Page 6 of Club Royal: Calendar Collection

Each bag was decorated with a bow on the front and had a balloon wrapped around the handle—after they’d spent far too long blowing them all up. Thirteen bags, thirteen bows, thirteen balloons, one hundred and thirty packs of batteries, and they were done.

“Now for the fun bit,” George declared.

“Can we at least grab some breakfast before we start messing with people?”

“Sure.” George climbed into Timothy’s lap and wrapped his arms around his neck. “Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me.”

“I know. But thank you, anyway. You put up with me and my crazy ideas without a hint of uneasiness, and I can’t even begin to imagine what my life would’ve been like if I hadn’t met you both.”

“Well, you don’t need to imagine it, do you? Because we’re here, and we’re not going anywhere.”

George pulled Timothy closer and joined their lips, the chaste expression of love made more potent by his earlier words. He tasted the sweetness of the love hearts.

“I can’t wait until Eddie gets home,” George said.

Timothy raised his eyebrows. “Why?”

“Because I have a surprise for him, too.” George winked and climbed off his lap. “Come on. Let’s eat.”

George

Once breakfast was done, he made a plan of action in his head. “First stop, my darling brother Douglas.” He grinned at Timothy.

Despite the weight of that day’s anniversary, it was the first time he’d felt more himself on that day since his mother had died.

With every year, though he never forgot, it became a little easier to remember her as she had been rather than how she was then.

The joy she had brought to them all, the lighthearted fun and games she initiated was something they’d all loved, and George had taken a leaf from her book and took up the mantle as he’d grown.

After her death, he had dropped the ball a bit.

Creating their “group” was something that had helped him, and as their group had grown, he’d had the joyous task of creating alternative names for them.

As it stood, they were the Sexy Sixteen.

And though that included his father, which he tried not to think about in that way, he wouldn’t change it for the world.

They needed each other that day more than ever.

“I’m leaving Father for last because I think he’ll need the pick me up by the time we get to him,” he said suddenly, peering at Timothy. “What do you think?”

“He certainly won’t be expecting it. Especially not from his son.” Timothy chuckled. “I’ll have to remember to record it.”

George grinned again. “This is going to be epic.”

Timothy shook his head. “You read too many books.”

George gasped, holding his chest as if he’d been shot. “You wound me with your words. There is never a time when I could read too many books.”

“Come on, Mr Librarian. We have work to do.”

“I’m just going to take each couple or triad at a time rather than trying to carry them all. We need to get them on their own, so the others don’t figure out what’s happening too soon.”

“Do you know where Douglas and Mav are?”

George pulled his phone out and scrolled the calendar they all shared for certain events.

“It’s unlikely anything was booked for today, but it doesn’t hurt to look.

” He closed it down again. “No one has anything in the diary, so I only have my memory to go on.” He tapped his lower lip, thinking back to the previous day when he’d spoken to his brother.

“They were going to spend the day here, I think. They’ll probably be in their suite. ”

“Let’s go, then. If not, we’ll track them down.”

They headed down the corridor, and George held up his hand to knock but paused. It didn’t feel right. It was going to lack the joint jokey aspect of what he wanted to do. He turned to Timothy. “Do you know what? I think we should just get everyone together and do it all at the same time.”

Timothy palmed his face and groaned. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Nope, but it’ll be fun.”

Inhaling, Timothy stared at him but ultimately nodded. “All right.”

They headed back to the suite and put the bags back down with the rest.

“Now what?” Timothy asked.

“Now we call the Sexy Sixteen in for a get-together.”

“What about Eddie?”

George smiled. “We’ll arrange it for later, and maybe we can persuade his boss to let him go a little earlier.”

“I’m sure that won’t be a problem. I’ll call. You sort out contacting the others.”

Timothy disappeared into the bedroom, and George pulled his phone free. He sent a group message to everyone.

GEORGE: Receiving room, today, 2 p.m. Bring alcohol.

He would make sure they had enough alcohol to last them the afternoon and night, but it was sometimes easier for them to bring their poison with them.

He started receiving questions and comments immediately, but he didn’t reply.

They’d either be there or they wouldn’t, but it would be highly unlikely for any of them to ignore his summons.

