Christmas for Daddy: Gay Holiday Romance E-Book

Trina Solet

• Herausgeber: Trina Solet
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Friends since childhood, Damien and Reed have always been inseparable. Now Reed is a new dad to a four year old son, Len, and he wants him to have a great first Christmas in his new home. But Len wants to give his new dad a perfect Christmas too. He's just a little kid though, so he needs help.
That's where his dad's best friend comes in. Damien is not into Christmas or spending time with kids. For Reed's sake, he'll be doing both.
Damien would do anything for his best friend, but as Len wins him over, he starts to realize just how deep his feelings for Reed go. Will he find the courage to tell Reed how he feels?

Leseprobe

Christmas for Daddy (Gay Holiday Romance) By Trina Solet

Copyright © 2024 by Trina Solet

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, locales or actual events is entirely coincidental.

All sexual activity takes place between persons eighteen years of age or older.

This novel contains material intended for mature readers.

Cover image is only for illustrative purposes. Any person depicted is a model.

Christmas for Daddy

Gay Holiday Romance

Trina Solet

Chapter 1

"I still get choked up every time I think about it," Reed said as he and Damien were coming back from lunch. They turned a corner and a gust of freezing cold wind hit them.

"I have gotten every version of the thrilling moment when Len first called you Daddy," Damien told him.

"But to hear the word Daddy for the first time," Reed said. "Though there was a question mark behind it, like he wasn't sure if it was OK. Oh, my God, it was more than OK. I thought my heart was going to burst."

Reed had texted when it first happened then called Damien to tell him every single detail. It made Damien smile to remember how he heard the happy tears in Reed's eyes.

"You're his dad, of course that's what he's going to call you," Damien told him like it was not a big deal, but his own chest ached to think of it, Reed's little boy calling him Daddy for the first time. It was so sweet it hurt. He decided to change the subject. "I can't believe they're dragging you back into the office right before the holidays."

"It straight up sucks," Reed said.

They were now walking down the street lined with brownstones and trees dropping the last of their leaves. Reed's brownstone was down the block, one of the last ones before the neighborhood turned into small shops and tall apartment buildings.

"If it wasn't for Len, I wouldn't care that much. I just hope this next babysitter works out," Reed said.

"How did you lose the last one?" Damien asked as he noticed that Reed's dark blond hair and beard caught hints of red and gold from the sun shining down between the almost bare branches.

"Don't you ever listen?" Reed admonished him but there was no real anger in his hazel eyes. "I told you her sister can't work from home any more either, so Jan has to babysit for her. I lose her in a few days."

"I guess sisters take priority. Can't your sister babysit if this new babysitter doesn't confirm?" Damien wondered.

"No, she's crazy busy at her job right now. Party planning for the holidays," Reed told him.

"Party planning? Isn't she still in college?" Damien asked.

Reed stopped to glare at him for a second. "You really don't listen. Brianna took a year off. She's working as an assistant to a party planner. I told you this."

Damien made a noncommittal noise. In his mind, Brianna was still a kid and he tended to tune out anything that had to do with kids, which was really inconvenient now that Reed had adopted a kid of his own. Len was four and his toys had completely taken over Reed's brownstone. That's where they were heading now to relieve the babysitter Reed was about to lose.

"What about daycare?" Damien wondered. By the annoyed look on Reed's face, he made a wild guess. "You already covered this in some past conversation and I forgot."

"Yes. I couldn't get him in anywhere at daycare or preschool until the new year," Reed said.

"Well there are lots of babysitters. I'm sure you'll find one," Damien said.

"Yes, they grow on trees. You know, if you keep tuning me out, I'm going to conscript you," Reed threatened.

He didn't mean it though. It would be too cruel and Reed was a nice guy, even too nice. That was why he had been putting up with Damien since they were eleven.

"All I should be worrying about is giving my son a great Christmas even if it is just the two of us," Reed said.

"So Christmas with your parents is off the table?" Damien asked.

"I already made the poor little guy suffer through Thanksgiving with my family. He was so quiet. I think all the yelling and arguing scared him," Reed said.

"It used to scare me as a kid too," Damien admitted. People in Reed's family weren't shy about airing their grievances, usually at top volume. It was shocking to Damien when compared to the silent dinners at his aunt and uncle's house, where he grew up. His aunt would glare at him if he so much as scraped a fork across the plate.

