Page 15 of Daddies’ Little Cubs (Ivory Mountain Daddies #3)
CHAPTER TWELVE
ELI
E li loved that the girls were already testing the limits. It showed that they trust them and that’s one of the most important things in this relationship.
He couldn’t help but feel nerves settling deep inside as he turned the car into the parking lot of Dahlia’s Diner. The local ma and pop diner was the best around. Eli and Jackson tried to visit at least once a month, sometimes more if they had the opportunity.
Eli was excited to share the diner with the girls and hoped that there would be many breakfast or dinner meals there in the future. Ushering the girls inside, the men directed them towards the back of the restaurant towards the booth that they always sat in if it was available.
After helping Jessa and Destiny sit on one side, Eli allowed Jackson to slide in first before situating himself to be able to watch the diner and the door. He didn’t think that anything would happen at the diner, but he would never take their safety for granted.
“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” Dahlia stated as she stepped up to the table with menus in hand. “Good morning, Dahlia. It’s so good to see you.” Jackson replied.
“Who do we have here?” She asked, turning and looking at the twins.
“Dahlia, this is Jessa and Destiny. You know their sister, Raelyn,” Eli spoke, pointing to each girl.
“We are hoping they are going to pity these old men and allow us to spoil and love them. This is our first date out,” He continued.
There was no reason to hide their intentions with the girls, especially if they continued to have meals here.
Eli had no intention of hiding how he felt about each girl and he knew Jackson would feel the same.
Ivory Mountain is full of very open minded people and relationships that are out of the norm. Eli knew that no one would bat an eye at them being together here. At least that’s what he hoped for.
The table grew silent after he dropped the bomb about their future relationship. “I think that’s wonderful and I hope it works out the best for you all. Now, what would everyone like to drink?” Dahlia asked before heading off to fill their request.
Eli sat and just watched the girls. He knows that they didn’t expect him to tell her their business, but he wasn’t in the habit of hiding things and he wasn’t going to start now.
“Alright girls, I’m sure that you have plenty of questions.
Feel free to ask anything. There will be no secrets between us.
” Eli said, turning towards Jackson and smiling before turning back towards their future.
“Uh, well…we did have questions but right now I can’t think of a single one.” Jessa murmured. “I knew this would happen, so I made sure to write down all the questions that we had.” Destiny spoke up after a minute.
Eli grinned, leave it to their Little girl to be so prepared knowing that this would happen.
It made him fall for her just a little bit more.
He watched as Des brought out a small notebook and flipped to a page.
Eli was honestly a little shocked that it wasn’t as filled with questions as he expected it to be.
There seems to only be a handful of questions. He meant what he said though, there would be no secrets and anything the girls wanted to know was up for discussion. Jackson and him didn’t do secrets in their relationship and that wouldn’t start now.
“Okay, number one. Where did you guys meet?”
Eli looked towards Jackson indicating that he could take this first question. It was his story more than it was Eli’s. “I’ll answer that one with just a tad bit of back story,” Jackson said.
“I grew up in a very conservative household. One that didn’t support anything that went against the so-called normal.
My parents would have had a fit to find out their son was battling with their sexuality growing up.
So, I hid and played the part that they wanted me to and buried a part of myself that I grew to resent.
Fast forward to college, at the end of summer party on campus I stumbled across the first man who had taken my breath away in years. ”
Eli reached over and grasped Jackson’s hand in his.
He knew that this was a hard thing for him to relive, but it was important.
Jackson spent months running from their relationship and what he thought was wrong just because his parents, who have now come around to the idea of their son being married to a man and love them both deeply, had brainwashed him into thinking that there was something wrong with him.
He watched Jackson take a big gulp of his orange juice before letting out a whoosh of air and continuing. Eli couldn't be prouder of him at this moment.
“So there I am, standing in a dark corner of the party just watching this fine specimen of a man walk around talking and slapping backs of all the people in the party. Everyone seemed to gravitate to him and it didn’t take long before he was standing in front of me with the biggest grin on his face. ”
Eli’s face heated just a tad. He remembers this night like it was yesterday and it’s one of his fondest memories from the beginning of their relationship.
Eli grew up in a totally different household.
One that was loving and accepting of everyone, including their son.
His parents never batted an eye when he brought home a guy to meet them.
They just opened their arms and welcomed him no question.
“Anyways, after that night, I did all I could to avoid the football star. Every party he was at I would skip as soon as I saw him. I hated the few times we had classes together because it never failed that we would be partnered together for something. It was getting harder and harder to fight the feelings that I had growing for him. I didn’t understand them and felt like I was failing my parents by being attracted to this goofball. ”
“But! You know now that there was nothing wrong with you right? That it was okay to have feelings for him?” Jessa questioned, cutting Jackson off. “Yes, Little Bear. I know now that there was nothing wrong with me and that I wasn’t a freak.”
Eli watched Jess nod her head once before waving her hand for Jackson to continue. A chuckle escaped his lips at her action, but he quickly covered it with a cough.
“One Wednesday night after one of our study sessions in the library, Eli finally asked me what I had been longing for him to ask. At this point we spent many evenings getting to know each other during our study sessions in the library. I know now that he was only using the study and tutoring sessions as a way to get close to me, but at the time I was clueless. That Friday night, after the National Playoff Championship game of his Sophomore year, Eli swept me away on the best date of my life and the rest was history.”
Eli decided to chime in, adding a little bit more to the story.
“For the next two years of my college career, I fell head over heels in love with this man who would rather have his nose in a book than to sit in a stadium surrounded by his peers. Jackson did it for me though, he sat on the third bleacher up from the fifty yard line cheering me on every game he could make. After we both graduated, we moved in together and continued to build our lives.”
“It wasn’t easy, but we made it work. We faced my parents and explained that we were going to get married one day.
Of course at first, they didn’t accept the situation at all.
Once they realized that I would continue to choose Eli over them, they overcame their small minded thoughts and beliefs and opened their arms and hearts to our relationship. ”
“That leads me to my next question, how long have you been married?” Destiny spoke after a moment.
“We got married in the summer of 2015 about three years after Jackson graduated. It was a private elopement in Italy at a beautiful vineyard on the coast. We came back home and had a small celebration with all our friends and family. The only people in attendance at our wedding was your brother-in-law Emmett and Miles.” Eli answered.
There was a pause in the questions as their food was delivered and everyone began to dig in. Not wanting to break the silence, Eli just continued to enjoy the company he had surrounding him.
“There’s only one more question that I want to ask right now,” Destiny said after everyone finished eating. “Why do you want to add us to your relationship? It seems like you guys already have everything you want, so why us?”
Before Eli could answer that question, Jackson spoke up.
“I think that question is better suited for a place that is a little less public. Would you girls be okay accompanying us to our home? We promise nothing will happen but a conversation, but I don’t think that you want to talk about that here. ”
Eli watched as the girls communicated among themselves.
He was thrilled with the idea of having them in their home, but he wouldn’t push them to go.
If they didn’t feel comfortable, they would go back to Emmett’s house and talk there.
It would be a little bit harder, but Eli would do anything to make them comfortable.
It was Jess that spoke up, answering, “We would love that.” Eli’s heart soared. After waving down Dahlia and paying their bill, the men ushered the girls once again back to the car and helped them settle in before heading back to their home.