14. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Hermie

We entered the club, and Bare steered us to the registration table to check in. I held his hand as I scanned the large room. Everything looked like a normal party with pink and purple balloons and stuffed unicorns of various sizes appearing as gatekeepers in a corner of the room where a banner hung that read “Happy Birthday Gracie!” What had I expected it to look like? A dungeon?

People were dressed in fancy clothes, while others were dressed casually, like me. I’d texted Gracie earlier because I had no idea.

What should I wear to the party tonight? I don’t have any fancy clothes. Hermie

She responded a minute later with a picture of herself in a red babydoll-style dress. Her hair was up in pigtails, and she was wearing white socks that went over her knees with a pair of red patent-leather shoes. She looked very cute.

I’m wearing this because I’m feeling little. Daddy hasn’t seen my outfit yet. Just wear jeans and a shirt. Daddy Decker will love anything you wear. See you tonight. Gracie

That was when I went downstairs and grabbed the clothes out of the trunk I’d found when I was straightening the storage area of the basement. I wasn’t sure who had worn them, but they had quasi-fit. I needed to go shopping, but Bare said we’d go open a checking account for me after the weekend, so I could wait for that.

Once Bare had two blue bracelets, he turned to me and grinned. “Right arm out, please, then I’ll check our coats.” He wrapped one of the bracelets around my wrist and fastened it before handing the other to me to do the same for him.

He took off his tan leather jacket, so I slid off my denim one and handed it to him. “Thank you, Ba—Daddy.” I felt my face heat at my near mistake.

“It’s okay, Hermie. Stay right here. I’ll be back in a second.”

He got in line to check our jackets, so I took Gracie’s present and stood out of the way. A guy dressed much like me, stood a few feet away, looking just as nervous. A tall man walked over to him and took his hand. “You ready, boy? Things will be fine. If you really don’t want to play, then you don’t have to.” The two of them walked away, the taller man with a smug smile while the boy appeared terrified.

It was a bit of a relief to see someone who was also feeling apprehensive. The younger guy didn’t seem comfortable at all, but the Daddy seemed confident they were going to enjoy themselves. That was what I needed from Bare to get through the evening. I had to wonder, though, what did Bare need from me?

“May I go to the restroom, Daddy Decker?” I whispered into Bare’s ear, using the name he’d asked me to call him at the club.

We were on the first floor where the Daddies, Mommies, and littles had a large room of their own to enjoy. We’d been seated at a conversational grouping with a lot of other Daddies near the birthday corner. Their boys and girls were on a pink and purple mat nearby, playing with toys, coloring books, and crayons.

“Of course. Do you need me to take you?” Him taking me to the restroom felt strange, though I’d noticed a few women and men accompany their boys and girls to the restrooms. I’d seen a man with a diaper bag escort a little wearing a pajama onesie earlier. I was guessing he was a baby little. It was cute to see the Daddy holding his hand while the boy walked beside him with a teddy bear in his free hand.

“I can go by myself. I’ll be right back.” I started to walk away when Bare grabbed my hand and kissed the top of it. I leaned down to kiss his cheek before I went to the restroom, feeling warm inside because he was so affectionate, which was something I craved.

I used the stall instead of the urinal because I had a shy bladder in public restrooms. When I walked out, there was a man finishing up. He stepped over to the sink next to where I was washing my hands. “Having fun? I see your necklace. You already have a Daddy, huh?”

My face flushed, but I couldn’t contain my smile. “Yes, I do.”

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a money clip. “How much for a blow job? It’s the holidays. I bet a pretty boy like you could use some money to buy Christmas presents.” I was speechless. How blatantly disrespectful to ask something of the sort.

“My Daddy is Decker Barrett. He wouldn’t appreciate hearing someone had propositioned his boy in the men’s room.”

I didn’t wait for the man to respond. I rushed out of the restroom and hurried back to our table, returning to the chair next to Bare. I stewed on what had just happened and decided not to tell anyone. Bare was having fun, and I didn’t want to ruin it.

A few minutes later, a lovely young woman approached the table to take orders. “Would you like a drink, Mr. Barrett?” She’d already taken drink orders from Daddy Conrad and a few other Daddies seated with him.

