Page 28 of Daddy Dreadful (Forbidden Pleasures Island #5)
Chapter Twenty-Six
Donovan
I wake, as I have every morning for the past two weeks, with the weight of my Little girl pressed against my side.
Ever since our first family dinner, she’s been…
clingy, but not in a way that concerns me.
If anything, I love that she doesn’t want to be without me, even if it does make my going to work and her going to school a bit stressful.
Looking down at her sweet face, flushed with sleep, her blonde hair sticking to her cheeks, I can’t help but smile as I think about that first night after our dinner.
I tried to put her to bed in her crib, but she wrapped herself so tightly around me I’m still not sure I could have managed to dislodge her if I’d wanted to.
The most intriguing part about it is, I didn’t want to. I’ve always been a firm believer that Little ones should sleep in their cribs at night, to avoid spoiling them. But now… Now I wonder how I ever could have thought that having my Little girl in my bed would spoil anyone but me.
These past two weeks have been utter bliss.
Camilla is the perfect blend of good girl and brat, obeying when it’s absolutely demanded of her while still giving me plenty of opportunities to punish her.
In fact, I’d be surprised if she doesn’t wake up still sore from the paddling I had to give her last night when she refused to eat her Brussels sprouts at dinner.
If I have one disappointment, it’s that she continues to refuse to use her diaper, and I’m not sure why.
She wants to use it. The extensive questionnaire she filled out when she first came to the island made it clear she’s very interested in diaper-wearing and use.
But more than that, I can see it in her eyes every time it’s mentioned.
And yet, she’s holding back, and I can’t figure out what is keeping her from submitting in this one final way.
I’m still watching her, considering whether to wake her up with my tongue or my cock when my phone buzzes on the nightstand.
It’s oh-so-tempting to just ignore the sound and focus on my Little girl, but it could be a medical emergency, so I force myself to roll over and at least check to see who is calling.
Brigette, the woman who runs the “farm” at the edge of the island, where we keep all of the human cows for our milk supply, along with several other “animals”. Seeing her name on the display, I throw the covers back as I hit the button to answer. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Penny, one of our cows.” Bridgette’s voice is tight with worry. “She’s running a fever, but we’re not sure why. I’m worried she’s got an infection of some kind. Can you come take a look?”
“I’ll be right there.” I’ve already pulled my slacks on, so I shove my phone in the pocket and turn back to the bed, where Camilla is blinking up at me, her eyes still glazed with sleep and confusion.
“Wha’s going on?” Pushing up in bed, she yawns and looks around. “Are we going somewhere?”
I open my mouth to tell her that she’s going to stay behind and I’ll call her Auntie Cat to come sit with her. With any other Little girl, that’s exactly what I do.
But I have no clue what awaits me at the farm, and despite how uncomfortable it was to have her working so close to me, unable to touch her, she was an excellent nurse. It would be a mistake to leave her behind now.
“We’re going out to the farm. One of the cows is sick and Bridgette asked me to come check on her. I’m going to go grab some clothes from your nursery while you potty. Can you brush your hair or do you need Daddy to do it for you?”
Just like that, Camilla transforms in front of me, from my sweet, needy Little girl to the efficient nurse I’ve always known her to be as she slips from the bed. “I can do it. Do we know what her symptoms are?”
“So far, just that she’s running a fever. We don’t have time for me to use the catheter this morning, so you’ll need to potty like a big girl before we go.”
Something flickers in her eyes, but she doesn’t argue. She simply nods and waddles off toward the en suite bathroom.
Trusting that she can take care of herself, even though it makes my chest ache not to be the one to do it for her, I turn and stride from the room and down to her nursery to grab some farm appropriate clothing.
By the time I return to my bedroom, she has already finished in the bathroom and pulled her hair up in a sleek ponytail.
With her help, I manage to get us both dressed and out the door in under ten minutes.
There are no speed limits on the island, so I drive as fast as I dare with Camilla buckled into her car seat in the back. Bridgette meets us at the entrance to the farm wrapped in a fuzzy robe, worry twisting her features.
“Now she has a rash. It just appeared while we were waiting for you. Poor thing is absolutely miserable, but I don’t have a clue what could be wrong with her.”
With Camilla’s hand clutched tightly in mine, I fall into step beside Bridgette as we hurry towards the barn. “What kind of rash?”
