David looked down at Ollie with a stern demeanor wiping out any trace of their bond as lovers.
"Are you ready to behave, Ollie?" David asked. "After all, I'm indulging this fantasy of yours."
Ollie dabbed at his eyes and considered the big words and everything cleared. "Yea, I know I'm not really little, but..."
"Just enjoy your time being my little boy and leave grownup stuff to me."
"But..."
A finger landed on his lips. "Ollie, no buts."
"But we're sposta..."
"Ollie!" David said harshly and cowered the little boy into sulking obedience.
When they returned to Marco, everyone was all smiles, but the effort hurt Ollie's face. He disliked Marco now. He...
"Is Ollie in a better mood?" Marco reached under the little boy's chin and lifted his face. "Tell me what you want for dinner, little guy."
Ollie got tongue-tied when Marco lifted his chin and looked right into his eyes. Was it that Ollie worried he might see that a grown man had chosen to become a weak, little boy?
A big dish of David's ultimate comfort food (cheesy, creamy Chicken Pasta Carbonara) sounded perfect after such an unsettling day, but that didn't sound like something a kid would like.
"Maybe we can stop and pick him up a kid's meal at a drive-thru," David remarked as Ollie struggled to get words and thoughts to mesh.
Marco patted Ollie's head while the boy remained in David's arms. "Is he a picky eater?"
"No," Ollie said as David responded, "Yes."
"Well, sometimes..." Ollie admitted. "I don't wike bwoccoli or bwussel spwouts."
Chuckling at the cuteness of Ollie's attempted pronunciation of the cruciferous vegetables, Marco said, "Well, I promise none of those."
Ollie scowled, hating to hear how his lisp mangled the big words and caused Marco to not seriously engaged in conversation with him.
The men walked from the coffee shop, and the entire process of strapping Ollie into the car safety seat began anew. To his dismay, it looked like dinner with Marco was happening. He tried to figure out how this man had inserted himself so smoothly into their lives. He realized that it might never have happened if he hadn't accepted David's offer to indulge him in his fantasy of being a little boy. Now, trapped like this, how could he possibly compete for the erstwhile affections of David?