Page 12 of Club Royal: Calendar Collection

Oscar

Oscar shoved a pile of rainbow-coloured tablecloths into Hilary’s arms. “They need to cover the tables, stat. Wally, grab the jugs from the kitchen and fill some with water and some with juice. Sam, food. Anna, the banners need to be hung around the room, but also outside. Grab Wally and Jonas if you can’t reach anywhere.

They’re the tallest of us all. Chloe, man the counter as best you can, but shout if you need help.

I will be decorating the tables once Hilary has put the cloths on. ”

“No, you won’t. Christian needs your help in the office,” Hilary said, hip-bumping him in that direction.

Oscar ran his hands through his hair. He didn’t have time to check in with Christian, but he would—quickly. He hustled down the hallway to his office, sticking his head around the door but leaving the rest of his body outside. “What do you need?”

Christian crooked a finger, his gaze still on the computer.

Oscar withheld his sigh and entered the room, rounding the desk to stand beside his fiancé.

He knew he’d made a mistake the moment he stopped moving because Christian wrapped a hand around his hips, spun him and settled him on the desk itself.

Automatically wrapping his arms around Christian’s neck, he smiled and shook his head.

“I should’ve known you had nefarious reasons for wanting to see me.”

Christian nuzzled his nose against Oscar’s neck. “Nothing nefarious about wanting my partner to rest before he wears himself out.”

Oscar’s mind rebelled even as his arms tightened and his head dropped back to give Christian space to work his magic. “I don’t have time to rest yet. I need to get everything ready for tomorrow.”

“Everything will be done. You have everyone here, plus you’re about to have several more volunteers arrive, too.

It’ll be done, and you don’t have to worry about not being ready.

” Christian’s lips brushed across his skin, rising to claim his mouth in a soft kiss that had Oscar’s toes curling inside his shoes.

When Christian pulled back, Oscar dropped his head to his shoulder and closed his eyes. He could rest a moment more. Strong, sure hands rubbed his back, and he wanted nothing more than to curl up with Rexie and sleep, but he had to be a grownup today. Unfortunately.

Inhaling deeply, he lifted his head. “Thank you.”

Christian’s smile warmed his heart the way his hands had warmed his body. “You’re very welcome. Now, let’s see if our helpers have arrived and you can set us to work to get everything ready.”

They wandered towards the front of the building, and as with each time Oscar saw what he’d built, his heart pounded.

The coffee and book shop had been a dream for many years, and with the help of his parents, he had brought it to fruition.

Never had he dreamt he would also snag the heart of a prince. That was just a bonus in his books.

But with that prince’s heart came an extended family, who would do anything for that prince.

Including working their fingers to the bone to ensure Oscar’s Pride offering went as well as he wanted it to.

After all, Windsor was planning a pretty big LGBT+ event that year—mainly due to the number of LGBT+ people that had come to light over the past few years.

The first of whom had just entered the building.

Prince Douglas. A man who had started the tumbling of the dominoes of the rest of the royal family.

Not in a bad way, but he was the first to fall in love with a man, and then other family members followed suit.

And they were all there to help him make his coffee shop an amazing place to be for Pride.

“Put us to work,” Christian said, and Oscar had to swallow against the lump wanting to suffocate him.

Smiling, he gave orders to people he would’ve never considered giving orders to before, and within two hours, just after closing time, they were done.

Having made everyone a drink as a thank you, Oscar handed them out and settled beside Christian. “I appreciate your help. I don’t think we would’ve got everything finished so early if you hadn’t been here.”

“I can’t wait to see how it goes tomorrow,” Douglas said. “Your plan is ingenious.”

Oscar’s cheeks heated, and he shook his head. “It’s just a coffee and cake.”

“Yeah, but the extra bits you get with it make it special,” Mav said, pressing a kiss on Douglas’s cheek.

Oscar hid his face against Christian’s shoulder to chuckles from their friends and family. Tomorrow would tell whether the idea would work, and if it did, great. But if not, he’d had to think of something better for the following year.

After everyone left, Oscar locked up, and he and Christian walked the distance home with bodyguards following them as they always had since the events of the past few years. They weren’t intrusive, and if Oscar was truthful, they were as much friends as anyone else was—even when they were working.

When the front door closed behind them, Christian tugged him towards the bedroom. “Time to get ready for bed, little one.”

