Page 51 of Spoil Me, Daddy

“How did she take it?” Aaron brushed his fingers through Zaire’s hair.

“It took a bit of explaining, hence the embarrassment, but she understood by the end. She doesn’t understand why we need it, but she understands wedo.”

“That’s all we need her to. Nobody needs to understand us; just accept us. I’m glad you’ll be able to be yourself when you see her.”

Chuckling, Zaire said, “Are we really talking about my mother when we are naked on your bed and after doing what we did?”

Aaron laughed, then sobered. “Our.”

“What?”

“Ourbed.” Zaire lifted his head to look at Aaron, a question in his eyes. “I’d like you to move in if you want to.”

A brilliant smile crossed his face, and he moved, straddling Aaron and resting his hands either side of his head. “Really, Daddy? Really?”

The child-like excitement was contagious, and Aaron grinned as he slid his hands up Zaire’s back. “Really. Truly. Honestly.”

“Yes, please, Daddy.” Zaire pressed kisses all over his face. “Yes, yes, yes!”

“I’ll take it as a yes, shall I?” Aaron laughed.

“Hell, yes!”

Aaron stilled Zaire’s movements and locked gazes. “I love you, sweet boy.”

“I love you, Daddy.”

Zaire

Zaire thought back to the conversation he’d had with his mother. It had been one of the most embarrassing moments of Zaire’s life, but it needed to happen. His mother had been such an important person in Zaire’s life, and now Zaire was embracing both sides of himself, he wanted to ensure he could do so in his mother’s company, too.

After the initial explanation and question session about what their kind of relationship was, his mother had agreed, although she didn’t understand it, she would never turn him away from it. She made him laugh throughout the weekend with small questions here and there, but she’d hit the nail on the head with one of them.

“Do you think the need to be…free from responsibility has come about because of what happened with your dad?”

Zaire thought about her words and realised the truth to them. “Yes. Whenever my thoughts head in the direction of what happened and what he did, I find myself getting stressed and wanting to hide away from everything. Being a boy helps me to let go of everything for a short time and forget what happened. It allows my brain a chance to recover, rest and rejuvenate, so I can think like a grown-up again.”

“I’m so sorry for everything that happened with him. I tried to shield you from it as best as I could. But when he got worse, I did the only thing I knew would work.”

Zaire and his mother had a complete heart to heart, and everything was finally settled. He felt much better about the situation, and it was made even better by the arrival of Car. His brother, whom he hadn’t seen in around a year, had turned up out of the blue—at least to Zaire, his mother had known—and they’d had a fantastic weekend of reconnecting.

He would have loved to have involved Zena, but he didn’t think she would ever forgive him for what she saw as being his fault—breaking up their parents. He may try reconnecting at some point but not right now.

Next weekend, he was taking Aaron to see his mother, and he was excited about it.

Almost as excited as he had been when Aaron had announced he could start at the school again if he wanted to. He’d jumped at the chance as soon as Aaron had explained the rules behind it. Uma had been happy to see him, and Zaire happy to be back with the children again.

Now, he lived as a whole person rather than hiding part of him away. Or at least he was trying. He dressed how he wanted, although he had realised skirts were not the best thing to wear when he would be up and down climbing frames and playing with the kids. He stuck to trousers from then on. He’d even begun wearing natural makeup. There had been some upset about what he wore, to begin with, and some parents had made complaints, but Aaron had arranged a parent’s evening so it could be addressed. In his usual straightforward way, he had explained, in no uncertain terms, what was expected of the parents of the school. Questions were asked and answered, and from that moment, no issues were raised.

Occasionally, his old fears came to the forefront when they were going somewhere new, but Aaron was always there with him in that situation. He never left Zaire to face it alone.

Zaire would never be able to tell Aaron how much he appreciated everything Aaron had done for him. He had literally changed Zaire’s life for the better in every perceivable way.

Aaron loved him, and he loved Aaron. What more could he ask for?

****