Page 7

Tyler

“Five?” I asked Tifton. I wasn’t aware he was bringing anyone.

“Yes. Maci is joining us today.”

Maci. My heart instantly clenched painfully in my chest. I’d never met her, but I knew she was important to Tifton. She had been married to Tifton’s best friend Mason. Mason had been killed in a car accident several months ago and from my understanding, Maci was lost without him. My eyes stung and I blinked back my tears. Just the thought of navigating life if anything happened to Tinsley or Elliot gutted me. I put my arm around Tinsley and kissed her forehead when she looked up at me.

“I’ll have whatever’s on tap, and she’ll have an apple juice,” Tifton told the waitress.

“Same for us, two beers and an apple juice,” Elliot ordered.

“Maci?” Elliot asked after our drink orders had been taken, looking at me over Tinsley’s head. He and I had spoken about the tragedy briefly.

I nodded and wasn’t surprised to see him place his own arm around Tinsley too.

“She and I have gotten close over the last few months. A lot of us have gotten closer to her, actually. She’s the reason I have a new job on the horizon,” Tifton said, playing with his napkin. The way he twirled the black linen around his fingers showed he was going to tell me something significant.

“Oh, you’re looking at a new career?” I asked, trying to look supportive. I would be proud of Tifton no matter what he did.

“Yes, she’s opening… well, we’re opening a themed bed and breakfast.”

That was unexpected.

“That will be different for you,” Elliot said. Bless him. He must have known I was at a loss for words. I’d expected Tifton to say he was going to start a gym or training camp, a bed and breakfast hadn’t even crossed my mind.

“Yeah. I planned to talk to ya’ll about it tonight,” he said.

“Pancakes!” Tinsley squealed, interrupting the conversation. Immediately her signature blush covered her face. “Sorry,” she said, sheepishly. “I really like pancakes.”

Tifton chuckled. “I know, your Papa has shown me your chart. It’s impressive.”

“Tell Uncle Tifton where we had lunch today,” I said, relieved Tifton had brought up our dynamic. I knew he was accepting, but being able to speak freely was so much more comfortable.

“Pancake Palooza!”

Tifton smiled at her excitement and my heart melted just a bit. Watching my Little one interact with someone who accepted her was so special. I was so lucky because we had such a good tribe back home.

“I love Pancake Palooza. Your Papa and I used to go there every Sunday with our grandparents. What kind of pancakes did you have?”

“Cookies!”

“Oh, those are the best!”

“Yas, huh,” she said, nodding. “Wanna come?”

Elliot smiled and stroked her curls back from her face. “We are going back Saturday morning. Would you like to go with us?” he asked Tifton, translating for Teenie.

Tifton placed his hand over his heart. “I am honored you would invite me, Tinsley. Thank you, I would love to go.”

Tinsley smiled at him. “Welcome. Maci come too?”

“I bet Maci would love to go,” I said, looking at Tifton for clarification.

“Let’s ask her,” Tifton said, standing.

A petite woman in pink overalls walked up to the table. There was a larger man following behind her and I recognized him as another fighter named Malice.

“Hey, babylove.” Tifton hugged her and she disappeared in his arms, much like Tinsley had.

Malice handed Tifton a small Barbie backpack and turned towards us. “Hello, I’m Malice,” he stuck out his hand.

“Elliot,” Elliot said, shaking his hand.

“Tyler,” I added, doing the same.

“Tinsley,” Tinsley said, sticking out her hand adorably, making us all chuckle. It was a very grown up action.

“Hello, darlin’. I love your sweet manners.” Malice shook her hand.

“Thank you,” Tinsley said, flushing again.

“Hi. I’m Maci.” Maci said, waving at all of us.

“I’m sorry to run, I have to meet the other men at the house, but I’ll see you Saturday to help with the BBQ. I’m on grill duty,” Malice said.

“Looking forward to it. Thank you for your help,” I commented, thankful to know I wouldn’t have to host and grill.

***

Tinsley

Maci was so cute! She had black hair like me, only hers was long and straight. Her overalls were almost the same shade of pink as my princess dress and I was extremely envious of the sparkle bow she had pinning her bangs away from her face.

Tifton helped her slide into the booth before sitting beside her.

“I ordered you a juice, babycakes,” Tifton told her.

