Chapter Text
The town of Winterville, was a diverse and accepting place, with it’s rich culture and plethora of things to do around town, it was the perfect place for families to settle down, especially families who were a little different. The bustling haven was situated on the outskirts of the countries main hub and was in perfect proximity to both Connor’s and Pearce’s work places, while still being quiet enough for their relaxed family life. They had chosen Winterville for many reasons, but mainly for the opportunities it offered for the other member of their family.
It all started 2 years earlier, a fortnight after Connor’s 30th birthday. He had woken up early that Sunday morning, in a mood that matched the dreary dark sky. The cheeriness that follows his birthday had worn off and while his husband softly snored beside him, there was an emptiness in his heart that he longed to be filled. They had had the baby discussion a few years earlier and both decided to wait until the time was right, but passing such a large life milestone, his need had outgrew the waiting stage. Laying awake, he stared at the ceiling with his mind turning as he planned how to bring up the issue to his partner.
When Pearce rolled over, he grumbled as he slowly returned to the land of the living. “Babe? Can I run something by you?” Connor said softly, unable to wait any longer. After their night out though, Pearce was feeling rather rough and cleared his dry scratchy throat loudly. “Gotta pee first.” He managed to mumble as he pulled his heavy head off the pillows. Dragging his feet, he stumbled into the bathroom, still half asleep. The sudden bright illumination of the automatic bathroom light, made the lethargic man flinch and curse at the unwelcome shine. Moments later he fell back into bed and discovered his lover had discreetly nipped off to the kitchen and brought him back a mug of strong java. “Uh oh, what’s up?” Pearce’s voice was hoarse from the late night, but he sat himself up knowing that the strong coffee meant Connor wanted a serious talk. “Did I embarrass myself last night?” He asked, beginning to worry he had overdone it.
“No, nothing like that.” Connor said quietly, staring into his own dark coffee. Letting out a sigh, he swept his golden hair back into it’s usual position and decided the best way forward was to just come right out with it and pour his heart to his lover. “… and I know we said we’d wait but, I feel like I need this in my life.”
“Alright then.” Pearce said nonchalantly, sipping his warm drink. He turned to Connor, seeing his stunned expression and lifted his hand, pressing a soft kiss. “If this is what you want, I’m on board.” He smiled, gazing into his caramel coloured eyes. Overcome with emotion, Connor rolled ontop of his husband almost sending his coffee flying. “Is this just your way of curbing my wild party lifestyle?” Pearce smirked.
“Babe, you had four drinks and you were ruined. I think your ‘party’ days are long gone.” Connor chuckled, poking his husband playfully in the belly.
After getting Pearce onboard, Connor wasted no time in beginning his search for their new ‘little’ boy. The world had moved on from their youth and the country was a more accepting place, with all types of people being welcomed with open arms. Connor had always wanted to care for his own ABDL boy. Years earlier he had read up on how they were once shunned and forced to hide and since learning of how they were treated, he had wanted to save one from the troubles they faced and show him how good life could be. But in the intelligent age, when the world learned that ABDL wasn’t a choice and that the individual was born that way, it became widely accepted and there were even places that catered specifically to nurture and support ABDL’s in all walks of life.
Connor had a couple of friends, when he was younger who were ABDL and even then had taken on a caretaker role when he was around them. It had nothing to do with his sexuality, he only had eyes for Pearce, it was merely an inbuilt natural instinct of his, the parental need to nurture, love and protect.
Things progressed incredibly quickly, but when Connor set his mind to something he didn’t waste a second and just under two weeks after their chat, he had sent off the official forms needed and set up a visit to an orphanage, a mere 13 miles from their home. “Have you got the erm.. Oh nevermind it’s here. Did you remember to get petrol? Erm… do we need to take er…” Connor was a bundle of nerves and when he got nervous he fell over his words.
Pearce took ahold of his shoulders and locked onto his flitting eyes. “Breathe in.” He began, knowing just how to help. “And let it out.” After the magic fourth time, Connor felt a wave of calm and smiled at Pearce, very grateful to have his husband by his side for going on six years. “Better?”
