Forest got that Daddy look that had me pulling back another whiny response. “Yes, Daddy.”
Daddy.
I had a Daddy…a Daddy who set bedtimes.
What else would a Daddy do?
Chapter 9
Forest
He must have been running himself ragged. Before we’d even finished sorting out the toys, he was yawning and leaning against the couch. I let it go on too long, but I was mentally debating what to do. When it was clear he had no intention of bringing up how tired he was, I knew it was time to step in.
Grown-up Joseph had known when it was time to nap, so I could only assume he was deliberately letting me be in charge of his bedtime. “Okay, we’re going to finish this in the morning. Bedtime for you.”
He looked up from the little transforming robot he’d been tinkering with and pouted. “But—”
“No.” I shook my head and held my hand out for the toy. “You’re going to have plenty of time tomorrow to play.”
Between the toys and the movie and the discussion we really needed to have, he was going to have plenty to do. But first, he needed to catch up on sleep. From what I knew of his financial situation, he must have been burning the candle at both ends to save up enough money to take this much time off.
His cute pout said he wasn’t quite as big as he’d been when we’d come downstairs, but I wasn’t sure he’d sunk completely into his little headspace. But just the way he’d relaxed enough to start sorting through the toys and picking out things that were interesting said he was a lot closer than he might be ready to admit out loud.
Joseph was doing his best not to hide from himself and he seemed to be making an impressive effort to tell me what he was thinking, but I wasn’t sure how much more he wasn’t sharing yet. I had to keep reminding myself that it’d only been a few hours since we’d first started to talk about it. Just because I was greedy and wanted to know everything in his head didn’t mean we hadn’t made an incredible amount of progress.
His gaze bounced back to the pile of toys he’d quietly collected and back to me. “And the movies?”
“Yes, toys and cartoons tomorrow.” And probably a nap mixed in there somewhere.
“And more brownies?” The teasing smile he gave me was ruined by the yawn that showed again how exhausted he was. If the amount of pacing I’d heard over the past couple of days was any clue, sleep didn’t always come easy to him.
“Possibly. But only if you go to bed without whining.” I grinned when he gave me a quiet huff but put the toy in the pile. Personally, I thought the whining was kind of cute, but it set a bad precedent, so I couldn’t reward it all the time.
If there’d been something snuggly, I’d have suggested he take something up to cuddle with, but most of the toys that were in good shape were little plastic people and animals. So they would be fun to play with but weren’t exactly optimal bedtime friends.
Standing, I reached out and took his hand. Joseph didn’t argue, but he did give the toys one last longing glance as he stepped closer. If anything about his reactions surprised me, it was how easily the physical side of our relationship progressed.
There was never anything sexual in his touch, but he took every opportunity to cuddle and rest against me. It was almost like he was soaking it up after a long drought. Was he even aware he was doing it? Was part of him worried about what it would be like when we went our separate ways again?
Not willing to bring up anything he’d find stressful, I pulled him closer and wrapped my arms around him. “Would you like help getting ready for bed or just help getting tucked in?”
Unless he safeworded I was going to tuck him in, but I wasn’t sure what else he was ready for. When all I got was a shrug, I smiled. Daddy decision then. “Okay, upstairs, baby.”
He didn’t quite meet my eyes as he stepped back, but he nodded. My best guess was that he was trying to tell me it was up to me to make the decision about what happened next, but it drove home the need for a discussion tomorrow.
I really should have done it today, but he’d already had too many ups and downs for me to stress him out even more. With anyone else I might have worried because discussions really should come before submission and scenes, but Joseph had been doing his best to share what he was thinking. I had to trust that this would be the same even if I wasn’t planning on pushing his boundaries.
Whatever his boundaries turned out to be.
Yes, conversations were clearly necessary.
“Let’s go.” I ran my hand down his back and steered him toward the stairs. “I don’t want you falling asleep down here in your jeans. That’s not comfortable.”
A little grin escaped as Joseph gave me another teasing sigh. “I won’t fall asleep. I’m not that tired.”
“I’m not going to take the chance, and you, my boy, have been yawning nonstop.” And if his life was anything like what I was imagining, he needed all the sleep he could get while he was on vacation.
His pout seemed mostly for show as he went upstairs. When we walked over to his bag, he looked up at me curiously. Time to take charge. “Show me your jammies.”
It was too cold for him to have planned on sleeping naked. Thankfully that assumption turned out to be correct when he pulled out a pair of sweats and a plain white T-shirt. “Okay, you can go change in the bathroom. Use the potty and then I’ll come in and help you wash your hands.”
I wasn’t sure if it was because I was too blunt or because of the word choice, but his face heated as he nodded and scurried to the door at the end of the room. Trying not to smile, I couldn’t help imagining what he’d have done if I’d changed his clothes.
I had a feeling he’d have let me, but I wasn’t going to test his limits like that until I knew what he was comfortable with. His life over the past couple of years had too many holes in it for me to assume anything about his dating life. He’d made it sound like he’d had a social life, but how far had he gone?
Making assumptions about something like that would end up backfiring.
As he used the bathroom, I pulled down the covers and moved his duffel bag closer to the other bed. Depending on how things went in the morning, picking out his clothes was high on the list of things his Daddy wanted to control.
When the bathroom door eased open and Joseph’s head popped around the corner, I was ready for him. “Good boy.”
That had the blush coming back, but I wasn’t going to apologize for embarrassing him. I had a feeling we were going to be running into that more over the next few days and I wasn’t going to set the precedent that his embarrassment was something to feel negative about.
I thought his blush was sweet, and he didn’t safeword, so we weren’t going to worry about it. He wanted to know what it would be like to have a Daddy and I was going to give him that experience. “Let’s get you ready for bed.”
Heading into the bathroom, I pointed to a small case on the counter. “Does this have your toothbrush in it?”
When he nodded, I picked up the small black bag and fished out his toothbrush. The fact that he hadn’t unpacked yet hadn’t gone unnoticed. Was it just a habit? Joseph was fidgeting as I set the bag back on the counter. His hands kept moving around his body like he wasn’t sure what to do with them without pockets.