It was difficult for them to ignore anyone’s summons. Family meant everything to them.

Timothy returned. “Eddie will be here by one-thirty. His boss will let him leave early.”

George checked his watch. “Well, I might as well get the receiving room ready for us. We only have a couple of hours.”

“How are we going to get these to the room without someone seeing us?”

He had a point. Maybe he should’ve left the balloons. “What about the trolleys the staff use to deliver food sometimes? We could put them on the lower shelf covered with a cloth and then put alcohol on the top. It would be as if we were just taking the drinks there.”

Timothy nodded slowly. “But we rarely do that, do we? It’s the household staff who do it.”

George grinned and dialled the kitchen. “Hi, Betsy. Could you please arrange for two large trolleys of alcohol to be brought to us ready for a party this afternoon, but could you leave the bottom shelf empty and bring them to my suite first, please?”

“Of course, Your Highness. Can I get you anything else?”

“No, thank you. I appreciate it, Betsy.”

“You’re very welcome, sir. They’ll be there within the hour.”

He ended the call. “They’re going to bring them over shortly. We might have trouble with the balloons, but we can always take them off again if they won’t fit.”

“I’m sure we’ll manage.” Timothy smiled at him. “I saw what you left on the bed. Is that for Eddie?”

George chuckled. “Absolutely.”

“Looking forward to it. You might want to hide it because he’ll come back to shower before joining us.”

“Nope. I fully intend for him to see it. He’ll just have to wait and see.”

Timothy wrapped his arms around him, and George inhaled his scent, closing his eyes and resting his cheek against his chest. They stayed like that for a while, just soaking up the feeling of being with one of the people they loved.

When Eddie came back, they would feel complete, but this was enough to keep them going until that time.

****

Two hours later, George stood in front of the Sexy Sixteen, barely containing his glee at what was to come.

“Good afternoon, Sexy Sixteen. I’m glad you could all attend at such short notice.

” His smile faltered a little, and he swallowed.

“Today is a sad day, but it’s with Mother in mind that I bring us together now.

I have gifts for you all.” He pulled the tablecloth from over the bags, letting the balloons float upwards.

“It is with great joy that I pass these out.” He started handing them out, hesitating only slightly when he reached his father.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, wincing slightly at the king’s raised eyebrow.

“You may or may not be aware that today is Check Your Batteries Day,” he continued. “You will also be aware that I do things a little differently. So with that in mind, please open your gifts. I know for a fact your partners will thank me.”

He winced again as his mind went to his father. He wasn’t under the illusion that the man was sexually active—after all, they all attended Club Royal—but it wasn’t easy to think about such things. He refused to exclude him, though.

“Jeez, George. How many batteries?” Douglas said.

“You need to make sure your toys don’t run out at the worst possible moment,” George stated. “I’m sure I’m not the only one that has happened to.”

He met his father’s gaze and rolled his lips inwards at the humour emanating from him.

“I, for one, think this is a very thoughtful gift,” Andrew said, putting his bag to the side. “And I especially like the balloon.” He pushed it away from him and it swayed right back again.

“I don’t think we need to worry about buying batteries for a bit.

That tail certainly drains quickly,” Robert said to Henry, making George’s cousin flush red.

Henry was the only one in their family who got embarrassed about talking about sex.

It was mainly those who had joined their family that were, not the family members themselves, due to their involvement with Club Royal.

George chuckled and settled into a chair beside Eddie. “We might need some more batteries when we play tonight,” he whispered in his ear.

“I can think of another use for them,” Christian said, glancing at Oscar, his fiancé. “Your trains run out quickly, don’t they?”

Oscar nodded. “They do. They’d last ages with all these.” The slight softening of his voice made George smile as he fell into being little for a moment.

“I’m not sure we’ll need them. Everything we use is battery-free.” Freddie glanced at Damon. “Isn’t it?”

Damon nodded, unconcerned about talking sex with the rest of the family, but then he had been part of their family for long enough. Even without their recent wedding. “Nothing needs them, and the TENS machine gets plugged in.”

Freddie narrowed his eyes. “Hmm. I can think of a couple of things we could try, though.” He turned to George. “Thanks. We might need these after all.”

“You’re welcome.”