Page 8 of Club Royal: Calendar Collection

Patrick

Patrick hefted the box into his arms and used his ass to push his way through the door. He’d picked up a few things for the kids and just needed to deliver them to the room they were using for their Easter event.

“Jesus, Paddy, how big is that box?” Freddie asked, laughing as he entered the ballroom they were using for the event.

Patrick’s cheeks heated, and the urge to tangle his fingers was almost more than he could stand, but the box stopped him.

He ignored his cousin’s words and carried it—maybe he had gone a little overboard, but it was Easter, and the kids would love what he’d brought—to the table he would be stationed at.

They had arranged for a host of children to come to this hotel to have some Easter fun and games.

Different family members had different activities planned, and Patrick had chosen egg decorating.

He had a variety of eggs—hard-boiled, plastic, paper mache, and enough chocolate to make some real chocolate eggs they could decorate with icing if they had time.

For the first time in a long time, he hadn’t developed something related to music, and he hoped it would work out just as well as music usually did for him.

It was a little outside of his comfort zone.

He pulled some eggs from the box, separating them into the different types and putting them into various small wicker baskets, something else the children could decorate if they wanted to. When the little tabletop cooker came out, Oscar raced over, eyes wide.

“Is that what I think it is?” he whispered.

Oscar was on the edge of littlespace, and Patrick glanced around for Christian. Not because he couldn’t deal with Ozzie, but because he wasn’t sure if Christian had seen how close his fiancé was to needing his Daddy.

“It’s for melting chocolate later. We’re going to make some chocolate eggs to decorate.”

Oscar—Ozzie—covered his mouth with his hands, barely stopping himself from clapping them together from what Patrick could see.

“Would you like to try it out for me?”

He wouldn’t have usually offered, but Christian was nowhere to be seen, and Patrick was happy to keep the little occupied while he was wavering between the two spaces at that moment.

Ozzie’s jaw dropped. “Can I?”

Patrick smiled. “Of course. Come on around here, and I’ll show you how we use it.”

Ozzie skipped around the table and dropped to his knees on the floor beside the cooker. Patrick withheld his wince at the potential state of his clothing after they’d finished, but it was a small thing to worry about.

“Okay, so remember, this is going to be super hot, so please don’t touch it.” He held up a bar of chocolate. “You can break this into pieces and put it into this bowl, though.” He put a glass bowl in front of him and handed him the bar.

“Okay!”

Ozzie went to work on the bar, dropping the discarded wrapper on the floor beside him. While he did that, Patrick unboxed some other things he needed to put on the table.

“Uncle Paddy?”

Those words still surprised him some days.

Ozzie had once asked what to call everyone, and George had suggested being his uncle when he was little.

Christian had agreed, and when Oscar was out of littlespace, they’d discussed it and decided it was a good idea.

Since then, each of them was an uncle when Ozzie was little.

“Yes, Ozzie?”

“Now?”

Patrick checked the little cooker and shook his head. “We have to wait a little longer because the water needs to be hot to help the chocolate melt. Don’t touch the water, but you can watch it and tell me when it starts to bubble.”

“Okay!” Ozzie’s eyes fixed on the bowl of water, and Patrick smiled.

When he finished emptying the box into an untidy pile on the table, Ozzie said, “It’s bubbling!”

Patrick stopped what he was doing and settled into a chair beside the little. “Okay, so now we have to do a little magic.”

Ozzie’s eyes widened. “Magic?” he whispered.

Patrick nodded. “We carefully put the bowl over the water and stir the chocolate.”

Ozzie frowned. “Where’s the magic?”

“You’ll have to wait and see.” They put the bowl on top together, and Patrick held it while Ozzie stirred.

“What have you got there, Ozzie?” Christian asked, stopping in front of the table.

“Magic,” he mumbled, his eyes fixed on the chocolate that was melting.

Christian glanced at Patrick with raised eyebrows, and Patrick shrugged. “He was excited and slipping. I thought it was a better option to occupy him when I couldn’t see you.”

“I had just taken Oreo back to Windsor. I know she would be fine around the kids, but I didn’t want her to get too excitable.”

Patrick snorted. “As if your dog would be anything but the trained professional you’ve taught her to be.”

Christian chuckled. “There’s always a first time.”

Patrick refocused on Ozzie. “Can you see the magic happening?”

“It’s melting,” he whispered.

“It is.”

“What then?”

