Page 17 of A Little Campfire Blues (Pride Camp 2025 #10)

Chapter Fourteen

Roman

“It’s been awhile since I’ve done a climbing wall,” I admitted as we were getting harnessed into our gear.

“You’re not the only one,” Mackenzie said, inclining his head towards where Axis and Ezzy were staring up at the wall, waiting to be told they could start.

“Something tells me they’ll be waiting at the end of the zipline for us, looking for some mischief to get into while we struggle to catch up to them.

“Ezzy, maybe, but Axis has never been a big fan of heights. I was pleasantly surprised when he decided to join us.”

“Really? I never would have guessed.”

“Don’t let the aura he tries to give off fool you,” I said.

“His philosophy has always been fake it until you make it . Only sometimes I wish he’d learn to fake it less and ask for help more.

The one thing I hate more than seeing him struggle, is seeing him get hurt because he’s too proud to back down when he should. ”

“Just remember, there is little chance of him getting hurt today. They’ve got an A+ safety record and experienced staff who will go up after him if he gets stuck and can’t work out the right path to take, or freezes because he panics at the height.

When he makes it to the other end, and I have no doubt he will, on sheer stubbornness alone, we can all celebrate with surf and turf.

I’ve got a huge bag of snow crab legs that are dying to be boiled. ”

“That sounds delicious, but you don’t have to cook for us again.”

“Pup, you’re doing me a favor by letting me cook,” Mackenzie explained. “It’s something I enjoy and rarely indulge in since it’s no fun cooking for myself.”

“Ain’t that the truth.”

“Are you guys ready?” the climbing master asked.

“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Roman declared.

“Then up you go.”

Having the wall and the next handhold to focus on would be good for me and maybe help chase away the twisty feeling that had been tying my stomach in knots since the garden maze yesterday.

Well, more specifically, since Axis and Ezzy had emerged with a reddish tinge to their eyes like they’d been crying.

Both had offered assurances that everything was fine and had even been holding hands, so I’d let it go.

Or at least, I’d tried to. It still bugged me not to know who and what had been the cause, but Mack was right, I needed to stop worrying about every move they made and trust them to discuss things in their own time, without pushing.

Shit. There I was, forgetting to focus again.

The handholds near the bottom were easier, but as we neared the middle of the wall, I started to notice a change in the degree of difficulty and the distance between them.

Of course, this was the wall that had been set up for those who wanted to challenge themselves, while Axis and Ezzy were on the one designed for littles and newbie climbers.

Glancing over, I could see that they were already a little higher than Mack and me, while we were steadily keeping up with one another.

Having time alone together yesterday had taught me that he was as big an outdoorsman as we were and enjoyed staying active, especially when there was water involved.

When he’d started talking about jet skiing I’d found myself looking forward to that adventure, and the adults only night at the waterpark down in his neck of the woods, which I was excited to visit.

Axis, Ezzy, and I were already planning a visit the weekend after we got back home.

Long distance would work out just fine while we were finding our footing, he’d assured me, and in just a short time I was coming to trust in the fact that he was a man of his word and a natural caretaker who enjoyed having others to look after.

Handhold by handhold, I made my way to the top and pulled myself over the lip to find that Axis and Ezzy were seated next to two other littles at the top of the platform, blowing bubbles and playing with squishy balls while they waited for us.

A mama I recognized from the recreational center was seated next to them, calling encouragement down to her girl and pet, who were working their way up together.

“Whew, we made it,” Mack remarked as he pulled himself up over the lip less than a minute after me.

When he spotted our boys sitting on the mat playing just as nice as could be, he grinned and reached into his pocket, pulled out the treats he was never without, and passed each of them a slice of candied pineapple.

“You guys did an awesome job waiting and not getting impatient and moving along to the ziplines on your own,” he said, ruffling their hair before plucking a water from the big ice bucket beside the crate of toys they were seated near.

We each took a moment to hydrate, then the boys returned their toys to the crate for others to use and stood ready to tackle the next phase.

There were seven ziplines of different lengths and heights awaiting us and Axis looked a little apprehensive.

Before I could say anything, Mack wrapped an arm around him and pointed out the ladder leading down to the base.

“You can go down and wait at the bottom if you’d like, that’s perfectly okay,” Mack told him.

“I-I wanna at least try one,” Axis insisted. “But I think I wanna go first to get it over with.”

“There are ladders that go down from every tower,” the mama said, a kind smile on her face. “My pet was worried about the same thing.”

“Then I really wanna try,” Axis said, his eyes a bit wide as he said it.

“Okay then, you can go first.”

Axis nodded and walked over to the zipline to get clipped in, his steps a little hesitant, but he got there, got hooked in, and screamed all the way down the line, the echo rolling across the wide, open space between us and the tower.

“Wow, he’s got some lungs on him,” the mama said, smiling as her pet and girl finally joined her on top, where she gathered them into a hug and praised them for being so determined. “He did it though.”

“Was he scared too, Mama?” her pet asked.

“He sure was, sweetheart, but remember what I told you. It’s okay to be scared. We’re all scared of something,” she said, giving him another squeeze.

“I’m gonna try too, Mama.” Her pet replied.

“That’s my brave boy.”

Seeing her and other mommies and daddies manage more than one partner with ease had given me a clear look at what poly relationships looked like from the outside.

I’d always thought that the relationship Axis, Ezzy, and I had was rare, but coming here had shown me that in our lifestyle community, it wasn’t at all uncommon.

There was another foursome among the campers.

A leather daddy with three pups, two male and one female.

