Page 17 of Daddy’s Little Chaos Gremlin (The Lactin Brotherhood)

17

ZEPHYR

Mornings were the best times here. Just lying in bed, cuddled up to Daddy, my lips wrapped around his nipple with my head touching Tristan’s as he nursed on the other side. Today was a big, big day, and Daddy had been very firm this morning when he’d told me that I had to keep my shorts on once people started arriving, which would be just after three. I loved the way he laid out the schedule for the day while we lay warm and snuggled up with him. His voice had a lilting rumble to it that always sounded like music to me. It was super easy to listen to and he never made things confusing. Everything was always black and white and free of bewildering details.

Today we had Tristan’s big unveiling, and Daddy had forbidden us to do anything but play until it was time to get ready for the big event. He’d handle greeting our guests and keeping them entertained until then, and I’d get to meet Tristan’s best friend, Hamish.

“Try not to wear yourselves out playing, you don’t want to be tired and cranky when we’ve got a house full of guests,” he murmured as he stroked our hair.

“We can build our racetracks,” Tristan said. “Racing cars won’t make us too tired.”

“Can we put Cars on while we play them?” I asked, lacing my fingers with his where they rested on Daddy’s abs.

I licked the last traces of milk from around Daddy’s nipple, which was sadly empty now. His milk was always so yummy. Starting the day out with it meant that I never had to eat much at breakfast, usually just a fruit parfait or one of the nummy smoothies Theo and Daddy made for me. Last night he’d given me one with peanut butter and bananas in it after he’d seen how much I enjoyed the toasted peanut butter and banana sandwiches Theo had made for lunch. He’d even cut my crusts off, too, after he’d noticed me carefully peeling them off the turkey sandwiches he’d made the day before.

Something about the texture of crust just felt weird in my mouth. Rough and a little hard when it should have been soft and squishy. I loved just about everything soft and squishy, even the mushy peas we’d had in Blackpool. They’d been as much of a treat as the soft roasted carrots that had been glazed with butter and brown sugar. I’d never had sweet carrots before, just ones from the can and carrot sticks that always tasted like bitter water and felt like they took forever to chew.

“We can have a Cars marathon,” Tristan said, giving my hand a little squeeze. “Are you nervous?”

“A little, but I’m always nervous before a performance.”

“I’m always nervous before an unveiling, too,” he admitted. “But I think it’s supposed to be that way.”

“As long as they are good nerves,” Daddy said. “And not the kind that leave you sobbing and afraid to come out and show us what you’ve made.”

“These are good nerves,” Tristan said, and now I squeezed his hand, because I knew how hard he’d worked on the three tabletop pieces he’d be unveiling tonight. “I love these pieces and Zephyr and I have practiced the poses. I know that I can finish the demos in between courses and have him securely tied in his new pose before Theo brings the next one out.”

“Just don’t forget what he said, about sending a message to him in the kitchen if you need more time,” Daddy cautioned.

“I won’t.”

“Then I think we’re ready to start our morning, unless either of you has anything to add,” Daddy said, not that he moved his arms. He still held us gently, his fingertips caressing our sides as we lay cozied in soft sheets and the huge, fluffy comforter.

I loved that Daddy and Tristan liked soft things, too, and believed in comfort over appearances.

“I don’t have anything else, Daddy,” Tristan said.

“Me, either.”

“Then I guess we’d better get in the shower before we decide to stay here until the doorbell rings.”

“That could work, too,” Tristan muttered.

“Don’t temp me more than I already am,” Daddy grumbled, his arm tightening around me.

Sighing, I rubbed my cheek against his shoulder and kissed his neck. “But it’s nice here,” I whined.

“So nice,” Tristan added.

He looked just as cozy and content as I felt. With our hands still joined over top of him, Daddy wasn’t making any effort to move.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to lie here a little while longer and enjoy my boys,” Daddy said, tugging me all the way up for a kiss, then doing the same to Tristan after he’d let me go. “Tomorrow is a no work day. We’ll have guests to spend time with and we’re all due for a bit of down time after the week we’ve had.”

“Even me?” I asked, because it really hadn’t felt like I’d done much but be a very pampered kitten all week.

Even the time I’d spent in the studio with Tristan hadn’t felt like work. It had been fun, getting to touch all the ropes and help him choose which one to use in each design, and the whole time he’d been tying me up, he’d talked to me and praised me for my ability to comfortably hold the positions he put me in. It was so easy. He never tried to move me or arrange my limbs in a specific way. He always asked me to stretch my arm or leg in the direction he wanted it, then checked to make sure it was a comfortable one for me before he started tying. In just a short time together, he’d already shown me how we’d be working together during each demonstration, and while I didn’t fully know what to expect from the evening, I was eager to give everyone the best show possible.

