Page 24 of Daddy's Little Bunny (Ivory Mountain Daddies #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

OLIVIA

O ver the next several therapy sessions, Olivia talked to Auntie C about life with David before she ran and what she had done once she escaped.

Auntie C had encouraged her to write a letter to the kind nurse who had helped her that night.

Olivia didn’t know if that nurse would even remember her, but it helped ease more of the hurt and pain from that time and that was enough for her.

She didn’t think that she was going to get a response but, about a week after she mailed the letter, she received one back from Nurse Hope.

Daddy read it with her and held her as she cried some more. Before now, Olivia wasn’t much of a crier. Even when David was tearing her down and abusing her, she still didn’t shed many tears.

Now it seemed like she cried at the drop of a hat. Olivia had mentioned it to Auntie C during one of their play sessions and she told her that it was normal to have these influx of emotions.

For so many years Olivia had been suppressing them, just trying to survive. Now that the threat was gone, there was nothing to hold her back from feeling them all.

Auntie C did make sure to mention that it wouldn’t always be this way and that she would eventually be able to think about this time and wouldn’t shed a tear. Olivia couldn’t wait for that day considering she wasn’t a big fan of feeling emotions.

Today Auntie C had come over again to talk to Olivia and instead of playing fashion barbies, Daddy had helped Liv set up a tea party for them.

They had spent all afternoon yesterday making cupcakes from the recipe book that Daddy had surprised her with.

Pepper North wrote a series with another author that was centered around cupcakes. When Daddy found out that a fan had taken the time to craft a cookbook based on their books, he bought one for Olivia to have.

That was something else that Olivia had been doing a lot since regaining some normalcy in her life. Daddy would let her play and cook in the kitchen, crafting up all sorts of new recipes. Some of them were great, while others tasted horrible.

He never once complained about the mess she made or how nasty the food sometimes was. He just smiled, kissed her on the lips, and would help clean up before ordering them take out food.

Pouring Auntie C a cup of tea from a real teapot that Daddy had pulled down from the cabinet, she settled back with her own cupcake in hand and waited to see what Auntie C was going to ask first.

“Let’s talk about the night that David came back.”

This is the one conversation that Olivia had been dreading. Reliving the memories were hard, but these ones were still fresh in her mind .

“Okay, well I had just gotten home from work when he came out of the shadows and forced me inside my apartment.”

Closing her eyes she pictured the whole scene in her mind as she recounted everything that happened.

Ever since that day Olivia hasn’t gone back to that apartment. Daddy had sent movers over there not long after they got back home and they cleaned it out for her.

They threw out all the things that David had destroyed and brought her the handful of items that were salvageable. It wasn’t much, but they were the things that were important to her.

“What do you remember following the attack and waking up in the hospital?”

Wow, Auntie C wasn’t holding back on her today. Olivia figured it was better to just rip the bandaid off quickly.

“I remember waking up and Daddy being there. I remember him telling me that David was dead. I then remember the horrible news that the doctor told me before the memories blur into one another.”

“What did the doctor tell you, Olivia?”

She didn’t want to utter the words out loud. Saying them out loud made them real to her and she didn’t know if she was ready to face that.

Instead, Olivia leaned forward and plucked another cupcake from the tray before ripping the bottom off of it and creating a sandwich with the icing in the middle.

Daddy always laughed at her when she did that, but Olivia knew that it was the best way to eat a cupcake.

Every bite that you took had the perfect ratio of cake to icing and she would continue to argue her way until he saw the light.

He eats cupcakes like a caveman. Just biting into them all willy-nilly.

“I can never have kids.” Olivia spoke so softly that she didn’t think that Auntie C had even caught the words that she said.

“I’m so sorry that you have to face that at your age. We never think that something like that can happen to us, until it does.”

Olivia caught the ‘us’ that Auntie C stated and whipped her head up ready to ask the question that was on the tip of her tongue.

