Page 21 of Daddies’ Little Cubs (Ivory Mountain Daddies #3)
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
DESTINY
H er hands shook as she placed it into Eli’s. Destiny couldn’t believe that she was allowing this man to see her in this state, but she was also excited to give over the control to him.
It was scary to be vulnerable in front of someone, but Destiny was proud of herself for doing it. Stepping into the tub, she settled back and let out a deep breath. She could do this, she believed in herself.
“Here Des, would you like some toys to play with?” Pops asked her, holding a small container of bath toys that he seemed to have pulled from thin air. She quickly nodded her head, refusing to turn down the opportunity to continue to play.
The toys fell into the water and immediately Destiny picked up the water crayon. These would be fun to play with! Turning to face the tile, she began to draw a picture. As she zoned out into the family she was drawing, Destiny jumped when she felt a washcloth smooth over her back.
“It’s just Pops, Little one. You just focus on that beautiful picture you’re doing and let me handle the rest.” Deciding to follow what he said, she picked up the next crayon and started on the next family member.
Moving from her arms, to her belly, and down her legs Pops continued to wash her in slow steady movements. Never once lingering on one spot. “Babygirl, do you want to wash your hair tonight?”
Tonight wasn’t a hair washing night, so she shook her head to his question. She dreaded washing her hair, so Destiny only did it on certain days. “You can have three more minutes and then it’s time to get out and put your pajamas on.”
“Okay, Pops!” It wouldn’t take long to finish the masterpiece she was working on. There was only one more thing she needed to add and it would be done.
Grabbing the blue crayon she started to draw one more person to the group in front of her. Her three minutes flew by and before she knew it Pops was telling her it was time to get out.
“Do you like my picture?”
“I do, Little Wolf. Can you tell me who’s all there?”
“Yeah! That’s you, that’s Papa, and there’s me and Jessa! It’s our family!”
She was shocked that tears began to form in his eyes! Thinking she did something terrible, Destiny grabbed the washcloth ready to swipe her picture away.
“Don’t even think about it, Little girl! That picture will stay up forever.”
“But you didn’t like it. It made you cry," she whispered out.
“Pops isn’t crying sad tears baby, these are happy tears.”
“They are?”
“Yes Destiny, they are. Pops is so proud to be a part of your family.”
Giving him a mega smile, Destiny threw her hands up waiting for him to reach down and help her from the tub. Once in his arms, Pops helped her dry off before dressing her in the pretty orange nightgown she picked out.
Destiny loved the way it felt and was excited to see all the Care Bears pictured on the front.
She sat down in front of the counter and brushed her teeth while Pops helped pull her hair back into a braid.
Finally done, she turned and pressed a kiss against his lips before sprinting off to find Jessa.
“No running in the house Destiny Marie!”
Oops! She slowed to a brisk walk, finally making it back into the play room.
Destiny found Jessa laying on one of the princess beds with a book in her lap and Bagheera tucked beside her.
Walking over to where Jackson stood beside her bed, she raised her arms and let him lift her up and tuck her snuggled deep in her bed before placing Leela in her arms.
“Papa said he would read us a bedtime story! I went ahead and picked one out.”
Destiny grinned and snuggled deeper inside her bed as Papa’s deep baritone voice began to read.
“Once upon a time, there were three bears who lived in the forest.”
Closing her eyes, Destiny drifted to sleep.
Destiny didn’t know what time it was when she woke up the next morning. She tossed around in bed before finally giving up and crawled out, sneaking over to where Jessa was still sound asleep.
Pulling back the covers, she eased her way into the bed with her sister and settled in. Letting out a sigh as her body began to relax again, Destiny closed her eyes once more and waited for her dreams to come and take her away.
A little while later, Destiny roused feeling a soft hand brushing across her head. “Good morning, Little ones.” Papa said as she peeked her eyes open.
“Good morning, Papa!” said Jessa as she wiggled around on the mattress. “Good morning, Papa.” She quietly spoke as if she was afraid to pop the bubble they were all in.
“Pops is cooking breakfast this morning, so I’ve been tasked with getting you each ready. So, up we go! I want you both to go potty and brush your teeth. Then you can come help me pick out what outfit you want to wear.”