Even when Damien's parents had just died when he was six and he went to live with his aunt and uncle, he was expected to stay quiet and keep it all in. He couldn't. He picked fights at school until he met Reed. Reed was the only bright spot in his life back then, and even now Damien felt way too attached to him.

Arriving at his brownstone, Reed unlocked the front door and Damien kicked away a dry leaf before it could blow inside. As the door swung open, Damien could already see how Reed's life had changed. There were some kids books and crayons on the floor of the living room as well as a toy truck peeking out from under the couch with a dinosaur riding in the back of it. And he could hear the sound of small but loud running feet that told him that Len knew his daddy was home.

His brown eyes bright, Len raced over then stopped directly in front of Reed and smiled up at him. "Jan said it was you, and it is," he said as Reed tousled his light brown hair. Turning to Damien, Len looked comically shocked. "I didn't know about you, Damien. You're a surprise."

"I'm just stopping by, not staying long," Damien said, not wanting to get roped into a dinner with a kid. The last time he sat at a dinner table with kids there was kicking and then giggling and kids sticking their tongues out with mouths full of half-chewed food.

"I have to go too. Sorry to rush you," the babysitter said as she squeezed past them in the doorway. "Bye everyone."

"Everybody is leaving," Len said sadly as Reed shut the door after her.

"I'm here to stay," Reed said to Len and picked him up. "And we can make dinner together."

"Hot dogs?" Len said hopefully.

"Hot dogs are an outside food," Reed told him.

"Let's go outside. We can go with Damien," Len suggested.

"You have been cooped up all day. We'll walk with Damien to the park. It's on his way," Reed said then looked at Damien like he was waiting for his approval when the whole thing was already decided on.

"I guess I have company on my walk home," Damien said.

Len was happy as Reed started bundling him up. He was about to help the little guy with his sneakers when he got a call. "It's work," he said and pointed at the little sneakers. "Damien will help you with your sneakers."

"Me?" he said as Reed walked away heading for his home office.

"Yes. You're Damien," Len told him helpfully but he was already putting on his sneakers himself. They were the kind with Velcro straps so he didn't actually need any help.

"I see you can do it all yourself," Damien said.

"They're crooked," Len said of the Velcro snaps. "Daddy can do it better."

"It's a special skill only dads have," Damien said and he watched Len struggle a little with his jacket then get it on.

Damien thought they were done, but Len looked up at him and said, "Pick a hat for me." There were knit caps in every color hanging on the door of the hallway closet. Damien handed Len a blue one. "You like blue! Me too," Len said.

"Wait. Have a red one," Damien said and switched them.

"I like red too," Len said, still pleased.

"Or maybe striped," Damien said snatching the red one off his head.

Len giggled then saw Reed coming back. "Daddy, he can't pick a hat either."

"Yes, you have so much in common," Reed said and gave Damien a wry look.

He took the striped cap from Damien, brushed back Len's hair lovingly, kissed the top of his head then put the cap on him. "There, now you look good. Damien did a good job."

"It was all Len. I just supervised," Damien said to give the kid his rightful credit.

They stepped out and barely made it to the bottom of the front steps when a tiny hand grabbed hold of his own. Damien looked down questioningly at their linked hands.

"We have to hold hands to cross the street," Len told him.

"So you're keeping me safe?" Damien asked.

"Not me. Daddy is," Len said. "Like this we won't get lost."

As Damien looked at Reed to see if he was going to rescue him, he found him smiling. Leaning over, Reed whispered in his ear, "Thanks for letting him hold your hand."

Damien felt Reed's warm breath tickle his ear and he was transported back to a moment in the past when Reed said something a lot like that to him. Reed had been upset about his parents fighting, his dad threatening to leave. His dad wouldn't end up leaving. It was just an empty threat during a fight, but back then, Reed didn't know that.

He was scared, needing to hold Damien's hand and not to be rejected. Damien knew it, plus holding his hand felt nice. Back then, Reed had whispered to him, "Thanks for not pulling your hand away."

Damien had blushed, and then let his long, dark bangs hide his face. With their hands linked, the moment had stretched forever and then it ended too soon. Reed gave him a grateful smile making him feel even more embarrassed.

But even now Damien felt that all his life, through everything, it was really Reed holding his hand.

