“Henry, are you ok? What’s wrong?” Des signed. Oh, that was why he hadn’t reacted to my question. He was deaf. My heart went out to this poor guy or Boy. Henry. It was a sweet name.
“I want to go home.” He was shaking as he signed his response.
Before Des could sign something in return, I gently tapped his shoulder, and gazed down at him.
I introduced myself and spelled out my name for him, and his mouth dropped open.
“Is this your first time?”
He nodded and just stared at me.
“It’s scary, right?”
He nodded at me. He had tears on his face, and it sounded like he needed a tissue. No self-respecting Daddy went anywhere without supplies, so I reached into my pocket and pulled out a hanky and handed it to him. He blew his nose, and I smiled at him. He looked torn about what to do with the soiled hanky.
“Keep it. I have a drawer where they magically appear when I need one.” I winked, and he giggled.
“How do you know how to sign?”
“My sister was born deaf, so the whole family learned sign language.”
He pushed all of my Daddy buttons, and I wanted to know everything about him. Who he was, what he wanted, how I could be the perfect Daddy for him? He still looked like he wanted to run, but I wanted to spend time getting to know him. So, I tried to reassure him.
“I know that it's scary to come here for the first time, especially for a Little. But this is a safe space, Henry. Can I make a suggestion?” I signed.
He frowned at me but nodded.
“Would you like to sit down with me and talk before we meet the others?”
He looked like he would fall over, and his mouth dropped open, but he nodded. Mentally I was pumping my fists in the air, and I knew I was smiling like a loon.
“Great.”
He seemed to hesitate when I held out my hand for him. It was apparent this sweet guy had gone through some tough times. He had a hard time trusting people. I wiggled my fingers at him. When he finally reached out and took my hand, I was so proud of him. I led him to a booth away from the others to give us a bit of privacy and asked if he had eaten yet.
“No. It doesn't make much sense to eat at home when you're visiting a bar at dinner time.” His response was fantastic and caught me off guard, and I threw my head back and laughed.
“Fair enough. Would you like to have dinner with me then?”
The poor guy looked like a deer caught in some headlights. He was stuck.
“You came here because you're a Little, right?” This time he nodded. “Then you know that Daddies mean what they say, and they don’t mess around. So, would you like to have dinner with me, Henry?”
Then he caught me off guard and told me he was broken. Why the hell would such a cute, beautiful man think that? Then he tried to tell me what a Daddy would want. But I was determined.
Oh, no. You won’t get away that easily.
Before I lost my temper or scared him away, I slowed down my signing. I asked him to sit so that we could talk. But I needed to know some necessary information and to see if he was allergic to anything. He told me he didn’t like fish, and he was allergic to apples. That was a good sign. He was answering my questions even if he was scared. Proudly, I smiled at him and signed, “No apple juice and no fish then. I’ll be right back.”
I walked over to the bar as I watched him out of the corner of my eye. After a long moment, he sat down, and I relaxed. Good. He decided not to run away. I stepped up to Des and ignored the knowing grin on his stupid face.
“Can you bring us iced tea and some juice in a sippy cup, please?”
“Some juice?” Des asked, and I rolled my eyes.
“Yes, some juice. Anything but apple juice.”
“I know. Henry is allergic to apples.”
“Great,” I forced out, and Des laughed.
“He loves cranberry juice.”
“Then cranberry juice in a sippy cup and…” I glanced back at Henry again. What would he like to eat? Des offered up more information that indicated he knew him, even if it was Henry’s first time here.
“Lasagna with a side salad.”
“How do you know him?” The question jumped out of my mouth before I could stop myself. Des sighed. I turned to focus on him instead of the perfect Little waiting for me to come back.
“He’s Ava's nephew. No one knows all the details of their past, but I do know that Ava got custody of Henry when he was fourteen. I guess the police were involved. But neither of them speak about it. Ava has been trying to get him to come to our Daddies and Littles night for years.”
“He said that he’s broken.”
“Yeah.” Des sighed and shook his head. The worried look on his face surprised me. “He wasn’t born that way. He lost his hearing shortly before he came to New York. As far as I know, it’s not the only medical condition he has. Ava mentioned once that he keeps talking about being broken. That’s all I can tell you.”
Poor Baby. I looked back to where Henry was still sitting, staring at me. He blushed when he realized that I caught him staring. Henry thought he was broken, but that wasn’t right. He just needed someone to show him how special he was.
“Thanks, Des.” I knocked on the bar and walked back over to Henry.
“Des will bring us our dinner shortly,” I signed after I sat down and smiled at him. “I’m very proud of you, Henry.”
“Why?” His hands shook as he signed his question.
“I know you are still scared, but I think it’s brave