“Yeah.” Connor breathed a sigh of relaxation. “Good. Now relax, we’ll be fine. Just remember, they will be more nervous than you are.” Pearce said giving his man a cuddle. He elected to drive, giving Connor one less thing to fret about on the journey. Connor’s car, a four door Audi A5, was almost subconsciously perfect for a little boy already, it had ample room in the back for a car seat and a great safety rating for piece of mind.
They stood infront of the large unattractive, almost medical looking building with a look of mild shock on their faces. “Hard to believe this is a home for anyone.” Pearce scowled up at the stains running down the brickwork from the leaking gutters and the large cracks in the ageing cladding.
“Well hopefully it won’t be any longer for one lucky boy.” Connor grinned, his nervous mood had shifted and made way for pure excitement. He had a skip in his step as he bounded up the stone stairs to the entrance. “Come on.” He chuckled, holding his hand out to Pearce who was still staring at the unkept building.
Inside was a slight improvement, but still not very homely. They were of course too polite to mention anything as they were shown around the different areas by one of the women in charge. Their tour, thankfully was brief as they were here to meet the residents and see if they could find someone to join their small family. Strangely, many of the ABDL’s were sitting spread out from each other and there didn’t seem to be any group activities in place. Of the dozen residents they met, there just didn’t seem that spark between them, on either side and Connor was beginning to feel disheartened.
While Connor was speaking one of the staff, Pearce had noticed a thin young man, with jet black hair that hung just over his eyes in the next room playing with a small tiger plush on a messy colouring table. Slowly heading over he pulled up one of the small blue chairs and sat across from the shy boy. “Hi there.” The much larger muscled man picked up a small crayon and started to draw on a plain piece of paper infront of him. “I’m Pearce. What’s your name?” But the timid young man was overcome with shyness and sat silently, holding his tiger close to his cheek. “I like your friend there.” Pearce noticed the boy lift his gaze and smile, if only for a moment.
As he continued with his picture, Pearce could feel the little one’s eyes upon him, trying to see what it was he was drawing. “My name’s Koda.” Came a very soft voice from across the table.
“Very nice to meet you Koda. Does your friend have a name?” Pearce was slowly gaining his confidence, when Connor appeared behind him. He stroked his man’s shoulders and quietly sat next to him. “Who’s this?” Connor asked softly, seeing the shyness radiating from Pearce’s new friend.
“This is Koda and his little friend Stripey.” Pearce gave Connor a knowing look and that was all he needed. If the boy had won over Pearce so quickly, Connor knew there was something special in him. They sat together for almost an hour and a half, slowly getting to know each other and while Koda was still very very shy, he had started replying a little to both Connor and Pearce. “This is for you.” Pearce smiled as he slid his crudely drawn colouring of Stripey over to Koda.
The little one raised his head and had the happiest smile Connor had ever seen. “Th-ankyou.” He stammered, holding the paper in his hands. It wasn’t the greatest drawing ever made, but to Koda it was the most perfect gift anyone had ever given him.
“How would you like if we treated you to lunch, little one?” The couple were getting hungry as time rolled on and Pearce made the decision to ask if their new friend would like to join them. “Yes p’ease!” Koda cheeped excitedly, making Connor chuckle. Pearce looked around to the woman in charge and she gave him an approving nod. Even though he had only just met these people, Koda was excited at the prospect of outside food, but first jumped up and sprinted to put his gift in the sanctuary of his tiny room.
They were handed a diaper bag and after Pearce had signed the necessary forms, they were allowed to head outside. The couple knew the area and both had a place in mind that was only a short walk away, it was quiet and served very tasty food. “Would you like to hold my hand Koda?” Connor asked, as the shy boy stared at his worn shoes. “Yes please.” He replied in a soft almost inaudible voice.