Chapter 2

Damien expected he would just be walking by the park as Len and Reed went off, but Len was still holding his hand. He didn't let go, so Damien ended up stepping off the sidewalk and strolling through the park with them. He just didn't have a good enough excuse for an escape and Len's little hand was like a handcuff.

It was a nice day though cold. The park still had a lot of colorful fall foliage as well as some evergreens mixed in. As they took one of the gravel paths, a leaf came down right in front of Len. He tried to catch it and missed.

"Have another try," Reed said and shook a branch to make a few more leaves come down.

Len giggled at the shower of leaves and failed to catch any of them though he swiped at them like a little whirlwind. He was empty handed and huffing when a small yellow leaf dropped right on his head.

"You got one," Reed told him and plucked the leaf from his head.

"A baby one," Len said and waved it around. He then zeroed in on Damien standing off to the side and brought the leaf to him. "You can have it."

"Thank you," Damien said, taking the leaf but not sure what to do with it.

"Let me," Reed said and took charge of the leaf. He then stepped close to Damien and tucked the leaf into one of the button holes in his coat.

"It looks nice," Len said while Damien felt kind of funny. It was the strange aftereffects of Reed's attention and his closeness though he couldn't imagine why. They had known each other forever.

They walked around some more then something got Len's full attention. "There's a cat," he said as he froze and stared at an orange cat sitting on a low branch and eyeing them haughtily.

He and the cat got into a staring contest, and Damien wondered if they would have to wait for one of them to win it. Reed broke the stalemate. "I see some kind of cart up ahead," he said to distract Len from the staring contest. It worked. Len went off running so he could get a better look at that cart and what kind of food it was serving up.

"Len was really into that cat. Should I be picturing some pets in your future?" Damien asked as they followed more slowly.

"Maybe a goldfish," Reed said.

Damien scoffed. "Len is going to fall in love with something furry or scaly and you won't be able to say no."

"I plan to be a strict parent," Reed claimed but Damien saw no evidence of this strict parenting.

"Starting when? When he's a teenager? When he's in college?" he challenged Reed.

"I'm allowed to spoil him for a little while," Reed said. "I'll start being stricter next year. It will be my New Year's resolution."

They reached the food cart, and the signs said it sold soups and brioche. It listed a few different fall soups that sounded pretty appetizing. Not to Len though. He couldn't read the sign but he was skeptical even before Reed informed him, "They have some nice soups."

Len looked from his dad to the cart in disbelief. "Soup? Soup?" he said indignantly.

Reed chuckled at his dismay. "I'm sure they have other carts around too. We'll keep an eye out."

Damien nudged Reed. "Buy me a soup. You owe me for bringing me out here."

Reed agreed. "OK, we'll both have one." Seeing how worried Len looked, he reassured him, "I promised you a hot dog. The soups are just for us."

"There goes that strict parenting," Damien mumbled.

They only got soups with no brioches and sipped them as they walked. Damien's was creamy butternut squash with sage and it was very good. He wondered if they should sit down but Len was on the move. Darting back and forth on the path strewn with dry leaves, he was stepping deliberately hard to make the leaves crunch under his feet then he started kicking them.

"Is this his chosen park activity, leaf kicking?" Damien wondered.

Reed pointed toward the playground equipment. "I think one of those will be more to his liking."

Len ran that way next then stopped. Looking from the swings to the slide, he looked very undecided. "Help me pick," he said to his dad.

"Let Damien pick. He needs practice," Reed said.

"Swings," Damien said since there were kids already on the slide and the swings were less crowded.

"That means you get to push him," Reed said to Damien then he had the gal to walk away so he could say hi to some other parents he knew and ask about potential babysitters.

Len grinned at Damien as he climbed on a swing. "Push me high," he said eagerly.

Damien didn't. "No way. Don't want you flying off into space," he said as he pushed him moderately high.

"I wanna fly to space," Len said like that was a real option.

Damien made his objection a practical one. "You don't have your spacesuit."

"Higher! Higher!" Len still demanded while sticking his legs straight out.

"Playing it safe, I see," Reed said as he came back to see that Damien had not sent his son flying into space. Damien made a face at him and Reed smiled. "It's nice. It means I can keep you on my babysitting short list."

Hearing those alarming words, Damien wondered if he should panic. He stared at Reed hard, but he couldn't tell if he was serious. That list better not be too short.

Damien thought they would need a crowbar to pry Len away from the playground equipment, but he got bored after a while and something further on in the park got his attention. It was another food cart and he had to go investigate it.

