Chapter 17

Tate

He had to be making some of this shit up, right?

Dean was watching our drama queen with a very suspicious expression, but he didn't immediately call him out on it either, which made me wonder. I wasn't sure if him lying or being honest was the most ridiculous scenario, but either way, if he wanted someone to cuddle with that was reasonable.

"Alright." Fuck it. I parked the car and decided to take the whole thing seriously. "We'll make sure someone takes a nap with you."

None of us had gotten enough sleep last night and it hadn't been anywhere near actual quality rest, so a nap wasn't a bad idea.

"Good." Yawning again, Joel tipped over against Dean. "I need to be cuddled and put to bed."

Dean's head cocked as he turned to Joel, and I could see him remembering our conversation about how Joel wasn't the most adulty adult we'd ever seen. "Finish your water first and then we'll get you ready for your nap."

It seemed like with all the bits Dean was uncomfortable with, Joel not being a full grown-up wasn't one of them.

"I'll be good." Joel's definition of good included sighs and pouts and groaning like an old man when he had to sit up, but he eventually finished his water. Handing the empty bottle to Dean seemed like second nature to Joel and it made me wonder what else about this part of their relationship I'd missed. "I did it."

Taking the trash and nodding, Dean reached over and ran a hand over Joel's head. "Good boy."

That was new because I wouldn't have missed how cute it was, but I had a feeling they'd been working their way up to this point for a long time.

Did they realize it?

Joel was startlingly oblivious about nearly everything in life that related to other people, but Dean couldn't have his head that far in the sand, right?

"Nap time." The way Dean reached over and unbuckled Joel without being self-conscious of it at all said he could be just as oblivious.

I was starting to see how we'd ended up as just friends for so long.

They were both insane.

But since it was cute and I was tired, I didn't point it out and played along like it was all perfectly vanilla.

"I need…I need a snack." Joel frowned as he looked around at the parking lot, not seeming to realize what he was doing or why he was being a pain in the butt. "And a book."

"You need to get out of the car first." Dean aced Daddy training and didn't make any promises. "Do you want me to help?"

It was fascinating.

"Yes." Pouting, Joel sighed. "My legs don't work."

I wasn't sure how Dean was going to handle that, but I should've known he'd figure out what to do. Instead of reacting to the ridiculous statement that was just meant to cause drama, he nodded and started to get out of the car. "Okay, I'm sorry you're too broken to play later."

Oh.

Joel's brows pulled together as he watched Dean get out of the car. He was quiet for a few seconds before he turned to me, and I knew that was my cue to escape. I wasn't sure what the best response for me to give would be and I wasn't going to fuck it up.

I was out of the car before he'd managed to say anything, but he didn't have time to pout before Dean was opening the door. "Let me have your toys."

The reminder about what he wanted to play with later had Joel looking down at his bag. "Oh."

The pieces were slowly being put together, and as he turned to hand Dean the bag of goodies, he shifted his legs. "I can do it. I'm not too broke."

No, just too dramatic.

"That's good." Dean gave him a pleased smile without overdoing it, and after sliding the empty bottle in the bag, took his hand to finish helping our tired drama queen out of the car. By the time that I'd walked around to the passenger side, Joel was out and yawning again.

Daddy Dean was amazingly competent.

We even managed to make it up to the apartment before Joel's drama kicked back into gear again, so I thought we'd done pretty good and didn't react to his sigh right away. "I need—"

"To pick out which bed we're going to nap in." Dean smoothly interrupted and nodded like of course it'd been the rest of Joel's sentence. "I think Tate's bed is biggest, so let's sleep there."

"All of us?" Joel's brain immediately switched gears. "We all should…I can…"

More yawns cut him off but they didn't bother Dean. He simply nodded again and started leading Joel toward the back of the apartment, barely pausing to put the bag on the couch. "Yes. You're right. You'll be in the middle. We all need a nap."

Amen.

Kicking off my shoes by the door, I followed like an obedient sub because I was glad Dean had found a part of their relationship that he was completely comfortable with. And I was glad his plan involved us all getting some down time.

I was way too old to have slept on the floor.

They looked like they'd agree with that sentiment too because they were both yawning by the time I got to my bedroom. It was cute, but the best part was the way Joel was sitting on the bed and Dean was crouching down to take his shoes off. "Socks on or off?"

"Do…do I need my socks?" Joel looked down, clearly very confused at the question.

"No." Dean decided to take charge like a real Daddy Dom and slipped them off. "Do you need to go potty before you take a nap?"

