Chapter 25

Tyson

Dessie's only focus was cookies and the cartoon movie on the television, but I was taking in a lot more all at once. The changing table in the corner, the toys, the stuffed animals…and how the Daddy in charge of the playroom was staring at me.

Uncle Jarrett looked very skeptical.

He was an alpha who didn't seem to appreciate change.

"He's usually not this little." Somehow, he thought repeating that would be helpful and it made the little hiding behind him giggle.

Clearly, someone wasn't worried about Dessie.

Would they be happier if Dessie had immediately started throwing crayons?

That question should've been easier to answer, but since it wasn't, I decided a bit more about our background might be necessary.

"The first time he let me see his little side he didn't sink this deep, but after that, he's usually this level at least half the time, maybe more. I honestly haven't kept track." Austin hadn't said there would be a quiz. "He's this little when he's had a long day at work or when he's very ready for lots of attention."

Which happened a lot.

That had the other Daddy's lips finally turning up and he nodded. "That I can believe."

So we all knew that my cutie was an attention whore?

That was good to know.

"I'm Tyson." Sticking out my hand, I shook Jarrett's and gave the other alpha standing off to the side a nod as well. "It's probably obvious, but I'm Dessie's Daddy and we're dating."

I didn't see any need to point out that I was going to keep him. I wasn't sure how well that would go over given their current feelings on the topic of changes for Dessie.

"Good to meet you." Jarrett nodded, glancing between me and where Dessie was digging into the crayons like he was searching for gold. "I'm glad he's finally got a Daddy in his life. He seems happier."

That was good to know.

"Thanks." Was I supposed to take credit for that? It seemed stupid but no one else questioned how it'd come out. "I think we're doing great so far. The learning curve was steep, though."

I wasn't going to pretend to be an ace Daddy who had a dozen relationships under his belt, but I wasn't going to downplay my success. "He's good about explaining what he wants and needs, and I think I've been handling it all well."

Jarrett chuckled. "Dessie is a chatterbox when he gets going."

Oh yes.

"And he was eager to come in and play." Looking around, I shrugged. "I was supposed to get an introduction of some sort, but you had cookies and our plans went out the window."

Both Daddies were barely holding back laughter, but it was the new guy who came over leading a shyly smiling little by the hand. I knew who he was just from my thorough examination of Austin's life, but I pretended not to as the other Daddy extended his hand. "Ansel. Good to meet you."

He was one of Austin's lawyers, but we hadn't done business before, so I just returned the greeting and made sure to keep an eye on Dessie. I'd heard more than one story about how coloring could be dangerous and I wasn't going to risk anyone's safety.

I wasn't sure what the small talk in the playroom should look like, but as introductions died down, Ansel stepped closer to the coloring table. "Charlie's a bit shy. We're just going to sit down and play."

Charlie had a right to be uneasy around strangers.

"That sounds like fun." As Ansel sat down and I did my best to look relaxed, Charlie moved to his lap and happily settled into what was clearly his spot. "I'm new to him."

And the subject of lots of curious stares…not that the Daddies had decided to introduce me yet.

But it seemed I'd passed muster with my audience because seeing Dessie so cheerful eased a lot of their worries. I considered the smiles I got as high praise from the other littles and slowly moved around the room to be closer to Dessie.

He didn't need to be tucked in my lap to feel safe, but as I sat down behind him, he flopped back and crashed into my lap, sending giggles around the room. "Timber."

I looked down at him and frowned. "You're a monkey, not a tree."

He thought I was hilarious and made monkey sounds around his binkie, which had a cascading effect on the rest of the littles. Once they all stopped making monkey noises, Dessie rolled over and climbed on my lap, giving me a wonderfully manipulative smile. "Color monkey?"

"Can I color with my monkey?" It'd seemed simple enough, but I wanted to make sure. When he nodded, I looked around him and at the table. "You have to show me how to do it."

Dessie looked at me like he wasn't sure if I was fucking with him or not and finally just sighed. "No good boys."

Yep, I'd been fucking with him.

"I don't know what you mean." Glaring again, I ignored his giggles. "I'm still a good boy."

Dessie shook his head and climbed off my lap, tugging me to get closer to the table. "No."

Rolling my eyes, I followed his directions and got in position to color. "Yes. I just asked for help. Good boys ask for help."

We were back to being the spotlight entertainment for the playroom, but I wasn't going to change how I acted with Dessie just because we were under a microscope—no matter how much I wanted to. I was his Daddy and he had to see that I liked bringing him to hang out with his friends.

