17. Dale

Chapter 17

Dale

After receiving a text from Kipp saying that he was only a few minutes from home, Dale waved Marshall away as he departed the ranch on his candy-pink scooter.

With Brutus sitting patiently at his side, Dale stood at the entrance to the house and waited to hear the sound of Kipp's truck tires crunching their way down the winding driveway.

‘Come on, Daddy, where are you?' Dale asked, going up on his toes to see whether he could make out any lights through the tall trees that bordered the sweeping driveway.

Dale suspected that Kipp would be returning with good news, but as his text had been brief and non-committal either way, he didn't want to get his hopes up too high. After all, Benson was devious and full of surprises at the best of times. Dale truly wouldn't have put it past Benson to already have had a plan for Kipp should he show up in the city.

But Dale desperately wanted his Daddy to be coming back with a resolution and it was pointless for him to pretend otherwise.

Please please please let this be good news.

Maybe if I wish on a star that'll help?

I'll do anything if it means Benson is gone forever…

Dale could feel himself getting anxious all over again. Having Marshall over for the playdate had worked wonders to bring him back to a happy place and keep his mind firmly away from Benson. The two of them had played with their stuffies, watched a Disney movie, and even had time to bake some choc-chip cookies together. However now that Marshall was gone and it was just Dale and his thoughts, it was a different matter altogether.

However just as Dale was beginning to wonder where the heck Kipp was, he heard a familiar crunching of heavy duty wheels on rough ground. And then following that, he saw that truck's bright headlamps shining in the near distance.

‘Wait… is that… it's Daddy!' Dale squealed, jumping up and down in time with Brutus's excited barks of relief that his best human friend was home. ‘Come on Brutus, let's go and say hi to Daddy.'

With that, both Dale and Brutus walked down the steps at the edge of the decked area out front and waited impatiently as Kipp pulled up and turned his engine off.

In the heat of the moment, Dale even forgot where Kipp had been – and why he was there too. All Dale cared about was that his Daddy was home and he would be able to dive into his embrace in a matter of seconds.

‘Hey, young man, don't you want to know the news?' Kipp asked, gently prizing Dale off him so that he could ensure that Dale could hear what he was about to say.

‘Oh, yeah, right,' Dale said, his heart suddenly skipping a beat as the reality of the city trip hit home once more. ‘Please tell me something good.'

Kipp smiled.

Dale knew that good news was coming just from the look of happiness in Kipp's soulful dark-brown eyes. But Dale needed it confirmed. He wanted to hear the details.

‘You don't have to worry about Benson Rose any longer,' Kipp said, his voice sincere with just a hint of an edge to it. ‘He knows that it would be a grave mistake to ever contact you again, my darling.'

‘D-d-d-did you hurt him?' Dale asked, his voice quivering just a touch.

‘Nothing he won't recover from,' Kipp replied. ‘But it was the kind of warning that sometimes you just have to deliver in the clearest terms. Trust me, he's out of your life. And I mean forever.'

‘Daddy, I don't know what to say,' Dale said, his eyes filling with tears of joy. ‘Thank you a billion times to the moon and back.'

‘Don't mention it,' Kipp chuckled. ‘But if you really want to show your appreciation I wouldn't mind one of your specialty hot chocolates right now. It's late. What this old Daddy needs is a snuggle on the couch with a hot drink and his favorite boy. Oh, and his best canine friend too.'

Dale and Kipp laughed as a happy Brutus wagged his tail and barked before heading straight inside the house, clearly well aware that some cozy snuggles were headed his way very soon indeed.

A few minutes later and Dale was carrying a tray of hot chocolates and some of his freshly baked choc-chip cookies into the living area. Kipp had changed into his coziest pajamas and Dale was wearing his favorite dinosaur hood romper.

With Brutus already curled up in his corner of the couch, the three of them were ready to settle down and let the drama of the day wash over them. Dale could do this knowing that he now had a way clearer run at happiness. With Benson gone, he felt like any decision he made on where his future lay was going to come down to one thing and one thing only – and going off how he was feeling in that moment, the prospect of staying in Eagle Ridge with Kipp forever was looking even more appetizing than his fresh batch of cookies…

The next afternoon, Dale and Marshall were having another playdate in Kipp's big barn. And after spending an hour in their cow and pig hooded rompers, the two Littles were very much in Little Space as they romped around the soft hay and made merry.

‘Moo! Moo! Let's play soccer,' Dale said, nudging a semi-deflated soccer ball across the ground toward Marshall.