Shaking his head, Joel sighed. "I…Target…you…"

That seemed to be a reminder that he'd gone while we'd waited for coffee and he obviously thought it was enough of an explanation because Joel rolled over and crawled to the middle of the queen-sized bed and lay down face first.

Dean just shook his head as he rose and toed his own shoes off before pointing to the far side of the room. "I can't sleep on that side of the bed."

That seemed to be directed at me, so I nodded and walked around the other side to lie down there. Joel just sighed as we both stretched out on either side of him, but he was out before he could say anything else cute.

It took me about thirty seconds longer to fall asleep, but that was just because I had to wiggle and find the right spot. Once I had one leg over my Joel-shaped body pillow, I was out and the last thing I heard was Dean's slow, deep breathing.

****

"I'm hungry and I'm stuck and I'm hot and I don't know why I was taking a nap." Wiggling out from under Dean and me, Joel pushed up and finally escaped. "I was trapped. I have to pee."

Somehow he decided that nearly killing me was the right way to get out of the bed and I grunted as his knees barely missed a couple of important bits in his bid to escape. "I really have to pee. I have to. Yes."

He barely made it out without landing on his head, but as I rolled over and stretched, he hit the ground running. "I did it."

Dean let out a low, muffled chuckle and took a few more seconds before he lifted his head up. "He's so dramatic."

"And woke up slightly confused." I was hoping he'd remember what happened by the time he finished using the bathroom, but I was prepared for every contingency. "If he still hasn't figured it out when he gets back, you have to tell him about the nap and I'll work on the sex toy situation."

"Deal." Rolling back over on the bed, Dean buried his face in the pillows. "He's not going to freak out, though. I know that."

"Good." I was hoping that was true when I heard Joel suck in a breath from wherever he was in the apartment.

Fuck.

"I have a cage!" His excited tone was so loud I bet half the building new he had a cock cage. "And we got a plug or a toy or something. Hurry. Hurry. Hurry."

"Is he telling his penis to hurry up peeing?" Dean's question should've been stupid but I found myself shrugging.

"Um, maybe his bladder?" I didn't think his dick was really in control of that situation. It was just the hose.

"All done! Good job. Where's my bag of toys?" Joel sounded like a kid at Christmas. "I found it!"

Dean went still before pushing up off the bed a couple of inches and yelling toward the doorway. "Go back and wash your hands. I'm not telling you again."

Did he realize how much of a Daddy he was?

Would he panic if I pointed it out?

He'd overthink it if I pointed it out, but I wasn't sure about anything else.

"Fine." Joel's dramatic tone made me grin but I almost laughed as he stomped into the bathroom. "I wasn't dirty. I only touched my penis and then I was going to touch it again to put my cage on."

His logic was interesting.

"I don't care." Dean wasn't having any of it, though. "You get all clean or you don't get your cage."

Mumbling something about all the weird shit he had to say, Dean rolled over and sat up, looking around the room. "What else did he say? Oh, he's hungry."

"We're all hungry." Our schedule had gotten all fucked up and this was either going to be a very late lunch or an early dinner. "What do you feel like eating and are we putting the cage on him already?"

"Oh, I'm going to look so cute." Joel sounded like he was talking about wearing a new outfit, not a cock cage.

Dean scrubbed his hands over his face and sighed. "He's not going to get distracted. You're on cage duty and deciding what the plan is with him, and I'll figure out a meal."

Seemed like a good division of labor to me, so I nodded and leaned over to give him a quick peck before climbing out of bed. "Deal."

Dean's cheeks pinked up but he got his embarrassment under control before shifting and pushed his legs over the side of the bed. "Does he need to be cleaned up more before we put it on him?"

That was a very good question.

"Yes." We'd done the best we could in the store, but we hadn't planned on his explosive orgasm. "Oh, and I promised him a bubble bath when I was helping him earlier."

Dean blinked at me for a moment before going into Daddy mode and nodding slowly as he stood up. "Okay, you start getting the bath ready and I'll bring in a snack. Then once he's clean, relaxed, and caged, we'll plan out an early dinner."

He was such a Daddy.

"Sounds good." And it was clearly a plan that didn't make him nervous since he got to focus on Joel. "Oh, do we have anything we can use as toys in the tub?"

He should've questioned me about that request.

He should've at least given me a WTF face.

He should've shaken his head.

He did none of that.

