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Thanksgiving dinner with Harris’s family was well, different to say the least. It was as if Harris had a cloning machine and made 3 additional copies of himself. Everyone was so boisterous and loud. Taking turns talking over each other. Not in a rude way, but in a way that says they’re all on the same wavelength and can finish each other‘s thoughts without speaking them into existence.
When he’s had Thanksgiving with his family in the past, it was always awkward and tense. Always something along the lines of his father showing off his Stanley Cup winning son to his friends. Or his step mother who was only a few years older than him acting as if Troy was a threat. That’s why he usually opted to spend Thanksgiving alone.
Harris’s mom brags about her son. “We were so proud when he got his job. Harris has always loved hockey but it was so hard for him to play due to his heart condition.”
“Mom!” Harris whines embarrassed.
“Oh hush.” She teased continuing. “And we were so happy when we learned he was going to be a caregiver one day. He’s really going to make a little boy or girl happy.”
Both Troy and Harris’s ears burn red.
Harris turned to his mom. “I can only hope. I’ve volunteered a lot at those dropping centers. And have seen a lot of good matches. I just know I’ll have the perfect little to spoil one day.”
“What about you Troy? Do you have a little at home?” Harris’s mom asks.
Troy shook his head. He felt bad lying to Troy‘s family, but he didn’t exactly have a good way out of this. “No, I’m too busy with work to take in a full time little, maybe I can volunteer with Harris at that center.”
Harris’s mom softens. “That’s so nice of you. And it’s a good way to balance yourself out. I know Harris always feels so good after dropping a little.”
Troy and Harris looked at each other awkwardly. But pretended like this wasn’t the predicament it was.
Harris pulled out his phone. “Oh mom. I forgot to show you I got new pictures of Chiron from puppy school. He’s gotten so big!”
Troy relaxed at the change in subject. Enjoying the meal with harris’s family.
~
It was near me 7 o’clock by the time the two made it back to Harris‘s truck. Harris was glad to have seen his family for the first time in a while. And Troy was utterly exhausted from all of the social interaction.
Harris placed a friendly hand on Troy‘s thigh. “You look about 5 seconds from dropping.” He joked.
Troy let out a laugh through his nose. “You’re not wrong. It was nice spending thanksgiving here but that was…a lot.”
Harris gave a fond smile. “Yeah they can be a bit much. But I love them all the same.” He turns on the truck. “Anyway we’ll have to stop by the store before we get back to my place.”
Troy looks confused. “Wait, why?”
“To get you stuff for a drop. The only thing I have at home is my emergency kit. And that’s not enough for a full on overnight drop.”
“Oh.” Troy said, a bit embarrassed.
“So like, a lot is going to need to be done if we do this more consistently. First of all, what age do you drop to? I think you said you were three earlier. But I need a range.”
“Uh.. the paperwork said 18 months to 4 years. But I’ve never dropped below 3 by myself. So I would say three sounds about right.”
“Do you think you can drop at the store? Just so I can get a better idea?”
“You want me to drop in public?!”
Harris saw the panic rising. “Ok, ok, we don’t have to do that. I guess we can start with some basic things and we can order online as we go.”
“I have some little stuff at home. We don’t need to do anything fancy.”
“Let me guess. Like two pacifiers and a single stuffy.”
Troy’s mouth hung open. He wanted to defend himself, but realistically that was pretty accurate to the amount of little stuff he had. “It’s not like I need a lot. Most of the time I just watched cartoons or movies on my iPad.”
“Oh no, I will not be having my little be an iPad baby. I’m getting you at least some blocks or something.”
Troy’s heart warmed at hearing my little. “Fine, but please just don’t go overboard”
Harris smirked. “I would never.”
~
Turns out Harris was a big fat liar, as they’ve only been in the store for 20 minutes and half the cart was already full.
“This is plenty!” Troy whines as Harris grabs a container of play-doh off the shelf.
“I don’t have anything at home for a three-year-old little besides some pacifiers and some blankets. Now go pick out some toys before I start throwing a shelf of Barbies in here.”
“You’re not being very subtle.”
“When have you ever known me to be subtle?”
“You said you would keep my secret, this is not keeping my secret.”
Harris placed his hands on Troy‘s shoulders trying to ground him. “Look, everyone in the world thinks you’re a caregiver. Not one person is going to bat an eye about two caregivers together at a little store buying toys, food and clothing for their Littles. Now, i’m going to grab a couple more toys. Then go pick out some clothing. Why don’t you go to the stuffy area and pick out something nice?”
Troy relaxed a little. He took a look around the store and realized Harris was correct. There were plenty of caregivers here buying stuff for their littles. The holidays were right around the corner. So their cart wasn’t the only one filled with toys and little outfits.
He bit his cheek and gave one last look to Harris before making his way down the stuffy isle.