“Even you, little one, you’ve been a marvelous help this week and worked really hard to make sure that neither Tristan nor I got stressed out or lost our tempers.”

“You’ve been awesome,” Tristan said. “Thank you for being so patient with me. I know it wasn’t fun going through all the different kinds of rope.”

“But it was fun,” I insisted, sitting up a little so I could see his face better. “I never knew there were so many different kinds of ropes. If you hadn’t done like you promised, and let me touch them all, we wouldn’t know that polypropylene makes my skin sweaty and break out, or that nylon feels nice but not as nice as silk and satin.

“Did you try the natural rope that Simon sent over?” Daddy asked.

“Yeah, but we hated them,” Tristan said.

“They were so itchy,” I groaned, scratching at a phantom spot on my arm where I’d rubbed one of the manila ropes to see what it would feel like against my skin.

Uck. That’s what.

“Is that why the two of you were playing in the bathtub last night when I came upstairs?” Daddy asked.

“Uh-huh,” Tristan said. “He was itchy after we’d touched all of Simon’s ropes, so I was trying to make it better. I know I need to send him a thank you letter for thinking of me when his company made them, but those aren’t the kinds of ropes I like to touch.”

“You did more than try, you made it so much better,” I told him, giving his hand another squeeze.

He beamed at me across Daddy, who hugged us both and pressed kisses to the tops of our heads.

“Good boy, I’m proud of you, helping your brother that way after the way he helped you,” Daddy praised Tristan. “I’m sorry I was so caught up in the office that I couldn’t be there to wash you both.”

“You could wash us in the shower,” I suggested, wanting Daddy’s hands back on me again.

“If we ever let you up,” Tristan added, snuggling back in against Daddy’s side and popping his thumb back in his mouth.

“Cheeky gremlin,” Daddy said, giving him a playful swat on the rear. “I’m not in any hurry to move, either. I’ve missed mornings like this. We’ve gone too long without indulging ourselves.”

Daddy sighed, his hand stroking along my side. “You know, Theo never cooks on dinner party days so he can focus on all his prep for the meal. Why don’t you two let go temporarily, and I’ll go make up a tray of things we can nibble on in here. A morning lazing away in bed will do us all a world of good. We can put on Cars in here, or anything else you’d like to watch.”

“Can we save Cars for the playroom and racetracks and finish watching the Royal Rumble with you?” I asked.

“Ohh, yes please, wrestling,” Tristan chimed in.

“I’ll never turn down the opportunity to catch up on wrestling with my favorite imps,” Daddy said.

“We’re you’re only imps, Daddy,” Tristan reminded him.

“Yes, my only and my favorite,” Daddy replied, shifting just enough that we got the hint that it was time to turn him loose.

The moment he moved out from between us we wiggled like inch worms beneath the blankets, reaching for one another until we were clinging and getting comfy as Daddy turned the TV on.

“There now, the introduction will have all the clips from the pre-show. You two watch that while I pull something together for us.”

Pull something together for us had come to have a bunch of different meanings since living here, but the one thing it always meant was treats. We settled in to listen to who the announcers felt were the favorites to win that year’s Rumble, each of us with our own thoughts on who was going to win and who was going to be the surprise entrant.

“If it’s Mox he’s gonna wreck everyone,” Tristan declared.

“Huh-uh, no way would he wreck Jeff, or Undertaker.”

“Undertaker’s retired, what would he wanna come back for the rumble for?”

“A title shot?”

“He doesn’t need one, he’s done everything.”

“So has Mox,” I reminded him.

“So has Jeff.”

“I know but it’s so cool to see him do the Swanton off everything,” I replied. “He always does something super extra at pay-per-views.”

“Yeah, but he got hurt lots ‘cause of it, too, just like Moxley.”

“True.”

“Surprise entrants rarely win anyway,” I said, sighing because it was always hard to pick, even when I’d been watching wrestling for years. I hadn’t been able to catch up for a while, though, and was hopelessly behind when it came to knowing who was on the main roster and who was out with an injury. People moved up from NXT all the time, too, and I hadn’t caught one of those shows in almost a year. Paulie hadn’t been a big wrestling fan, but sometimes he’d watch it with me when he got bored.

“What about Dirty Dom?” Tristan suggested.

“He’s awesome, but he’s kinda small to win a rumble.”

“He’s bigger than his dad and his dad won one.”

“Ohh, you’re right. I’d forgotten about that. I still think it’s gonna be one of the bigger guys, though. Braun Strowman maybe, or Roman again, or one of the Usos.”

