I love Austin Westcott.
When I first met him, when Paul introduced us, he was my best friend's Little. Austin was barely legal drinking age at twenty-two when I met him. I was always just the friend and never knew a lot about his personal life. He dived right into the kink world, and being Little with no hesitation. Paul would talk to me about things, scenes they started out with. It was never any intimate details. Just cute stories or swapping advice and ideas of things to do.
Seeing Austin at Paul's funeral, sitting behind the family, nearly broke me. Paul was head over heels for him, despite their age differences. I think that was a problem for both of their families. Paul said his family would make jabs about how young his boyfriend was while Austin's parents didn't seem too happy to see them together. They'd been engaged for only a couple of months when he passed away and Austin lost everything he'd grown to love for the past half decade. He lost his first love, the place he lived, his Daddy.
I hung around for a while, wanting to help him but not knowing how. I didn't know where the line was of giving him space and wanting to step in and help with anything and everything. It was hard to watch him grieve, to pull away from the playgroups he was part of, to bury that part of who he is.
"Daddy?" Austin's voice pulls me out of my swirling thoughts and I look down at him. He's smiling and loops his arm through mine. His coat is unzipped and the blue sweater he's wearing underneath brings out the color in his eyes. His hair is somewhat styled in a floppy curls type of way.
"Yes, Aussie?" We start walking through the crowd. It isn't packed here, most have gone back to browsing the different activities the festival has to offer as the songs continue on. No one is paying attention to us.
"Thank you." He wraps his arms around me as we continue walking. We're heading in the general direction of where I parked. It's about a two block walk, with the street closures and all. I wrap my arm around his shoulders and kiss the top of his head. "For everything. For being you, taking care of me. Letting me have fun again."
"Of course," I say around the lump in my throat. After this morning, with the picture frame, we both must be going down memory lane.
"Can we go home now?" I can see in his eyes that he's getting tired so I agree. It's only three in the afternoon. He'll probably go for a nap and we'll have dinner and go from there. The idea of him calling my house home warms me inside. He brought it up once before, our living arrangements. I wouldn't mind sharing my home with him.
I wait until we're back in the car, warming up via heat vents, to show him what I bought. His eyes go comically wide and heleans over the console to give me a kiss. "Thank you so much. They're so cute and tiny!"
He hugs them to his chest and admires them the whole thirty minutes back to my house. Once we're inside, Austin can't hide the yawns anymore. His Little side always comes out when he gets sleepy and I end up all but carrying him inside.
"Do you want to change clothes or just strip down?" I ask as we head up the stairs. He turns into the playroom without a word and moves to lay on the bed. I take that as a sign he wants to be changed. "Any particular outfit you want?"
"Blue," Austin says simply. I smile and open the closet. It's only his clothes hanging up. I don't share clothes between the boys I'm with. He has a solid six outfits with blue as the main color. His giggle is music to my ears and I give him a funny look. He holds up his new toy, the pink Rabbit. It's no bigger than his hand from wrist to fingertip. "Rabbits?"
I look over the options again. Blue and rabbits. He doesn't have anything that matches that, but he does have one with a penguin on the front of the shirt. It isn't blue, white instead, but I hold it up and he smiles and nods. I grab the matching pants to go with it and get to work grabbing everything. While my back is turned, he's stripped out of his clothes for me. It makes me laugh, which in turn has him letting out the sweetest, sleepiest, sounding giggle in all the world.
"Lift your butt," I direct as I slide the diaper under him. He does as asked, lowering his hips once it's situated. I take a wipe and give him a quick clean before securing the tabs and helping him into the clothes. He looks so incredibly cute in the outfit. "Okay, baby. I think it's time for a nap. Lets get you all tucked in and I'll be back in a little bit."
"Can you read me a story?" Austin asks as I tuck the blanket around his body. The bed in the playroom is no more than a twin. He's laying on his side with his knees tucked up and looks up at me. I can see he's about five minutes from conking out so I grab the first book I find and settle down next to him. I get four pages into it before looking over at Austin. His eyes are closed, features smooth. He has the rabbit tucked between his arm and chest, the ears brushing against his chin. And his thumb is in his mouth again.
I brush the hair from his face and kiss his forehead. We'll have to talk about it and soon. I don't want him hiding any part of him. I don't want to push him either and make him feel like that's what I want from him. I'm happy with whatever he feels comfortable with.
I decide to let him sleep for two hours max. We had a late night last night and then he woke up early this morning. I'm sure he'll have no problem going back to sleep for bedtime. I go downstairs and check my phone. Garrett isn't able to make it on Tuesday for Littles themed night at the club, but he is coming to the campground. He isn't in a relationship, that I know of, but he said he's bringing his dog, Riley, with him.
My phone has a text on it when I pick it up. It's my sister.
Wendy
Does Austin have any allergies? Mom wants to know, she's planning the meal.
Remington
No. But can we make sure to get the plates with the sections? He's not a fan of his food touching. I can bring hisown if needed.
I read back over the text, wondering if that is too much to ask or too much information. My nephew is particular about his food too, but he's more of the picky eater, not the food touching thing. I'm about to message her again to tell her never mind but she sends one through first.
Wendy
You got it. He'll get along great with Terry. I'm excited to see him again.
I love my family and I can't wait for Austin to meet them. My mom is going to dote over him. She's in her seventies and spirited. When my dad passed away we were worried about her, but she came back to herself and started planning family dinners and insisting on hosting parties. She still lives in our childhood home. It's large for one person, but then again, she's rarely ever alone. My sister, Wendy, lives two streets away from her and the kids visit often. I try to get over there at least once a week, or at least call her every few days. The rest of the family is spread around the city and surrounding areas.
The next task at hand is preparing dinner. I've enjoyed having someone to make food for again. I don't mind cooking. I'm definitely more into baking desserts, but the act of making something that someone else is going to enjoy is what I love about it. I browse the cabinets and freezer to see what we have. As much as I love cooking, I don't have much in the house since I've spent half the week at Austin's place. I'll have to go shopping tomorrow if we're going to be here all week.
"Looks like chicken nuggets and mac and cheese it is tonight," I mumble to myself. The food won't take but ten minutes so I go back upstairs and head to the bedroom. I can't help but peek a look into the playroom. Austin is curled up even further on the bed, still fast asleep. He's so fucking perfect and beautiful, my heart swells at the thought of a life with him. I didn't think a true relationship was in the cards for me again, but I can't imagine ever willingly leaving Austin. Not unless he asked, even then I'd probably fight it and ask why. I don't want to dwell on thoughts like that so I leave the door cracked open and head to the bedroom.
I tidy up a little bit, straighten the blankets, and put the rest of his adult clothes in the drawer I've cleared for him and the section of my closet for his work shirts so they aren't wrinkled. I double check the lube and condoms in the table on my side of the bed. I could probably grab another box of condoms tomorrow.
