Chapter Eleven

Forrest

It was amazing how brave having the best date ever could make me. Just that one night, that one kiss was enough to make me feel like I could say anything to Cliff, and that he'd want to hear it. So, when we were chatting one night over FaceTime—Nick resting his head on my chin, looking so freaking adorable I couldn't stand it—I just asked. I didn't think twice.

I invited Cliff to the little crafting day at Chained the coming Saturday. I'd initially signed up to go alone, but it wouldn't take much to add a person to the invitation. At least, I didn't think it would. It wasn't like he would be making all the crafts. He'd be there as my daddy.

Fine, not as my actual daddy but in that role for the day. It was far too soon for it to be more than that.

When he agreed to come, I was on top of the world. All that was left was to wait until Saturday. I stank at waiting, and each day dragged out longer and longer. At least I wasn't hiding from him at work anymore. That made the days better, even if I usually only saw him in passing.

I had my bag packed and ready to go when he knocked on my door.

I opened the door for him. "Come in!" I skipped the hug I really wanted, instead shutting the door as soon as he stepped inside, not wanting Nick to go wandering down the hall. He hadn't attempted that yet, but I'd heard of other people having that problem in the building, and I didn't want to deal with it, especially not when I was about to go out with a sexy daddy.

Nick ran right up to Cliff and sat on his foot.

"I think he likes you." It wasn't typical behavior, but it wasn't aggressive, so I assumed it was a form of affection. At least he didn't bat me away from Cliff or vice versa.

"Well, that works out," Cliff said, squatting down and giving Nick some pets. "Because I like him too."

"Did you want to grab something to eat before we leave? We don't have time for a full sit-down, but it's probably better to have something in your belly before all the sugar I'm sure Ms. Lily has planned for this afternoon."

"How did you know I hadn't eaten?" I hadn't, but it was late enough in the day, I normally would've.

"Because you're too excited, silly boy. You're bouncing on the balls of your feet."

He was right. I was.

"I could make us a sandwich if that's what you'd prefer," I offered. We really didn't have much time, so I made a couple of sandwiches, we ate them, and then we were on our way. I wasn't sure if Cliff had eaten before we left or not, but he ate the sandwich like it was the most delicious food he'd ever eaten. It wasn't. It was turkey with mayo and lettuce on sandwich bread, what boring aspired to be.

As we drove there, I kicked myself for not booking a little room for changing, but then realized that might be pushing it for a first date. He wasn't my daddy, and we had kissed, nothing more. Going from there to helping me get dressed was a huge jump. If he asked, I'd have been all about it though. There was something about him I connected to so easily.

After we checked in, I ducked into the communal changing room and put on my Nice List onesie with a pair of fuzzy red pajama pants that had a white cuff at the bottom. They were designed to look Santa-esque. I wasn't sure I pulled that off, but paired with my reindeer slippers and Santa hat, I thought I was looking pretty darn cute.

When I stepped outside to find Cliff waiting, there was no mistaking that he thought so too.

"Look at you! So festive. I love the hat." His smile was so genuine I felt even more adorable than I had moments earlier.

"I like hats," I admitted but didn't quite meet his eyes. I didn't know why it was embarrassing. Lots of littles wore hats. Maybe they didn't own as many as I had, but still, hats weren't unusual.

He held out his hand for me, and I took it, happy for his touch. "Let's go see what we can find to make today."

We worked our way around to where they had the crafts set up. It wasn't in the little room, like I had expected. They had turned one of the dining spaces into a huge craft area with multiple stations for making various Christmas-themed projects as well as a hot-cocoa-and-cookie station. And in the corner stood a huge Christmas tree decorated in the funnest decorations I'd ever seen. Each and every one of them related to a cartoon or movie or book a little might like. It was perfect.

Checking in only took a minute, and we were given a North Pole Crafting Elf Passport. Each craft we did would get me a sticker. I had planned to relax and hit up a station or two with Cliff and see where it went from there, but now that there were stickers to be earned, I was all in.

"We're getting all the stickers, right, Dad—I mean, Cliff."

"Daddy is fine and yes, yes we are."

That was a conversation we'd need to have later, but for now, I was taking him at his word. Using the name Daddy in a club wasn't the same as having it be his name when we were in private. It was an honorific to many. That wasn't how I usually saw it, but I was taking his permission as the gift that it was. A little craft day required a daddy.

We started at the table closest to the Christmas tree because it had the fewest people. It was a station to make a little fence for a reindeer pen, complete with a tiny reindeer figurine. It mostly involved gluing, painting, and adding a bit of glitter, but in a lot of ways, it felt like playing with blocks, which made it extra fun for me. My daddy sat back, letting me decide how much help I wanted—or didn't want—and when I gave him an indication, he jumped right in.

I had to admit, it was pretty cute when it was done. Not a craft I'd normally have picked out for myself, but it got me a Rudolph sticker, and that was the goal.

We went from table to table, making a snow globe at one, Christmas tree ornaments out of old Christmas cards at another, stained glass window decorations at yet another. We moved from station to station until my passport was filled up with everything except for the final delicious stop.

"We did good," I said, holding up the passport.

"Yes, we did, sweet boy. And you know what that means?"

"We need to get our final sticker!" Which was for the cocoa-and-cookie station.

"Do you like marshmallows in your cocoa?"

"And whipped cream?" And sprinkles, but I'd spring that on him when we were there.

His head tilted as if to say that might not be the wisest combination.

"It's a special day." It was not only a really cool event, but it was the first time Daddy and I went to Chained together. It required sprinkles and maybe a candy cane stir stick.

"That it is." He placed his hand gently on the small of my back, and we walked up to the counter to get our cocoa. Well, Daddy made it, but I told them which sprinkles and marshmallows I liked. They had some shaped like little Christmas trees, so, of course, those were the ones I picked. And last second, I snatched two candy canes. It was a Christmas party, after all.

Daddy carried the cocoa to the table and then went to grab some cookies. They were all sugar cookies with frosting, and the only decision to make was how they were decorated. He grabbed a Christmas tree, a Rudolph, and a snowman and said I could have whichever one I wanted—or if I wanted some of each, that was fine too.

I nibbled slowly on my cookie, not wanting the day to be over.

"Is the cookie not good?"

"No, it's good...it's just, this is our last stop." And then our date was over. I left off that part.

"And what do you think happens when we get our last sticker?" he asked.

"We go home." I didn't hide my disappointment.

"We could go home…or we could go hang out in the little room and build some blocks. I know a little boy who really likes blocks."

"Did you see my tower that day?" I had wondered before, but this had me thinking about it again. He'd been so close to the little room when I saw him that day, it wouldn't have been a surprise.

"I did, but I didn't want you to be embarrassed by me seeing you. It has to be hard to come here by yourself as a little in a new city."

"I used to belong to their sister club, Collared, but...yeah, that was a day. I'm glad you were there that night, even if I made things weird."

"I wouldn't call it weird exactly and I'm glad I was there, too."

I popped the last of my cookie into my mouth and hadn't even chewed it up when I said, "Let's build blocks!"

"First, we need our sticker."

He was such a great daddy. Maybe, one day, he could be mine.