Page 33 of Something Unforgettable

Xavier had showered before the boys woke up, so soon as they were done eating they could head to the hospital. Finn wanted to visit his grandfather, and he had an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon to look at his arm to determine if they could put a cast on it now or if they would have to wait a few more days for the swelling to go down. Xavier was hoping for now. Finn would be more comfortable and wouldn’t need to protect his arm as much in a hard cast as he did in the temporary plastic splint they’d applied in the ER.

He set breakfast on the table and walked over to Finn, who was focused on his phone and the string of messages that were popping up.

“Did you get all your apps installed?” He tilted Finn’s chin up and pressed a kiss to his petal-soft lips, tasting toothpaste. “Morning,” he murmured, their mouths still brushing. He kissed Finn again, unable to help himself.

Finn was smiling when the kiss broke a second time. “You said good morning already,” he pointed out. Xavier nipped his nose, making Finn startle, then laugh.

“Am I not allowed to say it again?” He took Finn’s phone, plugged it in, and set it on the nightstand. “Come eat before it gets cold.”

Finn didn’t need his help to get up—he seemed much more comfortable moving around than he had the day before—but Xavier helped him anyway. He didn’t see much point in pretending he wasn’t the caretaking type. So maybe he’d have to leave some of the more specific pet names out of their relationship. Xavier could live with never hearing “Daddy” cross Finn’s lips, and he could—probably—refrain from calling him sweet boy or little one. He hoped.

Fuck. He’d already called him “little one,” maybe more than once, hadn’t he? Ah, well. That wouldn’t arouse too much suspicion. Not like asking Finn to call him “Daddy” would.

Ev came out of the bathroom a few minutes later dressed in torn jeans and another vintage-looking tee. He settled on the chair across from Xavier, grabbed a croissant, and tore a piece off with his fingers before popping it in his mouth.

“What’s the plan for today?” he asked, leaning across Finn to snag creamer and sugar to doctor his coffee. Xavier tried not to wince at the amount of sugar that went into his cup.

“We’re going to visit Mac at the hospital then get Finn’s arm looked at again.”

Finn finished a piece of bacon and licked his fingers. “I need to open the store. People are already going to be upset that we weren’t open yesterday. We can’t close two days in a row.”

Xavier barely restrained himself from telling Finn “absolutely not.” He was injured, and running that place required heavy lifting and moving products, even if he was just at the register. It wouldn’t be good for his arm or his bruises to move around that much.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Ev cut in, a frown marring his brow. “What about your arm?”

Finn lifted it and waved it around. “It’s much better today. Once I take my painkillers it’ll be fine. I’ll be careful.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to wait, sweetheart? You just woke up and it might bother you more as the morning goes on.”

Finn sat straighter in his chair, a hint of stubbornness appearing on his face. “I can handle it. I won’t try to lift anything heavy or do too much. It’ll only be for half a day once we get done at the hospital, and I’ll have Grace to help me.”

Ev sighed. “I forget sometimes how stubborn you can get.”

Finn glared at him. “I’m not being stubborn. I’m being realistic.”

Xavier knew he shouldn’t be amused, not when Finn was putting himself in a situation that could cause him more pain, but he was. Finn’s determined expression was adorable and unexpected. Xavier liked that Finn would stand up for himself when needed. Even if it was detrimental in this case.

“Why don’t we see how things go?” Xavier suggested. “If you still feel up to it after the hospital, we can go open the store. I’m happy to help. And I’m sure Ev is as well.”

Ev still looked put out, but he nodded his agreement.

“But you need to promise us, sweetheart. The minute you start to feel tired, or your arm hurts more than it has been, you’re stopping and we’re coming home.”

Ev stared at Xavier with wide eyes, but Finn looked relieved. “All right,” he agreed. “That makes sense. I’m sure Grace won’t mind closing up so we can leave if we need to.”

Xavier kissed him on the forehead. “That’s all I ask.” He bit back the “good boy” that wanted to follow.

The rest of the morning was a bit of a whirlwind. They arrived at the hospital to visit Mac, who was his normal surly self, but still softened when he caught sight of his grandson. The two of them hugged for a long time, until Mac ordered Finn to stop making him look soft, or the nurses would think they could take advantage of him. Finn laughed at that, but stealthily wiped his eyes when he turned away. When he realized Xavier had seen him, he smiled tremulously. Xavier didn’t take him straight back to the cottage and wrap him in blankets until he felt better, but it was a close thing.

Ev, Xavier decided, was one of his new favorite people, if only for the way he could brighten Finn’s mood. He was an endless supply of enthusiasm, snarky comments, and dirty jokes. On the way down to see the orthopedist, who was housed in the same building as the hospital, Ev started in on Finn, begging him to ask for a rainbow cast. Finn shot him down, but Ev insisted rainbows would make Finn’s bone heal faster and refused to be talked out of the notion.

Xavier was sure Ev was the only one disappointed when the doctor didn’t have rainbow as an option. Finn tried to compromise by asking for white and promising Ev they would get sharpies to color it in later.

The longer he spent with the two of them, the more he worried that he was projecting what he wanted to see. But even with that in mind, there was something about Ev that pinged his Daddy radar. After the cast thing, he was ready to bet good money that Ev was somewhere on the little spectrum. It was possible he wasn’t into age play, but if that was the case, it was because he’d never heard of it.

They were opening the store, despite Ev’s protests, when Xavier got a text message from Gabriel. He was embarrassed to admit that his first instinct was to ignore it. Because if he didn’t see it, he could go on as he had been. He wouldn’t have to admit he was pretending to be Finn’s Daddy while the boy had no idea what was going on.

Gabriel Diaz

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