Chapter Twenty-Seven
Cosima
She was so nervous, but maybe more excited than she had ever been. It was a week after her big talk with Daddy and Papa but more importantly it was her first night going down to the club and she couldn’t freaking wait.
Her shoes were tied, her hair was done, her dress was straightened and she had her paci clipped to her collar. It was one thing to wear these things in front of Daddy and Papa and even Ryker but it was another to wear them in front of other people. And there would be a bunch of others there tonight. It was a littles and middles night which is why Daddy and Papa had thought it would be perfect for her but she knew she wouldn’t be able to blend in with the crowd.
People noticed Hudson because he was enormous. People noticed Ian because of his flaming red hair. People noticed Ryker because he was terrifying. And everyone at Hive knew who they were because they literally owned the place. Plus, she couldn’t imagine there hadn’t been rumors about her.
She was living with them for fuck’s sake, and it was big news for Ian and Hudson to have a partner—especially one who kept them away from the club for the most part. Never mind that she’d basically shown up out of nowhere and then had seemingly been like Rapunzel in the tower. Except it was a tower of her own making and Cosima didn’t have any hair. Well, a little now and it was in the pokey-sticky-uppy pigtails Ian liked her in.
“Do you want to walk downstairs or do you want Daddy to carry you?” Ian asked.
Yes, Ian would happily tote her for shorter distances around the loft but not down the stairs.
On the one hand, Cosima wanted to insist she could do it herself. She was physically capable of walking down stairs, and she would still be able to hold onto Papa’s hand or Daddy’s or maybe both. But this wasn’t so much about physical ability. It was more about being able to cling to someone as a default state.
“Up, Daddy, please,” she said, holding up her hands to Hudson who picked her up to settle her on his hip while she circled her arms around his neck and locked her ankles around his waist. Yes, this was good. She could hug her daddy and feel his steady heartbeat, plus hide her face in his neck. Also she liked being up where she’d be able to see and not feel like she might get trampled.
“There you go, Cosy. You look so pretty and everyone is going to be so excited to see you. You’ll be able to meet some new friends too, and Papa is going to read a special book at story time just for you.”
“Really?”
She bounced a little on Daddy’s hip and her papa patted her diapered backside.
“Yes, babygirl. I’ve been practicing and there might be props.”
He winked at her and she clapped. This was going to be so fun. Like a party. And Daddy and Papa said that if she liked it she could go down to the club anytime it was open if someone could be with her.
She loved that they rarely left her alone—even going for a walk around the neighborhood was still scary and that was when she had Daddy or Papa holding her hand—but she wished she could be braver. But neither Hudson nor Ian seemed impatient with her inability to be by herself, even when they had to rearrange things. In a funny way, their easy acceptance that she had a hard time being by herself made her want to try harder to be more independent. She wanted to make them proud and she knew they’d be there if everything was too much for her.
“You ready, Cosy?” Daddy asked and she nodded. “You know you can tell us if it gets to be too much or if you get sleepy or if you’re just ready to go. We have no specific plans other than Papa reading a story in the nursery. Otherwise, this is all up to you and nothing you choose will disappoint us, I promise.”
“Okay. Thank you, Daddy.” She kissed his cheek and then kicked her heels gently. “Now giddyup, horsey!”
“Oh, I see how it is. Alright, my impatient little cowgirl, let’s go.”
“Yeehaw!”
Papa cracked up at her exclamation and they all headed downstairs together for her very first night at Hive as Daddy and Papa’s little girl.
* * *
Ryker
It was a good thing they’d gotten some reliable front desk help because carrying this place basically by himself for over a month had been less than ideal. They’d gone from three full-time employees to one and maybe a half, with the rest of his partners’ time being devoted to playing nursemaid for Cosima. Sometimes it felt like Ian and Hudson were so focused on their little that they barely had time for their business at all anymore.
Not that he blamed Cosima—she really had been traumatized and injured, he knew that. She wasn’t just being bratty and demanding attention, she needed all of the care and nurturing Hudson and Ian could heap on her. Probably more, even. But he did resent all the time and energy his partners had been pouring into her while neglecting Hive.
The club had been their dream, all three of them. They’d graduated college, used some of the money from his trust to buy the building and then spent the next year making it their own. It had been the three of them together for the past fifteen years. With other people in orbit as friends, lovers, play partners, yeah, but the three of them had always been at the core.
Now he felt like he was on the outside looking in. The worst part was that he was the one standing in the cold and the wet and the wind because he was more comfortable being miserable than he was taking a chance on being happy.
But that was the thing, wasn’t it?Maybehe’d be happy. Hudson and Ian seemed blissfully happy. Cosima seemed happy too—as happy as she could be anyway—but he didn’t spend enough time with her to say for sure. But how long would that happiness last? Happiness wasn’t forever, and joy wasn’t permanent. Good things were fickle and he wasn’t in a hurry to have the best thing in his life ripped away again. Twice had been enough, thanks.
At least having competent desk help meant he could play tonight which he hadn’t in ages. He’d never minded going a few weeks without, but a couple months was pushing it. Kink had been a big part of his life for years and he was getting downright twitchy in its absence.
Especially when he had to listen to Hudson and Ian and Cosima. If it wasn’t one thing it was another. They were always feeding her or fucking her, playing with her or snuggling with her.