Chapter Thirteen
After dinner, Eli made himself scarce as Willem and the kids decided to watchMiracle on 34thStreet.As much as he loved his daddy and the kids, he couldn’t bring himself to sit through the movie that his mother had demanded the whole family sit thru every single holiday season. But not enough to begrudge the kids the same tradition that his brother had kept alive. Willem had understood. He’d handed Eli his card with a knowing look, before telling both of the kids to climb up with him on the couch. When Eli had left, his daddy had been surrounded by two cutie-pies.
With a mission on his mind, he’d gone into the kitchen where his laptop was, retrieved it, then headed upstairs to do a little online shopping. Less than two weeks until Christmas and he could only hope that he’d be able to find everything the kids had asked for. After plunking down on the bed, he rearranged the pillows and got to work. He readily found the books. Not much demand for books on fire trucks or horses. Which was a shame, he thought as he added the books to the virtual cart.
“Damn, I should’ve looked at Daddy’s list.” He muttered to himself. “I could’ve ordered his book too.” He’d have to take a peek later once the kids were in bed. He made quick work of the big item gifts, family ones, and the clothing ones. He found the most adorable bright green muck boots with bright red fire engines on them for Jeremy, and some fun funky character socks that Raelynn had requested.
He pursed his lips. He had no idea what item of clothing that Willem would ask for. His Daddy’s closet was full to the brim of all kinds of clothing. The only thing that Willem ever mentioned a fascination with was…
My bow ties.
His cheeks heated as the memories of the naughty things that his Daddy liked to do with them. He palmed his swelling cock, pressing down hard on it. Now wasn’t the time to get over stimulated. Not when Daddy was downstairs doing all kinds of good daddy things. Which of course didn’t help Eli’s cause. In fact, it made it worse. If he’d been originally attracted to Willem’s sexy silver fox thing, it had only been topped by the nature of the man himself. His daddy was loving, caring, and best of all - supportive. He wanted to give the man the moon and stars. But all his Daddy had asked for was for him to share his life with him. Both Big and Little.
“Shit.” He chewed on his lip as the reality of what Daddy wanted sank in. Sure, he’d mouthed the words earlier, wanting to reassure his Daddy, but the reality of Willem’s reminder now made him ashamed. He’d been spending so much time wanting to be the perfect guardian to his niece and nephew that he’d placed Little Eli on the back burner.
“Which was not fair to Daddy – at all.” Even as he spoke the words out loud, he wasn’t sure how to balance what they needed with the needs of their charges. It wasn’t like he knew anyone personally that was a Little or a Big who was raising children, or had raised them. Or did he?
He glanced over at the picture of Willem’s parents hanging on the wall. It was taken when Willem had been a young boy. It was a classic, the entire family sitting on the couch. Jonas and Sandra- call me Sandy -were snuggled together with a young Willem and Nona at their feet. When he’d first seen it, he’d been fascinated by the resemblance Willem now had to his father. A father who had kept his wife and Little content for years, while raising two responsible but loving kids into adults.
His palms began to sweat, but he needed to know. Maybe he should ask Daddy, but his man was flying by the seat of his pants just as much as Eli himself was. He reached for Willem’s cell where it was resting on his nightstand. His Little side urged him to call to find out, while the adult side of him tried to warn him that doing so might just land them in hot water.
Call him.Daddy will understand.
He closed his eyes in frustration. He couldn’t do this. Or could he? He waivered back and forth until finally…
“Fuck it.” He snagged the phone up, opened up the contact list, then pressed the one for Willem’s father. A second later, a deep baritone so similar to his own Daddy’s filled his ear. “Mr. William? Hi! It’s Eli. And nothing is wrong with Willem, I just had a couple of questions to ask you.”
It all came out in a rush but, as usual, his ‘maybe someday’ father-in-law chuckled.
“Slow down, boy.” Jonas drawled “Something tells me Willem doesn’t know you’re calling me.”
“Not really.” Eli squeezed the bridge of his nose. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. “Look, I probably shouldn’t have disturbed you…but I was hoping for a little advice here.”
“Nonsense, don’t ever apologize for asking for help.” Jonas paused for a moment. “Let me grab Sandy. Something tells me, we may need her input.”
There was a pause, before the light, melodious sound of her voice joined the conversation.
“Poppa, put the phone on speaker, so I can hear too.”
“Crap.” His Little peeked out at the cadence of Sandy’s answer. He’d never met his Daddy’s parents in person, but he had been in on the video chats that his Daddy had done. Sandy’s Little was barely disguised, or maybe it was because he was used to spotting Littles, but either way, every time she spoke his Little wanted to come out and play with her.
“Watch your tone, little girl.” Jonas warned. Then the tone of his voice changed. “Okay I think I got it on speaker. Can you hear us?”
“Yes, Sir.” His ears reddened. How had he thought this would be a good idea? He’d obviously interrupted playtime. Maybe he should hang up?
“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that? It’s Jonas or Poppa William. I may need to talk to your Daddy about that if you can’t remember.”
“Crap,” he repeated. The last thing he wanted was to have Willem angry for upsetting Jonas. “I keep forgetting. Habits die hard, Sir…I mean Poppa William. Dang it.” His Little was definitely trying to take over.
“Relax.” Jonas ordered. “Where are you?”
“Bedroom,” Eli admitted, glancing around the room.
“Get Petey,” the older man ordered. “We need Little Eli to calm down.”
He tugged out his Tamagotchi from his pocket. He rubbed his thumb over the curve of the toy, allowing its smooth contours to sooth his nerves. He took a couple of deep breaths trying to get back under control. The little guy woke when he bumped one of the buttons. He fed the electronic pet, with a flick of his finger, then released a sigh. “Panic attack adverted. Sorry about that.”
“Quit apologizing, young man. We’re all human,” Jonas said kindly. “I spoke with Willem last week. He told me to expect your call.”
