Page 4

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“ L et’s get you some lunch and while you’re having a nap, I’ll unpack everything,” Ink told Betsy as he lifted her out of the truck.

Ink was glad he’d taken today off. It was obvious she needed this time.

And so he did he.

“I’ll help you, Daddy,” she offered sweetly.

“Thank you, Button. But Little girls shouldn’t carry heavy things. They might fall and hurt themselves.”

A pout crossed her lips and he reached down to tap her bottom lip with his finger. “None of that.”

“All right, Daddy.”

“Would you like to wear the Christmas nightie that we bought today?” he asked as he took her hand in his.

She skipped along beside him. “Yes, please!”

Ink unlocked the door and then turned off the alarm. Leading Betsy into the kitchen, he lifted her onto the counter. The kitchen was enormous with a long island that could seat eight. “What would you like for lunch, Button?”

“Fruit face! Fruit face!”

He smiled. “All right. But you need protein, too. So I’ll scramble some eggs.”

“Protein-schmotein, Daddy,” she said.

He tapped her nose. “Enough of that. Or someone can spend some time in the corner instead of helping.”

“Sorry, Daddy!”

Fifteen minutes later, he had their lunch ready. He had scrambled eggs, toast, and orange juice. Sure, it was more breakfast than lunch but it worked.

He’d created a smiley face out of the fruit she’d chosen and put some scrambled eggs in a bowl for her.

After putting the food on the table, he turned to lift her off the counter and carried her over and sat her down at the large wooden table.

Then he grabbed a bib from a special, locked cupboard in the side cabinet. Ink had wondered if the boys might ask what was in the cupboard, but they never had.

The bib had an elephant on it and he knew it helped put her in a Little mindset. He also grabbed out some special cutlery. It was smaller and lighter than normal cutlery.

“There you go, baby,” he said as he pushed her chair in. “Eat up.”

She ate the berries first like he knew she would. He also knew that she’d leave the eggs until they were cold and gross.

So he grabbed the bowl and forked some up to feed to her. She blushed slightly but took the eggs delicately off the fork.

“Good girl,” he praised her. She’d had so little praise in her life that he liked to give her as much as he could.

And she seemed to soak it in like a flower needing water.

Okay, now he was just getting poetic.

“Enough, Daddy, I’m full. Can I go play?” she asked.

“No, you need to wash up and then it’s nap time.”

She sighed. “Daddy, you’ve got such an obsession with naps. Maybe you need to have a nap while I go play?”

“That would be nice,” he said as he wet a cloth and returned to where she sat.

Crouching, he wiped her hands, then her face.

“All right, it’s settled,” she told him. “You nap while I play.”

“No, it’s not settled. Because I’m not the Little girl, you are.”

“Daddies need naps too. Hmm, perhaps I should get you a T-shirt saying that. Or maybe, ‘Daddies can be cranky-pants without their nappy-naps.’”

He groaned. “That was terrible. Don’t you dare get me that.”

She giggled. Ink lifted her up onto his hip once more and carried her to her playroom which was on the ground floor. All of their bedrooms were upstairs.

Betsy held on tight, nearly strangling him.

“Button, you want to ease up on your hold?”

“But I just loves you sooo much,” she told him as he stopped in front of her playroom and grabbed the key to unlock it.

“That’s good, baby. Because I love you, too. However, your love might just be cutting off my air.”

“Oops. Sorry, Daddy.” She loosened her hold on him as he opened the door and carried her inside.

They’d moved her bed from her other playroom in the warehouse, along with her other furniture, her teepee and a table for her tea parties. The walls were painted a soft peach and there was a peach-colored rug on the floor.

He sat her down on the rug. Then he crouched to cup her chin.

“I’m going to go and find your new nightgown so you can wear it. You can play in here while I get it, but you mustn’t leave this room. Promise?”

“I promise, Daddy!” She gave him a sincere look so he kissed her forehead and walked back out to the truck. He grabbed a few bags. Walking back inside, he headed to the playroom.

In the door, he stopped for a moment and watched his girl as she sat in her teepee, playing with her doll, Stella. She was so gorgeous. As time passed, she just seemed to grow more beautiful and kinder and generous.