Gracie was on the floor coloring with the other little girls while a few little boys were playing with a racetrack. Bare and the other Daddies were talking about people I didn’t know, so my mind wandered, as did my gaze.

I scanned the room to see the young guy I’d seen in the lobby earlier. He looked as bored as me. He caught my attention and motioned his head to the right, which was where the bar was located, and then he grinned.

I thought he was asking me to meet him at the bar, so I leaned closer to Daddy’s ear. “May I go to the bar and get a drink? Do you want another one?”

He had a bourbon neat in front of him that had just been delivered, so I was sure he didn’t need another, but I asked to be polite. I wanted to talk to the other guy to see how he felt about being here. I was under the impression we both felt as though we didn’t fit in at the party, though I didn’t see his Daddy interacting with the other Daddies in attendance.

Daddy Decker turned to look at me before his face fell. “Oh, Baby boy, I’m so sorry. I’m not used to having someone with me. Let’s go get you a drink. Why didn’t you smack me on the back of the head? I apologize.”

Turning to the other Daddies, he smiled. “If you’ll excuse me. I’ve neglected my boy, and I owe him an apology.” He picked up his drink, stood, and took my hand to lead me to the bar.

He pulled out a stool for me and stood with his arm around me. “What would you like? An Irish cream, maybe?”

I smiled at him. “Yes, please, Daddy. I’m sorry I took you away from your friends. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Bare kissed my cheek. “Nope. You had every right to interrupt. We’re here for you to get to know the vibe and the people who come here for fun. Maybe Gracie’s birthday party isn’t right for you to get a good feel for it. We’ll go upstairs to the club where there’s dancing and other things to do. That’s probably more up your alley. I hope you’ll like it, but as I said, if you don’t, then we don’t have to come back.”

The bartender delivered my drink, so I swiveled my stool to look at Bare… my Daddy. “Do you know that boy over my left shoulder?”

Daddy glanced over and smiled. “I don’t. When his companion comes back, we’ll introduce ourselves. He looks to be about your age, and I think he’s new, too. Maybe you can get to know each—” Daddy’s face morphed to a scowl. “Stay here.”

Bare put his drink on the bar and turned to the bartender. “Call Master Keith.”

I had no idea who Master Keith might be, but Daddy looked very serious… and angry. Something was wrong, but I did as he said—I stayed where I was.

Bare walked over to where the boy was standing, now joined by the guy I’d seen him with outside. He and Bare seemed to be having cross words. He grabbed Bare’s shoulder, and things happened very quickly from there.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Bare was beyond pissed, and I was unsure what to do. He’d told me to stay where I was, but it appeared he and the other Daddy were going to fight, and I didn’t want that to happen.

“Oh, shit. That’s Grant,” Gracie whispered as she and Daddy Conrad stepped next to me. “And there’s Joe, Grant’s boyfriend.” I glanced around to see the guy who had propositioned me in the restroom. This wasn’t good.

“Stay here, you two.” Daddy Connie took off toward Bare, not happy at all.

“Grant? Bare’s former boy? He’s a Daddy now?” My stomach felt queasy, so I put my drink on the bar, not trusting it to stay down. Why was he at the club with his boyfriend, and who was the boy standing between them?

The group of men snapped at each other, and they were getting louder every time they spoke. I wanted to leave the stool to go protect Bare, but my brain was telling me to stay put. That had been his instruction, and I wasn’t going to embarrass him by not following it.

A large man dressed in black leather pants and a black dress shirt stepped forward. “Gentlemen, what seems to be the problem?”

Bare pointed to both men. “This is Grant Rogan and his boyfriend, Joe. They tried to extort money from me, and I put them on the do-not-admit list after it happened.” I’d never imagined Bare being so angry. If I told him what Joe had proposed in the men’s room, I was sure he’d go ballistic.

“Geez, Bare. You carry a grudge for a long time. We apologize if you misconstrued what we were trying to do. We weren’t extorting you. You misunderstood everything after you saw Joe and me making love. You never said we were exclusive, or that I couldn’t have guests over to your condo. Look let’s bury the hatchet and move on. I learned I wasn’t a little really, but I’m a great Daddy, as is Joe. This is our boy, Jody.”