I watched their interaction and my tummy filled with excitement. Tifton was a Daddy too! And I’d bet everything in my piggy bank that Maci was a Little, maybe even his Little. Why didn’t Papa and Daddy just tell me that? I wouldn’t have been so nervous to meet him.

I looked up to Papa to ask, only to realize Papa was watching them too. His brow was kinda wiggly, like when he was working on a puzzle with me. I was pretty sure it was his thinking face. Looking to Daddy, I realized he was observing them too. The corner of his mouth was lifted just a tiny bit. That was definitely his concentration face. Maybe Papa and Daddy didn’t know before. When I looked at Maci, I could see she looked a little nervous, and Uncle Tifton was grinding his teeth together. Sighing, I decided to put on my big girl panties. We needed to communicate. Clearly everyone had some questions or confessions and couldn’t figure out how to approach them. That was okay! Teenie to the rescue. I reached into my diaper bag and pulled out my emergency coloring book and some crayons. Sometimes being a two-year-old had lots of ‘sponserbilities.

“Do you wanna color wif me?” I asked Maci.

Her eyes widened and she put her hand on her chest. “Me?”

I nodded even though I wanted to giggle. I sure as heck wasn’t talking to Tifton.

“Yes, please,” she said, moving to sit on her knees in the booth.

I mimicked her actions and set the crayons in the middle of the table.

“I’m Tinsley. It’s nice to meet another Little girl while we’re in Augusta.”

“I’m Maci. I didn’t know dinner was gonna have another Little. It is a happy surprise.”

“Happy surprise,” I agreed.

“Thank you for sharing your coloring books and crayons.”

“You’re welcome. Do you like to color?” I asked.

“I do. Do you?”

I nodded.

“Do you like to do other crafty stuffs too?” she asked.

“Yas, huh, I started making slime a few weeks ago and now it’s my favorite craft.”

“Slimes?” she gasped.

“Is so fun! I found the recipe online,” I said. I left out the part about how I put it in Daddy’s coat pockets and got put in the highchair of shame. I wanted to make a good impression after all.

“I’m gonna look when I get home!”

“How old are you?” I asked, moving the conversation along. If we didn’t get it moving soon, I was gonna be four by the time alla the growed-ups started talking again.

“Um, twenty-four.”

I shot her a cut-the-bullshit look and she giggled. “About four. You?”

“Eight.”

That time she shot me a look and I giggled. “‘bout two.”

“You have two Daddies?”

I nodded. “You?”

Her movements stopped as she stilled for a minute. “My Daddy passed away.” Her eyes filled with tears and I felt really bad for asking.

I reached forward and covered her hand. “I’m so sorry.” How horrible. I didn’t even want to think about life without Daddy or Papa.

She smiled and wiped her eyes. Tifton rubbed her back. “Thank you. I miss him so manies, but Tiffy and the other men take good care of me.”

“Like Malice?” I said, wondering who the large man who dropped her off was to her.

She nodded. “We went to pet the animals at the park today. We were supposed to do goat yoga, but a baby goat headbutted Malice and he got growly.”

“Oh no.” Poor Malice.

“It was still fun. He said we needed a day off from working. We’re building a bed and breakfast for people like us,” she said, picking up her crayon and coloring again.

“Like us?”

“Yeah. For people with kinks like ours.”

“Oh! That’s so exciting!”

“Daddy and I talked about opening a kink friendly bed and breakfast for a long times. Then when he died, I decided to try and make our dream come true. Tiffy, Malice, Cane, Brock, Stone, and Havoc all helped me so manies. And they’re gonna work there too! Is gonna be all of us living in one big house- kinda like The Brady Bunch.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Papa, Daddy, and Uncle Tifton communicating over our heads with looks and nods. Finally! I thought they was gonna be sitting here in awkward silence forever.

“That’s beautiful. Your Daddy would be so proud. And you’re making a safe place for people in the community. That’s so ‘portant.”

“I hope so. We’re gonna name it Daddies Inn. It was going to be Daddy’s Inn at first, but then I decided that since all of Daddy’s friends were Daddies too, they should be included in the name.”

“ All of those men are Daddies?” I asked, incredulously.

She nodded. “ All of them.”

“Wow!” I exclaimed.

“Lotsa wow,” she said. “They’re all so bossy! I can’t get away with nuffin!”

The whole table laughed and my tummy relaxed some. I was glad we were getting everything out in the open. Hopefully, we would leave dinner with full tummies and full hearts.