Chapter Ten

Gray

We'd been dating for a while now, and while we skirted the edge of the daddy/little relationship, we had not dived fully in. Sure, he'd been "little" with me but never fully, and that was okay. I waited for him to let me know he was ready. With everything else going so well, my patience still held strong. That aspect would come when the time was right, and I could not deny how much I enjoyed our time together no matter what we were doing.

Out at dinner one night, he leaned on my shoulder and looked up at me. His lips parted, and I waited, expecting him to say he was ready, that he needed daddy time, but instead, he just said, "I think I am going to order dessert."

My heart had been kicking up at the thought of getting to spend some time with his little self, but I tried not to let it show. "That sounds great," I said instead. "What looks good?"

He ordered a sundae with hot fudge and cookie crunch, double whipped cream, and three cherries. And he did share it with me. Then we went home and made love, whipped cream, chocolate, and cherry making his kisses even tastier.

Even in big mode, London had a natural sweetness that touched my daddy side. Made me want to do things that an uneducated observer might think were simply the acts of a gentleman with his partner but were more caregiver to me. I opened his car door, walked on the outside of the sidewalk, and pulled his chair out at the table, to name a few.

One Saturday morning, I was straightening up my home office when London called, very excited.

"I just received an invitation to speak at an important convention. It's a real honor, and I didn't see it coming." London was not only in private practice but donated hours every week with an organization that treated low-income patients. He not only provided his skills as a dentist but also organizational, helping to find others to help these people in need. I'd never realized there was a whole segment of society who fell through the cracks in something so important, but they were the core group London sought to help.

And, apparently, someone had taken notice. He was not only going to speak about his work but receive an award. Not that he cared about that.

"It's so exciting! I have the chance to share how we set up our clinic and how we go about staffing it. About how important it is to get a skilled grant writer on board and fundraisers. They are giving me an hour to speak, and I have to figure out how to get it all in." He sucked in a breath. "Maybe someone will be inspired to try to do the same thing we do. And we can really help them. We were on our own, but we have so many resources now."

London's passion for others made me so proud. He had a good practice but still gave so much of himself to others. It made for an intense work week, for sure.

"That's amazing. You were just saying the other day how much you wished you could find a way to reach others in your industry and show them what you are doing here."

"Right? It's as if it were meant to be. I'm going to get started on my speech right away. I wanted to ask you something."

"If you want to practice it, I'd be glad to listen."

"Yes, I would like that, but what I wanted to ask was, would you come with me? It could be a nice weekend away as well. If you're free."

"That would be fun. When is it?" I would be available, no matter when it was.

He told me the dates and said he'd send along the other information. As one of the speakers, his accommodations were covered, a room and meals in the hotel for him and a companion, so we wouldn't have to make a reservation, and the town was close enough we'd be driving. "So, all we have to do is pack a suitcase."

He had to write a speech as well, but I didn't need to remind him of that. No doubt it was already coming together in his mind. But I also had some tasks to do. This was our first weekend away together, and while he would be busy for some of it with the convention, we would have free time to use as we wished, and I wanted to take full advantage of it.

London was excited about the conference and his speech, but he had been working hard, and even if we had not fully explored the daddy/little side of things together, he had told me that when he got overwhelmed or overtired, he sought out little space in which to let off steam and relax. I'd been around enough littles to recognize the signs. He was going to need that, and the conference on top of everything else meant I should give him an opportunity to be little if he chose.

I dove into online research to find activities we could do that would appeal to his little side but that he could enjoy either way. There were a lot of possibilities. Disco roller skating, cosmic bowling, a very well-regarded zoo, a carousel in the park…

But the best thing was a good-sized railroad museum with a train ride that started on the museum property and looped out around a large park and actually passed through the zoo on its route. Like the ride Chained had arranged, this was a fully restored engine and cars. London had loved the time spent with the conductor learning about his job, and the Zootown Express offered the opportunity for one person to be an assistant conductor for the entire ride. For a fee.

I reviewed the conference schedule London sent me. He'd marked the various sessions he would be attending, and it looked pretty jam-packed, but we could have fun on the last day of our trip, provided the conductor experience had an opening.

I picked up the phone and called.

Who knew how popular these things were? They had no tickets available for that date. The conductor experience was not filled for one of the time slots, but the train itself was. Frustrated and determined, I dialed again.

"Hello?"

"Somer, hi. This is Gray—"

"Gray! Just the person I was about to call, but I wasn't sure if you were available on the weekends."

"I'm not usually, but you can always reach me if it's important. What's going on?"

Working with railroad people could be stressful and demanding, but they always remembered when I helped them, and I remembered Somer mentioning working with a museum in their area. Which was the same town we were going to. They explained what they had wanted from me, and I promised to do my best to take care of things for them, and then they asked why I called.

"I sit on the board of that museum," they said. "And I happen to know they leave a few seats available for special guests. I'd say since you are going out of your way to order those parts so I have them Monday"—which was going to take some real finagling—"that makes you a VIP."

I spent the next two hours making sure those parts got into the country and into the hands of Somer's mechanic on time. Worth every minute. As soon as I got confirmation, I let Somer know, and we were all set for the ride and the conductor experience.

London was going to be so excited.