Three Months Later
Cash
Cash took the stairs while Liam, CC, and three other people with their arms loaded took the elevator. He got to the fourth floor right as the elevator dinged and opened up, and he got a grateful look from CC and wink from Liam. It was Sunday, and they were bringing the first of what would probably amount to three more loads for him into CC’s dorm. When he followed them into the spacious quad he’d upgraded CC and her three new friends into, all three girls turned to him in unison, batting their eye lashes, and called out, “Hi, Daddy!”
He gave them each a stern look, trying hard to keep a smile off his face and laughter out of his voice when he said, “Girls, knock it off.”
They all pouted prettily at him, as if they’d practiced the whole routine—which wouldn’t have surprised him one bit—their voices sounding fully chastised and melodramatic when they sighed and said, “Yes, Daddy.”
They all broke off in a fit of teenage girl giggles, and all he could do was shake his head at them and avoid encouraging their cheekiness whenever possible. He heard an indelicate snort from his boy and flicked his eyes that way. A smirk and arms folded over his chest were what greeted him, and he put the totes down. He shrugged and held out his hands. “What?!”
Liam shook his head and tsked him several times. “Such a lady’s man, Daddy, and using your stern toppy voice on them to make matters worse.”
Cash stared at him in stupefaction. Was he kidding? He threw up his hands and narrowed his eyes at CC’s smirk. Pointing at her new friends, he said, “They’re trouble. Watch yourself around them.”
She snorted and nodded. “I know, but someone’s gotta keep an eye on them.”
Cash rolled his eyes. “Good luck with that.”
He turned and stomped out of the room to get another load of the girls’ stuff. He could hear all four of them laughing, and then Liam join in. He’d also swear he heard several high fives before the door to the stairwell clicked shut behind him. It was going to be a long day, but at the end of it, he’d be rewarded with seeing a carefree, happy smile on CC’s beautiful face, not to mention a pleased and proud older brother holding Cash’s hand as they walked away from CC, leaving her to start her new, adult life in the care of some great friends. The fact that he’d be giving Liam a punishment he wouldn’t soon forget when they got home might have had something to do with the smile splitting his face as he made his way down the stairs, the same smile he’d hidden behind a mask of fake indignation for the group in the dorm room.
The girls were all from out of town, so they’d come several times during the summer to stay the weekend and explore the city and their college campus. They’d made huge lists of what they needed to buy at different stores around town and had chatted about who would buy what at which store. They’d all squealed with excitement when Cash had presented CC with her own debit card from an account he’d set up for her. He’d nudged them out the door with his enormous SUV and told them to buy whatever they needed.
Liam had tried his best to keep him from doing it, but he’d argued that they’d both spent way too damn long living with nothing and getting by on their own. If he wanted to spoil them a little, he’d do so. As a sort of de facto guardian for CC and as Liam’s Daddy, he felt he was entitled. They’d also had many long conversations about CC’s schooling, but when it all came down to it, he’d finally gotten his way and had been happy to be able to pay for her education. He didn’t want her starting off her life after graduation with debilitating debt.
As he gathered more totes, someone came by with a luggage trolley and told him they were done with it, and he could use it if he returned it to the dorm’s mail room. He told them he would and loaded that sucker up until he could barely push it. He turned back to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything and was happy to see he hadn’t. If he didn’t see another tote or box until the end of the school year when they had to move her back home for the summer, he’d be a happy man.
He looked at the enormous trolley, and shaking his head, he wondered what the hell four girls in a dormitory could possibly need with that much shit? The other three girls had moved in the day before, which had been the official freshman campus move in day. CC, Liam, and Cash had been returning from a short trip to see Jane, so they’d had to delay move in day until Sunday.
The trip they’d returned from the day before had been well worth it to see the happiness on CC and Liam’s faces. He’d spoken with Jane several times during her recovery, and while he wouldn’t exactly call her a friend quite yet, he’d definitely call her a fond acquaintance. She’d told him she knew she was placing a burden on him, but still, she was asking him to help be responsible for CC while she was in college. She’d do what she could but knew she needed to focus on her own continued recovery when she was released.
She’d thought about moving to Boston to be closer to her kids but had rightly determined that they’d needed space from her, and that she’d needed it as well to move forward. In the end, she’d gone back to her apartment for only one night before Harley had come to declare his love for her and asked her to move in with him. She’d said she’d moved the following day and was happier than she could remember being in ten years.
Their mom had actually faltered once more and left the rehab after detox, but she’d returned within hours without having taken a sip of alcohol. Cash and Liam hadn’t even heard about it until she’d returned and been readmitted. She’d been allowed to continue from where she’d left off and had made it through the remainder of the two and a half months of rehabilitation.
