“Daddy, we have a bit of a problem,” Cornell said, holding up his iPad for Rhys to see. “They’re predicting a big snowstorm.”
Rhys frowned as he looked at the weather map. “Holy crap, sixteen inches? That’s insane.”
Cornell nodded. “Yeah, but it’s not just that. It’s expected to hit Christmas Eve, so people are advised to stay inside after six PM.”
Anxiety roared up inside him at the idea of having to drive through a snowstorm. He’d never liked it, but after losing Jonas, the thought alone was terrifying.
Rhys leaned back, meeting Cornell’s eyes. “That means either we’d have to cancel the dinner with my mother, or we’d be stuck at her place. We’re not driving through that, sweetheart. No way.”
Cornell breathed out in relief. “Thank you, Daddy.”
“Come here,” Rhys said, and Cornell put the iPad to the side and curled up against Rhys. Rhys held him close, and his heartbeat beat a steady rhythm in Cornell’s ear, calming him. “Sweetheart, I would never take that risk. I wouldn’t have done it before, but especially after what you went through, I would never put you through that.”
“It’s terrifying,” Cornell whispered, his throat raw. “I think I’d have a full-blown panic attack.”
“And no one would fault you for that. But I also don’t want to spend a few days stuck at my mom’s.”
Cornell agreed wholeheartedly with that. The relationship between them and Cassie had improved—the therapist Cassie had found had encouraged her to start adopting a different perspective—but the peace was fragile. Being forced together like that would not be conducive.
Still, he didn’t want to make Rhys feel like he had no choice. “She’d be disappointed if we canceled.”
Rhys shrugged. “She’ll have to get over it. It’s not like we don’t want to come, but I’m not risking our safety that way. If she can’t understand that, that’s on her.”
Cornell snuggled closer to Rhys, who laced his fingers through Cornell’s hair and stroked his head. It made him feel so safe, so loved. The flannel Christmas-themed pajamas he’d ordered for his Daddy were soft and warm against his cheek—and they matched his own. They were red, with little snowflakes and snowmen on them, and he loved them. Cheesy? Hell yes. But he didn’t care. He’d take cheesy any day if it made him feel like this.
“What about Brendan and Rhys?” he asked after a while.
“I’ll call Brendan. They’ll have the same problem, and even though Brendan is close with his parents, I doubt he wants to spend three days with them. From what I understand, their house is pretty small.”
“You want to invite them here,” Cornell said, understanding where Rhys was going.
“Yeah. We have the space, and since Brendan is off from work anyway, it would be fun to spend a few days together. If you’re okay with that?”
“Absolutely. I like Brendan, and it’s hard not to love Raf.” Cornell’s heart warmed as he thought of the adorable boy who did everything with all his heart.
“I bought great presents for him,” Rhys said. “He’s gonna go nuts when he sees them. And if they’re staying here, we could play with them together.”
Cornell turned his head, meeting Rhys’s eyes. “If I didn’t love you so much already, that would seal the deal. You are so good with him. I can’t think of many men who would be comfortable playing with toys with another guy like that.”
Rhys shrugged, but his smile showed how pleased he was with Cornell’s praise. “He’s special, you know? He’s Raf. Like you said, it’s impossible not to love him. I wish I had recognized earlier what he needed because I might’ve been able to provide it to him.”
Cornell could easily picture it, Rhys as a Daddy to little Raf. “You would have…but then you and I’d never have happened, and he’d never have gone on his quest to find his missing connection. I think there was a reason why it worked out this way.”
Rhys caressed his cheeks. “Well said, sweetheart.”
Cornell smiled at him. “It’s such an old-fashioned term of endearment you have for me. Sweetheart. It sounds like a fifties movie.” Rhys opened his mouth, and Cornell lifted a finger in warning. “Skip the age jokes, dude.”
Rhys grinned. “I call you sweetheart, and you call me dude? Something’s not right here.” He traced Cornell’s mouth with his index finger as his face grew serious. “I called you sweetheart in my head long before we ever got together. It was how I thought of you, what I felt for you. Everything else sounded too easy, too cheap, too common. You were special to me, so I wanted to call you something special.”
