Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

Jett

The plane ride back to Bellport is boring compared to how I've spent the last several days.

We get first-class seats again, which I'm thankful for given how large I am. Economy is always hard on my long legs.

Daddy makes sure to take good care of me the whole trip, so I don't have to outwardly work at anything. My problem is more internal.

I can't shut my brain off.

All I can think about is how we're almost home and everything is about to change. Daddy is going to go to his house, I'll go to mine, and after that, I don't know when I'll see him again.

There is no continuation.

We have no plans.

Christmas is over.

He's no longer my Secret Santa.

The thought fills me with dread. My heart lurches in my chest. It's like the flu, without any medicine to cure me. I can't regulate my temperature or my emotions right now.

When we get off the plane, Daddy grabs my arm and moves us past all the people. Some stare at me since they obviously know who I am. I see a few cell phones taking pictures. I ignore it all, though, because the man holding me up is all I want my attention on. He's all I want to think about. All I want to feel.

I'm so distracted by thoughts of him that it takes me a second to realize he's pushed me into a room with a rocking chair. A rocking chair?

"Daddy?" I ask softly.

He's facing the door, his shoulders moving up and down rapidly.

"Sweet boy, I can sense that something is wrong. You're bothered, but you haven't said anything."

Guilt overwhelms me.

"I'm sorry, Daddy. I didn't know how to say anything. It didn't seem my place."

Turning around, he says, "If it's about us, you have every right to say something. What's on your mind?"

What a loaded question. I can't answer him. I don't even know where to begin.

He looks stricken at my silence. It's that face, that expression that breaks my hesitation.

"I don't want to go home alone, Daddy."

He smiles, and the worry I feel slips away. I pour my heart out to him even farther.

"This trip has been more than I could have dreamed of. And to know that I'm going to go home to a big empty house and have to take care of everything all alone again makes me sad. It makes me angry. I know that you can't live with me, obviously. You have a career. You have things to do. I'm just being a baby."

He shakes his head, a smile still in place as he comes and wraps his arms around me. We're pressed together as close as possible, and I love it. I love the feeling of him against me. It's how we should always be.

"My sweet boy," he tells me. "You should have said something sooner. I could have put your mind at ease. In fact, I was only minutes away from suggesting that we go back to my house. I wanted to invite you so that we wouldn't have to be apart. At least for as long as we could. I'm sure you have practice and such to get to this week, like I have work meetings, but…" his voice trails off.

"But you want as much time with me as possible." I fill in the blank.

He nods, then rubs his face against my chest. There's fabric between us, but the touch is still soothing. It's my Daddy showing me he cares. It's him being honest and open with me the way that I should have been with him from the start.

I grab his shoulders and push him back far enough to look at me. Using my hands, I cup his face so that we're locked together, and he can see the sincerity in my gaze.

"Daddy, I want nothing more than to spend time with you. We don't have to make any big decisions, but I would like to try. It's not the train, but can we try?"

It's my emphasis on the last word that he understands most.

"I'm willing to try anything if it means having you," he answers.

I shiver at the promise that goes unsaid. Then I pull him back to me and we hug. Our embrace says the words we can't.

Because the truth of it all is that we are a bit obsessed with each other. I knew the minute I realized this Secret Santa thing was much more than just a simple present.

I had found my person. Much like what I had seen Bellamy and Aries do for theirs, this was an experience. This was him catering to my needs, but also fulfilling his own.

Two people could not be more perfectly aligned despite seeming different.

Daddy pulls back again a few moments later. "Let's get the bags and decide where we're going to go. I don't care if it's your place or mine."

I immediately jump in, "Mine please. I like my routines."

He doesn't ask about them, nor does he call me out for interrupting him. Instead, he smiles, then motions for me to lean down so he can give me a proper kiss.

We shuffle out of the room, which I discover is a nursing station, and head towards the baggage claim. Thankfully, there were no mothers waiting to feed their children while we talked, so my guilt is assuaged.