Glancing up, she saw him standing there. “What are you doing, Daddy?”

“Just admiring my beautiful girl.”

“Daddy!” she protested. “You’re too nice to me.”

“There’s no such thing.” He walked in and drew her up onto her feet, hugging her tight. “Now, let’s get you ready for your nap.”

Picking her up, he carried her into the bathroom and set her down in front of the toilet.

“Daddy! I don’t needs to go.”

“I think we better be safe than sorry. You don’t want to have an accident in the bed, do you?”

Her eyes widened. “I would never have an accident. I’m a big girl.”

“It’s cute you think that, Button. But you are definitely my Little girl.” He crouched and reached around to unzip her skirt before tugging it and her silky black panties down.

“You don’t need these anymore.” He placed them to one side, then stood.

“Sit. Go.” Ink gave her a stern look.

Urgh.

No matter how often he put her on the toilet, she still found it hard and embarrassing.

She guessed that it was silly, but she couldn’t help but feel that way.

Sitting, she stared up at him stubbornly. “See, Daddy? I didn’t need to . . . oh.” Betsy could feel her cheeks heat up as she peed.

Ink just gave her a knowing look.

Darn it. Why did Daddy always have to be right? It was going to make his ego even bigger than it already was.

And it was already plenty big.

When she was finished, he cleaned her up and carried her back to the bed. He sat on the bed and placed her on her feet in front of him. He stripped off her shirt and bra before slipping her new nightie on.

It had elephants wearing tutus on it and it was adorable.

“Wait! Where’s Floppy?” she asked, suddenly. “Oh no! I forgot to take Floppy and Stella with me to LittleLand. Do you think they’re upset with me, Daddy?”

“I think they understand, Button. Don’t worry, I’m sure they’re not upset with you. Now, before your nap you’ve got to do some corner time for Naughty Betsy.”

“Daddy! I still don’t think it’s fair to make me do the time for Naughty Betsy’s crime.”

“Well, someone has to be punished. Shall I punish Stella and Floppy?”

She nodded before her heart dropped as he grabbed Stella out of the teepee.

“No, Daddy!” She grasped hold of Stella, pulling her away from Ink and holding her tight. “It’s not Stella’s fault.”

“Well, then . . . time for Betsy to go into the corner.” He held out his hand and led her into the corner. “Now, you need to think about what Naughty Betsy did wrong, understand?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

“Five minutes.” He walked away and she sighed as she stood there, trying to think about what she’d . . . uh, she meant, Naughty Betsy had done wrong.

Perhaps rolling her eyes at Daddy hadn’t been the smartest thing.

Yeah, Naughty Betsy shouldn’t have done that.

“Okay, baby. Come here.”

Turning, she saw him sitting on her bed once more and flew toward him. He caught her, drawing her onto his lap.

“I’m sorry, Daddy. I mean, Naughty Betsy is really sorry.”

“Naughty Betsy is forgiven,” he replied, kissing her cheek. “Now, time for that nap.”

He tucked her in and Stella in. Then he found Floppy under the bed.

“Here is Floppy,” he said, handing her toy elephant to her.

She hugged them tight, kissing Stella and Floppy. “I think they miss me.”

“They can still sleep with us at night, Button,” he told her. “They don’t have to stay in here.”

“But what about Zippy? What if she needs me in the middle of the night?” Betsy asked.

“Well, so far she seems to sleep like a log from when she goes down until when she gets up. And second, do you think she’s going to think less of you if you do sleep with a couple of toys?”

“I . . . I don’t know.” But it was something she worried about. And what if she said something to her caseworker?

Would they take Zippy away?

“Stop worrying. Sleep with your toys. Lots of adults do. It will be fine.”

Sighing, she nodded. She did miss having Stella and Floppy with her at night. And she worried about them being lonely down here on their own.

“Go to sleep. Daddy will take care of everything. I promise.”

Snuggling down, she nodded and held on tight to her toys.

Everything would be okay. Better than okay.

Because she had Ink, her boys, and now Zippy.

What could possibly go wrong?