Cash knew that it had helped Jane to know her kids supported her and thought she could do it, but thought the real reason she’d done it had been because she started to see in herself the person she could be, the person she used to be, and the person that Harley saw in her. She’d fought to get sober, and she’d finally succeeded. Jane had chatted with him while they’d visited, and she had admitted that it was still a struggle, but her new life and her new happiness far outweighed any temporary relief alcohol would provide.
Cash knew it was because of Harley and what he’d done to get his own point across. Good ole Harley Matthews had put his foot down, refusing to visit or call her while she was in rehab. He told her the most he would be willing to do was send letters and email her. He wouldn’t put his heart on the line again until he knew she was fully committed to her recovery and released from rehab.
She’d misted up when telling him that the letters had started out being perfunctory and supportive, but as she’d opened up to him about her feelings and about what had happened in her past, the letters and emails had increased ten-fold, and as time had passed, they’d become more romantic. She had every single letter he’d sent her and kept them in a “love letters” box. When she was done talking about it with Cash, she’d wiped her eyes, and the smile he’d seen on her face had been brilliant.
As he’d driven them all home, Liam and CC had exclaimed over what a huge change they’d seen in their mom. She’d curbed her manipulative behaviors, and they saw the woman their mom used to be before their dad left. The drive home had been buoyant and full of hope, and it had been exactly what CC had needed before moving on to the next phase of her life.
He waited for the elevator, and when it came, he had to wedge, pivot, and nudge the damned thing into the tight space. He couldn’t help but laugh as the memory of Ross from Friends yelling “PIVOT!” came to mind. When he managed to get the thing upstairs and into their room, everyone turned towards him and yelled, “Thank you, Daddy!”
They all burst into a fit of giggles, his boy included, and he was unable to keep in his exasperated chuckle. Shaking his head, he pointed at all of them and said, “Only one of you has permission to call me that, understood?”
A resounding, “Yes, Daddy,” came back to him, and he gave up. These kids were going to be the death of him. Thankfully, that was about the end of it, as they all pounced greedily on the goodies he’d brought up, and he and Liam spent the next two hours helping the girls unpack the bigger items, put some shelves together, hang things on the walls, and gathered up the detritus of storage boxes and containers to return with them.
He treated them all to lunch, and it was made clear to both Liam and Cash that the girls were ready to be on their own when he dropped them off by their building. He was treated to a boisterous hug from all three of CC’s friends at the same time. He watched as Liam hugged the girls as well then he and CC gripped each other like lifelines and swayed back and forth while whispering to each other, tears in their eyes.
He smiled, knowing how emotional they both were about their mom and all the changes in their lives, then laughed as CC’s friends walked towards the dorm, one of them calling out, “Come on, CC! They live less than a twenty-minute drive away! We’ll be visiting like alllll the time.”
CC laughed and pulled away from Liam, turned to him and gave him an exuberant hug, saying, “It won’t be all the time, I promise.”
When they pulled apart, Cash gripped her shoulders and smiled down at her. “You come as often as you like, with or without your friends. It’s your home, too.” He paused, and then added, “Just don’t show up unannounced.”
She snorted, and they both chuckled as Liam groaned and whined, “Oh my god, Daddy!”
She gave one last hug to Liam, both siblings laughing, then ran to meet her friends at the door where they all yelled out a very practiced, “Bye, Daddy!”
He waved them off, and they laughed as they went inside. He shook his head and muttered, “Jesus, help me. What have I done to deserve this?”
Liam just laughed and grabbed Cash’s hands. Pulling Cash towards him, he raised himself on his tiptoes to reach Cash’s lips and kissed him soundly. “You know they’re just doing it because it’s driving you crazy. And I hate to break it to you, Daddy, but you blush every time they say it. They can’t help but get a kick out of a man that blushes when they tease him, is sweet enough to take care of them with everything you helped them with, and yet protective enough to lecture all of them about the perils of college parties, staying with friends, and never letting their drink glasses out of their sight. It’s kind of an adorable combination.”
Cash huffed and shook his head, and Liam pulled him down again and kissed him sweetly before grabbing his ass and walking sassily towards the car. Cash buckled him in and rounded the hood, getting in the driver’s seat. He turned to Liam, who smiled sweetly at him. “Alone, at last.”
He chuckled and replied, “You’re happy about that now, but when you’re being punished for egging those girls on, you might not feel the same way. Your sweet, round ass is going to be red with my handprints later.”
His boy’s eyes got big, and a blissed-out little smile appeared as he said, “Oh, Daddy, you do say the sweetest things. I sure hope that’s a promise!”
Cash couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “Oh, it’s a promise all right. I just haven’t decided whether or not I’ll be allowing you to come.”