Grant motioned for the young guy to come over to him, but he shook his head and stomped off. The two men started to go after him, but Master Keith stepped in front of them.

“You entered the club under false names and identities, which is why my registrar didn’t catch you. You’re banned, and if the two of you ever show your faces here again, I’ll have you arrested for trespassing. I’ll also send your pictures out to clubs in the area, and you’ll be blackballed at those, too. Now, leave before I have you physically thrown out.”

Two large men came from nowhere, each gripping an arm and dragging the two liars out of the club. I looked around to find Jody standing by the play mat.

“Daddy, Jody probably didn’t know how horrible they were. Can we go talk to him?” I pointed to where he stood alone, and I was overcome with sadness.

“Sure, Baby boy.” Bare took my hand, and we headed to where Jody was standing, tears falling down his face.

Bare pulled me in front of him and leaned into my ear to whisper, “Talk to him. I don’t want to scare him.” That was my sweet, sweet Daddy, always thinking of others.

“Hi, uh, J-Jody. I’m Hermie.” I tried like hell not to stutter. “This is my D-Daddy, Decker.”

“Hello, Jody. Nice to meet you. Come sit with us for a moment. How old are you?”

“I’m nineteen. I just met those guys last week on an app. They said they were looking for a little and invited me to a birthday party. I think I’m a little, but I don’t know enough about it, so I thought it might be a good way to find out. They invited me to meet them here, and they kept talking about making a bear pay for ruining their opportunity to start their own business. I guess I was stupid to take them up on their invitation.”

Poor Jody hung his head, and I stepped forward to hug him. “They were awful men. I’m sorry they treated you so horribly.”

“Are you okay, young man?” It was Master Keith.

I released Jody and stepped closer to Bare. “Master Keith, this is Jody. It seems as though they brought him here under false pretenses. I’ll vouch for him because he’s interested in the lifestyle—that is, if he wants to stay.” Bare kissed my temple.

I glanced at Master Keith and crossed my fingers, which made the large man laugh. “Thank you, Decker, but Jody is now here as my guest. I’ll tend to his needs tonight. Enjoy your evening.”

Master Keith held out his hand to Jody and gave the guy a big grin. “Let’s go get you a snack. We can talk about your interests in the lifestyle.”

Jody hesitated, but then he took Master Keith’s hand and the two of them walked away. Connie chuckled behind us. “Well, he’s in good hands now. How about we have some birthday cake so we can get on with the rest of the party?”

I watched Master Keith lead Jody away, and suddenly, they stopped. Jody hurried back to me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. “Thank you. I hope I see you here again.” He ran off to rejoin Master Keith, and they disappeared into an elevator behind the bar.

I hoped Jody was okay. I was sure my Daddy wouldn’t let him go if he didn’t trust Master Keith. My Daddy was a good judge of character, and I was a very lucky boy.

Bare led me over to a large private room where a bunch of Daddies, Mommies, boys, and girls, were waiting for Daddy Conrad to bring Gracie in. When they stepped into the doorway, I was surprised to see Gracie had changed into a much more grown-up dress. Her hair was styled differently, and she looked beautiful.

Everyone sang the birthday song to her, and she blew out twenty-one candles before she clapped and bounced on her toes, throwing her arms around Conrad’s neck and giving him kisses all over his face. His laughter made the rest of us laugh.

“Before we cut the cake, Grace, I have a question for you. I enjoy our fun times here at the club and at home. I’m so happy I found someone who loves the lifestyle as much as me. I’m very lucky, which is why—”

Daddy Conrad reached into the front pocket of his slacks and pulled out a beautiful diamond ring. “Grace Cole, will you please marry me? I want a life with you. I want a family with you. Please say you’ll be my wife… and my little girl… as long as I live.”

There were squeals from the girls, a few of the boys, and some of the Mommies. Bare and a few of the Daddies clapped when Grace answered, “Yes, Connie. I’d love to marry you.”

Champagne corks popped, and glasses were handed out as everyone gave Connie and Grace hugs. A server cut the Funfetti cake, and we all ate.

Later, we went upstairs to the club where music played over the speakers. We all headed to the dance floor and the night got rowdier. Bare was a great dancer, as I learned, and I vowed that we’d dance as often as possible.

It was one of the best nights of my life.