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He rubbed his nose against mine. “Not my style. I would’ve let you know. But thank you for telling me because now I know about the kinds of reassurances you need.”

Dog sat under the table, probably hoping we’d drop him some goodies when the food finally came out. I grabbed the coffees, Galan grabbed the bag, and we sat down.

“Wasn’t sure what you wanted, so we have a plain with cream cheese, a plain with butter, an everything with egg and cheese, and then their ‘house special,’ which looks like it’s on an Asiago bagel with, I don’t know…many things.”

“I think I’ll do the cream cheese, if that works for you.” Any would’ve been fine, but the classic always hit right.

He handed it to me.

“I hadn’t seen that bagel place before yesterday, and it looked good, and you looked like you would sleep for a week. Next time, I’ll leave a note.”

We talked a bit about the bagel place’s selections and what we liked as far as bagels and toppings went. Which flowed into a discussion about the bicycle ride. Both of us agreed it was a great time. And about some people we met along the way.

“This is nice.” I popped the last of my bagel into my mouth.

“The food?”

“Well, that was nice, too, but I meant being here with you.”

I sort of anticipated that he was going to get up and leave after breakfast, that he’d stay the obligatory amount of time and no more. It wasn’t like the man wasn’t busy.

“Would it be okay with you if I stay for a while?” His words were exactly what I longed to hear.

“I’d like that.”

We cleaned up after breakfast and took a shower together before moving into the living room. There were lots of things we could’ve done. We could’ve gone for another bike ride or for a walk or to find some adventure, but I didn’t want to share him today. I wanted it to be just the two of us.

“Do you play at home a lot?” He was looking at my truck that lived on the bottom shelf of my coffee table.

“Yeah.” I didn’t need him to clarify what he meant.

I didn’t bother to hide my little side at home. Anybody who I let in my space saw the whole me. I wasn’t one for living dual lives. Yes, there was professional Lake who was all work, not play, but if I took the time to invite you into my circle, you got to see all of me.

“Sometimes. I like having friends over, so I have quite a few toys here. It’s easier if they come here because of Dog. When I had an apartment, it was harder. There wasn’t a lot of room. But now, with the house...”

“That’s great that you guys get together like that.”

It was. I was very lucky like that.

Galan started asking me what kinds of things I did, listening to me as I described which stuffies were my favorites and which cars I enjoyed using on the tracks, and how sometimes, for me, it was more fun to play with the littles, hyper-focused on a toy, and join in on their excitement than it was to do something of my own. I also talked about how I loved to do diamond art, which wasn’t really little, but it combined my little fun of stickers with the cuteness of the designs.

“I really like stickers and making things.” I got up and grabbed my frog sticker picture from the other day and a snow globe I made last Christmas at the Little Christmas party. “I think that’s part of the reason why I like going on the mommy-daddy-free events too because they always have really cool crafts. How about you? Do you like to play with littles or just take care of them?”

I learned early on there was a big distinction. Some daddies just wanted to feed, clothe, discipline, and diaper their littles. Full-on care was their thing. But when it came to things like building blocks or coloring with their littles, they weren’t into that. There were littles who wanted that kind of daddy. Those littles were not me.

“I think in that way, I’m like you.” He tapped my nose. “I like to do the activities the little likes. So if they’re really big into reading stories, I love to read stories. If they’re into plastic bricks, then that’s what I want to play. But I also like to be the one making sure their needs are met. So even if a little says they don’t like their broccoli, broccoli’s going on that plate.”

“It’s a good thing I like broccoli,” I teased.

We talked on and on about what we liked about being little and big and how, ideally, we were looking for someone who we could be both with. Neither of us said we saw that in each other, but we made it known in other ways.

“Do you want to do something little with me for our next date?” he asked.

I did more than anything. “I did… I do. But first, I wanted to make sure you liked the big me too.” I’d learned that one the hard way. “I think it’s safe to say you do.”

“Yeah. I really do.” He took my hand and twined our fingers.

We weren’t going to play today. Today was about talking, snuggling, and getting comfortable with each other. Next date? It was little time. I was already excited about our plans. It was going to be just for us, not a scene at Chained where we had to consider all the things going on around us, along with our own selves. It was just going to be the two of us.