Page 23 of Daddies’ Little Cubs (Ivory Mountain Daddies #3)
CHAPTER NINETEEN
JACKSON
J ackson stood at the kitchen counter watching the girls writing away. He still couldn’t believe the rascals crawled out of bed, leaving them behind asleep.
The sub in him thought the whole thing was hilarious, while the Daddy in him isn’t happy. Both sides of him admired that they were able to pull off such a task.
It was getting close to dinner time, and it was Jackson’s turn to cook. He walked over to the fridge and pulled out the ingredients he would need to make chicken casserole. It’s a quick but filling meal that doesn't require much prep work.
Tossing everything into the baking dish, Jackson was putting the pan in the oven when he heard Destiny say that she was done with her lines. Knowing that Eli was with them, Jackson took a few more moments to clean up the mess he made so there wouldn’t be as much to do when they were done eating.
He wasn’t sure what the girls would want to do for the last night of their weekend.
Jackson was thrilled they had this time together and hoped to have many more nights in the future, this was just a small taste of what could be their new forever.
If this weekend taught him anything, it’s that these girls were meant to be theirs.
“Thank you girls. Do you understand why you had to do lines?” He asked after rejoining them in the dining nook.
“Yes Papa” they both chimed simultaneously.
“Good girls! We want the best for you and if that means we say to lay down and rest it’s because it’s good for you. Now, how about for the rest of the night we snuggle on the couch and watch a movie. I think we could persuade Pops into watching The Jungle Book .”
Jackson watches both girls turn to Eli with puppy eyes and their hands clasped together pleading with him. “Okay, okay, fine. We can watch The Jungle Book , but only if there’s popcorn involved.”
The squeals from their cubs could be heard miles away. Jackson went back to the kitchen to start the popcorn, all the while listening to the debate about how The Jungle Book was the greatest movie of all time.
As the credits rolled, Jackson glanced down at the sleeping Littles snuggled between them.
“This is going to be our new forever, Jackson.”
“I can’t wait.” He responded back, holding back the emotion in his voice.
“I’ll grab Jessa while you grab Destiny. Thankfully they are already in their nightgowns so this should be an easy process.” Eli said as he slowly shifted his position in order to lift Jessa in his arms.
Jackson followed suit and picked Destiny up gently and headed down the hallway to their room. Pulling back the covers, he laid her down and placed her stuffie in her hands.
Flicking on the nightlight, they headed out of their room pulling the door quietly closed.
“I’m not ready for them to go home tomorrow.” Jackson admitted as he stripped off his clothes from the day.
“Me neither Pup, but it’s not like we can ask them to move in.”
“Why not? Who cares what others think.”
“It’s not about what others think of the situation, Jackson. They deserve a chance to have a true college experience and we would be heartless to take that from them.”
Jackson knew he was right. It would be unfair to ask them to give up their whole college life just because they couldn’t get over not having them in their home and bed every night.
Eli walked over to where he stood, pulling him in for a kiss. “I know the best way to get your mind off this and lift your spirits.”
Jackson’s heart raced knowing where his husband's thoughts were headed. “What do you have in mind, Sir?” He asked, bowing his head in submission.
“Go get the toy chest from the closet and kneel on the bed.”
Jackson turned and did exactly what was asked. There was no way he would give Eli any reason to delay his gratification tonight.
Startled awake, Jackson glanced at the Little girl who had poked him in the side. Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, he noticed it was three in the morning.
It hadn’t been long since he fell asleep. Eli made sure to wear him out enough that he could relax and pass out. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he once again looked at Destiny as she kneeled beside the bed.
“Papa, can I come sleep with you? I had a bad dream and I’m scared.”
Jackson’s heart broke at the meek voice of his, Little Wolf. He knew that the dream had to be extremely bad if she was coming in here for snuggles instead of crawling into bed with Jessa.
Pushing further back into the bed, Jackson bit back a groan. Willing his body to calm down at the feeling of Eli nestled between cheeks, this wasn’t the time for his body to decide to react. His Little girl needed him and he would do anything to keep her safe.
Pulling back the covers just enough for her to slide inside, Jackson settled his arm around her waist. Leaning forward he pressed a chase kiss against her head, falling back asleep being surrounded by a small part of his world.
When Jackson woke a few hours later, his back was cold indicating that it had been awhile since Eli had got out of bed. A feather-like touch traced up and down his arm, looking down he saw Destiny lying quietly just stroking his arm in a daze.
