Page 10 of H & G Restorations

Chapter

Nine

T he days blended together as the house seemed to stand taller and prouder on the beautiful lot.

Gretel loved all the small touches Hans added outside to make the home special.

She worked just as hard on the interior.

The combination of all the inside and outside improvements started to make the old, battered Victorian feel revived and alive once again.

She loved how it seemed to welcome her every day with a bit more enthusiasm.

When a sudden idea burst into her mind, Gretel ran out the front door to find him. Racing around the back of the house, she discovered him adding embellishments to the deck supports.

“Hans! I have an idea. You know how Daddy loves the sauna at the gym? What do you think about building one in at the back of the house for him?” she proposed.

“We’d have to run it by him first as an overage,” Hans answered slowly as he considered it.

“Not if it’s a gift to Daddy from us. Like a housewarming present.”

“Like a real house ‘warming’ present?” Hans laughed. “That’s an amazing idea. He’d share it with us, too. I could use a sauna to loosen up my muscles.”

“Is it too late to add the wiring that a sauna would require? We could just buy one and set it on the concrete by the back door,” she suggested.

“Hell, no. If we’re going to have a sauna, I’m going to build him something special.” Hans ran a hand over his head as he thought. “It’ll take a few days. Think we can keep him from going behind the house?”

“He always walks around it,” Gretel reminded him. “We’d have to tell him we’re adding something in the back and ask that he let it be a surprise.”

“You’re right. Hopefully, he’ll trust us enough to stay away,” Hans said, distractedly.

She could tell he was already making mental plans and shopping lists.

Gretel smiled broadly when he walked toward the area she’d been considering the perfect spot, muttering to himself.

Hans would make this the shining star of all saunas for their Daddy.

Hugging herself with excitement, Gretel headed inside to work on the thousand small details that remained for her to attack.

Time passed quickly as she installed light fixtures and added trim around built-in furniture.

She sent a kiss message to Magnus and then asked if he’d be available to ask about furniture for the house.

Gretel shook her head, not believing they hadn’t taken time to discuss such an important matter.

She was sure she’d returned to her Daddy’s house with that thought in mind several times. Somehow, he always distracted her.

“I’d love to talk to you, sweetness,” Magnus’ voice boomed from the doorway, making her jump seconds later.

“Daddy!”

Leaping to her feet, she ran to jump into his arms. “Hi!”

“Hi!” Magnus returned her excited greeting with the same happiness to see her woven in. He drew her face to hers and kissed her lightly before setting her firmly away. “You, minx, have distracted us from chatting about that exact thing for days.”

“No! It was you!” She laughed, delighted he had lost track of important tasks as well.

“We’re both here and there’s too many workers around for us to check out the bedroom. Shall we talk now?”

Giggling, she nodded. “Let’s talk.”

Gretel grabbed a pad of paper. “We’ll walk through the house and I’ll take notes. We’re here in the family room. I can definitely see the leather sectional arranged here with a big television…” She paused for a second and wondered if she should say something.

“What are you thinking, sweetness?” Magnus probed.

“I don’t want to assume anything.”

“I’m not following you, little girl.”

“Do you want Hans and me to live with you when the house is finished? Is that your plan?” she blurted.

“Of course. I just found you. It would tear my heart out if you left me when the house was finished. Why is this coming up, little girl? Do you and Hans have second thoughts about our relationship?”

The concern that etched itself into his brow hurt Gretel’s heart. She quickly shook her head to deny that idea. “Oh, no. We love being with you. I-I love you, Daddy.” She rushed forward to throw herself into his arms and clung to his hard body.

“Hey! I saw your car and came to say hello… is something going on?” Hans asked as he looked at Gretel plastered to Magnus.

“I think I misunderstood what Gretel said,” Magnus suggested.

Lifting her tear-stained face, Gretel said in a voice rocked with emotion, “I didn’t mean anything bad.

I was talking about the room and thought the TV from our place would be better here in the new family room.

