Page 24

NICO

Late Summer

“Babbo, do you think we’ll have enough food for the picnic?”

The food wasn’t outside yet, but all the food stations were already set up on the back porch. The overhead fans kept most of the flies away, and Owen had suggested hanging bags of water from the roof to handle the rest. I had no idea if it would work, but it was worth a try since there was still a little bit of time before everyone got here. I was worried that between Rory, Jakob, and Anders, plus all of their Daddies and us, we’d run short.

“Sweet Boy, you ordered enough food to feed an army and their enemy. There’s enough,” Babbo reassured me as he came up behind me and laid his hands on my shoulders.

“I know, but I just want it to be perfect.

“Even if it’s not, no one will notice,” Babbo reassured me.

“You’re right. And I know she won’t see it until next week, but do you think Nonna will like the new garden setup too?”

“Yes,” Babbo added, “everyone will love.”

Babbo hadn’t been joking about stealing Nonna from me. Since we’d officially started dating, they’d become thick as thieves, and I might’ve been replaced as her favorite grandson. It was hard to be jealous because it was obvious how much they liked each other. Occasionally, he’d pop over to her assisted living facility if he was in the neighborhood to share lunch or take her out.

They’d spent hours and hours pouring over his new garden plans that they put in for this summer, spending a lot of time digging up his perennials and rearranging them around the yard. He did the digging and she supervised like she used to do with PopPop. The far back section had been fully enclosed. All they’d say is that it was a secret garden. They’d been giggling about it for weeks and had refused to tell me anything more about it. Today would be the first time I saw it, and I hoped I got to play in there too.

When I continued to fuss with the food, Babbo asked, “Why are you worried? Even if it’s the worst get-together ever, the boys are still going to love it, and they’re still gonna love you.”

“I wish you’d let me see what’s behind the new fence.” The fence around the secret garden area was closer to seven feet with cutouts along the top, so I couldn’t even see over the top for a sneaky peek. Babbo promised I would love it, and I was trying to trust him.

“If wishes were horses, blah blah blah.”

“After all that time with Nonna, you’re even starting to talk like an old man.”

“You’re just jealous ’cause she’s my best girl.” Babbo slipped his hands around my waist and pulled me back against his tightly muscled body. “But you’re always gonna be my best boy.”

I leaned back against his warmth and sighed. I didn’t know any other men who would put up with my nonsense and my weird commitment-phobic reasons that even I didn’t understand. He’d embraced my family like they were his own and had even taken over some of Nonna’s care. Shockingly, Copy and Paste had become slightly more tolerable. But only slightly.

“Babbo, you know I love you, right?”

“I know, baby, and I love you too.”

“But don’t get sappy about it.”

“Mr. Bossy Pants is angling for a spanking if he keeps talking like that.”

“You don’t have time.”

“Oh, is that a fact? We can make time.” I pulled away from Babbo and turned around so he’d be sure to see me clearly when I stuck my tongue out at him. “And we’re done here.”

Babbo closed the space I’d made between us, grabbed my hand, and yanked me forward. I landed against him again, but this time, he didn’t give me a hug but a sharp smack on my butt instead. “If a spanking is what you want, then I’m happy to provide.”

“You can’t with company coming.” Without a response, Babbo turned on his heel and headed directly back into the house with me in fake-reluctant tow. He dragged me through the kitchen, down the small hallway, and into the living room. Once there, he headed directly to the couch and pulled me across his lap. I squirmed but didn’t try to get away. I’m not sure how, but he managed to undo the straps of my overalls.

“Sassing me wasn’t needed. You could’ve just said you wanted one.” Without delay, he yanked my overalls down and pushed my Under-Roos over my butt. My bottom was still a little sore from this morning’s round and he didn’t give any warming swats. Instead, he jumped into the main event and rained smacks down on me. It wasn’t long before my entire backside went from smarting to stinging to aching. The more achy my butt, the more centered I was, and the more I dropped into little space. He remained silent and let me float without interruption or distraction.

When my tears streamed freely, Babbo switched from swats and rubbed circles on my overheated flesh instead. Now that I was firmly in an altered space, I weaved and bobbed through the centered, muscle-heavy relaxation that always happened from a spanking. I loved it. Babbo was here, and he’d make sure I was protected and taken care of. The only thing I had to worry about was following him with only a smidgen, barely a dash, of snarkiness.

Babbo moved me so I was upright in his lap. With gentle hands, he wiped away my tears. My magenta overalls fell around my waist and bunched around me.

