“Are you sure you don’t want any, daddy?” Alex asked a final time as he held a spoonful of his ice cream, chocolate sauce, and Oreo crumb mixture out across the table that separated him and Jack. There were only a few bites left, and while Alex really wanted them, he knew that asking was polite. Asking was something good boys did, and Alex was a good boy.

“No, thank you, baby,” Jack answered with another yet shake of the head. It was the third time he’d been asked, but he wasn’t mad or annoyed with it. He knew that the older man was just trying to be well-mannered.

The only thing he was getting both mad and annoyed with (which wasn’t the way his friends had acted, seeing as how he’d gotten over that as soon as Alex found out he was getting dessert) was the looks people at the other tables were giving them. There were confused and disgusted glares as well as pointing fingers and muffled whispers. Jack knew that Alex was aware of it all, but it seemed he was more consumed in his quickly-melting ice cream.

“Okay…” the elder trailed out as he lifted the spoon to his own mouth. He paused before actually taking the bite, however, since he knew that speaking with his mouth full was something only bad boys do. He’d been spanked for it once (not the good kind that he liked, either), and he really didn’t want to deal with a repeat any time soon. “I don’t mind sharing with you, daddy,” he assured before the spoon was being pushed between his lips.

Jack smiled. “I know you don’t, my little prince, but daddy promised you dessert if you were a good boy for him tonight. You earned it. You don’t have to share with anyone. Now, how about you finish up so that we can head home, alright? It’s been a long day for us.”

Alex grinned (and, in the process, ended up with yet another streak of the sticky chocolate swiped against his cheek) and nodded his head before he was back to savoring his dessert. Sometimes he wondered why he ever acted like a bad boy. Good boys get dessert and praise, and bad boys get the bad kind of spanked and yelled at.

Of course, he couldn’t always be a good boy. He was only human, after all. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t always try his hardest to be as good for Jack as possible. He loved his daddy, and all the things his daddy did for him, and his daddy deserved a good boy.

---

“Daddy?”

“Yes, baby boy?” Jack asked, turning to glance back at the older man as he jiggled the house key into its lock. Alex’s eyes were wide in the dim lighting from the porch light above their heads, and his fingers wrung together nervously in front of his slim body. There was still a little bit of chocolate sauce smeared below the right corner of his mouth from his earlier dessert, from where Alex had missed it when he’d been instructed to wipe his face with a wet paper towel in the bathroom. Jack couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed it until then, either.

“I was thinking that… since I was a good boy tonight… does that mean you’ll play with me again? For real this time?” he questioned shyly. He hunched in on himself, just enough so that they weren’t totally eye level, and glanced up at his boyfriend through the hair that hung in his face. He knew he was asking a lot, what with having gotten the dessert he wanted, but he also knew that Jack wouldn’t punish him for asking as long as he was polite about it. “Please, daddy?” he begged. “I was a good boy… you said if I was a good boy, we could play…”

Jack listened as the lock finally clicked open, and he slid the key out before he gave a quiet, deliberating hum. “You were a good boy…” he trailed out, just as his boyfriend had, “and I did say that we could play some more if you were a good boy… let’s get you a little more cleaned up first, and then we’ll talk about it, alright?”

Alex wanted to whine and argue (because he cleaned up in the restaurant, damn it), but he bit his tongue and nodded his head obediently. As Jack opened their front door, Alex reached a hand out to lace their fingers together, palms pressing against each other’s tightly.

The younger man led them both into the darkened front hall. He let the door fall closed behind them before the light was finally switched on, and then he set about getting both of their shoes off. Alex’s boots were pushed against the wall by the door first, and then a kiss was pressed to the elder’s forehead before he was being instructed to grab the box of wipes from the bathroom and to go wait on the bed with them.

With a simple, “Yes, daddy,” he was marching his way down the stretch of hallway and flicking the rest of the lights in the house on as he went. Jack let out a sigh when his boyfriend’s figure had finally retreated around the corner that led to the staircase.

He loved being Alex’s daddy. He loved that Alex put that much trust in him to share such an intimate act with him, loved that he could treat Alex like a prince (his little prince), loved that there was a mutual understanding between them about the relationship and how it worked. He loved it all a lot more than he’d ever expected to, honestly, but sometimes it just became… a lot for him to both process and handle.

Jack had always wanted kids, sure, but taking care of Alex, who was actually a full-grown adult a good boy most of the time as it was, was a hard enough task on its own. He wasn’t even sure how their relationship would work if they were to, one day, have a kid or two together. Would they have to give up everything they’d known together? Would they continue on and try to teach their child that such relationships weren’t unhealthy (but, of course, that most other relationships weren’t like theirs and that was just fine, too).

He knew he didn’t have to dwell on it, not for a long while, at least, but sometimes he just couldn’t help it. Having a kid had seemed so… so easy before Alex had spilled his secret. Now there were so many other factors that changed absolutely everything Jack knew about having kids, and he wasn’t even sure what to expect. What if—

“Daddy?” a small voice called from the end of the hallway, and Jack looked up from where he’d leaned his forehead against the wall. Alex was barely peeking around the corner, his fingers curled around the edge of the wall and nothing more than the right side of his face visible.

“What is it, handsome boy?” he asked just as quietly, not actually moving from how he’d positioned himself—still facing the wall with his right temple leaned against it, his arms hanging limply at his side.

“Um… I know you said to, um… to wait for you on the bed, but you were taking a really long time. Are you okay? Did I do something bad, daddy? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it, promise.” Better safe than sorry. Or, at least, sorrier than he already was.

Jack gave another sigh at that before lifting his left arm just enough to beckon his boyfriend forward. Alex was hesitant at first, but then he was creeping his way from around the wall and to where the younger man was stood, still waiting for him. When they were side-by-side once more, Jack stood up straight and turned to pull the man into his chest, not caring about the fact that there were still dessert toppings around Alex’s mouth that would more than likely end up smudged around his shirt.

Strong arms squeezed their bodies close together before a kiss was pressed to sandy hair. “Nothing’s wrong, baby boy. You didn’t do anything bad. I was just thinking, is all. Don’t worry about it. Go back up to the bedroom and wait for me, okay? I’ll be up in no more than two minutes.”

Alex pulled away from the embrace to get a better look at his daddy before he was nodding and then leaning up for a proper kiss. Jack didn’t try to fight it, didn’t scold Alex for turning him into a mess, too, and he instead lifted his right hand to brush it through silky strands of hair before shooing his partner off once more.

He watched as Alex, once again, turned the corner at the end of the hall to reach the staircase, and then he set about taking off his own shoes and making sure that the door was closed and locked firmly in place.

Final inspections were done around the house to make sure that there hadn’t been any break in’s while they’d been out as well as to check that everything was locked well and good before he was following his partner’s path up to their bedroom.

There had been a few bumps in their day, but he wasn’t about to completely ruin the night by thinking about something that didn’t even truly require his attention. He had a baby boy to take care of as it was, waiting in their bed and wondering what had caused the sudden mood change.

No, it wasn’t the night to concern himself with thoughts of future children and how their lives would change drastically (or, in the best case scenario, not so drastically at all). Instead, it was the night for rewarding his little prince, the one he already had who loved him and needed him.

For the time being, one little boy that depended on him was more than enough, and he was sure that he wouldn’t have changed it for anything in the world.

Notes