Page 39 of Doubling Down

“Yes!” Brandon clapped. “Juice?”

“Yes please.” He was already reaching for the rest of the enclosures. He loved putting things together. Blocks, Legos, anything that took building.

Brandon raced out of the room and returned quickly with two boxes of apple juice. It had been weird that Eric had offered Annabelle juice their first night there. Now Ezra knew why.

He accepted the juice box before pointing to the toys in his lap. “I build. You let animals out.”

“K!” Brandon sat opposite him with his legs crossed. Ezra could see the edge of a diaper sticking out.

Ezra shouldn’t be jealous, but it was hard when it had been years since he immersed himself as fully as Brandon. Still, having this little moment was worth it for Ezra.

Falling back into the age regression was so easy. Too easy.

As he played, the worries about bills, having enough money for food, or what would happen to Annabelle if he got sick or hurt, floated away from his mind. None of that mattered as he built up the zoo that needed to be finished. The panda bears, lions, bears, and monkeys were all set up. That didn’t mean that they were near done though. Brandon’s number of toys was massive. All the animals needed out. It was only fair. No animal left behind.

Brandon was a great playmate. He wasn’t bossy like Dom. He didn’t chatter like Lake. They played quietly beside each other. Ezra knew when Brandon was ready for a new enclosure and Brandon helped Ezra when his fingers were too big for some of the pieces.

He had no idea how much time went by as he and Brandon passed toys back and forth. Brandon’s thumb was in his mouth as he played and Ezra missed the pacifiers he used to have. Another thing Ezra had given up when Annabelle was born. Only one of them could have a pacifier and it wasn’t him.

He leaned back, stretching his muscles, when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Ezra turned his head and froze when he spotted Eric propped against the door frame.

Eric winked at him, keeping Ezra from freaking out. Logically, he believed that Eric wouldn't judge him, but he had been shunned in the past.

“You boys having fun?” Eric asked.

Heat rushed to his cheeks. He hadn’t actually thought past playing with Brandon and what he would say to either him or Eric.

“Yes!” Brandon said clapping. “Playing!”

“I see that, buddy.” He walked in and over to them. Eric stopped to run his hand over the top of Brandon’s head. “Wow, I didn’t realize you had collected that many toys.”

Brandon giggled. “You keep buying!”

Eric snorted. “Yeah. I know.”

Ezra had to tilt his head all the way back to see Eric’s face. “How was your day?” He wanted to get up and kiss the older man. To see how Eric would respond if Ezra showed him affection in front of Brandon.

“It was…it didn't go as planned.”

Eric hadn’t removed his suit yet. Ezra hoped that Eric would change into those gray sweatpants that Ezra liked so much.

“I have to go back in a few hours, but I wanted to stop by and check on the three of you.”

Glancing at his watch Ezra saw that two hours had passed as he played. He groaned. “I need to wake Annabelle up or she’s not going to sleep tonight.”

“While you do that, I’ll change clothes then I can start dinner,” Eric offered.

“You gonna cook?” Brandon questioned, doubt obvious in his tone.

“Hey!” Eric rubbed his knuckles over the top of Brandon’s head. “I can cook.”

Brandon snorted.

“I can heat up food. I stopped by the store and grabbed some stuff. How does mac and cheese with dino nuggets sound?”

“Nuggies?” Brandon danced in place.

Ezra shook his head. Not a very nutritious meal. He’d been making most of the meals although Brandon was a pretty good cook as well. Ezra just wanted to make sure that he showed Eric and Brandon that he appreciated them taking them in. He cleared his throat.

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