They had been warned by the staff, before they left, that Koda might not eat very much, but in the restaurant they saw the exact opposite. “You look like you’re enjoying that. Koda, can I ask you a question?” Pearce asked with a smile, handing some of his fries to the peckish boy. Now making eye contact, the couple could see his cute face as he nodded to his new friends. He had dark soulful eyes and a cluster of freckles high on each fair cheek. “Do you get much to eat normally?”
Now out of the orphanage’s view, he had relaxed a lot more and even smiled at the pair. “Not really… it’s yucky.” He confessed. The pair shared another knowing look, as they had done quite a few times since meeting Koda. It was clear as day that he was not doing well in his, for lack of a better word, ‘home’. Not only was he not eating enough, he wasn’t interacting socially very well and from the looks of his attire, was stuck in old hand me down clothes. By the time their plates were empty, the couple had made a decision.
“Alrighty, before we head back, do you need a diaper change?” Connor asked quietly, so as not to embarrass their cute companion. Holding Stripey up to his face, Koda slowly nodded. Connor gave him a wink and both men stood, holding their hands out to him. The three made their way through the restaurant to the family bathroom, both equally tall men wanting to hold the little one’s hand. With the door locked, Pearce lifted the slim 5 foot 7 boy onto the raised side with ease and together with Connor, changed their first ever diaper. “Lift up buddy.” Connor said, patting Koda’s now full tummy. They managed to manoeuvre a dry diaper under the boy’s bare bum and sprinkle powder, nearly in the right place.
“We’ll need to get better at that.” Connor murmured to his husband as he watched Pearce tape the boy’s crinkly underwear closed. They helped Koda to his feet and shimmied his old dark green shorts back up. Before leaving the bathroom, the boy unexpectedly wrapped his arms around the pair and shyly mumbled a thankyou. His sweet actions, hit both men hard as they hugged him back, if there was any debate on their decision before, Koda’s little gesture had sealed the deal.
As soon as they got back to the orphanage, Koda almost instantly reverted to the shy withdrawn boy they had first met. “Koda?” Connor knelt down to look into the boy’s bowed face and took ahold of his hand. “Would you like to maybe, spend the night at our house?” Connor could see a shine in the little ones eyes as they widened to the biggest innocent orbs he had ever seen. “Y… yes please.” Koda replied in a whisper, smiling at the incredibly kind man.
While Pearce took care of the official paperwork once again, Connor helped Koda pack his belongings for their sleepover as the little one was determined to bring everything he cared about with him. With both men working as a team, they were ready to go in just a few short minutes.
Sitting in the backseat, behind his new friends, Koda was full of conflicting emotions and as his mind raced, his silence had not gone unnoticed. “You doing okay back there buddy?” Connor looked at the boy in his sunvisor mirror, recognising the all too familiar look of nervousness on Koda’s face. Blinking at Connor, he gave him a little smile, holding his stuffed tiger up to his cheek. “You know, we should pick up some food, we don’t have much at home.” Connor said to Pearce, getting a nod from his husband as he flicked on the indicator to make the turn to the supermarket. As they parked the car, Connor nudged Pearce’s knee, hinting at what he really wanted to get, getting a knowing chuckle in reply.
Climbing out of the car, Koda looked to Connor and worked up all the confidence he could muster. “Um… can I hold hands again… please?” The little ones request made Connor beam, happily taking his hand as they headed inside. Pearce pushed the trolley beside his husband, picking up the ingredients for dinner and a few necessary items they would need for Koda, before steering them into the clothing isle. Koda was so oblivious to their plan that Connor had to gently pull him to a halt as he continued walking past. “Huh?” He looked back at the pair with a puzzled expression.
Looking at Connor first, Pearce smiled at the bewildered boy. “We wanted to buy you a little something and thought you could use some comfy shoes.” The couple saw a twinkle of a tear forming in the boy’s eye and were equally shocked when he moved in close and cuddled up to them. They let Koda choose a new pair of cute blue and white trainers, without letting him look at the prices and then picked out a green tshirt with a cartoon dinosaur roaring on the front, that was too adorable to pass up and a new pair of comfy red jogging bottoms to boot.