Liam’s horrified gasp made him laugh, and he set about getting them home so he could make good on his promises.
Liam
On their way home, Cash’s phone rang through the Bluetooth speakers, the automated voice telling them it was Tommy. Cash answered. “Hi, Tommy.”
“Hi, Cash. Liam there with you?”
Liam smiled. “I’m here. How are you?”
Cash and Liam grinned at each other when they heard Tommy grumble. “I’m exhausted. Rafael is an evil overlord sitting on his throne, dictating every single thing I do from the moment I get up to the moment I go to bed.”
Cash snorted. “You just… That’s… You’re mixing up feudalism, monarchism, and totalitarianism. That doesn’t even make sen—”
“Cash Moreau! You’re supposed to be commiserating with me, not arguing with me about governments!”
Liam smiled as he watched Cash rub his stubbly jaw, as if trying to rub the amusement and exasperation off his face. He cleared his throat. “All right, Tommy. How can we help?”
“Ugh, I don’t fucking know. He’s driving me crazy. I was patient with him. I signed on to this with the expectation that I’d be learning from him, and when I got here, he was here for one day, and then he left for five months on some super-secret trip that no one knows or will talk about. Five months! I was being trained by his interim chef and his sous chef while he was gone, and I did learn a lot, but then he comes back, and I swear, he’s been an asshole every day of the last three months!”
Cash raised a brow at Liam and asked Tommy, “Every day?”
“Yes! He expects miracles, and I’ve been busting my ass. Then if I go out with friends to let off steam after a hard day, he gets all pissy and treats me like shit. I’m an adult. I can do what I want. As long as I perform and do what he says during my shift, he shouldn’t be bothering me about what I do when I’m not there. Ugh!”
“Tommy, are you being professional and treating him with respect?”
“Yes! Cash, I swear I am. I just… I don’t know. I love this place, but he’s awful.”
Liam smiled and tried to change the subject. “What do you love about it?”
“Oh my god, you guys, this place is paradise on earth. The beaches are the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, the island is totally chill. There’s apparently been an infusion of Italians as of late, and I gotta say, they’re all so pretty laid out on the nude beaches. I haven’t found a Daddy yet, but I’m sure having fun looking. Oh, and I bought a VW van, can you believe it? I’ve become an island hippy. They’re everywhere, and it reminds me of home. And the hierbas!”
Liam laughed at his friend as he got carried away talking about his new home. “What the hell is an ear bus?”
Tommy snorted at Liam. “Hierbas! It’s an alcohol made from local island herbs. You drink it in shots. So good! Anyways…the dictator. He bitches and moans about every damned thing. I’m just shy of my thirties, I mean come on! Of course I’m going to enjoy the nightlife of a Mediterranean island!”
Cash shook his head and tsked Tommy. “Tommy, Rafe seems like a pretty good guy. You sure something else isn’t going on?”
“What are you talking about? There’s nothing going on. What could be going on?”
Liam smiled at Daddy. Tommy doth protest too much, he thought, and couldn’t keep himself from asking, “You sure about that? I saw a picture. Tommy, he’s hot!”
Cash narrowed his eyes at Liam, letting him know he was skating on thin ice. Liam grabbed Cash’s hand and sucked on his thumb as if it was his cock to distract him, enjoying the heat that flared in Daddy’s eyes. He tuned back in when Tommy nearly shrieked, “That’s beside the point!”
Liam snickered. “That might be exactly the point. Have you thought about calling him Papi?”
“Papi? Why the hell would… No. No. That’s not funny. Cash?”
Cash rolled his eyes at Liam but answered, “Yeah, Tommy?”
“Don’t ‘yeah, Tommy’ me! Is he a… Tell me he’s not a Daddy.”
“Tommy, you’re a smart guy. How do you think I met him?”
“Not through TBC. Cash, tell me it wasn’t through the app.”
Cash’s low chuckle did funny things to Liam’s belly. “I don’t think I have to say it. I think you know the answer. You might try calling him Papi one day when tempers are high. See how he handles it.”
Tommy moaned and groaned for quite some time and finally managed, “I want to throttle you, Cash Moreau!”
Cash laughed. “But I thought you said you’d love me forever!”
Tommy gasped, “Well, I take it back! I don’t love you. Either of you. You’re both mean as shit.”
They both laughed and said, “We love you, Tommy,” as if they’d planned it. Their laughter turned into guffaws when Tommy growled and said, “Ugh! You two are awful,” and then hung up on them.
Liam had been on his best behavior on the ride home and had received a very stimulating spanking, but just as Daddy had warned he might do, he hadn’t given Liam permission to come. He’d sulked about for a bit, but he knew exactly what it meant when Daddy wouldn’t allow him to come. More pleasure was to come at a later time that would far eclipse what they’d have done when they’d gotten home. So he couldn’t be that upset, because in the end, Daddy always took care of his boy.