“Feel better now, sunshine?”

I nodded enthusiastically and said, “I do, Babbo. It’s better. My brain moved so fast that I got dizzy. Gonna think now.” Babbo straightened my long sleeve shirt that actually kept me warm and the T-shirt I wore over it because it was pretty. Once I was all tucked in properly, he buttoned me up and redid my clasps.

“Can you help me finish setting up?” Babbo playfully shoved me off his lap onto the couch. The pain when my bum hit the sofa made me groan, but it hurt so good. The dull ache was a constant reminder that he loved me unconditionally, even when I wasn’t being very lovable or nice. It took me a minute, but I knew he did. And I loved him too.

“I can help!” I scrambled off the couch and headed to the kitchen. Each step was a sharp reminder of what Babbo and I had done this morning and just now. I moved a little faster to make it hurt a little more. My kitchen job was to stock the silverware organizer. I made sure to keep the spoons, forks, and knives in their separate cubbies and put the napkins on the other side. When I was finished, Babbo asked me to make the teeny-tiny tea sandwiches look pretty on one platter with all the chopped veggies on the other. I had just finished placing my last cucumber when the doorbell rang.

“Babbo!” I hollered. “Everybody’s here!”

“Well, let them in,” Babbo yelled back.

I threw the door open, and Jakob burst through it. He wrapped his arms around me for a giant bear hug before stepping back and doing a happy dance of excitement. Jakob’s happiness was always infectious. I joined in his happy dance, and we shook our butts all the way into the kitchen. Reed followed behind us chuckling at our silliness while admonishing Jakob to be careful not to run into the kitchen island. Jakob was too busy shaking his butt to notice, so his Papa had to soothe his hip where he hurt himself on the island.

“Love, you’ve got to be careful, or you’re gonna hurt yourself. And if you hurt yourself, you won’t be able to play.”

“Papa, I’m not gonna hurt myself that bad.”

“I’m a doctor. I know things, and you would be amazed at how people can hurt themselves at home.” Then he tapped Jakob on the nose and told him to behave before walking around the kitchen to shake Levi’s hand.

“Good to see you, man. Help yourself to something to drink. There’s beer and sangria in the fridge. The food is ready to be grilled. We just have to wait for everyone to get here,” Babbo said.

“Do you know if Anders is coming?” Reed asked. When we heard the name of our friend, Jakob and I looked up instantly.

Babbo glanced at us before he answered, “He texted me this morning and said he didn’t think so.”

“No Anders?”

“Sorry, sunshine. He said there was an emergency and he wouldn’t make it.”

“It’s probably his meanie head boyfriend,” Jakob groused.

“Yeah, we hate him,” I added.

“Boys, it’s not nice to hate anyone,” Reed interjected. “But we can make an exception for Anders’s boyfriend. Fuck that guy.”

“Yes, but, boys, don’t say anything to Anders because he still loves him even if none of us understands why,” Babbo cautioned.

Jakob and I weren’t happy that our Daddies wouldn’t let us hate on Anders’s yucky boyfriend, but we were momentarily distracted from that when the door burst open half a second after the doorbell rang.

“I’m heeeeeeeere,” Rory announced as he rushed through the door. Behind him was a much more sedate Gabe, who was bogged down with boxes wrapped in paper.

“Whatcha got, Uncle Gabe?”

“Don’t you worry about it, Mr. Nosy.” Gabe patted Jakob on the head after he set the boxes on the table. Jakob looked to his Papa for help, but Reed only shrugged at him. He turned to Rory and tried a different tactic. “You know, Rory?”

Rory shook his head sadly and said, “Daddy won’t tell me.”

“Our Daddies are so mean.”

“I’m gonna be sad all day.”

It didn’t have the desired effect because all Uncle Gabe did was roll his eyes.

“Well, if you’re going to be sad all day, I guess you’re not going to want to see the surprise inside the boxes.” All three of us perked up at that announcement.

“I like surprises,” I squealed. Jakob and Rory immediately joined in.

“Well, you boys are gonna have to wait until Owen gets here, and then we can all see the surprises together.” We groaned in unison, but those meanies laughed at us.

The Daddies talked in the kitchen over beers while the boys and I went into the living room with coloring books and crayons in hand. We waited very patiently for Owen and Barrett to arrive, even though it was a long, long time. It took forever, and we very much wanted to see what was in the boxes with brown paper wrapped around them.