It was a very new experience for Koda, at the orphanage, clothes weren’t a priority and with a razor thin budget, new items were extremely rare. In fact this would be the first time he received something brand new since his 16th birthday, more than four years earlier. Pearce soon noticed the boy staring into space and after handing the trolley off to his husband, put his arm around Koda, slowly walking him into the toy isle. His dark brown orbs almost popped out of his head right then and there as he gazed around at the fully stocked colourful shelves. “We don’t have many toys at our place, so I think we should choose something fun that we can play with tonight.”
Looking up at the big man with his glistening eyes, Koda couldn’t believe it, all this attention and affection was enough to make the abandoned little’s head spin. A wide smile spread across his face as he shyly hid his face against Pearce’s shirt. It was important to both Connor and Pearce that Koda chose something he wanted and after much prompting and encouragement, the little one picked out a playmobile police helicopter and some fun looking, brightly coloured play-doh.
“Babe, do you mind going to pay? We’ll meet you at the car.” Pulling the diaper bag over his shoulder told Pearce all he needed to know and after leaning in to give his husband a quick kiss, he headed to the checkout. Connor’s second attempt at changing a diaper went a lot smoother, getting the little man nice and dry once more. “All done!” He cheered, helping Koda to his feet. “T’ankyou.” Koda hummed, wrapping his arms around Connor.
They caught up to Pearce just outside the store and Koda excitedly ran up to him, so he could peek inside the shopping bags. “Hey buddy.” Pearce chuckled. The muscular man then lifted the smiley Koda into his seat and buckled his seatbelt for him. “Thankyou.” Koda said politely, grabbing his stuffed tiger from the seat.
On the ride home, the couple were chatting about dinner, when Pearce looked in his rearview mirror and saw that their guest for the evening was sound asleep, leaning forward in his seat with his head drooped. “Oh my god. That is just so cute!” Connor gushed, trying to keep quiet so as not to disturb him. “I can hardly believe we’re doing this.” He beamed, stroking Pearce’s knee.
“I have to confess, I wasn’t sure how today was going to go. But after meeting him… I get it.” It was true, at first Pearce was doing this purely for Connor, but gazing back at the sleeping boy, he understood his feelings all too well. “Should we wake him?” Connor asked as they arrived home. “Nah, let him sleep a little. Can you grab the shopping?” Pearce replied quietly, gently unbuckling Koda’s seatbelt and lifting him into his arms. “Jesus, he hardly weighs anything.” He whispered as they went inside. As Pearce sat on the sofa with Koda nestled in his lap, Connor felt a twinge of envy. “Do you want me to take him?” He asked quietly, looking down at the boy nibbling on his thumb. “Pshh. Wait your turn.” Pearce japed.
Connor was feeling pretty proud of his husband as he watched him cuddling Koda from the kitchen, Pearce hadn’t seemed too interested whenever he had spoken about kids before and here he was enjoying this intimate moment with Koda. Setting their drinks down on the coffee table, Connor lounged with one leg pulled up, smiling at the two of them. They quietly chatted about what they would need to accommodate the boy full time, of course nothing was for sure yet, but judging by how soundly Koda was snoozing in Pearce’s lap, it was evident he was comfortable with them.
Suddenly, there was a wriggle of life as Koda woke and sat up, looking a little surprised. “Hi there sleepy.” Connor smiled, seeing Koda blink his tired eyes at him. “Mm sorry.” The shy boy mumbled, feeling quite worried that the kind new men would be upset with him. “Nothing to be sorry for buddy.” Pearce smiled, gently rubbing his back.
They gave the refreshed boy a drink of juice and decided it would be a good idea to show him around his home for the night. Koda brought Stripey along as he held Connor’s hand on his tour and was amazed by the very clean, very smart looking home. Everything had it’s place and it almost made the timid little afraid to touch anything. “And this…” Pearce said, nudging the bright white door open. “Is your room, right next to ours.”