‘Oink! Oink! I score goal with my butt!' Marshall laughed, turning and attempting to bump the soccer ball with his round and pig tailed cheeks.

‘You missed, boo-hoo,' Dale said, crawling over toward Marshall and giving him a jovial cuddle.

Soon enough, the two of them were lying on their backs and looking up toward the barn's high ceiling. Kipp had done some patching up work on it, but there were still a few holes where the sun's rays could burst through.

‘Lucky there's no rain,' Marshall said, adding an oink-oink at the end of his sentence. ‘Or we get wetter than pee-pee diapers!'

Dale rocked his head back and laughed.

Being with Marshall was always a good time. Whether they were kicking butt at The Hot Plate or having fun on a playdate, it was always the case that the two of them were good company for one another.

Even though he was in Little Space, Dale sensed that this was him at his happiest. And it was all down to Kipp making Eagle Ridge seem like it could be a real home to him once more.

In fact, pretty much all ideas of leaving to go off on another big city adventure weren't figuring in Dale's thoughts any longer. And having fun with Marshall on Kipp's ranch was simply adding to the sense of contentment that Dale was experiencing.

‘Hehe, maybe we should ask your Daddy to turn this place into a Little Ranch?' Marshall said, kicking his legs up in the air in excitement at the prospect. ‘We could have the play barn, a diaper and shower barn, and even a spanking barn!'

‘ Oooooh , that sounds… interesting,' Dale giggled, his mind running wild with possibilities.

Marshall might have been making the suggestion half in jest, but suddenly Dale was beginning to imagine what Eagle Ridge Ranch could be like if it was made into a space for Daddies and Littles. And it could be more than just a fun place to play too. Any lost or in need of help Little could find a safe haven there, and Dale and Kipp could help get them back on their feet.

‘You know I think you might have just said something brilliant ,' Dale said, turning to Marshall and holding his hand. ‘I can't wait until I tell my Daddy about this. I think it might just be…'

But Dale didn't get a chance to finish his sentence.

A dark shadow suddenly cast itself down onto Dale and Marshall. As Dale looked up he didn't see Kipp standing at the entrance to the barn, but someone else. It was the man from the bar, the one who looked like he was kicking up a stink with Kipp.

‘That's… Leigh Crenshaw,' Marshall said, self-consciously attempting to cover up his pig romper. ‘He's not good news.'

‘What's that, freak?' Leigh barked, a sneer on his face that could have been seen from space. ‘Jesus. What the hell have I just walked in on?'

‘H-h-h-hey, don't talk to my friend like that!' Dale snapped back, seeing how upset Marshall looked at Leigh's horrible comment. ‘We're not freaks. We're… we're… we're… just being ourselves.'

‘Ha! Well whatever you are, you'd best make the most of it,' Leigh laughed, his eyes staring toxically toward Dale's figure hugging romper. ‘Kipp isn't the rightful heir to the ranch. It's mine. And he knows it too. And first chance I get, I'll be making sure that this freakshow won't happen again on my land.'

Despite putting on a brave face initially, Dale could feel himself getting emotional. And all it took was a look toward Marshall to set him off even worse.

‘Hey, don't cry Marshall,' Dale said, putting his arm around Marshall as he buried his head in his hands. ‘This stinky butthole doesn't know what he's talking about. He doesn't know shit !'

‘Watch that damn mouth with me, boy,' Leigh roared, looking and sounding dangerously close to losing his temper.

Suddenly, Dale stiffened up and pursed his lips tightly.

The reality of the situation was dawning on him. Dale and Marshall were nowhere near strong enough to hold off a man like Leigh. He was big, strong, and had bad intentions running through his blood. And as Leigh stepped closer, Dale knew that he needed his Daddy to make an appearance sooner rather than later.

But where was Kipp?

And why wasn't he running to Dale's rescue?

Dale decided to take matters into his own hands and scurried up onto his feet and picked up handful of hay and rolled it into a ball.

‘Take that !' Dale said, his voice full of a renewed determination as he tossed the hay ball toward Leigh.

But Leigh simply batted the ball away with contempt.

‘You'll pay for that,' Leigh said, a leering smile on his face and his eyes running up and down Dale's body. ‘And seeing as this is my property, I guess that makes you mine too…'

Dale knew he had only one option.

‘Daddy! Help!' Dale screamed at the top of his lungs.

The only question was, would Dale's Daddy be near enough to hear his cry for help?