Page 24 of A Little Campfire Blues (Pride Camp 2025 #10)

“I think you just helped every mommy and daddy within earshot,” I told them, nudging them until they got the hint and climbed to their feet. Axis reached up, so Ezzy helped him to his feet and hugged him when Axis swayed, looking utterly tuckered out.

“Let’s get our shoes on so we can fold up the blanket,” I told them, grateful to see them all move to do as they were told without needing any more prodding.

Something told me that at least one of them was going to need help getting ready for bed tonight.

It might be easier to stick Axis and Ezzy in the same shower and wash them off myself to move things along.

My pet at least looked a little more awake than the boys, though not by much.

Too bad none of the cabins came with a shower built for four.

It would have made things far easier for me that way.

Since I’d already repacked the empty containers in the basket, I moved it aside, hastily folded the blanket, and gathered both up for the walk back to my truck.

It was a far slower trip than the way they’d sprinted to the lake when we arrived, but we got there.

Bouncing over the campground's dirt road kept them awake long enough to reach the cabin, but they were slow to get out and even slower going up the steps.

Yup, my trio was worn out.

Hopefully that meant they’d all sleep in tomorrow morning, especially the two that tended to creep away early to get work in before we started the day.

“Okay, Axis, you and Ezzy head to Ezzy’s bathroom and get undressed. Daddy will clean you up tonight and help you get into your sleep clothes so we don’t end up with another accidental meeting with the floor.”

“My bottom says thank you, Daddy,” Ezzy declared as they moved to do as they were told.

I cupped Roman beneath the chin and brought his eyes up to meet my gaze as they disappeared into Ezzy’s room.

“Do you need help too, or will you be okay cleaning up while I get them ready for bed?” I asked.

Grinning, he licked my palm, woofed, and bounded away with what I was sure was the last of his energy.

Good, that meant he’d do just fine.

A small detour into Axis’ room allowed me to locate the pair of sleep pants and the T-shirt he’d left on the foot of his bed.

I was pleased to see that he’d listened when I’d asked them to lay out their bedclothes while they were getting ready for the day.

I’d known it would take a lot out of them, especially with how excited they’d been.

Ezzy’s were at the foot of their bed when I stepped into the room, so I lay Axis’ beside them and joined them in the bathroom, where they stood naked with their clothes kicked into a corner, the shower running and already warming up as they waited for me.

As far as I was concerned, we could deal with dirty laundry in the morning.

I’d just add my clothes to the heap when I grabbed my shower after they were clean.

My water babies had no interest in playing under the spray tonight.

They just leaned against each other and let me clean them, dry them, and dress them before I sent them out to our blanket nest. We probably should have left the mattresses out there after we’d dragged them out the first time, but it was too late to worry about that now. That was a tomorrow issue.

They were blinking owlishly, a book held on Axis’ lap when I stepped out, fresh from my shower, to join them a short time later. Roman was sprawled on his side, head against Ezzy’s leg, already half out of it when I accepted the book Axis handed me.

A short one, thankfully.

“Today was awesome, Daddy,” Ezzy declared. “Can you read to us at night, on video, even when you’re far away?”

“Not so far away, when you really think about it,” I told them. “We can set up a Zoom chat room for story time and group conversations.”

“What about me, Daddy?” Axis asked, looking sad and a little lost at the thought of missing story time during the late nights he played at the club.

“You’ll have your story too,” I assured him. “Daddy can record all the stories, so you can listen to them any time I can’t be online to read to you.”

“Yay!” Axis declared, his frown quickly turning into a smile again.

Poor kid. All he wanted was to be included. Anyone who couldn’t see that had to be blind. Scooting forward, I gathered Axis and Ezzy in my arms as Roman squirmed until he could lay his head on my thigh and get in on the cuddles too.

“Anything you want or need from Daddy, you just have to ask, and I’ll do my best to make it possible,” I told them.

“I know we’ll be apart for a little while after we get home from camp, but I promise, it won’t be that way always.

One day, we’ll all be together in the same place, where you can have all the snuggles, playtime, and cuddles you want. ”

“I don’t wanna go home!” Axis declared.

“I know,” I told him, stroking his hair. “Daddy doesn’t want to go home either.”

“I wanna go with Ezzy and Ro!”

There was a collective intake of breath, then Ezzy wiggled in my arms so they could hug him.

“I want you to come home with us too!” Ezzy declared.

“Me too,” Roman said.

“Remember what Daddy said about following your heart?” I told him before pressing a kiss to the side of his head.

“Uh-huh, you said I could do whatever I wanted as long as it was what I wanted to do.”

“Then if you want to go back to Eugene, you should go, but only if that’s what you really want to do.”

“I really wanna! I don’t ever wanna be away from Ezzy and Ro-Ro again, or you, Daddy.”

“Well then, it sounds like we’ve got a lot of talking and planning ahead of us,” I said, stifling a yawn. “But for tonight, let's have our story before Daddy falls asleep on the pages.”

“There’s no snoring in Goodnight Moon , Daddy,” Ezzy muttered.

“Well, there’s gonna be tonight if we don’t get to it,” I told them, kissing each forehead as they sat up and finally started arranging themselves the way they intended to sleep.

With Axis firmly wedged between Roman and Ezzy, it looked like the spot they’d left for me was beside Roman tonight.

Good, I could hold and stroke my pup as I drifted off thinking of how to make their request a reality.

I didn’t want to be away from them anymore than they wanted to be apart.

Axis’ sleepy declaration about wanting to move back home with them already had me thinking about looking into employment in Eugene.

There were sure to be loading docks there, and I could admit, even in my hazy, verge-of-sleep state, that I’d fallen into a rut since returning to Klamath Falls.

A change of scenery and the trio who now held my heart in the palm of their hands was exactly what I’d needed to see that I’d just been feeling sorry for myself since my band had fallen apart.

I wasn’t too old to start a new chapter in my life, and there was no better motivation than Axis, Ezzy, and Roman.

I’d have to be a fool to miss out on even one moment of time with them, and if there was one thing I knew about myself, it was that I wasn’t a fool.

I knew what an amazing treasure I’d found in the three of them.

They were everything I’d dreamed of having in my life and more.

And to think that I’d found them at pride camp.

The greatest camp in the world.