Patrick reached over and picked up a silicone egg mould. “We pour it into this and put it in the fridge to set. Once it’s set, we can stick two sides together to make an egg and then decorate it.”

Ozzie sighed. “Is it ready?” He peered over the edge of the bowl.

Patrick smiled. Despite not wanting a little of his own, he loved helping to look after them, and kids in general. It was another reason he was so passionate about his music lessons for those who couldn’t otherwise afford to learn how to play an instrument.

“Yes, I think that’ll work.”

He took the bowl off the heat and beckoned Ozzie to move to the table behind them. He put the mould down and handed Ozzie a silicone brush. “I’ll pour the chocolate, you spread it around the sides.”

It was messy, but the joy on Ozzie’s face when the “egg” was ready to put in the small fridge Patrick had someone set up for them was worth it.

“We know those ones are yours because they’re the first ones in there.”

“How long?”

“A couple of hours, I’m afraid. Your Daddy will bring you back to finish it later, okay?”

Ozzie sighed but nodded. “Thank you, Uncle Paddy.” He skipped around the table and into Christian’s arms.

“All done, little one?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Shall we get back to our activities?”

Ozzie gasped and jumped, almost clocking Christian on the chin. “We’re doing egg decorating, too, but with paper!” He raced off, and Patrick chuckled.

“You’ve got your hands full today.”

Christian grinned. “He’s going to be in and out of littlespace today, I think.” He frowned. “Hopefully, it won’t be a problem for anyone who attends.”

Patrick walked around the table and rested a hand on Christian’s shoulder. “It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks, Chris, but I understand what you mean. If anyone has a problem with it, they can leave.”

“I know, but then it’s the child that gets punished for their parent’s ignorance.”

“True, but you can’t hide Ozzie away. He needs to be free.”

Christian sighed. “I’ll never clip his wings. No matter what happens.” He nodded at Patrick and headed after his little. It was strange seeing the man without his four-legged sidekick.

Arms slid around his waist, and he smiled at the scent that was more important to him than anything else. He covered the hands resting on his stomach. “Hello, love.”

“How is it going?” Kieren asked.

Patrick exhaled and stared at the table that had yet to be properly sorted. “Not brilliantly. But at least I know the cooker and the chocolate eggs will work. Ozzie had a great time.”

“I saw. I didn’t want to interrupt.”

Patrick spun in the circle of his arms and slid his hands up and around his neck. “You, my love, will never be in the way.” He dropped a far more chaste kiss than he wanted to on his fiancé’s lips and pulled back. “How did the hiding of the eggs go?”

“Well, I think. There are over five hundred eggs hidden throughout the ground floor of the hotel.” Kieren shook his head. “I don’t have a hope in hell of remembering where they all are.”

Patrick waved him away. “It doesn’t matter. Fifty children are coming, even if they only found one egg each, it’ll be fun looking.” He grinned. “The hotel will find eggs for months afterwards.”

He turned back to the table and sighed, but set to work, making little workstations for the children. All fifty won’t be at his table at the same time—he hoped—so they could each have a little space for their own creations. Kieren helped him, and before he knew it, it was ready.

“Looking good, Paddy,” Freddie said, squeezing his nape. “You never answered me the other day, you know.”

Patrick swallowed, having hoped Freddie had forgotten his attempt to divert the conversation. “About what?” he asked, feigning ignorance.

Freddie’s mouth twitched; he hadn’t been fooled. “About whether you want kids.”

Patrick purposefully didn’t look at Kieren. They hadn’t brought up the subject recently, and their original conversation stated they weren’t ready for that. Had things changed? He didn’t know. He loved being around children, but the idea of having a child rely on him was overwhelming.

“I—”

“The doors are opening!” the hotel manager announced from the doorway, saving Patrick from answering.

Freddie sighed. “I’ll corner you at some point, Mr Sutcliffe.” He headed back to his table, and Patrick faced Kieren with a smile.

“Are you ready?”

“Always.”

Kieren

Patrick’s overly bright smile had Kieren on alert.

He had something on his mind regarding Freddie’s question, and Kieren would have to drag it from him later.

But for now, they had to concentrate on giving the kids an amazing Easter.

Kieren was in charge of the egg hunt and had several volunteers helping him corral the kids into some semblance of order.

It was unlikely to work, and possibly the most they could do was make sure none of the kids got lost, but that would be a win, in his opinion.