Later that night, he was in the tub taking a hot bath, per Daddy’s instructions, and thinking about how different his life had become. CC had been living with them for months, but the other wing was far away, so they’d been exploring each other’s limits and fulfilling each other’s fantasies, one by delicious one.
They role played constantly, and they both enjoyed nothing better than having Liam play the inexperienced virgin stepson, over and over. Nicky had been found in any number of compromising positions over the last several months. They’d even played several other roles. One he remembered fondly was the teacher/student role play scene they’d done. It was one they’d be revisiting again, because for some reason, getting spanked with a ruler on his ass and his knuckles really did it for him.
They never put limits on what they wanted to explore, and Daddy always made sure to play to his fantasies, no matter how strange they were. He never imagined he’d be lucky enough to find the man of his dreams before he’d even turned twenty-one. His life was so drastically different than it had been less than a year ago. His family was whole again, if not together, and he’d met the man he’d spend the rest of his life with, and in so doing, made his family bigger.
They’d taken Mimi on full time, and she’d become a part of their family as well. She kept their home running smoothly and kept them well fed. She loved catering their get togethers and even helped decorate the house for most occasions. She knew of their predilections as Cash had been honest and upfront with her, knowing Liam would always call him Daddy at home.
She’d blushed and giggled, and then told them two weeks later that she’d called her husband Daddy one night, and they’d both ended up admitting that they’d had the best sex they’d ever had. Liam and Cash had laughed their asses off at her mile-wide grin, and she made them their favorite dishes for every meal for a solid week in thanks.
Liam loved the work he did, and while he enjoyed the company he worked for, he’d decided to take Cash up on his offer to work for him directly. They’d had a few issues over the summer months in regard to his work schedule not agreeing with Cash’s impromptu vacations. They’d discovered they loved to travel together, and when he wasn’t able to go because he didn’t have the vacation time, he’d seen the frustration in Cash’s eyes, though Daddy had never made an issue of it because he knew how Liam felt about working.
He’d yet to tell Cash he’d finished up the last day of his two weeks’ notice earlier that week before they’d left to see his mom and Harley. He thought about leaving it a surprise and just dressing for work and getting in Daddy’s car instead of his own—which was a fancy new luxury sports car Daddy bought him when his car finally cratered—Monday morning, but he liked the idea of what the good news might make Daddy do to him too much to wait.
When a very naked Daddy came into the bathroom to get him out of the bath, Liam accepted his help stepping out of it. He dried Liam from head to toe, and when he knelt at Liam’s feet to finish the job, Liam ran his hands through Daddy’s hair and whispered, “Daddy?”
Cash looked up into Liam’s eyes, still rubbing his ankles and feet and Liam smiled down at him. “My last day at work was Tuesday.”
All movement stopped, and Daddy blinked up at him, confused. “What?”
“I wondered if you might have a spot for me at Daddy Kink, Inc.? You’ve asked me to come work for you several times since I started, and I know you wanted to take me away more often this summer than I was able to go, so I thought, if we worked at the same company, maybe it would be easier.”
“Are the particulars up to me?”
Liam knew what he was asking and smiled. He’d already thought of his answer. “Yes, Daddy. Other than the fact that I’d like to work to stay busy and because I love what I do, the rest of it is up to you. You paid for my mom’s care, and now she’s Harley’s responsibility. You’re taking care of CC’s education, and that was why I was working full time. So, everything else is up to you.”
“You’ll be working on projects with me, and only on a part time basis. I want to be able to take you away whenever I want, and I don’t want to have to wait until you’ve got vacation time accrued. We might be home for two weeks then leave for a month or be home for a month then be gone for two. Do you understand that’s what you’re signing up for?”
He couldn’t keep a grin off his face when he nodded. “Yes, Daddy.”
Cash stood quickly and grabbed him up. Liam wrapped his arms around his neck and his legs around his waist. His mouth was suddenly devoured by Daddy’s, and he got lost in the swirl of tongues, the nip of teeth, and the melding of lips. When Cash finally pulled away, he said, “You just made Daddy very happy, baby boy.”
He gazed in Cash’s eyes and replied, “I’m glad. I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy, Daddy.”
They made love, slowly, sensually, reveling in each other’s touch and whispered words. When they were done, they lay in each other’s arms, Liam caressing Daddy’s chest and clinging to him, needy after such tender lovemaking. Cash ran his hands through Liam’s hair and kissed the top of his head. He looked up at Cash and whispered. “I love you, Daddy. So much. I’m so lucky to have you.”
“I love you too, baby boy. Rest now. We’ve got all the time in the world together. This is only the beginning.”