Chapter 8

Grady

Alick pouted, looking so cute I gave him a quick peck. "You forgot the rule."

He was doing his best to look grumpy but he giggled. "I did. I forgot."

"But I remembered." And I'd also keep remembering to tell him how unshockable I was until he didn't forget it. "And I'm remembering your presents. Should we look at the rest?"

Nodding excitedly, Alick didn't move off my lap just yet. "And…and then you could come play at my house?"

"I think that sounds like a great idea." And hopefully I'd get to see big Alick again at some point. He either sank very easily into his little side or he'd decided hiding there was the best idea. "Do you live in a tree? Oh, I bet you live in a big tree house."

Shaking with barely suppressed laughter, he shook his head. "You're so silly."

Glad the practice with Erin had come in handy, I pretended to be shocked and even brought a hand up to my mouth. "No. I don't know what you mean. I'm so serious."

And I got more laughter.

"Does Erin think you're silly too?" His question seemed innocent and curious, but I wanted to make sure we were both on the same page.

"Yes, but I'm just Uncle Grady and I'm the grown-up who helps her drive her Daddy crazy. She's my sister and I've never wanted to be a Daddy to a little girl. Understand?" Misunderstandings led to jealousy and even mates could be bitten by that bug, so I wasn't going to take any chances.

"I dated girls, Daddy, but I always knew my Daddy would be a boy, so—" He shrugged like there was nothing he could do about it and didn't explain if he just thought they were interesting or if he was bi.

Treating it as nonchalantly as he had, I kissed his cheek. "And now I found you."

So it really didn't matter.

"I got you now too, Daddy." He gave me a kiss before quickly turning and leaning over the side of the bed. "But I got toys too, Daddy."

And they were obviously his focus at the moment.

"Let's see what else you have." I honestly couldn't remember everything I'd squirreled away in there. It'd mostly been odd things that caught my attention…some books that I'd found at the biggest gas station I'd ever seen…chocolates that were in the shape of bugs…the most random assortment of ridiculousness, if I was being honest.

But it seemed like what I saw as random goodies combined to actually make a wonderful present box for a little who liked gardening and flowers and all kinds of outdoor things.

"I got mate presents, Daddy." The mix of awe and excitement in his voice had me smiling as he picked up the box and settled back on my lap. "I'm gonna tell everybody I'm special."

Was bragging the most important part of this or the toys?

I still hadn't figured out the answer by the time we'd analyzed everything in the box and I'd done my best to tell him the circumstances of every purchase. The quiz seemed to help my memory because as he grilled me, more and more details came back.

Alick could've probably spent the entire afternoon going through the contents over and over, but eventually he started yawning and relaxing more heavily into me. "We…we should read the fairy book again, Daddy."

I'd thought I was insane when I picked up a book on flower fairies at some weird bookshop where I'd been using their wi-fi, but Alick loved all the little notes and made-up facts about the different creatures.

"They…they might be real, so I…so I have to 'member all of it." His logic was interesting but not too far off base considering I was a dragon and we were fated mates.

"I would love to read that to you again, but I was thinking that you could show me your house." And then he could take a nap. "How does that sound?"

There were also some practical things like seeing if there was a closer RV park where I could stay for a while and stuff like that. The one I'd found was full up for the next few days with people who'd made long-term reservations, so I was going to end up sleeping in the Walmart parking lot if I wasn't careful.

"I can show you my toys, Daddy." Sitting up, he managed to hide the next yawn but I knew his burst of energy wouldn't last long. "I live that way."

Pointing toward the side of the trailer, he looked like the directions made perfect sense. I tried to picture what I'd seen in that direction but nothing came to mind. "Alright, so let's go climb in my truck and you'll lead the way?"

His eager nod made him look confident but his directions didn't get any better. "I can point, Daddy. I know where I live. It's the green house."

Huh?

Had I run into any obviously interesting green-colored houses?

"That's good to know, but remember, I'm not from around here and my GPS keeps cutting in and out." I started looking for my phone as he climbed off the bed and finally found it by the sink. "My phone seems to be working but the roads are weird around here."