Then I got scared that maybe… Magnus wouldn’t want us here when we got everything finished. ”

“I love you, too, little girl,” Magnus shared tenderly and kissed her before holding a hand out to Hans and pulling him close. “I love you, little boy. I don’t plan on ever letting you go.”

“I love you, Daddy,” Hans said and wrapped his arms around them.

The trio stood united in the quiet of the room, with echoes of construction surrounding their small, intimate bubble. Gretel’s tears evaporated as the warmth from the men burned away the chill that had settled around her heart.

“I caused so much trouble,” she whispered.

“No, you did not. This is entirely my fault. I assumed you both understood that this would be our home and didn’t discuss my plans directly with you both. Assuming is never a good idea, and I apologize for not making this clear for you.”

Magnus focused back on Gretel before adding, “When we’re alone, or even if you choose when we’re with others, it’s Daddy, not Magnus.”

“Yes, Daddy.”

“And I want to make sure you know I am not in a relationship with you two because I think that will help me with the house remodel, little girl,” Magnus said sternly, looking between the two Littles. “This house means nothing without you now. You two have made it a home.”

“I just didn’t want to sound pushy or expect something that we hadn’t talked about,” Gretel protested. Her lips curved into a tremulous smile at his words and she tried to get ahold of herself, scrubbing the tears from her face.

“You’re the sweetness in our relationship. You could never be pushy,” Magnus assured her.

“Should we talk now?” Hans asked.

“We should make plans now. Let’s go from room to room together.

Gretel can give us her idea of what would be best in the room and then we see if we have it in either of our temporary places or if we need to go on a shopping spree.

Before you worry about that, I can afford everything but gold-crusted swans in the bathroom. ”

The two Littles giggled at that idea. “On my list. No gilded waterfowl,” Gretel jotted down at the top of the page.

They worked their way methodically through the house.

It turned out that they had some special pieces they’d gathered from other properties or salvaged from owners who discarded them.

Once restored to their former brilliance by the Littles’ skills, the items looked spectacular.

Gretel was especially thrilled to have the perfect spot for a set of floor to ceiling bookshelves, featuring a gliding ladder to climb to get items at the top.

When she showed Magnus a picture of the restoration, he picked her up and twirled her in a circle.

“That’s incredible. I’ll get a special sticker for anything you bring in to mark that it’s yours.

I don’t ever plan to let you go, but if something happens and you decide to leave, I want to make sure your property is clearly yours. ”

“We’re not going to leave,” Hans stated emphatically.

“Nope,” Gretel answered.

Sensing Magnus was suggesting something might happen to him, Gretel forced herself to change the subject. “There’s only one floor left. Shall we head to the basement?”

“I have a suggestion for the basement,” Magnus teased.

“Really? Well, let’s go,” Hans said, waving a hand toward the stairway.

At the bottom of the stairs, Hans flipped on the lights and illuminated a space completely different from the dark, scary place they’d first walked into.

Hans had supervised the restoration of the stained and pitted foundation.

He’d ensured it was solid and strong enough to last another hundred years, at least. Now, the area featured white walls, modern lighting and durable flooring.

The only remanent left was the iron cage which had taken Hans the good part of a day to brush away the surface rust and give a protective coating.

“What do you want to do with this, Daddy?” Hans asked, wrapping his fingers around a metal bar.

“I think we need a play room down here. Who knows if we might have a kitty, doggie, or naughty Little who needs a time out?” Magnus suggested.

“You could put Hans in there when he doesn’t eat his dinner,” Gretel suggested, referring to the previous evening when Hans had spent time in the corner with a red bottom for refusing to eat two bites of the spinach casserole.

“I hate that two-bite rule. Who wants to take a second bite of something they already know is horrible?” Hans muttered.

“You enjoyed it in this morning’s omelet,” Magnus suggested.

“That was spinach dip… like you get at Mexican restaurants. It’s not really spinach,” Hans pointed out. “It’s more cheese.”

