Page 36 of A Little Campfire Blues

“Okay then, you can go first.”

Axis nodded and walked over to the zipline to get clipped in, his steps a little hesitant, but he got there, got hooked in, and screamed all the way down the line, the echo rolling across the wide, open space between us and the tower.

“Wow, he’s got some lungs on him,” the mama said, smiling as her pet and girl finally joined her on top, where she gathered them into a hug and praised them for being so determined. “He did it though.”

“Was he scared too, Mama?” her pet asked.

“He sure was, sweetheart, but remember what I told you. It’s okay to be scared. We’re all scared of something,” she said, giving him another squeeze.

“I’m gonna try too, Mama.” Her pet replied.

“That’s my brave boy.”

Seeing her and other mommies and daddies manage more than one partner with ease had given me a clear look at what poly relationships looked like from the outside. I’d always thought that the relationship Axis, Ezzy, and I had was rare, but coming here had shown me that in our lifestyle community, it wasn’t at all uncommon. There was another foursome among the campers. A leather daddy with three pups, two male and one female. Watching them had been eye opening. I’d not only gotten to witness the way he cared for them, but the way the three of them cared for each other and brought smiles to their daddy’s face with their antics. The mutual love, affection and care they showed each other was a beautiful thing to see and bolstered my ability to trust that the same thing could be possible for Mack, Axis, Ezzy, and me. Each moment we spent together left me longing more and more for it to work out.

When Ezzy stepped off the platform, they were giggling, but that giggle soon turned into a bellowedholy shitas they started moving faster and faster away from us.

“I’m gonna have to have a word with them about their language,” Mackenzie said. “Given that you guys have been apart for so long, I’m going to guess that there have never been rules and limitations set, or punishments for transgressions?”

“Nope, but when we were young, the thing they always hated most was being sent to the corner or time out chair,” I explained.

“So, three minutes a curse word would be a good deterrent?”

“I think so. We can start there, anyway.”

“Well then, we’d better catch up and warn them before they let the next one slip,” Mackenzie declared, going next on the line.

By the time I followed, enjoying the scenery and the feel of the wind on my face, it was to see Ezzy with a solemn look on their face as Mack finished speaking to them.

“No more cussing,” Ezzy declared. “I promise. I’m sorry.”

“Then you are forgiven, Sparkle Butt, but you will still owe three minutes in the timeout chair when we get back to the cabin,” Mack declared.

Ezzy huffed out a long sigh, before whining, “Okay.”

“You wouldn’t want to get other littles in trouble for copying you, right?” Mack asked.

“That would be bad.”

“Exactly. And that’s what the time out is for. To give you a chance to think about that and all the other reasons we shouldn’t use that kind of language in public.”

“Does that mean I get to cuss when it’s just us?”

“As long as it isn’t excessive and you have a good reason for letting an expletive fly, then yes, cursing is permissible,” Mack said. “But if it starts leading to you letting fly with the colorful language when we’re around others, then we will have to revisit that rule, understood.”

“Yes, da…Mack,” they replied, quickly correcting themselves.

Mack motioned Axis and I over to him and waved for the mama, her little, and pet to go ahead of us, clearly wanting to take a moment to have a conversation right then and there.

“I’m good with any of you calling me daddy whenever you’d like,” he declared. “Maybe I didn’t make myself clear enough when we were fishing, but it’s perfectly okay, especially with everything we’ve discussed over the past few days. If it’s comfortable for you, go ahead and say it. Personally, I enjoy hearing it from you and look forward to reaching a point in our relationship where we can make it official.”

“Yey!” Axis declared, already eyeing the other line. “Daddy, I wanna go on the next line.”

“Alright then, let our ziplining adventure continue,” Mack declared.

And continue it did. Somewhere along the line, Axis screamed less and giggled more, finishing all the lines, including the longest one, while Ezzy kept his mouth in check, laughing, but never screaming out another curse word when things got a bit frightening. It was good practice for the next time we were at an amusement park, since Ezzy was a frequent curser on every rollercoaster and freefall ride. I wondered if Axis would join us on those in the future, now that he’d discovered how exciting they could be. They both looked happy, seated beside Mackenzie beneath a tree, enjoying snacks and cold water from a nearby bucket of ice and drinks.

“So, what would you two like to do next?” I asked when I joined them.

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