Alick didn't give me any details about why things were weird. He just stood straighter and rocked back and forth on his feet. "I'm smart. I can do it."

"I have no doubt about that." What I did doubt were the details he seemed to be leaving out. "Let's hop in the truck and you tell me which way to go first."

Or I'd be driving in circles for the rest of the afternoon.

"Yes, Daddy." He was still little, but he pulled some of it back as I grabbed my keys and made sure everything was put away safely. "Then I'll show you my house and my yard and my toys."

Nodding to himself, he went very quiet as I let us out of the trailer and took him over to the passenger side of the truck. "Wait. Your car. I forgot. How did you get here?"

Alick giggled as he hopped up into the seat, but he caught it quickly and went back to looking like he was playing grown-up. "We can come get pie later."

We could come get dessert and his car later?

Assuming I'd guessed right, I nodded. "That's a great plan."

Clearly pie was a wonderful thing because his smile got wider and he even wiggled before he remembered he was playing grown-up.

We didn't seem to have an audience that I could sense right off the bat, but from what I'd seen of the locals, I wasn't going to bet on their good behavior. So I kept my hands and my teasing to myself as I buckled him in and went around to my side.

When we had at least a small amount of privacy, I whispered to Alick. "Where are they watching us from?"

He barely managed not to giggle and kept his hand low as he gestured around what seemed to be the main square of the town. "The library and the diner."

Doing my best to glance around casually as I looked for traffic and slowly pulled out, I nodded. "The tinting on the windows. It's making it hard to see them at first glance."

It seemed like they weren't all stupid…just some of them.

"Yes, and there are probably mages hidden somewhere but they're harder to see." Frowning, Alick glared at a tree and shook his head as we drove by. "We don't have a tree there. I know trees."

So that'd been a mage?

Hmm.

"How much trouble would I get in if I randomly taped up posters or signs on trees that might not be trees?" I wouldn't use tacks or anything dangerous.

Alick laughed so hard his seat belt was the only thing keeping him in place. "Yes, I'll tell and you tape. Yes."

Well, it seemed like our sense of humor matched too…that was good to know as long as he didn't aim it at me.

"Deal." Carrick might like privacy and the deputy liked to glare, but I'd rather let everyone know I was more dangerous than they were.

"Yay." Alick wiggled in his seat, no longer worried about looking little. "We'll be scary."

Trying not to laugh, I nodded. "Then they'll learn to behave…or at least to eavesdrop on someone else."

That had my mischievous boy giggling again and he seemed delighted at the prospect of terrorizing the town.

Before I could ask him if he had any ideas about how we should start, he reached out to tap my arm with his left hand and pointed right. "There, Daddy."

Really?

"Okay." A few more seemingly random turns had us driving behind all the main businesses in town on what seemed to be an almost empty street. But it wasn't until Alick waved at someone standing by a mailbox I could've sworn hadn't been there a moment before that I knew I needed to ask more questions.

"Baby boy, where did that mailbox come from and who was that person?" Having good reflexes when I was startled was the only reason I hadn't run us into a tree…or someone that seemed to be one of his neighbors.

"Oh." Frowning, Alick reached out and rested his hand on my arm again. "There, Daddy."

And there was a whole fucking street of houses right in front of us.

"For fuck's sake." Bringing us to a stop, I took a deep breath and tried to remember to be reasonable. "Alright, baby boy, I'm not mad but you need to tell me when the mages have made something invisible."

Like half the fucking town.

Alick looked sad and was back to pouting but shrugged as he scrunched his face up. "I forgot. Sorry, Daddy."

Of course he had.

"Okay, um, you keep touching me and we'll figure out how to get me a charm later." Glancing down at his hand, I realized the small rope bracelet he had wrapped around his wrist wasn't a friendship bracelet he'd gotten from a regular little friend. "I should've asked more questions."

Running a finger over his bracelet, I could finally feel the magic coursing through it. "Yes, lots of questions."