That easily, Oscar felt his mind and body soften in the way it did when he was Ozzie. He let Christian undress him when his own fingers fumbled on the buttons, and he grinned sleepily as his Daddy held out a tissue paper-wrapped gift.

“For me?”

Christian nodded. “Something special just for you.”

Ozzie scrambled onto their bed, crossing his legs and running his fingers over the paper until Daddy joined him. “Open it.”

Needing no more prodding, Ozzie tore at the thin covering, gasping when he saw the colours. “Rainbow!” He held them up. “Rainbow ’jamas!”

“They are. But if you look, there’s something else in there, too.”

Ozzie put his new pyjamas to one side and lifted the paper again. He frowned and shook it, and a small piece of rainbow fabric fell out. He studied it, turning it around, seeing the two black strips of ribbon on each side. When he realised, he gasped and whispered, “Rexie has a rainbow cape!”

Daddy smiled at him. “You can match now. Let’s get you dressed, and then you can dress Rexie while I make a snack and drink.”

Ozzie could barely keep his eyes off the small colourful rectangle, but when his pyjamas were in place, he raced to the mirror to see and jumped around. “A rainbow!”

“You are very much a lovely little rainbow. Come on. Let’s find Rexie before we go.”

Ozzie raced back to the bed, reaching for his favourite toy, and then grabbed the cape from the bed. “Ready!”

“Come on, then.”

After Daddy settled him on a chair with some apple slices and juice, Ozzie fed Rexie a piece of apple before munching the rest himself and carefully wrapping the cape around Rexie’s shoulders.

He struggled with the bow, but he managed, and soon Rexie looked like a rainbow superhero.

Ozzie jumped off the chair and made a superhero pose, holding Rexie out in front of him.

“Superhero!”

Daddy smiled at him. “You both look amazing. Who are you going to save first?”

Ozzie tapped his chin, staring at Rexie. “Who we help, Rexie?” He gasped. “Mrs Teapot!”

“Does Mrs Teapot need help?” Daddy asked as he sat at the table, encouraging Ozzie to do the same.

Ozzie lowered his voice, looking around to make sure no one was listening. “Mrs Teapot is not really a teapot. She needs saving.”

“In that case, you need to eat your apple slices so you’re big and strong enough to help her.”

Ozzie nodded and munched on his apple, trying to decide how to help Mrs Teapot.

Christian

Oscar’s need to be little was a beautiful thing, and some days, it surprised Christian what age he regressed to.

Sometimes, he was a little with bottles, nappies and barely verbal.

Other times, he was an older toddler age.

Rarer still, he was an older child. However, Christian found that his regression was directly related to the type of stress he was under.

Large, cumbersome stresses caused the regression to be higher aged for some reason.

Almost as if he couldn’t completely let go of everything.

Christian, however, didn’t mind what age Ozzie turned out to be.

Ozzie was just Ozzie, and that was all he cared about.

After helping Ozzie and Rexie defeat the evil Dr Dolphin, he finally got Ozzie into a bath and back into his pyjamas before tucking him into bed.

Christian settled on top of the cover, reading a story, until Ozzie fell asleep.

Pressing a kiss to his temple, he slipped out of the room and headed to their bedroom.

Usually, Ozzie would sleep for a couple of hours in his little bedroom, and then Oscar would slip in beside Christian in their bed, where they’d wrap themselves around each other and fall back to sleep with Rexie safely on the bedside table.

That night was no different, and when they finally roused the following morning, Christian had his arms full of a rainbow Oscar. Smiling, he nuzzled against Oscar’s nape, brushing his lips against his warm skin, until his fiancé inhaled deeply enough to show he was awake.

“What time is it?” he whispered.

Christian squinted at the clock. “Nearly six o’clock.”

“Hmm.” Then he jerked, almost knocking Christian’s teeth out as his head hit his chin.

“Oh, shit, sorry! I need to get ready!” He flung the covers back and scrambled up, but Christian grabbed hold of the back of his pyjamas and dragged him back into bed, throwing the covers back over him again. “I need to go!”

“Wait,” Christian said. “Breathe for me.” Oscar relaxed and exhaled roughly. “Again.” Inhale. Exhale. “Again.” Inhale. Exhale. “Once more with feeling.” Oscar chuckled but inhaled and exhaled. “Perfect. Now… What is it exactly you have to do this morning that wasn’t done last night?”

“I need to…” He paused, and Christian brushed his lips over his shoulder as he waited. “I need…” Oscar huffed. “I just need to put the coffee machine on.”