“It was exactly the same thing. You would have liked it last night but you wouldn’t try it. It was my suggestion to make the omelet this morning. I knew you’d tried those before and would at least take a taste,” she said quickly, before Hans accused Magnus of trying to trick him.

“That’s not fair. You ganged up on me. I’m never going to trust you again,” Hans lashed out.

“I think it’s time for you to get in the cage, Hans,” Magnus said quietly.

“So, I get punished again when people lied to me?”

“I think you need a quiet place to think before you say mean things to Gretel.”

Even though he already regretted speaking harshly to Gretel and making her look so sad, Hans was mad.

With a huff, he slammed open the door and crawled in, closing himself inside.

Dramatically, he announced, “I’ll just never say anything at all.

” Pantomiming locking his lips closed, he tossed the imaginary key away.

Magnus and Gretel sat down next to the cage and continued to design the space. They added a changing station and a big comfortable couch with the latest gaming system and a huge TV. Turning their attention to the space around the cage, Gretel requested walls around one section of the large space.

“When I’m in this… kinky area, I want to be protected. To know that only you and Hans know what I’m feeling and needing,” she explained.

“I’m sure Hans can make that happen easily. I bet he’d prefer that, too. Instead of seeing even small windows looking out into the backyard when he’s restrained, he’d most likely prefer to know that only you and I are there to see his reactions,” Magnus suggested.

Gretel looked over at Hans, who had settled with his back against the bars as close to her and their Daddy as possible. She saw him nod and said, “I think you’re right. That makes more sense.”

She hesitated for a minute, debating how to ask for something. Finally, Gretel just allowed the words to rush from her mouth. “Can we have a spanking bench?”

“Definitely. And an examination table. I need to make sure that you are healthy,” Magnus added.

Gretel saw Hans shiver inside the cage and knew that was a fantasy of his. “We’d need to store supplies, I guess?”

“I could make a false wall over there that hides stuff,” Hans whispered with a wave of his hand.

“That would be incredible, little boy. Could it be big enough to have hooks and shelves?” Magnus asked without reacting to Hans dropping out of his self-enforced silence.

“Yes. That would be easy if Gretel draws it out for me,” Hans suggested with a meaningful look at her.

“I’ll do it tonight when we get home,” she promised.

Magnus gently prodded Hans through the cage bars. “You seem to be better. When you’re upset, your whole body gets rigid. You feel more relaxed now. Are you ready to come out and talk to us?”

“Yes, please,” Hans said quietly. He waited for Magnus to open the unlocked cage and then crawled out. “I’m sorry I was awful. Was that goop really the cheesy stuff in the eggs this morning?”

“It was,” Magnus confirmed.

“And I could have found that out if I’d only followed your two-bite rule?”

“Definitely.”

“I’m an absolute idiot!” Hans exclaimed. “I’m sorry for talking meanly to you.” He dropped his head down as he looked at the floor they all sat on.

Gretel reached over and patted his knee. “It’s okay. Everyone gets to have an off day.” When he smiled at her kindness, she warned, “Just don’t have one of those yucky days constantly.”

“Your bottom will get very sore,” Magnus suggested.

“Are you going to spank me?” Hans asked with horror in his eyes.

“No. I’m going to increase the size of the plug in your bottom two steps tonight,” Magnus told him nonchalantly. To prepare the Littles to take him without pain, their Daddy plugged both Hans and Gretel’s bottoms, increasing the size each week.

“Two steps?” Hans echoed.

“Me, too?” Gretel asked with a quavering voice.

“I’ll let Hans decide that. Does he still think you should be punished for lying to him?” Magnus asked, looking back and forth between the duo.

Gretel bit her bottom lip. How mad was Hans?

After a brief pause, Hans shook his head. “No. She was trying to help me.”

“I think we’ve done enough planning tonight. Let’s go home,” Magnus suggested.

Hans nodded as if he were going to his fate. Gretel crossed her fingers. Her Daddy could work miracles. Could he make this lesson have a positive side as well?