“Mmhmm…can’t wait for s’getti. Smells yummy-yum in here.” He colored more, and I took a glance at it. He was very precise, staying in the lines. As a Little, he could do whatever he wanted, even making a mess of it, but not Gilly. I wasn’t sure if he simply didn’t have it in him to not be neat and tidy, or if it was from all his years as a painter. He’d complained a few times when he had to go back to a job to fix sloppy work from his employees, and as a building contractor, I understood that frustration.
When he finished, he held up the book to show me. “Look, Daddy.” Gilly held up the picture of a scene with his favorite character that I happened to know came from one of his favorite episodes of the cartoon. He simply loved the sweet elephant and her friends.
“I see, that’s very nice. You’re such a good boy. How about I cut that out and put it on my fridge? Would you like that?”
“Yes. Very much, Daddy.”
After struggling to cut the page out, I vowed to buy the kind with perforations to make this job easier next time. But eventually, I managed and hung it with a magnet on the fridge. “Looks good there.”
“Yay!” Gilly cheered, but then his face morphed to a frown.
“What’s wrong?”
“My belly is grumbly, Daddy.”
“Hungry boy. Good thing dinner is ready.” I fixed a plate with plenty of pasta, a slice of garlic bread, and a small helping of salad, sliding it in front of him, and he dug in with abandon. It pleased me greatly to see him eating, and sometimes he was a bit of a bottomless pit. He even ate a second helping of everything before declaring himself full tonight.
The rest of the evening passed quickly in front of the TV watching his favorite episode of Ellie. He loved how she turned her enemies into friends and seemed to get along with everyone. I wondered if he liked it so much because he didn’t have that many friends himself and might like to have more. In fact, Rob was the only one I knew of, but I thought that was something I could help him with since I had connections at the club. Maybe we could set up some play dates so he could make new friends.
After tubby time, we finally made it to bed. We were both tired, but Gilly insisted on his Daddy-binky, even after his big dinner. Who was I to deny him something that we both enjoyed so much?
But nursing almost always led to sexy time, and I wanted to end with reading him his story. “Wait, Gilly. Let’s play around first.”
“Uh…sure. This time can be what Daddy wants.”
He made me entirely too happy. “I always want what you want or what’s best for you.”
“Sometimes you should have more, Daddy. I’m not a greedy boy.”
“I know. You’re a good boy.” I stuck my nose under his ear and scruffed his cheek. “You’re the best.” I meant every word of it, and I spend the next half-hour proving it to him. With both of us spent, we’d be asleep in no time. “Get your book, and I’ll read while you nurse.”
“Yes, Daddy…” He crawled over the mattress and pulled the book out of the nightstand on his side of the bed. “Here.”
I repositioned us for our session with him on my lap. He latched on, and I opened his book to read. We made it halfway through the book before he yawned and closed his eyes, and two more pages later, he was asleep. Easing him down beside me, I spooned him from behind. This had been a great day, and hopefully we would have many more just like them. Or even better ones.
25
GILLY
Before the sale could be completed, there were several things that needed to be done. I had to get all of the right licensing done, open a new bank account, and deal with the name change, but we needed to figure out what happened with the business records and where money was missing first. Since I wasn’t taking out a loan of any kind, it wasn’t actually a legal requirement, but everyone knew it was a smart thing to do, even Uncle Clay.
He brought all of his information over to Daddy’s house, and I asked Rob to help. He said he couldn’t because it felt like a conflict of interest and it wasn’t his area anyway. Instead, he found a colleague, Candace, who was willing to help and had her come over. When she arrived, I shook her hand. “Thank you for coming, Candace. I’m Gilly.”
“You’re more than welcome, and call me Candy, please.”
“Sure, Candy. This is my uncle, Clay, and my Da—uh, boyfriend, Nate.”
Candy winked at me, then greeted everyone else. “So nice to meet you. We’ll need somewhere we can spread out.”
Nate opened his office door. “I’ve cleared the counters and brought in a folding table. Figured you may need to sort documents.”
“Exactly.” Candy brought out her laptop and set it up on Nate’s desk. “The first thing I need to do is make sure I understand your business and how you operate. How money comes in and how expenses are paid.”
My laptop was already set up on the side, so I moved it over closer to her. “Let me show you.”
We got down to work after that. Uncle Clay supplied receipts and withdrawals that I didn’t have. Some of them were for actual business purchases and some were personal. It took time to figure out how everything matched up, but by Sunday afternoon, we had it all figured out and squared away. Better yet, I felt a lot more comfortable with my ability to take care of the business finances. Without my uncle doing his own thing, I’d be able to keep things under control.
Afterward, Daddy made an early dinner, and even Rob and Preston came over. There was nothing better than good food, good friends, and family, except maybe a new start.