Watching them had been eye opening. I’d not only gotten to witness the way he cared for them, but the way the three of them cared for each other and brought smiles to their daddy’s face with their antics.

The mutual love, affection and care they showed each other was a beautiful thing to see and bolstered my ability to trust that the same thing could be possible for Mack, Axis, Ezzy, and me.

Each moment we spent together left me longing more and more for it to work out.

When Ezzy stepped off the platform, they were giggling, but that giggle soon turned into a bellowed holy shit as they started moving faster and faster away from us.

“I’m gonna have to have a word with them about their language,” Mackenzie said. “Given that you guys have been apart for so long, I’m going to guess that there have never been rules and limitations set, or punishments for transgressions?”

“Nope, but when we were young, the thing they always hated most was being sent to the corner or time out chair,” I explained.

“So, three minutes a curse word would be a good deterrent?”

“I think so. We can start there, anyway.”

“Well then, we’d better catch up and warn them before they let the next one slip,” Mackenzie declared, going next on the line.

By the time I followed, enjoying the scenery and the feel of the wind on my face, it was to see Ezzy with a solemn look on their face as Mack finished speaking to them.

“No more cussing,” Ezzy declared. “I promise. I’m sorry.”

“Then you are forgiven, Sparkle Butt, but you will still owe three minutes in the timeout chair when we get back to the cabin,” Mack declared.

Ezzy huffed out a long sigh, before whining, “Okay.”

“You wouldn’t want to get other littles in trouble for copying you, right?” Mack asked.

“That would be bad.”

“Exactly. And that’s what the time out is for. To give you a chance to think about that and all the other reasons we shouldn’t use that kind of language in public.”

“Does that mean I get to cuss when it’s just us?”

“As long as it isn’t excessive and you have a good reason for letting an expletive fly, then yes, cursing is permissible,” Mack said. “But if it starts leading to you letting fly with the colorful language when we’re around others, then we will have to revisit that rule, understood.”

“Yes, da…Mack,” they replied, quickly correcting themselves.

Mack motioned Axis and I over to him and waved for the mama, her little, and pet to go ahead of us, clearly wanting to take a moment to have a conversation right then and there.

“I’m good with any of you calling me daddy whenever you’d like,” he declared.

“Maybe I didn’t make myself clear enough when we were fishing, but it’s perfectly okay, especially with everything we’ve discussed over the past few days.

If it’s comfortable for you, go ahead and say it.

Personally, I enjoy hearing it from you and look forward to reaching a point in our relationship where we can make it official. ”

“Yey!” Axis declared, already eyeing the other line. “Daddy, I wanna go on the next line.”

“Alright then, let our ziplining adventure continue,” Mack declared.

And continue it did. Somewhere along the line, Axis screamed less and giggled more, finishing all the lines, including the longest one, while Ezzy kept his mouth in check, laughing, but never screaming out another curse word when things got a bit frightening.

It was good practice for the next time we were at an amusement park, since Ezzy was a frequent curser on every rollercoaster and freefall ride.

I wondered if Axis would join us on those in the future, now that he’d discovered how exciting they could be.

They both looked happy, seated beside Mackenzie beneath a tree, enjoying snacks and cold water from a nearby bucket of ice and drinks.

“So, what would you two like to do next?” I asked when I joined them.

“Watch The Avengers and play with action figures,” Ezzy replied. “After I finish my three minutes in time out. “I know they have a bunch of stuff in the activity center, but I’d really like time where it’s just us.”

“Me too,” Axis said. “I love all the stuff there is to do, but sometimes it’s a little overwhelming.”

“It is a lot to take in, isn’t it,” Mack said.

“Uh-huh,” they both replied.

“Fortunately, there is plenty more time to try it all, at our own pace, so no one winds up too exhausted, or anxious and over-stimulated, to enjoy themselves.”

“Can we take the floating island out on the lake after supper?” Ezzy asked. “We can float and talk and watch the sun set, then go back in for more Avengers movies?”

“I think that would be a great way to spend the rest of the evening,” I said.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Mack concurred.

“They have UTVs ready to take us back to the main hall,” I pointed out. “Let’s go catch a ride.”

Ezzy wobbled a little when they stood, and I put my arm around them while they shook their foot. “It fell asleep.”

“I think mine did too,” Mack said, taking a few experimental steps as Axis stood and placed a hand on his arm to steady him. “I’d have been in real trouble if we’d stayed on the ground much longer.”

“Same,” Axis said, while Ezzy snuggled against my side for the walk.

We sat in the far back while Mack and Axis sat in the middle for the drive, though I noticed he didn’t attempt to snuggle and instead, stuck his binky in his mouth before folding his hands in his lap.

He leaned into the embrace when Mack put an arm around him for the ride and that’s when it clicked for me that Axis rarely initiated physical contact with any of us.

He’d never been like that when we were growing up, but the years seemed to have stolen some of the joy he used to get out of being freely and unabashedly affectionate.

Out of all of us, he’d always been the one to seek out hugs, probably because he’d rarely got any at home and craved every opportunity to enjoy them.

Something told me that he hadn’t had a lot of that in his life during his time in Portland, but I knew it was way too soon to suggest that he join us in Eugene.

He’d have to make the decision for himself, and I really hoped he would, because we belonged together and we belonged with Mackenzie. The pieces just fit.

In our lifestyle, when you knew, you knew, no matter how short the timeframe.

With gatherings like this being as rare as they were, and kink clubs being few and far between, we had to seize every opportunity that was offered to find happiness.

As we headed for his Jeep to drive back to the cabin, I was firmly convinced that my happiness would only be found with the three of them.