taking things very seriously. Someone who would do well in charge.
His biggest worry was getting Asher back to work the following day in a good headspace. The car ride was going to be an issue. That was why he’d pushed the boy into driving with him several times over the course of the last few weeks.
He knew the next day for Asher was going to be a tough one. Not only was he going to be getting a ride to and from work, but he was also going to be around more people than he had been around since he’d last been at work. He knew that Madi and Asher would be having a business meeting with Jenn in the morning, and he assumed that was when she would go over financials and other things they needed to know in order to put a good business plan together for their business loans.
He still hoped that he would be able to help them in some way to financially reach their goals. He wanted his boy and his boy’s best friend to thrive. He could see the excitement growing in Asher’s eyes when he talked about possible changes he would make in the future. Thornton had liked Asher’s ideas and tried to help build upon them and had even introduced some of his own ideas he had to grow their cannabis business.
All in all, he felt like Asher was ready to return to work—he was feeling much better physically and, from what Thornton could tell, emotionally and mentally as well. He hoped he had had some small part in helping Asher along the way.
When Asher walked in the room, Thornton could tell, somewhere between walking to the bathroom, washing his hands, and walking to the kitchen, Asher had pulled himself out of regression. There was trepidation in his steps, and Thornton knew Asher assumed they would be having the conversation they had put off since earlier that day. And he wasn’t wrong.
“It smells good, Daddy.”
Thornton approached Asher and pulled him slowly into a hug, rubbing his hands up and down his boy’s back. He pulled away, hands on Asher’s shoulders, and gazed into his eyes. “I made one of your favorites.”
Asher smiled, shyly. “I can tell. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, boy. Have a seat, and I’ll bring in your food.”
As Asher sat at the table, Thornton filled their plates and brought them to the table. Perhaps Asher had noticed Thornton had used regular dinnerware rather than the plastic place settings he used when Asher was regressing. At least they were on the same page.
They started eating, and he decided to wait until they were finished for the heavy conversation, so they kept their conversation light. When they were done, Asher helped him carry their dishes to the sink, and they both set the kitchen to rights, somehow both understanding the sooner they got done, the sooner they could talk about the elephant in the room. Once everything was cleaned and put away, he led Asher to the family room couch, the place they spent most nights, and sat them down on the sofa.
He didn’t know what to do to make Asher feel more secure about their conversation, so he figured he wouldn’t put it off any longer. “I’d like to apologize.”
Before he could continue, Asher’s shocked gaze met his, and he asked, “What do you have to apologize for?”
“I left you floundering when I should have been ve
ry clear in my intentions. The fact that you are packing your clothes to leave and go home means I did not take care of your needs. I caused you undue stress, and for that I’m sorry, boy.”
Asher shook his head, but before his boy could speak, he raised his hand to hold him off. “The reason I did not mention how I was feeling about you leaving was because it wasn’t even a thought in my mind. I still consider you recuperating since you are only going back to work part-time. And I figured we still had a couple of weeks to discuss our future. But obviously, it has been on your mind enough for you to have doubts about your place here.”
“I didn’t want to presume…”
“Sweet boy, I want you to presume. But again, I didn’t make that clear, and for that, I’m sorry. But let me clear up any confusion you may have. I want you here with me. There are no ifs, ands, or buts and no prevarications. When you are one hundred percent recovered from the car accident, I will still want you here.”
Asher’s mouth had dropped open, and his shock had Thornton smiling and reaching out to clasp his hand. “Asher, if I have not made it clear, you make me very happy. In fact, I can’t ever remember being as happy as I am with you.”
“I feel the same way, Daddy.”
God, hearing his boy call him Daddy never got old. The more he said it, the more comfortable he seemed to feel saying it. And that warmed Thornton’s heart. “I’m so glad, baby boy.”
Asher looked down at his lap, hands fidgeting there with nerves. Asher’s voice wavered, uncertainty clear. “Are you… I mean… Just so I understand, are you asking me to move in with you?”
“Yes.”
Asher’s brows furrowed. He couldn’t help himself. He reached out and caressed his thumb over them, smoothing them out. “But… It’s only been four weeks. I just… Isn’t it too soon? I feel like we just met, but…”
“But?”
Asher shook his head. “In other ways, I feel like we’ve known each other forever. I don’t understand how that’s even possible, but it’s how I feel.”