The isle was head to toe filled with every stuffy brand imaginable. Everything from jellycats to beanie babies lining the shelf’s. He’d never bought a stuffie for himself before. The ones he owned were just stolen from a teddy toss, or something a fan gave him as a gift. But he’s never had the opportunity to find something just right for him. To embarrassed to do it himself.
“This is so stupid.” He mutters to himself scanning the shelves. It’s just a stuffed animal. Why did there need to be so many kinds?
He crossed his arms and looked at all of the bears. Most were simple brown ones with little accents on them. A bow tie, a soccer ball embroidered on the chest, one with a hockey stick sewed to the paw. Troy shook his head. Don’t get him wrong. He loved hockey with all of his heart. But hockey was also the main reason he couldn’t just drop like a normal little.
The bears weren’t doing it for him. He liked Harris’s stuffed giraffe. Maybe that would work? He walked further down the aisle to see if he could find one similar. Stopping when something caught his eye.
A puppy. An adorable white and brown spotted puppy. So fluffy you could barely see the plastic black eyes. He reached forward and grabbed it off the shelf. God it’s even softer than it looked. He held the toy puppy around its torso. Noticing the weights in its paws that made the stuffy heavier.
He hugged the puppy to his chest and knew it was the one. The perfect best friend to have and to hold. He was so excited he didn’t even notice himself drop in the middle of the store.
Harris walked up behind him with the cart. “Did you find something buddy?”
Troy lit up and lifted the puppy. “I got puppy daddy!”
Harris covered his heart with his hand. Oh my god he was going to explode with how cute his boy was being. He gently took the puppy from Troy. “Wow, look at him, isn’t he something special.”
“Yeah! I’m gonna name him puppy! And he’s gonna be my best friend ever!”
Harris handed the stuffy back. “And I bet you’ll take the best care of your new friend. You can take him on all your adventures.”
They eventually made it to the checkout. Harris felt a little bit bad about making Troy drop into little space in public. But with everything he learned in his caregiver classes. A little really needs to be in the zone when picking out a stuffy.
He put a fox theme bucket hat on Troy to help him hide a bit better. He highly doubted that anyone would recognize them in a busy store on a holiday so he wasn’t too worried. But it was always better to be safe than sorry.
The cashier cooed as Troy hugged his puppy tight. Refusing to hand it over to scan it. Harris ended up having to run back to the stuffy aisle to get another one to scan instead.
After seeing the total Harris could admit he went a little overboard. But he couldn’t resist. He could not wait to baby-fy his home. He would just imagine Troy in all the little onesies he got. Playing with the wooden blocks and making a big mess out of play-doh.
~
The entire trip back to Harris’s apartment was full of Troy telling puppy all about his life as a hockey player. And Harris having a hard time paying attention to the road because his boy was so adorable.
Harris was forever thankful that his apartment was on the first floor. Because with the amount of things that he bought, he was going to have to take more than one trip.
He unbuckled Troy and brought him inside. Troy held puppy’s paw with one hand and Harris with the other.
Harris brought Troy over to the couch and set him down. Putting Bluey on his laptop to distract Troy while he brought all of their items in. He was very much against caregivers that stick their littles in front of a screen all day. But he could admit they were a lifesaver from time to time.
By the time Harris had brought in all of the items. Half the kitchen was covered in bags and boxes. It was going to take some time to set everything up but he figured he’d start with the basic stuff for now.
He opened the pack of pacifiers and popped one in Troy’s mouth. The boy giving a big goofy smile behind it. Before Harris could react, Troy took the pacifier out. “Daddy! Puppy needs one to.”
Of course, how could he be so oblivious? “Ok buddy. I’ll go grab one for puppy.”
Troy gave his pacifier to puppy because puppy was feeling left out, and Troy was a good friend. Harris soon returns giving Troy a second pacifier.
Harris spent about an hour sorting through the bags. His house was not minimalist, but the area definitely transformed with all of the new items added.
All of the outlets had covers on them. And the cabinets had plastic locks. There was a wooden toy box filled to the brim with trains, play-doh, blocks and magnet tiles. And the guest room (which he guessed was now Troy‘s room) closet was filled with little clothes.
He was so busy setting up everything that he didn’t notice how much time had passed. He walked into the living room to see Troy had fallen asleep on the couch. His boy softly snoring around his pacifier. And puppy tucked into the crook of his elbow.
Harris glanced at the clock on the laptop and noticed it was 11 PM. They didn’t have work tomorrow. But it was still way past both of their bedtimes.
As adorable as it was to see Troy peacefully sleeping on the couch. He knew he would be sore and achy if he slept there overnight.
He closed the laptop and picked up Troy. Which was not an easy task by the way. Harris would need to start picking up weights if his professional athlete little wanted to keep being carried.
He very cautiously brought him to the toddler bed and changed Troy into dinosaur themed footie pajamas. Being super careful not to wake him up.
When he was done, he stepped back and admired his work. Hoping his mom was correct. That he would make a little boy really happy in one day.