Standing back for a moment, they let Koda head inside and discover his surroundings for himself. With a light wood dresser and matching wardrobe at one end and a single bed, neatly dressed in blue and white at the other, it was the most perfect room Koda had ever seen. He stood in the centre of the room and looked down at the circular rug below, enjoying the fuzzy feeling of the material on his toes. Like a curious cat, he plopped down on his poofy rear and ran his fingers through the incredibly soft shaggy rug. While Connor stood gushing at the boy from the doorway, Pearce had retrieved his belongings and all together they unpacked.
When they had finished, the room looked like it belonged to Koda. His jammies were folded neatly on the end of the bed, his spare clothes hung in the open wardrobe and his stuffed tiger sat proudly by the pillow. On the dresser, there sat stacks of crisp white diapers and on the bedside table, Koda had placed his nighttime paci and the drawing Pearce had given him hours earlier. “How about we go open up your new toys hm?” As soon as Connor mentioned the ‘T’ word, Koda’s head shot up and with a great big smile, he sped off back into the front room.
While the couple made a start on dinner in the open plan kitchen, they kept an eye on the little one as he played with his new helicopter in the middle of the living room. “Hey.” Pearce nudged his distracted husband after getting no answer. “Hm?” Connor replied, tearing his eyes away from Koda. “Nevermind. I’ve got this, why don’t you go keep our boy company.” Pearce said with a wink. His choice of words had Connor stare at him for a moment, before then planting a sweet kiss on his lips.
During dinner, Koda sat between the two men at the small round table, eagerly spearing the tasty cut up chicken and pasta with his fork. He kept his brand new brightly coloured sippy cup tucked into his free hand throughout the meal, feeling incredibly grateful for all the gifts he had received today. “Um… please can I have juice?” He asked in a soft voice, now feeling more comfortable around the couple. “Coming right up!” Pearce said cheerfully, jumping to his feet.
However being so new to having a little one to care for, they hadn’t kept a close enough eye on the boy’s fluid intake and as everyone finished dinner, their mistake became clear. “Uhhh….” A frozen look of fear came over Koda, with all the colour draining from his cheeks. As the unmistakable warm feeling trickled down Koda’s legs, his lip quivered and tears burst from his eyes. “I didn’t mean tooo!” Koda wailed, burying his face in his hands as he stood. “Hey, it’s okay. Oooh there there.” Connor wrapped his supportive arms around Koda and stroked the sobbing boy’s back, quickly ushering him into the bathroom. He looked back at Pearce and saw his husband was already heading to clean up Koda’s mess before he had a chance to ask.
Connor calmed Koda down and helped the shaken boy out of his wet clothes, dropping them in the washing basket. “It’s okay sweetie, don’t you worry, let’s run you a nice bath and get you all freshened up yeah?” Connor got a small nod from the teary boy and got the water running. Just as he was helping Koda into the bath, Pearce joined them and the apologetic boy spun around feeling his presence. “I’m really sorry! I’ll clean it up I swear! P’ease don’t make me go.” His voice wobbled and trailed off as the sadness became overwhelming.
Taking a great big step over to the bath, Pearce hugged Koda’s head to his chest. “Don’t you worry little one. You are welcome to stay for as long as you want to.” With their reassurances calming Koda’s worries once more, the couple dotingly bathed the boy and were all smiles as they soon got him giggling while playing with the bubbles. Swooping Koda out, they got him dried, just as the silent clock on the wall read a quarter to 9. “Time for jammies.” Connor announced, patting the boy’s messy towelled hair. He decided Pearce should change Koda into his diaper, as he needed the practice and stood behind him, trying his hardest not to nitpick or interject. “There!” Pearce grinned, pleased with his work. “What do you think buddy? Comfy?”
“Yep!” Koda cheered. He wriggled to his feet and swiped up the paci he had laid out, popping the bright red item into his mouth. Connor then helped him into his cute Buzz Lightyear pyjamas and combed flat Koda’s damp black hair. Curling at the ends, it was a cute shaggy look that both men found almost too adorable. “Right then, time for juice and a movie I think.” Pearce said, stretching his arms above his head.