"Sure. I was going to give them to him for his birthday next month but let's call it a first cage celebration and I'll figure out something else." Dean seemed to think his response was perfectly normal as he headed out and went across the hall to his bedroom.

For fuck's sake.

He had bathtub toys in his closet.

"I'm ready for my cage." Joel's singsong tone got louder in a desperate bid to get his cage on, and as I came out of the bedroom, I saw him peeking down the hall. "I'm being patient."

Was he, though?

"One second." He didn't like that answer and started to pout, but as Dean passed me a big bag of bathtub toys, Joel decided that pitching a fit could wait.

"Oh." He didn't forget the very grown-up toys in his hand, but he immediately came closer and his eyes got wider. "More toys."

Well, at least he wasn't pouting any longer.

"Yes, Dean got them for you to play with in the tub and he thought your first cage celebration would be a good time to give them to you." It was a completely insane explanation but Joel didn't see it that way.

He simply stared at them in awe and then sighed as Dean stepped out of the bedroom, probably feeling braver once Joel had started awing over them. "Oh, Master Dean, thank you."

At some point we were going to need to have a discussion on that title for Dean, but I decided to fuck with everything another time.

"You're welcome." Dean chuckled as Joel threw himself at him and nearly brained both of us trying to hug his Master Dean…who was probably his Daddy. "We thought you should have your bubble bath first and then when you're all clean we can put your cage on. How does that sound?"

I was pretty sure as his Doms we were supposed to tell him when the cage went on, not the other way around. But everyone knew Daddies were the pushovers of the BDSM world, so I wasn't surprised that aspect hadn't gotten all fucked up with a toy.

Maybe the problem was that we kept calling it a toy?

Would making sure it was a sex toy help?

What was I thinking?

I was talking about Joel, so no, it would not make a difference. We were definitely going to need to expand our vocabulary to take little stuff into consideration.

"Yes. Clean and caged and cute." Head bouncing side to side as he didn't take his eyes off the brightly colored mesh bag of plastic people and random shit, Joel looked like he was ready to tackle me for his new goodies. "There was…I needed…"

Swinging the bag back and forth had him almost hypnotized and he lost track of what he was going to complain about. But luckily for him, his Daddy had a wonderful memory and wasn't as easily distracted. "You need a snack. I'm going to go get that ready while you and Tate get the bubbles ready."

"Bubbles." Joel's patience ran out and he gave me a beaming smile before snatching the toys. "I'll get started. I'm being helpful."

Bullshit.

"The brat just stole the fucking toys." I didn't bother being quiet, but Joel wasn't scared based on the maniacal giggles that were coming from the bathroom. "Don't dawdle with the snacks or it might get dangerous in there."

My ridiculous teasing got more laughter from Joel, but Dean shook his head. "Be careful. Don't let him get distracted and drown or something."

He walked toward the kitchen, still looking worried and not realizing at all that Joel was a legitimate adult.

A squirrely one but an adult, nonetheless.

"I'll be careful with him." Daddies were worriers. How had I not realized that? "But we'll figure out some rules just in case."

He should've rolled his eyes at me but he nodded. "That's a good idea."

No, it was not.

But pointing that out would just lead us to a conversation I wasn't quite ready to have yet, so I headed toward the bathroom and found Joel naked, bouncing with his toys and his bubble bath in his hands. "I waited. Dean doesn't have to worry."

He'd just find something else to worry about, but it was nice to have one thing checked off the list. "Good boy."

The adult toy bag had disappeared but I told myself I'd figure out where that went later as I kissed Joel's head. "You were very patient."

That praise got me another beaming smile. "I was very good, so I get lots of bubbles."

There was a goodness to bubbles scale?

"I think that's very reasonable." Shrugging, because I wasn't going to argue about a scale I hadn't seen written down anywhere, I nodded toward the toilet. "Alright, we're going to put the lid down and you can sit there while the tub fills up."

There was not enough room for him to keep wiggling without breaking himself or something in the bathroom. Thankfully, he didn't have an issue with that and was quickly in one place for at least a few seconds. "See? I'm very good. So I get toys."

Ah.

"Yes, you get bathtub toys and then the grown-up ones later and then if you want we can even play a board game." I was now just as wonderful as Dean based on how wide Joel's eyes got. "We'll have lots of fun this afternoon."

We were even going to have fun figuring out a way to make Joel's dick soft too. It was looking forward to playing with the toys as well, but part of me wondered which toys it was excited about the most…the bathtub ones or the sex ones?