"Pretzels! Pretzels!" he said as he jumped and pointed excitedly.

"Pretzels instead of hot dogs?" Damien said.

"Looks like that's the plan," Reed said. "Let's get you a pretzel, young man. Which one?" He was pointing at pictures of different pretzels, but Len stared up at Damien.

"Why is he looking at me? Am I going to have to help him choose again?" Damien asked.

"Yes. You're his official dilemma solver for the day," Reed said.

"Can you do it, Damien?" Len asked with concern, like he thought it might be too much for him. "If it's too hard, we can ask Daddy to help."

"No shame in asking for help," Reed said, mocking him with a smirk on his gorgeous face.

"No. I got it," Damien told him then he made his decision. "The chocolate drizzled one please."

"That's a good one!" Len said with enthusiastic approval.

Reed didn't look as thrilled so Damien pointed out to him, "It's not like there's a healthy choice."

"We're getting you a cup of soup on the way back," he said to Len.

Len didn't look too worried about that because there was a chocolate drizzled pretzel being handed over the counter and soon it would be in his eager little hands and probably all over his face.

"That wasn't so bad," Reed said to Damien as they were leaving the park some time later.

Damien felt like they had been there forever, but it wasn't so bad really, maybe it was even nice. Len had worked up an appetite, and even after that monster pretzel, he was sipping his carrot soup while Reed held out a brioche for him to bite into now and then.

"Admit you had fun," Reed prodded Damien.

"The soup was good," was all he would admit to.

"I knew you could handle one kid," Reed said and Damien eyed him worriedly. Was he still hinting about babysitting? Damien shivered at the thought.

Chapter 3

The threat of babysitting was still on Damien's mind when he was having lunch with his friend Vana. She was Reed's friend too and she had an update about the babysitting situation. She was telling him about it while they looked out the big windows of a cafe near the menswear boutique where she worked.

"Reed's new babysitter is a bust. He wanted to know if my cousin might be available. She's a nanny, but she can't do it," Vana said.

"Oh, damn. Reed keeps hinting that he might enlist me," Damien said and Vana laughed, her straight, blond hair swinging around her shoulders.

"You? Ha!" she scoffed.

"It's not funny," Damien told her. "Maybe I should ask around, try to find Reed someone to babysit before I get roped into it."

Rolling her eyes, Vana took a bite of her salad and said, "Don't worry about it, Damien. No one is expecting you to step up and suddenly be a good friend."

"Excuse me?!" He practically bellowed and a few of the other restaurant patrons turned their heads to stare at him.

"Relax. I'm not saying you're a bad guy. You're just..."

Damien finished for her. "Selfish and terrible?"

"You're just kind of emotionally disconnected," she said with a shrug.

Damien didn't deny it. He had trouble with relationships, making real connections. All the close friends he had were thanks to Reed. And when Reed needed him, all he could think about was how to get out of helping him. Vana was right about him. He was awful.

What Vana said was still in Damien's head as he went back home and got to work. To prove her wrong, he called Reed to ask how things were going.

"My babysitting options are dwindling," Reed said. "But I'll figure something out."

"If everything else fails... And I mean if absolutely every single other thing fails and you have no options left at all, I'll help you out," Damien said with a sigh.

Reed laughed at him for how he made the offer, but that was how Damien found himself taking his laptop over to Reed's brownstone early on a weekday morning so he could work there and look after Len. He arrived to a flurry of activity as Reed was vacuuming the kitchen and Len was crawling around on the floor. What was he walking into?

It turned out that some cereal got spilled and now they were colorful bits of cereal hiding everywhere and Len was hunting them down and feeding them to the vacuum. "This is the kind of thing I can look forward to?" Damien said as Reed turned off the vacuum.

"Not once I'm out of here. This mess was all me. I wanted to add a little sugary cereal to the Len's healthy cereal as a special treat and I spilled it," Reed said.

"Daddy spilled it. I helped him pick it up," Len said proudly.

"So which one of you needs babysitting again?" Damien said and Len pointed to himself.

"Me. Me."

Damien sat with Len as he finished his breakfast and Reed went to finish getting ready for work. Feeling odd with just the sound of Len chewing in the air, Damien decided to make some conversation.

"Good cereal?" he asked. Len only nodded between spoonfuls. Maybe he didn't need to make conversation while the kid was literally eating.