Alick brightened and tightened his grip on my arm, obviously realizing he'd been forgiven. "The forever humans have lived here with the mages for a long, long time, so they hid us."

That didn't explain as much as he thought it did, but I rolled the information around in my head as I slowly drove us down the street. It'd been beautiful and tree lined before, but with Alick holding my hand, the view had completely changed.

Instead of there being just a handful of small driveways leading off the nearly empty road, there was a row of cute cottages and longer winding dirt roads that seemed to lead up into the mountains. "How does this not get confusing?"

Alick shrugged like he hadn't realized how odd it was. "Um, well…"

Thinking about the situation seemed to clear some of the little from his head because he leaned back and something shifted so that he suddenly looked like a guy I was dating instead a little that I was teasing. "I guess I've just gotten used to how odd it is?"

Yep, big.

"How do you get mail? What about Amazon? What about new humans who move into town? What about tourists?" I could've kept going but it seemed ridiculous at that point.

Alick sighed and looked slightly guilty. "Well, the weird reviews online about how hard it is to find some of the rental houses are finally getting noticed. But we have a small post office behind the library, so most people just get their mail there if their house is hidden."

Most people?

Their mailman had to think he was losing his mind.

I still had a lot of questions, but he pointed off to the right. "Um, I'm the third house down. The light green cottage. There should be room to pull the trailer into the front yard. I did a U-shaped driveway because of some bushes I wanted to put in the front."

Hmm.

"Just because of the bushes or did you think it was really important?" My question left him confused for a second before his mouth dropped open. I laughed as I pulled in his driveway where, unsurprisingly, there was plenty of room for the trailer. "Thought so."

"That's bigger than my beach toys, Daddy." Little Alick peeked out for a second before he shoved him back and blinked. "Um, yeah, it was important. I kept telling myself it was for the bushes because I really like the overgrown way they look, but I paid a stupid amount to have it put in. The original driveway was tiny."

Chuckling, I parked the truck and shrugged as I turned it off. "Well, thank you for thinking of me and I guess that answers the question about whether we should keep the trailer or not."

"Keep it. We're going to travel with my toys." Alick's eyes went wide and he closed his mouth. "Um, I guess that would be up to you, though."

This was not going to work.

Unbuckling, I shifted in my seat to give him a serious look that had him squirming. "First, I'm going to say that I really want to get to know this side of you because I have lots of grown-up questions. Second, this is your warning that if you don't try to stop overthinking the situation, I'll go to Walmart and buy a whole cartload of coloring books and kiddie gardening supplies. Everything from brightly colored little tools on down."

"That's cheating." Alick's glare and the drama in his voice were the cutest things I'd ever seen. "That's Lorne level of cheating."

That was one dragon I was going to have to keep an eye on.

"I just wanted to make sure you knew I was serious." Lifting one shoulder, I gave a half shrug. "I'm not afraid to handle a situation, baby boy."

His sigh was almost a whine as his eyes went big and he huffed. "But you can't…I shouldn't…"

Whatever he was thinking was ridiculous and I wasn't afraid to point that out.

"What am I? The main title." Keeping my eyes focused on his, I waited.

He broke quicker than I'd expected, a pout and another huff escaping. "You're my mate."

"Good boy." And the pink cheeks were back. "And what did you say about mates?"

Alick gave me more dramatic sounds but didn't drag it out too long. "That they're always compatible."

"That's right." Pulling out the big guns, I made sure all he saw was a serious Dom face. "And if you keep worrying about what to say, I'm going to go to Walmart and when I get back, my little cutie and I are going to have some long, giggly talks about your list."

Alick's mouth dropped open.

When he was stunned silent, I nodded to make it clear that I'd do it and that I knew it would work. "I have a feeling that as long as I'm not talking about how young your little side is, he won't mind chatting."

He sucked in a dramatic breath. "That's cheating."

Bullshit.

"Daddies don't cheat." Leaning across the cab, I gave him a soft kiss but didn't let it linger too long…because he was really tempting. "They make the rules."