“That’s okay, Austin. You can buy yourself whatever you want, especially if it brings you comfort.” I take his hand and move him from the table to the living room, specifically to the couch. I give him a second before tilting my head for him to look. I can see his lips turn up in a smile.
"You got me a koala?" He turns his whole body to look at me. His smile turns to confusion. "Why'd you buy me one?"
I flounder for words. I don't know why I bought it. I felt like he would want one to add to this collection. The other koala looked cute next to the others while I fed him his spaghetti. "I just thought you would like it," I say honestly. "I can take it back if you'd rather keep your own."
"No," Austin says quickly. I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at his reaction. "I mean, I'll keep both of them. They can be friends together."
Austin steps forward and wraps his arms around me. He's tall, a few inches shorter than my height, and fits perfectly in my arms. I feel his chest rise and fall against mine as he takes a deep, steadying breath.
“Can I ask you a question?” I try to keep my voice even.
“Yeah.” The single word sounds so pitiful coming from him. But he pulls back and looks me straightin the eye.
“Would you be okay if I bought you some other things too? I noticed the other day that you don’t have a lot in here. Maybe it would help you relax more.”
“I have most of my stuff in the extra bedroom,” he admits. “I don’t go in there a lot unless I’m really missing my Daddy. It makes me sad to see everything packed up.”
“Oh, sweetie.” I pull him in for another hug, letting him bury his face in the crook of my neck as he cries. “You’re okay, Austin. We can get you new things or I can help you go through the stuff and organize everything. I bet that extra room would make a great playroom like you and your Daddy used to have.”
“That’s what I wanted, but it just felt weird living alone like this. And thinking about having to buy all my own… uh, supplies.” I nod, understanding what he means. I remember Austin would occasionally wear diapers and Paul would almost always have him dressed in the cutest outfits. The boys at the club were just that, more Middle and Boy age than little. I'm not particular, but I have a soft spot for little Littles.
“Do you want to go through it this weekend?” I prompt. “I’m free until Monday if you want to. You can get as much Little time in as you need and we’ll get this place looking sparkly.”
I watch Austin’s eyes widen minutely and I hope it’s in excitement. “Really? You would do that for me? I know we planned tonight, Remington, but you don’t have to waste your whole weekend with me.”
“Austin Westcott.” I turn on my Daddy voice and that definitely gets his attention. “You are not a waste of time. Nor is helping you. You know me well enough that I wouldn’t offerif I didn’t mean it. If you want me to, I’m more than happy to hang out and help.”
“Okay.” Austin nods once. “I’d like that.”
“Now, I’m going to check on the chili I’m making and put the cornbread on. We’re going to tackle cleaning off the shelves beside the fireplace and the bookshelf first, okay?” I grip Austin’s hand tightly when I see him worry his bottom lip. “I promise that we will keep all of his stuff safe, okay?”
I've been here for an hour, letting myself in with the key he keeps hidden under a flower pot sitting on his porch. I started the food to cook slowly on the stove but then went ahead and swept the kitchen and dining room areas and vacuumed the area rug in the living room. I didn’t touch the more private rooms without Austin here. So dusting and spot cleaning is really all there is left to do.
“I’m going to go change and pick up my other clothes real quick,” Austin says. “The food smells good, though. Thank you for cooking again.”
“Hey, maybe we can do tacos tomorrow night? I’ll even write down the recipe for you to keep.” Austin’s smile at that suggestion is infectious. We split ways and I head to the kitchen to check on the chili. I would have made it in a slow cooker, but Austin doesn’t have one. So it’s in a pot on the stove. The cornbread is nothing fancy, just the boxed stuff I picked up.
I navigate the kitchen easily now, already getting familiar with where things are placed. The muffin tin is shoved in a cabinet alongside a couple of other glass and dark pans. Maybe organizing the kitchen could be added to the list as well this weekend.
I really don’t mind helping Austin. He keeps his home clean, but I know that Paul did a lot of the upkeep around their house.Austin wasn’t incompetent, he helped Paul from time to time with cleaning and general maintenance of their house. But he spent a handful of evenings each week in Little space, which Paul would always clean up. On a good day,Tornado Austincould do some damage.
I slide the muffin tray into the preheated oven and move back to sort through the cleaning items he bought. The stuffie is adorable. It’s very similar to the one from Wednesday, but slightly larger. I move to the living room to sit it on the middle cushion of the couch, next to the one I purchased. The one I got is holding a green plant in one hand. Paw. Paw?
“All done with the clothes.” Austin’s voice travels from beside me and I turn my head to see he’s in a pair of shorts and a white t-shirt. “Oh, I can just put them in my room with the others.”
“I think they're fine there for now,” I say. “But let’s get started, shall we? Dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes. I figure if you want to work on the bookshelf, I’ll clean the shelves since they’re a little higher up?”
“Sounds good to me.”
I smile and give him a quick nod before walking back to the table to grab the wood cleaner spray.
“Remington.” Austin is standing right behind me when I turn around. His arms reach up and wrap around my neck and he hugs me tightly. “Thank you for all of this. It means a lot.”
“Of course, Austin.” I hug him back, taking advantage that he’s okay with my squeezing him closer to me this time. “After dinner, we’ll do some Little time until bed, okay?”
“Did you want to stay here tonight instead of driving back and forth?” Austin asks when he pulls back. We grab the necessary items and move back to our assigned spots for thetasks. “I only have the one bed, but I can easily sleep on the couch.”
“I’m not going to take your bed, Austin. I’ll be fine propping the recliner back and sleeping.”