Or both he and Austin would worry.

"No." Dessie seemed convinced that I'd lost good boy status, but I wasn't going to agree with his assessment.

"Yes. I said I was a good boy." I shrugged as he tried to glare at me. "That means I'm a good boy. That's how it works."

His barely restrained giggles said he remembered that conversation, but it took him a second before he could control himself enough to sigh. "Works."

"Yep." Ha. I'd won. "But if you're a cute monkey and tell me I'm a good boy, I'll let you pick out my picture."

Oh, he liked that.

I got pats on the cheek and he even took his binkie out for long enough to kiss my cheek and give me a big smile. "Good boy, Daddy."

I wasn't sure if it was about the coloring in general or if it was an I get to control Daddy thing, but it had him wiggling and diving into the coloring pages as soon as he could shove his binkie back in his mouth. I ignored the stares until I was coloring a train that seemed like it was supposed to be blue since that was the color he'd given me.

Hoping that they'd go back to finding something else interesting wasn't working, so once Dessie was focused on his picture, I looked up and glanced between the nosy Daddies. "Well?"

That was all it took.

Jarrett glanced between us and frowned again. "He's different with you."

Somehow I'd found another caretaker worrier.

Great. Well, at least I could see how he'd gotten put in charge of the playroom.

"I'm fine. He's fine." That clearly wasn't enough, so I pulled out the big guns. "Austin approves and is stalking both of us on a daily basis."

That shut both of them up and had them slowly nodding.

I wasn't stupid enough to think it was my reassurance that made things better. Austin's approval and possibly the implied threat I'd tattle on them was a much better way to work toward peace.

Mostly.

Charlie's Daddy leaned down and whispered softly in his ear and whatever he said had the little giggling. He was doing his best not to look at me, so I knew it was about me, but that wasn't unexpected.

After a few seconds, Charlie leaned back in his Daddy's arms and did his best to whisper his reply. But unfortunately for them, Charlie's lips were facing me. "He's one of Austin's special friends, Daddy."

Ansel, the nosy Daddy, seemed to know what that meant. "Okay."

Charlie got a kiss and snuggled back against his Daddy, but he wasn't quite as little as he had been before. I didn't think that was because of his Daddy's question but more out of his own curiosity. As one of the men Austin trusted to do background checks, and the cutest little hacker ever, he'd be the closest to knowing any of my secrets.

Nothing in his expression said he knew what the big one was, though.

However, it was clearly making him think too hard.

That seemed to be a cardinal sin in the world of littles, but I wasn't sure how to handle it. On one hand, Austin trusted him implicitly, but on the other, he had a Daddy he might not feel comfortable keeping a secret from.

As I went through everything I knew about both of them, mentally reviewing my files and sorting out important bits, the sound of someone coughing by the playroom stuck out in my head. I shoved the rest of what I'd been working on to the back of my mind as they made another grating, whiny breath and Dessie went completely still.

That fucker.

Dessie's hand clenched around his crayon, nearly snapping it in two, before he dropped it on the table and turned to bury his head against my chest.

Fuck it all.

"Go get Austin, please." My voice was calm but Charlie's eyes widened as the rest of the room went still.

He knew something.

"Austin!" The little who'd barely talked at all had the range of a police siren because I could hear Austin start cursing from downstairs and it seemed like all hell had broken loose.

"Thank you." Glad I hadn't needed to be the one to do it—because I wasn't sure Daddies should shriek—I gave Charlie a smile as Gideon stood and lost all his littleness in a single second. "Dessie's going to be fine but we're going to clear something up very quickly."

Heels clacked on the staircase but before Austin reached the top, I heard him suck in a breath. "You fucker."

Charlie gasped as his Daddy hugged him tight, looking just a bit pissed he didn't know what was going on. The little seemed to have realized Austin was already saving the day, so I smiled at him again as littles started to scatter and pick a Daddy to cuddle with. "We'll help Austin hide his body."

That actually got a laugh from the painfully shy little and he nodded as he finally spoke quietly. "Uncle Jarrett has lots of land. He said we could use it if we need to."

Both Daddies' eyes went wide, but Gideon started to chuckle, which had the tension in the room going even lower. Several other littles smiled and one that was quickly gaining more confidence scooted closer to cuddle against Dessie and me.

"We'll keep that in mind then." If there was enough left to bury.

"Take him to my office and watch him." Austin's angry tone had us going quiet so we could listen to what was happening.

"No phone. No touching anything. If he moves, I'll ruin him." Austin said something else in a lower voice—probably another threat that wasn't fit for little ears—before the sound of him coming up the stairs could be heard again.