Reaching a hand towards her chin, Jackson tilted her head back pressing a kiss to her lips. He only meant for the kiss to last a moment, but Destiny had other plans. Rolling her slightly towards him, Jackson deepened the kiss before pulling away.
“Good morning, my Little Wolf. Did you sleep okay once you went back to sleep?”
“I did, Papa. I’m sorry for waking you so early in the morning.”
“Nonsense, babygirl. Papa is glad you did. I want you to seek one of us out when you are scared, tired, lonely, or any other kind of emotion. We want to be your rock, just like Jessa is.”
“You do?”
“Of course we do Destiny. I know it’s just been the two of you for so long, but you don’t have to continue to do it alone anymore. Lean on us, we’ve got you.”
Jackson was shocked when she pressed a kiss against his lips.
Grinning at her as they pulled apart, he pressed a quick kiss on her forehead before saying, “Now, let’s go see if Jessa is awake and get you both ready for the day.
Maybe we can convince Pops to take us all out for donuts for breakfast.”
He busted out laughing at how quick she moved, jumping out of bed trying to drag him along. Grabbing the shirt from the floor where he dropped it last night, Jackson placed his hand in hers and they made their way to the girls room.
Forty-five minutes and a shower later, Jackson helped Eli load the girls up into their suburban to go get donuts. Apparently when sugary sweets are on the line, their girls will do just about anything to have it.
Eli agreed to the donuts, but only if they got them to-go and brought them back home. He said he didn’t want to share their last few hours with a bunch of strangers, but rather just wanted his family at home where they belonged.
Jackson stood in the doorway of the kitchen watching Eli clean up the mess from lunch. Nothing turned him on more than watching his husband do basic household tasks.
The giggles that were filtering out into the hallway from their cubs made him smile. Turning his focus back to Eli, Jackson spoke what was on his mind. “I’m not ready for this weekend to end.”
There was only about an hour left before they would take the girls back to Emmett and Raelyn’s house and they had spent all morning long playing video games together.
Turns out their Littles were quite the video game players. Jackson and Eli lost every single game they played together.
“I know, but there’s always during the week and of course the weekends.”
Winter break was quickly coming to an end. In two weeks the next semester would be starting and everyone would be busy during the week again. That didn’t stop Jackson’s plans to steal every free moment he could find with the girls.
“I’m almost done here, why don’t you head in and tell them they have about thirty more minutes to play before clean up needs to happen.”
Jackson nodded and turned heading down the hallway. Just as he was about to make his presence known, a small and timid voice stopped him in his tracks.
“Jessa, there’s something I need to talk to you about. I was trying to wait until tomorrow, but it’s driving me crazy and has now started keeping me up at night. I even had a nightmare last night because of it.”
“What’s going on Des? What’s got your knickers in a twist?”
“That’s the problem Jess. Nothing is getting my knickers in a twist.”
“I’m not sure I’m following. You’re going to have to spell it out for me.”
“You’ve told me that when Papa or Pops kisses you, touches you, or does anything romantic you feel butterflies in your stomach and a warmth in your knickers.”
“Okay? I think I’m following.”
“I adore the guys and I get butterflies when around them, but I never feel anything remotely close to the feelings you describe. I think I’m broken.”
“No! You can get that thought right out of your head. Nothing is broken about you. I know you’ve researched it, so what did your findings say?”
“That’s the thing, when I look it up there’s all sorts of different answers and I just get confused and stressed out. I don’t like feeling like I’m broken Jessa.”
“It’s okay, we will figure it out together.”
“What if Pops and Papa don’t want me anymore because I’m damaged goods?”
“Well, they would be idiots and I don’t think they are dumb and I know you don’t think that either. But! In the chance that they are, well screw them. We will find better. Ones who treat us both well.”
Jackson had heard enough, deciding to make his presence known, he called out the girls’ names as he entered the room. “Destiny! Jessa! Pops says you have thirty minutes and then you need to start cleaning up everything.”
They groaned, but didn’t argue. Jackson’s mind reeled at the conversation he eased dropped on. There was no way he could bring it up to them now, but he would be talking to Eli about it all.
He was hurt that Destiny had been struggling with this and never said anything, but he also understood how vulnerable this probably made her feel.
He tried to push the thoughts from his mind as he settled back on the floor to finish helping put the puzzle together they had all been working on all weekend.
Jackson would have the conversation tonight with Eli and together they would figure out the best way to handle it. No reason for their Little girl to continue to struggle alone with this.