“When I was sixteen, I was in a car accident with a group of my friends. I was a cheerleader and one of the older girls was driving me home from practice that day. A drunk driver swerved and hit our car head on. Waking up in the hospital three weeks later, I found out that I, too, would never have kids. A piece of the dash had broken off and I had a penetrating wound to my abdomen similar to yours.”

Tears welled up in Olivia’s eyes as she listened to Auntie C recount her own memories. Losing the ability to have children at twenty-two was hard enough for Liv to comprehend, but losing that ability at the age of sixteen was unfathomable.

“So, I know a little bit of what you are going through right now, Olivia. The hatred of the world, the questioning of why it had to be you, and the uncertainty of what your new future was going to hold. I get it and relate. What I can tell you is that while the pain of it all will never go away, it does fade. It becomes easier to handle. There are days where it will hit you like a dump truck and you will find yourself reliving those first few weeks following the attack, but even those will become less and less. They will be easier to face.”

“How did you do it?”

“Do what Liv?”

“How did you move on? How did you keep pushing through and living? ”

“I had help from the people around me, both in my personal life, as well as professional help. That’s actually how I ended up choosing my career. The therapist I worked with during that time made a huge impact on my life and I knew that I wanted to be able to do the same for others.”

“I had a similar thought and then brushed it off, thinking it was stupid.”

“No thought of yours will ever be stupid and I know that if your Daddy heard you speaking like that he wouldn’t be happy.”

Olivia’s bottom clenched at the thought of what Daddy would have done if he heard her speak such words.

Her old Daddy was back and in full force after a conversation with Auntie C about how Olivia needed him to be the stern Daddy that he was before.

She helped remind him that while something bad had happened to her, she wasn’t a doll that would break at the wrong moment.

Daddy had told her that he was afraid that Olivia would associate the punishments that he gave her with the ones that David did.

Olivia had to remind him that what David did wasn’t a punishment, it was abuse. Abuse that she didn’t agree to.

What she and Daddy did were different. She craved the punishment and correction that he gave her.

It helped remind her that she was alive and that she was loved and cared for. There wasn’t much now that Olivia got away with, but she was okay with that, even when her bottom was sore.

“A long time ago, Daddy asked me, during one of our many rounds of twenty-one questions, what I would want to do if I had the chance to chase after my dream career. I’ve dreamed since running from David about being a social worker who specializes in battered women and children.

I want to help be the light for them during their dark times and remind them that they aren’t alone.

I always felt so alone those first few months. ”

“I think that this is an amazing idea, Olivia. You have an insight into the trauma that they are facing and can help them through it in ways that others can’t. Have you brought this back up with your Daddy?”

Olivia sighed. She knew that she should have mentioned it to him a while ago, but it always seemed like such a stupid dream to have.

There was no way she could become a social worker. It just wasn’t in the cards for her and that was okay.

“I’m safe to assume that you haven’t talked to Miles about any of this based on your reaction to my question.”

Refusing to look Auntie C in the eyes, she picked up her teacup and fiddled with it in her hands.

“You have some homework to do before our next session.”

Olivia’s eyes flew up to see hers widening at the idea of having homework. She didn’t want to do homework.

“I want you to talk to your Daddy about your dreams and about how you see your future going. You can tell him about how you want to go to college and how, if you ever wanted to have kids in the future, you would like to research with him the different ways to make that happen.”

Yeah, Olivia was right. She didn’t want to do this homework at all. Glaring at Auntie C, she made it known that she wasn’t happy at all about this new development.

“Little girl, while I might be here as a friend, don't forget that I am still a Mommy and I won’t tolerate disrespect.”

Olivia quickly fixed her face and gave Auntie C what she hoped was the sweetest smile she could muster up.

She did not want to find out what would happen if Mommy C came out to play.

“Do you think you can handle having those conversations with Miles?”

“Handle it? Yes, I think I can do that. Wanting to have it? No, not at all. I will though, because this is another step in the direction of my new future and that future will always involve Daddy.”