Cornell closed his eyes for a second or two as a wave of emotions rolled through him. “I sometimes forget how long you had your eye on me,” he said, opening them again. “I didn’t see you like that, so I always feel like I’m behind the curve.”
Rhys’s smile was sweet. “There was a reason why it worked out this way,” he quoted Cornell’s words from before. “You weren’t ready for me yet, and I don’t think I was ready for you either.”
Cornell raised an eyebrow. “Am I that much work?”
“No, my perfect boy, but you deserved a Daddy who was able to give you what you needed…and I wasn’t there yet.”
“Gah, you say the sweetest things…” Cornell said with a happy sigh.
Rhys slid sideways, then repositioned himself with a few careful moves so they were pressed face-to-face on the couch. “So do you. You may think sweetheart is special, but you don’t know how I feel every time you call me Daddy. There’s nothing like it. It makes me feel like I can do anything.”
Anytime now, Cornell’s heart would actually melt in his chest. He crawled even closer in Rhys’s arms. His Rhys. His Daddy. His everything. “I wanna marry you,” he whispered.
Rhys’s eyes met his. “Are you ready, sweetheart? Because you can take as much time as you need. I will never put pressure on you.”
Rhys had proposed to him, months ago. And Cornell had said yes…but he’d also said not yet. He hadn’t been ready, his heart still too raw, too vulnerable after losing Jonas. He knew Rhys loved him. He’d never doubted that, but it had been hard for him to see past the near future, past next week, next month. The idea of a lifetime together had felt daunting, a risk he hadn’t been ready to take. And Rhys had understood. He’d never shown even a little bit of anger or disappointment.
“Thank you for being so patient with me,” he said softly.
Rhys kissed his forehead. “That’s not something you should thank me for. I would not only be a bad Daddy if I pushed you on this but also a bad person. I’ve waited for you a long time, sweetheart. I can wait as long as you need. I’m not going anywhere.”
He was right. If Rhys had shown anything in the months they’d been together, it was how devoted he was to Cornell. “I guess that deep down, I figured you’d grow tired of me, that you’d realize the reality of being with someone so much older…someone so needy and broken.”
“I know. But I happen to love needy boys…especially this one.” Rhys’s voice was so warm and kind, yet with that underlying dominance that it made clear he wasn’t joking. “But maybe the reason you weren’t ready yet was that you were also scared you’d grow tired of me? That I couldn’t give you what you needed, since I am so much younger?”
Cornell’s eyes widened. He’d never looked at it like that. “You thought I’d grow tired of you?”
“You’ve played with so many men, with so many Doms. You have this experience that I can never catch up on. What if what I offer isn’t enough? What if one day, you decide you only needed a Daddy to get through this horrific period in your life and now you want something else? Someone else?”
The gasp that flew from Cornell’s lips originated in his soul. Rhys showed this insecure side of him so rarely that it stabbed Cornell like a knife when he did. “No! I would never. You’re…you’re everything I want, that I need. You’re perfect for me, and I love the way you take care of me.”
“So are you,” Rhys said softly. “What we have is real and lasting. I know there’s a big age gap between us, and as much as I like to joke about it, I’m not denying it affects us. But I love you, and it’s not despite your age but partly because of your age. I’ve wanted you since I was sixteen, and here we are, seven years later, and my love for you is still growing stronger every day. Have faith in us, sweetheart.”
“Are you really scared sometimes I’ll leave you, or were you just saying that to make a point?” Cornell asked.
“A little of both. Of course I have those doubts and insecurities sometimes. That’s only human. But all I need to do is stop listening to my fears and start listening to my heart, to my soul because it’s telling me the truth. You belong with me…and I belong with you.”
All the doubts that had lingered in Cornell’s head, in his heart for so long vanished. Rhys’s words connected with him on a level he’d never experienced before. “I love you, Daddy…and I’d marry you today if I could.”