Dessie must've realized what was happening because his death grip on me eased and he let out a breath as he wiggled his hand just enough that he could touch his friend. "I didn't throw the crayon, Daddy."

"You were very good and I'm so proud of you." I gave Dessie's head a kiss as Austin charged into the room.

"Why am I going to kill him?" Frowning, Austin looked ready for murder but he also looked like he was going to a fantasy ball since he was wearing a beautiful gown with sheer wings on his back. "I know I need to kill him, but I need more details to figure out how to do it."

"The…he…" Charlie swallowed as Austin rushed over to sit by his charge, carefully arranging his skirt and wings so he could cuddle Charlie. "The mean one was here, and he…he…"

It was getting to be too much for Charlie, so it seemed like it was my turn to take over as I wrapped my arms around both the littles who were snuggling against me. "Dessie's previous…well…you know. He was pacing by the playroom and making that godawful sound he does when he's being slimy."

It truly was an obnoxious sound he even did when he was giving interviews, but now I was just glad it'd helped me quickly identify him. "There was no reason for him to be up here. It was just to trigger Dessie."

There weren't any other activities happening on the second floor at the moment and he'd been walking very slowly for someone who was going nowhere.

My little monkey didn't let go, but he did nod and made sure Austin knew he was functional. "Yes, that."

Austin's glare was icy but his voice was calmer than I'd expected. "Then we're going to make sure he leaves and can't come back. He was warned to stay away from you, but clearly he thinks he's too special for the rules."

There were other darker options but I let them go unsaid. "Thank you. If you need help, please feel free to contact my assistant. She has a file and won't be surprised by your call."

I'd warned her it might be needed at a random point in off hours, so she wouldn't be shocked.

Austin nodded, wearing an approving look. "Thank you. I'll remember that."

"It's not a problem." Our polite discourse on how Austin was going to ruin the asshole got a giggle from Dessie, and he finally got to the point where he was snuggling and not trying to dig his way into me.

But I kept a tight hold on him while his breathing went back to normal and it didn't seem like the crayons were at risk any longer. "Thank you, Daddy."

"Of course, monkey. Just remember, Charlie promised us that we could use Uncle Jarrett's land to bury his body, so we've got options." I was just teasing Dessie to get another giggle out of him but Austin had the strangest reaction.

He sighed.

The pride-filled, almost romantic tone was confusing until he leaned over and kissed Charlie's head. "I'm so proud of you."

Charlie didn't seem to know what to say but he clearly liked making Austin happy. He blushed and leaned over to give Austin a hug. "I was very brave."

"You were." Austin's beaming smile was completely inappropriate for the conversation, but Charlie wasn't my child or my sub, so I didn't worry about it too much. "I'm very proud of you."

Charlie was already an internationally renowned hacker who was good enough that most people had no idea who he was, so I wasn't sure Austin needed to be encouraging his bloodthirstiness.

"Can I safely assume that his membership will be revoked?" My question got a firm nod from Austin and shifted the conversation again. "Wonderful. I think you'll find that he's been stopping by a lot."

It would explain the crayon problems.

Dessie's nod said that was correct, but he was too busy snuggling with me and his friend to give me words.

Austin's glare turned into a frown. "I'm sorry I didn't see what he was doing."

Dessie had probably hoped that ignoring him would make him go away, but I'd found that generally didn't work with assholes.

He wasn't frustrated with Austin, though. He waved his hand and lifted his head up enough to give Austin what I thought was a smile, even though he was facing the wrong way for me to see.

Whatever Dessie did made Austin happy because the wound-up omega let out a deep breath and gave him a sparkling smile. "You were brave too."

"He was." Rubbing Dessie's back as he snuggled against me again, I kissed his head as his friend gave him cuddles too. "He didn't throw anything and he made sure I knew there was a problem."

Dessie let out a slightly shaky breath but there was a happy undertone to it. "I came right to you, Daddy."

"That's right, and then we got the big boss, and he's scary." I was just trying to make Dessie feel better, but Austin sat straighter and nodded like the regal fairy princess he seemed to be channeling.

Dessie's friend giggled, finally finding all of the insanity funny, and that set Dessie off. His happy sound was all it took to get the rest of the Daddies and littles in the room to push back their own worries and start to relax too.

Unfortunately, that gave Gideon time to start thinking about what had happened. "Do I want to know how you could identify Dessie's ex by the sound of his cough?"

Cops, ex or active, were a pain in the ass.