“I don’t know. Lots of little red bumps.”
My mind is already at work, running through the possibilities, none of which are great. Some are less severe than the others, but some could mean a serious outbreak among the cows. “Is she alone or with the others?”
“Alone. I’ve been sitting with her since I called you, but I didn’t want to run the risk of infecting the others until we know what’s wrong.”
“Good call.”
Bypassing the main barn, we head for the smaller medical building out back.
Instead of having the cows brought to me for their regular checkups, it was more efficient to build an office on the farm.
Camilla and I travel out here twice a month to perform the checkups, and in between as needed whenever someone is sick.
Penny is waiting for us in one of the beds, shivering beneath a blanket. Before I can say anything, Camilla drops my hand and rushes forward, gently petting Penny’s dark hair. “Oh, you poor thing. It’s going to be okay, Penny. We’re going to take good care of you.”
My heart lodges in my throat at the sight of her, so close to the sickly cow without any protective gear. As a result, my tone is harsher than I intend when I snap out her name. “Camilla Joy!”
Whipping around, she stares up at me, hurt shining in her bright blue eyes. “What did I do?”
Guilt pricks at my chest, and I force myself to breathe. “You need a mask and gloves, little one.”
“Oh. Right.” Nodding, she rises to her feet and crosses to the sink to wash her hands. I move to stand beside her, running my hand over her golden hair.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you, sunshine. I needed to get your attention, but I shouldn’t have been so short. Forgive me?”
Looking up from the sink, she beams at me. “Of course, Daddy. I’m sorry I didn’t think of masking up first. I should have.”
“Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
With her hands clean, she pulls on a face mask and a pair of gloves. I do the same, watching from the corner of my eye as she gets to work taking Penny’s blood pressure and temperature.
“Pressure is a little high, but not out of the ordinary considering she’s obviously fighting an infection of some kind,” Camilla reports, her words brisk and professional if somewhat muffled by the mask. “Temperature is one-oh-one-point-two.”
She looks over at our patient, and my heart constricts at the worry in her expression.
Knowing that Penny’s temperature isn’t in the life-threatening range, I allow myself a moment to just be Camilla’s Daddy and I rest a hand on the back of her neck, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Good job, little one.”
Craning her neck to look up at me, she narrows her eyes in a thoughtful sort of stare. But before I can ask her what she’s thinking, Penny groans, and I’m reminded we have a job to do.
Camilla seems to remember at the same time I do, stepping forward to take Penny’s hand while she strokes the little cow’s head. “Shhh. It’s okay, Penny girl. My Daddy is here and he’s going to take the best care of you.”
Even through her fever, Penny manages some curiosity, looking from me to Camilla and back again. “Your Daddy? Him ?”
I try not to take it personally, even when Camilla giggles. “Yeah. I wasn’t expecting that little plot twist, either. But he isn’t so bad when you get to know him a little better.”
Penny snorts as I pull the covers away to reveal a body dotted with tiny red bumps. “I’ll take your word for it.”
While Camilla keeps our cow friend occupied, I run through my mental list of things that could explain the rash.
Measles, hand-foot-and-mouth, chicken pox.
There are a few different infections that could explain both the rash and the fever, though some seem far less likely than others, since Penny would have been vaccinated against most of them as a child.
The medical history I pull up on my tablet confirms she received all the standard inoculations, which only adds to the puzzle.
“Camilla, I’m going to need you to pull a few vials of blood so we can run some tests. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she has the chicken pox, but she was vaccinated, so we’ll need those blood tests to say for certain.”
Eyes going wide, Penny nibbles at her bottom lip. “What would the test tell you?”
“Hopefully, what kind of virus we’re dealing with. I’ll also be testing for immunity to the chicken pox virus as well as a few other things.”
“Oh.” Red colors her cheeks and my Daddy instincts kick in. Our little cow is hiding something. “Um, what if it comes back negative on the immunity stuff?”
“Why would it come back negative, Penelope?”
“N-no reason.”
I put every bit of steel I can muster into my tone. “Tell me the truth, Penelope. Why would your tests come back negative?”
She shrinks back, and to my shock, Camilla plants herself between us, fisting her hands on her hips while she glares up at me. “She isn’t going to tell you anything if you scare her like that, Donovan.”