Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

“ O kay, guys, let’s go or we’re going to be late.” Bran called out to Silas and Jamie and checked his watch. They were meeting up with the rest of the Daddy group, and they were definitely going to be late. It wasn’t essential to be there bang on time, but he didn’t like being late as a rule. And this would be the first get-together they’d attended with Jamie.

“I—”

“Now, boy. I don’t want to be late.”

Silas came down the stairs and slid his hand along Jamie’s back. “This is going to be fun.”

“It is. It’s going to be great. If we’re on time.”

“I’m coming. I’m just nervous.”

Jamie would be less nervous once he was there.

He offered their boy a soft kiss, then took his hand and led him out to the car where they all piled in.

Jamie might be nervous, but he had his game face on.

“You want to talk about how you’re feeling?” Bran asked. If nothing else, he figured talking would distract Jamie a little while they were making their way there.

Jamie glanced up, obviously confused. “What?”

“You said you were nervous. Tell us why? What are you worried about?”

“Not fitting in, I guess. Embarrassing you?”

Silas took that one. “You could never embarrass us, Jamie. We love you. As for fitting in… well, you fit in with me and Bran, so I imagine you’ll fit in with the guys.”

“I can also tell you that I was talking with Jerusalem yesterday and he was saying that Christian and the other boys are very excited to properly meet you.”

Jamie blushed and shrugged. “It’ll be cool to meet people.”

“It will be. And if you want to leave before we do, just let me or Silas know. Okay? But you’ve met some of these boys before, we had dinner all together that first night we met. I think it’s going to go great. But if it doesn’t, just let one of us know you’re uncomfortable.” He wasn’t going to force Jamie to spend a couple of hours with people if he hated it.

“I will. It’s coffee and chat. It’s not scary. Once I’m in there, I’ll be fine.”

“Exactly.” He gave Jamie a warm smile through the rearview mirror before turning his attention back to the road. “Shout out if you see a parking spot—I doubt we’ll get one right in front of the place.”

“Will do. This is a nice part of town, huh?”

“It is. Jerusalem and Christian live around here.” They’d looked in this area when they’d been house hunting, but ultimately had found their perfect place downtown.

It fit them better, and it was made for three men to build a life.

“Spot on the right two cars up,” Silas noted, pointing.

“Excellent. We’re only a block down from the coffee house.” He pulled into the spot, and they all got out of the car and headed toward their meeting place.

Jamie stayed with him, keeping his head down, cap pulled low. He wanted to growl at the paparazzi that had ferreted Jamie out and made it impossible for him to work, tried to steal his privacy. In the end, Jamie being able to focus on his writing was a good thing, but it had also taken away his confidence in being out in public.

Silas held the door to the coffee shop open for them, and he and Jamie went in, Silas following.

Most of the guys were already there, the square tables pulled together.

As soon as everyone saw them, they called out greetings.

“James! You came!” Christian bounced over, grabbing Jamie in a hug.

Bran wanted to crow “I told you so!” But he didn’t. He just watched happily as the group of boys absorbed Jamie into their midst.

He chose a seat so that he was fairly close to the boys’ group. Just so he could keep a half an eye and ear on what was going on with Jamie. He really wanted this to be a good experience for their boy.

“How are you, Bran? Things are well?” Jess smiled at him, nodded over.

“Things are very well, thanks. How about you guys? We’ve been a bit focused lately. What’s new with everyone?”

“My boy has his GED! I’m so proud!” Rick announced.

“That’s fantastic. Congratulations, Nicky!” He knew it had been a long time in coming, Nicky not believing he was smart enough to even attempt it for a long time.

“Thank you!”

“Dude, that rocks. Congrats.” Jamie grinned at Nicky, the expression seeming honestly pleased.

Nicky beamed right back, and some of the others clapped him on the back.

“I’m going to go put our order in.” Silas touched Bran on the back. “Caramel hot chocolate and something sweet to eat?”

“Sounds good.”

“Jamie? What about you?” Silas asked.

“I’d like a hazelnut latte, please.” Jamie smiled up at him.

“Anyone else need anything?”

Nobody did, so Silas headed off and Bran watched him go—he did love that view.

Jamie smiled at him, winked, teasing so hard.

“Brat,” he mouthed, grinning, loving that Jamie felt secure enough to tease, even among a group of people he hardly knew. Their boy was blossoming, and while he would never take the credit, he did feel that he and Silas were providing Jamie the environment where he could.

Jamie blushed, and the boys just giggled, circling his boy and teasing him.

Oh, he’d say that Jamie fit right in, one hundred percent.

“So, how’s he doing?” Jerusalem asked. “Is he settling in?”

“He is. And he’s doing even better since he left the coffee shop. He gets to focus entirely on his writing, on himself, and us. He seems so much happier now.” He smiled at Jamie as he talked, so in love with their boy.

“Excellent. It’s perfect. You two finally found him. Finally .”

“Yeah. We had to kiss a lot of frogs, eh?” He chuckled, maybe that didn’t sound quite right. “Not that I’m calling any of the boys we’ve helped frogs or in any way bad, but they weren’t ours .”

“No, but you’ve helped. You deserve a?—”

“Are you James Barnes?” one of the boys said.

Jamie seemed to shrink.

“No,” Bran said. “He’s James Hampton, my and Silas’s boy.” It was no lie. Their Jamie wasn’t that person anymore. He never really had been. It wasn’t a persona he’d wanted.

“I’m just Jamie. It’s… a good name. It suits me.”

He hummed, pleased. Then he reached for Jamie’s hand, stroked it. “It’s our boy’s name.”