“Please not Roman again. He’s awesome, but he’s already won everything, too.”

“I’m gonna cheer for the Usos then,” I told him.

“You can’t cheer for both.”

“Yeah I can. I’ll just cheer loudest for whichever one makes it to the end.”

“And if they both do?”

“Then I’ll just be cheering loudly,” I declared, while he grinned and shook his head at me.

Giggling, we found that we could both see the television better if we wiggled around to lay sidewise like two little spoons waiting for our big spoon to come back. Daddy did, a few minutes later, with three strawberry smoothies on a tray filled with cut up melon pieces, pastries, and a bowl of sliced andouille sausage sauteed in maple syrup. The scent hit me before I registered that it was there, but Daddy saw my eyes dart to it and plucked a piece from the bowl that he held to my lips and let me eat from his fingers.

“You two will have to sit up to eat,” Daddy said. “As comfy as you look, I won’t have you guys choking trying to eat that way.”

Obediently we sat up, and he passed us each a smoothie. I loved that Theo had started freezing juice in the ice cube trays to make our smoothies with, so they wouldn’t taste watered down. Instead, they were packed with flavor.

“Ohhh yum, so cold and nummy,” Tristan declared after he’d bitten into a chilled piece of honeydew.

He pressed the rest to my lips so I could taste, too.

While I was perfectly content with my smoothie after nursing from Daddy, I happily ate all the fruit and sausage pieces they offered me, since they never offered too much. I loved that I didn’t have to be afraid of food here. No one ever told me that I shouldn’t eat something because it would make me gain weight, but they also never made me feel bad for nibbling or taking half and quarter portions. It felt good not having eyes on me judging what I was doing when I wasn’t intentionally trying to stand out or be picky.

“Ohh nice, looks like they’re kicking things off with the women’s rumble,” Daddy said, rubbing his hands together as he stared at the screen.

“If I could have found a wrestling school, I’d have loved to do what they do,” I said. “Especially the ladies and the luchadores. The way they combine acrobatics and wrestling techniques is awesome.”

“Really, is that something you truly wanted to do?” Daddy asked, eyes on me now instead of the screen.

“Uh-huh, but the nearest school was really far away from where I lived, and I’d have had to save up money for bus fare to get there, as well as for the school and a place to live. On top of that I’d have had to get a job and I don’t know how that would have worked with training. The only way I might have been able to make it happen was if I saved up enough for a whole year’s rent and utilities, so I could afford to work something part-time that fit around my training schedule. That’s what I was trying to do with the troupe and I was close, before they decided they hated each other.”

Daddy stroked his neatly-trimmed beard and studied me for a moment. “If it’s still something you’re interested in, then we’ll have to see if there is anything available nearby. I can’t promise there’ll be something, but there is an area wrestling promotion that puts on local shows. I attend as frequently as I’m able. Someone there might know of a school, or we might find someone willing to work with you and teach you a few things to get you started.”

“Oh my gosh, seriously?!” I squealed, bouncing on my bottom. “That would be awesome!”

“It wouldn’t be on that level,” Daddy said as he gestured toward one of the women flipping another off the top rope and sending her halfway across the ring, before she proceeded to springboard off the ropes and squash her fallen opponent. “But I can see where it would enhance the skillset you already have. You never know, you might find you like it enough to keep learning and take part in the local events.”

I froze, fingers gripping the pillow beneath me. “Would that really be okay?”

“Oh, sweet boy, seeing you do something that would make your face light up with joy is always going to be okay in my book,” Daddy said. “I don’t see how there are any more risks to what they’re doing than what you already do, and I’ve never believed in clipping my boys’ wings. You were born to fly. I could tell that from the moment you performed for us in the courtyard. I’d be proud to help you find a way to make that dream come true.”

Tears pricked my eyes, and I slapped a hand over my mouth to muffle the sob of joy working its way up the back of my throat. Before I’d fully registered that the tears had started falling, Daddy and Tristan had squashed me between them and were hugging me tight. No one had ever offered to help me that way. The one and only time I’d mentioned wanting to learn to wrestle, the news had been met with ridicule, which was why I’d never, ever, ever mentioned it again.

Today had felt right, though. I’d felt safe opening up and revealing that hidden part of myself. Maybe it was because they were both huge fans of the sport and a part of me figured that every fan had thought about what it would be like, at least once. Or maybe it was because I’d finally found my crew. The people who would believe in me, love me, cherish and support me, even if my dream was an unconventional one. That wasn’t something I’d ever even dreamed of when I’d tacked that message to The Lactin Brotherhood’s corkboard about looking for work, but man was I glad now that I’d taken the chance and posted it.