Chapter 18

Fraser

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Paxton's frown and the way he was giving me a side-eye said he knew it wasn't a good idea and he was just waiting for me to get less stupid.

"There's only so long you can hide from them, cutie." Shrugging as I pulled into the diner, I smiled and played dumb since the old farts said Lorne swore by it. "They like you. Don't worry."

His sigh said a lot but he didn't let most of those thoughts out. "Alright, Daddy."

He was such a happy date.

"I'll get you a piece of cake. I know how much you like it." That got a dramatic eye roll and I almost laughed as he let out another sigh.

"Because they tattled." Paxton didn't appreciate the local gossip network…and he'd liked it less when I'd gotten three phone calls yesterday wondering if I knew he'd gotten dessert for an afternoon snack.

Somehow everyone seemed to think anyone dating a known or suspected Daddy wasn't allowed to pick out snacks by themselves.

I still wasn't sure how that logic had come about, but Kenzie's name jumped to the front of my mind.

Still, Paxton hadn't appreciated it.

"They're going to know you're not the most boring grown-up in the room if you say they tattled." That got another dramatic huff from my adorable nut, but after a second, he sat straighter and nodded.

"You're right." Taking a deep breath, he seemed to be thinking about the situation more rationally as he stared at the front of the diner. "My personal life is my business. You're Fraser and we're mates. That's all they need to know."

"Technically, we don't have to say the mate part if you don't want to. It's really nobody's business until we decide to share it." That had him nearly going cross-eyed and my IQ dropped a dozen points judging by his glare. "Or not."

"You're mine! That's what the internet said." His voice went up several octaves and his eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head. "You're my Daddy! They have to know I belong to you! I'm your mate!"

Oh, Daddy'd dun fucked up.

"You do. You belong to me." Pausing just long enough to make sure the Jeep was in park, I leaned over and grabbed the back of his head, pulling him close so his forehead rested against mine. "You're mine, and I'm your mate and your Daddy. That will not change no matter if we talk about it today or next week or next month after we go on vacation and get married by Elvis or a cruise captain."

Blinking, his anger popped like a balloon. "I like boats, Daddy."

Oops.

Not sure if I'd made the situation better or worse, I nodded. "Me too, and it would keep everyone from fucking with our wedding plans."

Frowning, he sighed. "Like the VFW Hall, Daddy."

Yeah, Alick and his mate still didn't seem to know about that.

"Yep." Sneaking in a quick peck since it didn't seem like he was going to kill me and bury me in a shallow grave near his beetles any longer, I shrugged. "But we're smarter than that and we know how to set good boundaries."

Kind of.

He still hadn't gone back to the bakery in the past couple of days, but he'd been practicing ignoring the nosiest of the locals.

"We're smart." Even Paxton seemed to realize he needed to work on the boundary part. "We're big boys too."

Maybe?

"I'm going to introduce you to some people. We're going to have a nice lunch. We're going to talk about the hike tomorrow. We're going to try to be subtle and ask Alick about his plans for their wedding." That got a giggle from Paxton. "Okay, I said we were going to try to be subtle. I didn't promise anything."

That got me more snickers and he wasn't looking homicidal any longer.

He even gave me a quick kiss and aimed wide eyes at me. "I'm your mate, Daddy."

A manipulative one at that.

"You are." So I returned the kiss and was a great Daddy because I ignored his silliness. "And I'm not going to hide that, but we're not going to answer any marriage questions or any that are about what kind of little you are."

He blinked and sighed again.

Not good.

"But…but if they ask if I'm a pony, you have to tell them no." That seemed to be where he drew the line. "I'm not going around in circles and doing…that."

Yep, still little enough that we weren't saying grown-up words.

"Deal." I snuck in another kiss to seal it. "I will make sure to tell them no if that comes up and I'll even look at them like they're crazy."

Because that wouldn't be hard.

I'd have loved to promise him that the ridiculous question wouldn't come up, but I wasn't going to lie even if it would've made him happy.

"Thank you." He let out a huff before he rested his head on my shoulder. "I like hikes, Daddy. I like dessert. I like mac and cheese."

Since it seemed like he was talking himself into actually going inside the diner, I nodded and kept him snuggled close. "And you'll like Alick and his mate. I keep forgetting that guy's name."

Paxton's giggle made me huff that time. "He hasn't been in the area long and he doesn't really talk to anyone else. I think I saw him once walking out of Walmart with Alick. The only reason I know so much is that people are nosy and Alick asked me if I would lead them on a hike up to the portal."

That was the only reason Paxton was willing to brave the diner again. He wanted to come on the hike, but he didn't think inviting himself without at least first meeting them would be polite. I didn't care because polite would not save him in our fucked-up little community, but he liked manners, so we were going to have manners.

"Grady. That's his name." Because he found everyone grating. "You have to remember that because I won't."

He jerked in silent laughter, but he didn't disagree with his new role in our relationship. "Yes, Daddy."

Kissing the side of his head, I did my best to sound happy. "Thank you. Alright, you ready to pretend to be boring?"

Paxton couldn't seem to decide if he wanted to laugh or sigh, but he nodded after a few long moments. "Yes. I can play pretend as long as I get dessert."

Hmm.

"Deal." I didn't care one way or the other about dessert or him being big, but I knew he did, so that was all that mattered. "But if I'm big and you get dessert, I want cuddles later."

Snickering, Paxton pressed his face tighter against me. "Daddy cuddles are naughty."

"Yep." I wasn't going to deny that either. "But it will be my reward for being good and defending you from the crazy people."