“I—”

“It’s okay. It’s super hard to admit at first,” Chrissy told Jamie.

And Chrissy would know. Jerusalem had shared some of his and Christian’s trials with the other Daddies. It was easier for some than others, but Bran appreciated the time Jamie needed to come to know himself deeply, to accept every part of himself.

“I don’t…”

“It’s cool. Trust me, though, it’s amazing when you just let them do what they’re meant to.”

Bran put his hand on Jamie’s back and rubbed gentle circles. “You don’t have to say anything, boy. They’re just telling you their truths. You’ll find yours in time.”

“Okay. We can talk later. At home, huh?”

He nodded. “At home.” He didn’t believe putting pressure on his boy was the way to go. He knew he was Jamie’s Daddy, but he wasn’t going to force that. He had faith Jamie would come to it on his own time.

Jamie had to understand that no one was holding him back. No one wanted him embarrassed. This was about letting them hold him.

Silas returned with a tray containing drinks and pastries. And he cheered. “There’s my man, bringing liquid and sustenance.” He gave Silas a grin and Jamie a wink.

“Hooray coffee!” Jamie stood to help, obviously needing a little comfort.

Jamie passed out the coffees while Silas distributed their desserts between them, putting a cinnamon roll in front of Bran.

“Mmmm. We can split all three between us, though.” He wouldn’t hog all the cinnamon roll.

“Oh, I like when you share,” Silas teased.

“I know.” He waggled his eyebrows, and all the boys giggled madly. They were a good bunch.

“You wanna split it all out?” Silas asked Jamie, handing him a knife.

“I’m good, thank you. You two should share, okay?”

“There’s three goodies—all three of us should share. Unless you don’t like all of them—that’s different.”

One of the boys nodded at Jamie, encouraging him.

“Okay. Yeah, I do love a cinnamon roll.”

Chuckling, Bran put his plate in front of Jamie. “So cut them all into three so we can share them between us, yeah?”

“No problem.” Jamie took the plates and carefully doled out the pastries.

Bran accepted his plate back with his three pieces and hummed. Jamie had split them about as evenly as was possible. “Thank you, boy.” He grabbed a bite of the brownie, enjoying the deep, chocolatey flavor.

The boys pulled Jamie away from the Daddies table, no doubt getting into mischief.

Bran shook his head, but he didn’t mean it—he was happy that Jamie was so quickly accepted by the boys. They really were a great bunch.

“They’ll be fine. He needs a group to educate him in trouble, doesn’t he?” Jess said.

Bran laughed. “He doesn’t want to be bad.”

“No, he does not,” Silas agreed. “Vehemently so.”

“What fun is that?”

“Trouble is grand,” someone else agreed.

“Not all boys enjoy being in trouble,” Bran noted. It was a game for boys confident in their place, in their Daddies. Jamie was far more confident than he used to be, but not enough yet to admit they were his Daddies. So it made sense to him that their boy wasn’t interested in trouble.

Soon, perhaps, but not yet.

Every so often, there was a gasp, then a mad giggling from the boys.

They definitely could get into a lot of trouble together. There was no doubt about that.

He had to admit, he wasn’t really paying attention to the conversation at their table, his focus on Jamie and how he was doing with the other boys.

“Daddy? Can we have another round of coffee?” Chrissy asked.

“Any objections?” Jerusalem looked around at the other Daddies, and when no one had any, he nodded at Chrissy and passed over his card. “Go ahead.”

“Thank you, Daddy.” Chrissy kissed his cheek. “You rock.”

“I know.” Jerusalem gave Chrissy a wink.

Bran noticed that Jamie took the interaction in, watching closely.

“I’ll come help.” Jamie stood and went to the counter with Chrissy.

“He’s doing okay, eh?” Silas said.

He nodded at his lover. “He is. He likes the boys, and I think their friendship will be good for them.”

“Boys can tell each other things, make life easier and make them feel more at home in their new selves.” Jess smiled at them, nodded.

Bran nodded. They knew. They’d been in the Daddy game for most of their relationship with each other. Silas’s hand slid along his thigh, and he smiled at his lover. They had a good life, and they wanted Jamie to have it just as good. With them.

He understood, though. It was different training a boy who knew he was a boy to be with a Daddy. Jamie had come to them pure. Of course, that meant when he did call them both Daddy, it was going to be deep. It was going to be magnificent.

And it was going to be all theirs.

The thought brought goosebumps up all over his arms.

“Bran? Bran?” Jerusalem waved his hand in front of Bran’s face. “Where’d you go?”

“I’m with you,” he said.

“Uh-huh.” Jerusalem grinned. “You’ve got it bad, man.”

“Guilty as charged. That’s our boy.” And he wasn’t ashamed for a second.

“He is. He’s a sweet one, and thoughtful.”

“He’s amazing. Talented, eager, loving.” He could wax poetic for a very long time on their boy. From the physical to the emotional and mental.

“And spoiled and well-loved,” Jerusalem teased.

“Show me one boy here who doesn’t fit that category.” They all loved their boys with all their hearts. It went with the territory.

“That’s the fun part!” someone cried out, and they all cheered.

The boys as one all turned to look at them, all their Daddies, acting silly, having fun. Bran gave Jamie a wink, his boy at the order counter with Chrissy. They really did need to try to get to the group meetings more often. And eventually, Jamie would be ready to go to get-togethers at various couples’ houses.

Then they could start exploring their needs.

Jamie and Christian came back, laden with coffees for all the boys, along with several more treats that they shared out between them.

Telling himself that Jamie was just fine, Bran forced himself to pay attention to his fellow Daddies and their discussions.