A noise outside caught Rory’s attention, and he raced to the window and shoved the curtains out of the way.

“They’re here,” he shouted back at us. Jakob and I jumped up from the couch and raced to the front door to throw it open and welcome them inside. Like the other boys and me, Owen was dressed in his play clothes. His romper was covered in rainbow fish and he clutched a stuffie in his hand.

“I’m sorry we’re late,” Barrett said as they came through the door, “I got caught on something.”

“You hurt?” Jakob asked.

“What? No, sorry. I got stuck on a phone call, but we’re here now, and that’s all that matters,” Barrett said as he followed the crowd farther into the house.

“Hi, Owen.” Jakob gently took his hand and led him inside once his Daddy let go of him. We also took turns giving him a hug. We used gentle hands with him. He never talked much, so we worried we would hurt him and he wouldn’t be able to tell us if we weren’t careful. When he was in big space, he said it wasn’t necessary, but we thought it was, so we ignored him.

“Everybody is here,” Babbo said as he joined us by the front door.

Rory’s whipped his head around, “No Anders. So we gotta wait.”

Uncle Gabe followed Babbo to the front door and stepped out from behind him. He put an arm around Rory’s shoulders, snuggled him close, and said, “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but Anders isn’t gonna make it. He got stuck at work.”

Roy stomped his foot and his hands made fists. “He’s fibbing. He only says that when his poopyhead boyfriend has done something.”

“Anders may not be…how do I say it…he may not be completely honest about what is going on, but he is entitled to his privacy. And”—Gabe paused when he saw Rory’s irate face—“he doesn’t have to justify who he dates to anyone. Not even you.”

“Can we open the packages now?” I asked. Hopefully, Rory wouldn’t get in trouble with his Daddy, but he was only worried about Anders. I thought Uncle Gabe was worried too. They both looked sad.

“Barrett? Gabe? What do you think? Should we let them open the packages?” Babbo asked the other Daddies. They pretended to think about it before they said yes, and us boys fell on the packages lined up on the table. It was a mess in the kitchen as we ripped apart craft paper to find the treasures.

“Papa, you see it?” Jakob exclaimed.

“I do, love. It looks pretty cool.”

I finished opening my box and was just as excited to see the remote control bulldozer in there. “Can we play with them right now?” Off to my side, Rory ooh’d and aah’d over the digger he pulled out of the box. I was giddy with excitement and had a hard time holding it all in.

“Well, that’s going to be the second surprise. Are you ready to see the secret part of the garden?” Babbo asked.

I nodded eagerly. Babbo picked up the box and told me to follow him into the backyard. The other Daddies did the same and followed us out there. He’d planted sunflowers and daisies along the new wooden fence. There was an explosion of color that led to the closed gate. Babbo stopped at the door, turned to me, and said, “All right, open the gate.”

I flipped the latch, pushed the door open, and stepped to the other side. I didn’t make it more than a foot or two inside before I stopped. It was the prettiest, most wonderful thing I had ever seen. The edges were different kinds of sunflowers in all sorts of shades of yellows, reds, and oranges. The fence had been painted too, and Babbo had recreated my childhood summers out on the peninsula. My grandparents’ old house, along with what I remembered about PopPop’s kitchen garden was on there. On another part of the fence was the beach, where seals relaxed on rocky outcroppings with orcas and dolphins in the distance. On another side of the fence, a garden was painted with more sunflowers and roses. It was the prettiest place I’d ever seen, but that wasn’t even the best part.

The bestest part was smack in the center. Built-up sideboards created a place to sit, and in the middle was a big-people-sized digger hole filled with sand. It was big enough for all of us to bury and dig things out with our new toys. In the far corner of the enclosure, separated from the grassy area, was a giant pile of packed dirt that was in desperate need of moving from one side of the fenced-in area to the other.

I tried to talk, but I couldn’t find the words. I was shocked that Babbo took the time to create something so perfect for me. Now I knew what all those whispered conversations with Nonna were about every time we visited. Babbo dropped the box he carried and stood behind me. With his hands on my shoulders, he spoke in my ear, “Do you like it?”

“I love it. Thank you. I’m so happy.

“Now that you’ve agreed to another installment, I needed to do something to ensure I could keep you here.”

“You keep me here ’cause I love you.”

“I love you too, Sweet Boy.”

* * *

Thank you for reading an early copy of Nico and Levi’s Happily Ever After. I hope you enjoyed reading their story as much as I enjoyed writing it.