And the laughter escaped again.

But he was happy and sat up without prompting, so it was a win. "I'm hungry and I want to go on the big walk, Daddy. I'm ready."

Maybe.

"Perfect." Kissing his cheek, I nodded toward the passenger door. "Is Daddy getting the door or are you?"

He was adorable as he overthought the situation and finally shrugged. "You can do it. They'll think we're playing pretend anyway."

Good point.

"Yeah, no matter what we do they're going to spin their own narrative. We just need to focus on giving them your perfect stares and making them think they're nuts." I didn't need to be nice to nosy lunatics who were going to make my boy nervous.

Paxton took another breath and sat straighter again. "Yes, I'm boring and I don't deal with nosy people."

"Perfect." He looked almost grown-up. There was something playful in his expression, but I had a feeling most of the nuts in the diner wouldn't notice. "Let's go and I'll open the door because I want to hold your hand."

His adorable blush made him look little to me but it was fading quickly. " Daddy …"

He was totally going to out us.

"Yep." Giving him a peck on the cheek, I got everything in order and hopped out of the Jeep. He was mostly boring looking by the time I got around to the passenger seat, but he wasn't as relaxed as he had been. "I will defend you against weird questions."

His lips pressed together to keep from smiling and he nodded seriously as I helped him out of the vehicle. "Thank you, Fraser."

That sounded so awkward he cocked his head and frowned as he stepped closer to me. "Oh, that…"

"Just don't say my name." Kissing him one more time, I closed the Jeep and started heading inside. If I waited for everything to be perfect, we'd never get lunch or make plans for the hike. "It's going to be fine."

Mostly because half the diner was empty.

Even Paxton noticed something was off and leaned close to me to whisper. "Where is everyone?"

He was good and his voice had been so low even other dragons wouldn't have heard him, but neither of us were subtle enough. Alick's mate laughed as Alick waved us over. "Everyone nosy or bossy is over at the VFW coming up with some new clubs."

Saved by the overachievers.

But all Paxton heard was the comment about the VFW Hall and he tugged on my hand. Yep, I knew what that meant and I also knew we wouldn't get a better chance to talk about their wedding. My sigh had Paxton nodding and our lunch guests looking at us curiously.

"This is going to be awkward. But hi." Dragging a nearly giggling Paxton over to the table, I plunked us down on our side of the booth, Paxton on the inside to protect him from the lunatics. "But we won't get another chance to talk where no one is going to pay attention to us."

Their heads cocked in almost perfect unison and Paxton started coughing to cover his snickers. I just shot him a glare. "Stop that. You're going to make me laugh and then we won't get it out before the old men come back."

Paxton and our two lunch companions all started nodding.

"Okay, are you guys aware that the VFW Hall has been rented out for your wedding next month?" Their wide eyes said they had not been aware of that interesting fact.

Paxton made a soft hum, so he'd realized how startled they were too.

When I got nothing from the other two guys, I tried again. "I overheard gossip and it's entirely possible I got it wrong, but I don't think so. I don't know if they're planning on surprising you or if they think someone else already tattled, but they're up to shenanigans."

Alick and Grady both groaned as they came back to life, and Alick tilted over to plop his head on his mate's shoulder. "That's why the texts stopped. Once you told them what kind of white was best, that was all they needed to just charge right on ahead."

Grady scoffed. "You were the one that told them what flowers you were passionate about. That has to be what threw them over the edge."

I was pretty sure it was the combination of all of it that had given the old farts the ammo they needed, but I wasn't sure it was my place to tell them that. Before I could figure out my response, though, Paxton leaned over the table and kept his voice at a whisper. "Can one of you explain why you need stuffed animals at a wedding? I really don't know if that's…cultural, or well, cultural ."

Dragons and littles?

That seemed to be how we all took his comment because Alick and Grady turned to each other and I knew they were having a private conversation. Paxton and I were patient but he slid close to me and brought his lips to my ear. "We'll be able to do that too, right?"

Nodding, I ignored the smiles Alick and Grady sent us and kissed Paxton's cheek as he pulled back. "Yes."

"Good." Paxton settled back against the booth and smiled like he hadn't done anything cute at all.

His adorable entertainment distracted the two other guys and they finally sighed again. Grady seemed to be taking responsibility for his part of the chaos. "Okay, I think that might've been me, but it was a vague question the other day about what Alick's favorite stuffed animals were. It's not cultural in any sense of the word, though."

I wanted to be grateful for that, but I was mostly confused.

"I really don't want to know what they think you're doing with stuffed animals." Paxton's wide-eyed response said his mind was trying to fill in the blanks and it was frightening.

"Don't look that up online." Kissing his head, I turned back to Alick and Grady, who were trying not to laugh.

"I'm not looking that up either, but at least you're forewarned about the whole thing?" I was probably being a smart-ass but Alick just leaned back and seemed to be trying to decide if he was going to sigh or laugh. "So…you wanted to hike up to the portal?"

Both sets of eyes turned right to Paxton.

He was trying to look boring and just waved. "Hi. I know about that stuff."

Rolling my eyes brought their attention back to me. "Because he found bugs that teleport."

Paxton reached over and poked me as he frowned, clearly waiting for me to finish my statement correctly.

"And he's my mate." Giving him a bright, innocent smile, I kissed his cheek. "He's a violent little bug but he's mine."

And he was wonderfully dramatic too because he flopped back in the booth and decided to get back at me the best way possible. " Miss Nancy , they're being mean to me and they said naughty things."

Ugh.

That was definitely cheating.