Though I didn't necessarily like taking up a space that wasn't for us. It's not like we could have gone into the bathroom and talked though. With as many people who have spotted me, any conversation we had would become public knowledge in 2.5 seconds.

The Internet was a horrible place for gossip. Despite not being one of the most famous players on the team, you couldn't live in Bellport and be a Bellport Bear without people knowing.

Daddy gets both of our bags and leads me out to the car pickup area. We bypass the taxis and visitors grabbing family members and friends to head to the lot for long-term parking.

I'm not sure how Daddy knows I parked here, but I assume that he's assuming. When we get to the entrance, he turns towards me and sticks his hand out. I pull out the ticket, to which he grins and leads us where we need to be.

My SUV looks perfectly untouched, which I'm thankful for. We tuck away the bags in the back.

With an ease that comes from years of confidence in oneself, Daddy escorts me to the passenger seat and gets behind the wheel. I giggle as he slowly moves his seat forward so he can reach the pedals.

If I were the Daddy, and he was the boy, I would have to make a joke about a booster seat, but since I don't want any type of punishment, I hold off.

Besides, I like seeing Daddy in charge. I don't mind sitting back while he leads.

As he drives us through the city, I take in the familiar sights. This place is home. It is what I know. It's what I am comfortable with.

Having Daddy at my side adds a new layer to it all. I feel safe and cherished.

Once he's made it past the downtown area, he continues following the GPS, which thankfully had my home address programmed into it. Soft jazz music plays in the background. The soothing tones have nearly put me to sleep when we pull up to my place.

Daddy parks, then motions for me to wait. He climbs out and opens my door, leaning over to unbuckle me. I've never felt so spoiled. The man truly knows what he's doing.

When we are both out of the car and facing my place, he whistles softly. "You've got a nice setup here, sweet boy," he tells me. "Though I wonder if it's too much room for you, all alone."

I nod. "It is, Daddy. There is one good thing about it, if I'm honest."

I think of the one special place I go when I'm stressed, the area that is so completely mine.

Daddy takes my hand and motions to the front door. "I'd love to see whatever put that smile on your face."

Leading him inside my home, I move us through the large open spaces to my sanctum. Daddy takes it all in with measured glances. I'm sure he has commentary about it all; however, he doesn't say a word. He simply lets me show him my favorite part of the house.

At the door, I pause briefly before I wave him in. Daddy laughs softly. I know it's not to make fun of me. More that he's starting to put together the pieces of how deep my obsession with trains runs.

"This is magnificent," he cries.

I clap my hands as I tug away from him and move to point out all the different pieces of the massive train set I built over the years. The interconnecting tracks are a thing of beauty. When I turn on the train itself and it starts to move, he laughs even harder.

"My sweet boy, what a talent you have. This is…" he pauses. "I'm so honored to see this part of you and to see how happy it makes you. I hope that one day I can make you just as happy."

I come to a dead stop, my hands hovering over the controls of the train as his words barrel through me. I leave everything running as I rush over to him. Leaning down so that we're eye to eye, I reassure him how important he is to me.

"Daddy, you do make me this happy. I have loved trains for years. It's a part of me. But you are new and exciting, and I don't know what it all means yet. What I do know is that I want more time with you. Time when you're Daddy, and I'm your boy. Where we get to play with the trains or go on trips. Times where you take care of me fully and times where I'm just maybe your boyfriend." I stutter over the last word, unsure of how to handle it.

When I was talking to my mom, I was confidently surrounded by all my friends and really in my Little mindset. But here, back in Belport where everything is real, it's... well, it's real. It's a word that holds so much more meaning than what it had before.

Daddy runs his finger along my jaw, his smile just as strong as ever. "I would be honored to be your boyfriend or your Daddy at any given moment. You simply tell me what you need, and I will provide it. Sometimes I'll provide it without you even telling me because I think I'm getting a pretty good grasp on who Jett Fawkes is."

It's then that I laugh too.

"I think you're right, Daddy. You do know me pretty well."

He kisses me softly, the touch barely there. Even with the delicate nature of it, I feel the emotions it brings through every fiber of my being.