Following the slow moving boy, Pearce relaxed at one end of the sofa, with Connor snuggled into his side. At first, Koda sat on his own cushion watching the opening of Finding Nemo, but noticing the cuddling couple, he found the courage to make his way over and join them. Being held by the love of his life and with Koda snuggled between his legs, Connor honestly couldn’t imagine anywhere else he would rather be.
An hour into the movie, Pearce pecked his daydreaming husband on the cheek. “I think we should put someone to bed.” He whispered quietly, directing his partners gaze to the sleeping little in his lap. “God, that’s so cute.” Connor groaned, stroking his fingers through Koda’s sweet smelling hair. He barely made a sound as Connor carried him to bed, laying his weary head on the kind man’s shoulder, his loose lips barely holding his paci in.
Pearce pulled back the covers and Connor laid the sleepy boy down on the comfy new mattress. Slipping Stripey under his arm, they pulled the freshly cleaned covers snugly over him. They stood arm in arm, gazing down at the adorable sleeping boy, until Pearce leaned in and whispered into his besotted husbands ear. “I want him to stay.” He turned Connor to face him and gave him a loving smile. “I’m ready to be a Papa.”
Early the next morning, Pearce woke hearing a peculiar rustling and after pulling himself up from the comfortable bed, he rubbed his gluey eyes and went in search of the noise. He peeked around the doorframe into Koda’s room and saw the very sleepy boy attempting to unfold a clean diaper. “Hey buddy, is everything okay?” He asked quietly as he entered the room. “I’m rea’y sorry… I .. uh … I…” In a fluster, Koda was afraid he would be in trouble for rousing Pearce. “I’m sorry for… waking you…” He had managed to pull off his pyjama bottoms and rip one side of his very wet nighttime diaper, leaving it hanging from his hips.
Even in his sleep addled state, Pearce could see how upset the boy was, but fortunately knew just what to do. “You didn’t wake me little one, I just needed the loo.” He fibbed. “I’ll help you change sweetie.” He laid the boy down and took off the swollen, ripped diaper, slipping a clean one under him at the same time. With a big cloud of powder, he finished diapering Koda and helped him back into his bottoms. “There we go, all better.” His deep voice was almost as soothing as the cuddle he gave the boy. Pearce sat on the bed, holding Koda in his lap, until he was sure he had fully calmed. “Let’s get you tucked back into bed hm?” Koda gave him a very sleepy nod and laid back in the most comfortable bed he had ever been in. After pulling the covers back over the tired boy, Pearce gently brushed the hair out of Koda’s eyes. “I need you to do something for me, okay little one? Next time you wake up, I want you to come find me okay?” Pearce wanted Koda to know, that if he needed anything, he was always there and with a yawning nod from the boy, Pearce slipped out of the room, leaving him to sleep.
Connor propped himself up, just as Pearce was tiptoeing his way back to bed. “Is everything okay?” Easing his tired body back into bed, Pearce smiled and kissed him softly. “He’s all good, I changed him and put him back to bed.” Snuggling together, they also quickly fell back asleep, with Connor dreaming of his loving husband taking care of their boy.
Over breakfast, Connor couldn’t wait to tell Koda what he and Pearce had discussed. Watching him finish his last bite of scrambled eggs, Connor squeezed Pearce’s hand and took in a slow breath. “Koda, we loved having you here and…” Connor began, glancing at his husband before they both smiled at the bemused boy infront of them. “… and we were hoping you would like to stay.” Pearce said slowly, taking over from his giddy partner.
Koda was completely taken by surprise, he tried to speak but all he could produce was a very quiet squeak from deep within. His eyes widened, brimming with happy pearly tears as he scrambled his way out of his chair, flinging himself into the couples waiting arms. Wrapping the weepy boy in a shroud of protection, they cuddled him, feeling the waves of happiness pulse from their charge. “I think that’s a yes.” Pearce chuckled.
He filled the hole in their hearts like nothing else could and as they accepted him into their home and their lives, the once withdrawn boy flourished. With their unwavering love and guidance, over the next few months, Koda came out of his shell and showed them just how funny, loving and happy he could be.