Page 22 of Their Little Helper (The Lactin Brotherhood #22)

SANTOS

Could adults fall asleep in their food like toddlers did in those waste-of-time online videos?

Harley was barely hanging on as he looked down at his nearly finished second helping of spaghetti and his head was bobbing like he was one deep breath away from face-planting in his plate. “I…I like noodles, Papa.”

Before I could respond to that for the third time in the last five minutes, he blinked and looked over at Dally. “I like noodles, Daddy.”

“I’m glad but I think you’d like a bath too.” Dally’s suggestion had merit but it took several long moments for Harley to nod.

“I like baths.” The jaw-cracking yawn that followed his earnest response made him look even littler as he finally wrestled it under control. It seemed to take the last of his energy because he slumped and blinked like he wasn’t sure where he was. “I…I like baths.”

Then we were going to do a quick one.

“Let’s go get you cleaned up and in your jammies then.” Standing up from the table, I started clearing things quickly. “Daddy’s going to get you started. I showed him where the bubble bath is.”

Because he’d shown up after his visit to his parents and had made himself at home wandering around and looking in random cabinets.

“I like bubbles.” Harley frowned as the last bites of his dinner were swept away but there was no way he was still hungry. “I like noodles.”

I wasn’t sure if there was a purpose for that last repeat of the noodles fact but I took it slightly more seriously that time since I’d clearly been missing something the other times. “Would you like me to pack you some noodles for dinner for work…tomorrow?”

When he blinked that time, his brain seemed to engage more. “Yes, please.”

That’d been the issue?

Dally jerked but managed not to laugh out loud. It took him several seconds to get his delight under control, though. “I think that’s a great idea.”

Going forward I was going to try different answers every time he repeated the same sentence.

“Let’s go hop in the tub.” Leading Harley through the house took some effort because snails moved faster than our tired boy, but eventually they seemed to make it because Dally’s random chatter got almost silent.

Almost.

When he was around it was never truly quiet because even when he wasn’t talking he made thinking sounds and wiggled constantly…and somehow that was loud too. It was going to take some getting used to, but I had to admit it wasn’t terrible.

Just distracting.

Work was definitely going to have to be done at the office if Dally was around. Harley wouldn’t be an issue but his Daddy was a handful. So I was prepared for utter chaos as I finished getting the kitchen straightened and headed to the bathroom.

Hmm.

It was too quiet.

I could hear water filling the tub and I could hear Harley saying something but I knew chaos was incoming.

Yep.

“And he said I was a fucker but I can’t be, so I wasn’t mad.” I followed Harley’s delightful story until I realized he was at the bidet again. “Big me wanted to shrug and tell him that but I was my dangerous me and glared at him.”

“I bet you look very nice when you’re dangerous.” Dally seemed to just be waiting while they studied my bidet because there were no sounds of anyone using it as I inched deeper into the room. “Even though it’s hard work.”

“I’m a hard worker.” Nodding, Harley didn’t seem to be in any hurry to move. “Larry said I was mean but fair. I’m glad he thinks I’m mean. I work hard for that too.”

So hard he exhausted himself.

“I’m glad you found something that you really like doing, baby.” Dally straightened and kissed Harley’s cheek. “Let’s go check on the water.”

For some reason, that had him sinking deeper into his little headspace again. “No. Not done.”

He wasn’t done studying the bathroom fixtures?

“Okay.” Dally wasn’t questioning that part, but he did turn his head from where they were crammed in the doorway. “Would you check on the water please?”

“Sure. No problem.” As I moved over to the tub, I raised one eyebrow and just got a frustrating shrug.

Dally had no idea what was going on either.

Well, little Harley was chatty when he wasn’t utterly exhausted, so I knew we’d hear about it sooner or later. For the time being, I told myself we’d have to be patient as I added the bubble bath into the deepening water.

Dally wasn’t the most patient creature that ever walked the earth, but he managed not to poke Harley or rush him. It was actually impressive considering how much he wiggled and how fast his brain processed thoughts.

He managed to make it at least forty-five seconds before he tried again. “Do you have questions, baby?”

That was actually a good one, so we both waited to see what Harley would say.

“No.”

Okay.

The way Dally’s head cocked said he hadn’t been expecting that answer. I wasn’t sure what Harley would say, so I wasn’t as surprised.

I was surprised that it took several inches of water filling the tub for Harley to finally give us more information, though.

“I’m a big boy, Daddy.”

No, he was not.

“What is our big boy thinking about?” Dally asked probably the most generic question he could, but we both held our breath while we waited for Harley.

“Being Daddy.” What was probably going to be an adorably dramatic sigh was interrupted by another yawn. When he got control of it, Harley huffed and pouted, but he moved back into the main space in the bathroom. “I’m a big boy so I can be Daddy whenever I want to.”

If I was translating all that correctly, some guy at work called him a fucker, but Harley wasn’t upset because he wasn’t a fucker or being fucked, but he was a big boy, so he could bottom whenever he wanted.

And the bidet was still causing him to think about it entirely too much, but he was done analyzing it for the time being.

“That’s right.” Dally was barely hanging on to whatever was firing off in his head, but he did an amazing job of keeping it to himself. He looked like he wanted to pop but he behaved himself admirably.

Probably because neither of us knew what an exhausted and curious to bottom Harley would do if we pressed him too much.

And I personally was not going to explain to our tired little that we wouldn’t Papa him until he was a lot more awake at the very least…the fact that I wasn’t sure what else to add to that list was also slightly frustrating and didn’t have me in the mood to Papa anyone.