“Good girl. Now, I think that’s enough heavy talk for now, let’s finish up our cupcakes and maybe we squeeze in one fashion show before I have to leave for my next appointment.”

Olivia grinned at Auntie C before downing the rest of her tea and finishing off her cupcake.

It had been several days since talking with Auntie C and Olivia still hadn’t talked to Daddy about what she wanted for her future.

Every time she convinced herself that she could do it, she would chicken out.

Time was running out and Olivia knew that she just needed to get it over with. Daddy wasn’t going to be upset about the conversation, so she had no reason to continue to push it off.

“I want to be a social worker,” she blurted out one night while Daddy was helping give her a bath.

So maybe that wasn’t the best time for her to bring it up, but the words were out there now and there was no taking them back.

She felt Daddy’s hands still for a moment before he continued to wash her hair.

“Okay, Little Bunny. We can make that happen.”

“That’s it? I’ve been so worried about having this conversation with you and all you have to say is that we can make that happen.”

“Olivia, I always want the best for you. I want to push you to follow your dreams and if being a social worker is one of your dreams, well then we will make that happen.”

“Wow, okay. Well then, yes Daddy. I want to be a social worker. I want to be able to help women like me.”

“I love you, my Little Bunny, and I’m proud of you. I’ll support whatever your heart wants.”

“That’s not all I wanted to talk to you about, Daddy.”

She felt him pull the plug from the drain before standing up and helping her out of the tub and into a towel.

Daddy carried her into the nursery and laid her down on the changing table getting her dressed for the night.

“What else would you like to talk about, babygirl?”

“I think that maybe someday we can adopt. Or if we didn’t adopt maybe we can do like the Big Brother Big Sister program?

Auntie C was helping me look into the different options available for us, since I can’t carry our child.

I thought that my dream of being a mother died that night in the hospital, but it didn’t die, it just shifted a little and that’s okay. ”

Daddy was quiet for several moments, as he worked the baby lotion into her skin before dressing her in a pull up and her favorite footie pajamas. Olivia just waited as he gathered his thoughts.

She knows that it wasn’t just her that lost a dream that night. Miles suffered a loss too. Not only did he lose the person that Olivia once was, but he lost the future that he pictured having with her.

Daddy pressed a kiss against her lips, pulling back with tears in his eyes.

“I would love nothing more than to raise children with you, Olivia. I know that you will be the perfect mom. So if you want to adopt, do this program you mentioned, or any other avenue of having a baby, I’m here for it.

But if you figure out later down the line that you changed your mind, I’m okay with that too.

I just need you, my sweet girl. Everything else is just icing on the cake. ”

Olivia grinned up at him as the final piece of the puzzle slipped into place and Olivia finally felt the peace she had been searching for.

She didn’t know it, but this conversation was the one thing that was holding her back from fully moving forward.

The thoughts in her mind have been telling her that Miles wouldn’t love her any more, since she couldn’t give him what he wanted, but she should have known better than to listen to them.

All Miles wanted was her and that was enough.

“Speaking of the future, there’s some things that you need to decide on.”

“Like what?”

“Well for one, what would you like to do with David’s ashes?”

Olivia shivered at the mention of him. Since she wasn’t in the mind frame to have a funeral following his death, Daddy had made the decision to have David cremated. Since then, the urn had been sitting on the shelf in their garage just collecting dust.

Olivia giggled a little at the thought of him burning here while he burned for eternity in hell where he belonged.

“You also need to decide if you want to change your name back to Cassidy.”

“I don’t ever want to be Cassidy again. She died that night on the floor of that warehouse.”

“Okay, Little Bunny. We can start the process of legally changing your name to Olivia. ”

“As far as what I want to do with David, I think it would be best if I reach out to one of his family members. I don’t want him in our house tainting our future, but I don’t care enough to do anything with his ashes.”

Daddy nodded his head at her and leaned in, pressing a kiss against her lips again.

She opened her mouth allowing him to deepen the kiss. Groaning, he lifted her up, carried her into their bedroom, and onto the start of their new life together.