Throwing back the covers, Destiny slid out of the bed with Jessa following close behind. Deciding to let her use the bathroom in their room, Des headed back into their Daddies’ room and used the potty before grabbing the same toothbrush from last night and dropping a small dot of toothpaste on it.
Humming twinkle twinkle little star three times, Destiny rinsed her mouth out and put the toothbrush back before going back to the play room. She paused just inside the door frame, looking at what was in front of her.
Jessa stood with Jackson’s arms wrapped around her while they looked in the closet. “I can see you, Little Wolf. Time to stop holding up the door frame.” A blush creeped along her cheeks at being caught staring.
Destiny pinched her arm because she had to be dreaming. How did they end up with such amazing men who cared deeply about each of them? She would never know that answer, but Destiny prayed it would never change.
Skipping over, she ducked under the arm that Jackson held out and leaned her head against her sister’s shoulder to answer the question that burned deep within Jessa’s eyes.
You okay sissy?
Yeah Jessa, I’m just fine.
“Okay little ladies, any preference for colors today?”
“Mhm, I think I would like to wear green today Papa” Jessa said pointing at the dress that was hanging just in front of them.
Destiny continued to look at the options that she had and pondered for a moment before finally deciding.
“Can I wear yellow?” she asked Jackson as he was pulling the dress down for Jessa.
“You can wear whatever you would like, my Little Wolf.” she heard him reply as he grabbed the outfit she was pointing to. It was a pale yellow shirt with white daisies embroidered along the collar. Hung with it was dark yellow leggings with white stripes.
She watched Jackson reach in and grab a pair of frilly knee high socks for both of them before twirling them each around sending them towards their beds with a pat to the bottom. Destiny stopped just in front of her bed and turned to face Jackson as he placed everything down.
“I’m a big girl Papa! I don’t need any help getting dressed!” Destiny pointed out as he reached down to pull off her nightgown. “You are my big girl, Little Wolf. But it would make Papa happy if he could help you. Would that be alright?”
Deciding to let him help, she held up her arms for him to pull the nightgown up. It took no time for Papa to finish helping her get ready for the day. Just as she was sitting down to take the braid out of her hair, she noticed Pops standing behind her in the mirror.
“Here, Little one, let me rebraid that for you. Wouldn’t want it getting in the way while you are eating breakfast.” he said pulling the hair tie out of her hair before grabbing the brush.
A few minutes later Destiny was all done getting dressed.
Looking over to where Jessa was, she noticed that she was almost done too.
“Let’s go have some breakfast and we can talk about the plans for today.” Pops said as he lifted her into his arms. Her legs worked just fine, but it would be a lie if she said she didn’t enjoy being carried by these men.
Eli sat her down in front of a light purple sectioned plate with butterflies on it while Papa put Jessa in front of the same plate just in dark purple.
Her heart warmed knowing that they bought these specific colors because it was their favorite.
They also remembered which twin liked what shade of purple.
“Here you go, Destiny.” Papa said.
Waffles, eggs, and bacon were placed on her plate. They smelled divine and she couldn’t wait to dig in. Picking up the chubby fork, she speared a piece of egg and shoved it in her mouth, letting out a moan as the flavors exploded across her tastebuds.
She heard a cough from across the table and looked up to see a heat in Papa’s eyes that should have made her melt. “What did I say about letting out those delicious sounds, Destiny?”
Her eyes widened, but then the shock of his words wore off as she noted that once again she didn’t feel that tingly feeling that she should. Quickly looking down at her plate, she pushed the food around not really eating.
Finally after what felt like hours, everyone was finally done eating. Destiny didn’t eat much after her brain started being ugly to her, but that was okay. If she got hungry she could ask for a snack later.
“Is there anything that you girls would like to do today?” Pops asked as he picked up their plates.
Remembering seeing a paint set inside the toy box, Destiny’s spirits lifted a little. “Can I play with the paint, Pops? I want to recreate my picture from last night.”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea babygirl. Why don’t you pull all the things out while I finish up here and then I can help you get set up.”
“What about you Jessa?” Papa asked as he helped Destiny down from the chair.
“I saw some puzzles on the bookshelf. I think I want to start one of those.”
With both playtime activities planned, Destiny grabbed Jessa’s hand and started down the hallway towards their playroom. When it was finally just the two of them, Destiny knew that she would eventually have to talk to Jessa about everything she had been battling with.