But our big boy gave us time to process as he walked over to the tub and then raised his hands for us to start taking off his clothes. The height difference between him and his Daddy meant I was in charge of taking off Harley’s T-shirt but Dally handled the rest while trying to behave himself.

Once he was naked, however, his brain tried to start spinning in circles again. “I…I had to tell you that I’m a big boy so you know.”

I was pretty sure it related to the being Daddy topic, so I nodded and did my best to respond since he’d aimed that one at me. “Yes, and thank you for making sure I know what you’re feeling and what you want. I like making you happy.”

That had Harley’s head bobbing as we held his hand and he carefully stepped into the tub. “I had to tell you. Now you know.”

Oh.

Now we knew what?

Dally’s head was bouncing side to side as he listened to the interaction, but he was being remarkably restrained considering what had to be going through his head.

I wasn’t sure how that would change when he started to open his mouth, but realistically, being vague with Harley wasn’t helping us to figure out what he wanted.

“Do you want to be Daddy later this week when we spend grown-up time together?”

Okay, well, as far as being Dally’d went that hadn’t been bad.

It also didn’t seem to upset Harley because he nodded, pleased with something, as he wiggled in the tub and started scooping bubbles closer to his lap. “Yes. I had to tell you I’m a big boy. And I did.”

So he knew he’d needed to ask us to make love to him in that way and now he’d done it?

Dally opened and closed his mouth several times before he sat down beside the tub and looked at me with a now what kind of expression. Since it seemed to be my turn, I tried to ask something more open-ended. “Do you have questions about what will happen?”

That got a thoughtful frown from our little cutie but he perked up when I pulled a stash of sea creatures out from under the sink. “Just a few minutes of playtime. Daddy’s tired.”

When Dally huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, pretending to be offended, it got a giggle from Harley. “Daddy likes ’ttention.”

Did he think I’d meant Dally wanted to be fucked so Harley couldn’t play long?

I wasn’t sure but Dally just collapsed back on the floor and sighed. “I love attention. I need it. I have to have it to function.”

The drama queen could’ve been talking about anything, but Harley’s naughty giggle made what he was thinking clear. “I’m gonna get Daddy ’ttention later.”

As he dunked some fish under the bubbles and laughed as they popped up, he found more things to tell us about. “We need time to play Daddy and Papa, so I have to tell you my schedule .”

That was enunciated so carefully and so randomly it was like English was his third language.

“That’s right.” At least, I thought it was based on the current definition of what it meant to play Daddy and Papa. “We want time to relax and for everyone to get good cuddles.”

And for him not to be exhausted and little.

At least, I thought we needed to make sure of that but I hadn’t been around enough littles to be sure.

It wasn’t something that’d ever come up before.

“Gotta have time for Daddy to get big cuddles too or he’ll be cranky.” Harley’s sage response got a huff from his Daddy but all it took was looks from both of us to have him shrugging.

Yep, we needed to make sure Dally got to come too.

“Daddy needs lots of attention to be happy. Some people do. It said so.” Harley dunked a whale, smiling wider when he bobbed back to the surface and peeked through the bubble waves. “I’m gonna not need that much attention. But it’s okay. I…”

Pausing, Harley looked around and seemed to get distracted searching for one particular fish. Once he found it, Harley’s thoughts came back online. “I get other ’ttention.”

Other attention?

It took me entirely too long to figure that one out, and I didn’t really connect the dots until he sat straighter and poked at his chest as he frowned at Dally. “I’m full, Daddy.”

“We’ll get that fixed as soon as we snuggle in bed, baby.” Dally scooted closer to the tub, scooping up some of the bubbles. “I don’t need soapy milk.”

Harley thought that was hilarious and laughed until another yawn snuck up on him. “No yucky milk.”

“Definitely not.” Dally scrunched up his face and shivered, getting another laugh from Harley. “Yummy milk and cuddles in bed where I can relax.”

And Harley can go to bed afterward.

“I…” Yawning again, Harley seemed to lose track of what he’d been going to say because when it passed, he started poking at his fish again.

I would’ve loved to have let him play for as long as he wanted, but within five minutes he was too tired to yawn and was leaning against the side of the tub. The day was definitely catching up with him because he didn’t even complain when we started scrubbing him.

He pouted slightly when we started draining the water but it was a token at best. “I…”

Was exhausted.

“Yes.” Dally nodded and acted like it was a complete sentence as we started drying him off. “Let’s go potty and then we’ll cuddle.”

Yes, because he was so full milk was beading at his nipples.

Wait.

As Harley eventually turned toward the toilet room, unconcerned about how naked he was, I whispered to Dally. “Didn’t he do that before?”

Shaking his head, Dally whispered back just as quietly. “No. He got distracted with the bidet and bottoming.”

He must’ve spent half the day thinking about that for it still to be top on his mind when he was exhausted and little.

“So we’re coming back around to that later this week when he doesn’t have to work?” Harley’s nights were entirely too late for me to want to have his first time bottoming be after work.

Thankfully, Dally seemed to be on the same page and fought back a yawn. “Yes. I’m not sure how much grown-up Harley is going to want to talk about it, though.”

Good point.

“I think we just need to take what little Harley has given us and make decisions based on that, then explain what’s going to happen. He doesn’t have to tell us anything else unless it’s to safeword.” He’d actually done a good job of getting his thoughts across when he was little and chatty.

Dally nodded but our conversation was cut short as Harley finished and came back out holding his hands in front of him.

We needed to wash them.

Yes, I wasn’t slow on everything, just some things.