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M aggie woke up from her nap, looking around.

The first thing she spotted were wooden slats. The next was a jungle-themed mobile above her head.

And the third thing was Ian staring down at her in concern. She tried to smile up at him until she realized she had a dummy in her mouth. She reached up to remove it. Huh, her hands were in mittens.

“Hello there, my Little one,” he crooned.

And to think she’d nicknamed him Mr. Grumpy Knickers. Okay, there were times when he could still be a grumpybum and his sweetness factor would get below thirty. When he was being all overprotective and bossy.

He had a real thing about her health and safety. She wasn’t allowed to push herself too much or skip meals, and Lord forbid she didn’t drink enough in one day.

But then he would put her down for a nap, hug her tight, and stay with her until she fell asleep. And he was always right there when she woke up.

“Daddy,” she said, holding up her arms. “Up.”

He lifted her up against his chest, grabbing Ziggy for her as well. She loved feeling secure and small against him. He carried her over to the rocking chair and sat with her on his lap, rocking back and forth.

She sighed, feeling comforted.

She knew why he’d looked so concerned when she woke up. It had been a rough morning. Today, she’d decided to go back into the desert.

She hadn’t tried since that first disastrous attempt. It had taken a lot of negotiating to get her men to agree that she could go. She’d even had to bring in her therapist, who said she thought Maggie was ready to give it a try.

She’d been seeing her therapist twice a week for the last six weeks and it was really helping her process everything that had happened. And not just with the kidnapping. With her parents. With Indie.

It was like a weight lifting from her shoulders, even if it had been a bit rocky to begin with.

Unsurprisingly, all three men had insisted on going with her today.

And it had still been rough.

She’d been close to having a panic attack, but she’d managed to hold it off. Just. And with a lot of help. Jack hadn’t left her side, even to let her pee. And Ian had gone into caretaker mode. She’d worn so much sunscreen, she’d needed a bath to get it all off. And he’d made her drink so much she’d had to pee three times. Jameson had watched her closely, ensuring it didn’t get to be too much for her.

But she’d done it, and she couldn’t help but feel proud of herself.

“Come on, let’s get you dressed,” Ian told her. Ian loved this. Putting her down for naps. Dressing her in Little clothes. Playing games with her.

Spanking her when she was naughty.

Their time together was special. Although there were a few things she could do without. Like the padded training pants he insisted she wear for naps in case of accidents.

Sheesh. She was twenty-five, not two!

He carried her over to the change table and took off the onesie she was wearing.

Ian had bought a whole Little wardrobe for her as well as turning the spare bedroom into a nursery.

Jack had purchased the biggest outdoor play area imaginable. When Ian had told him that he couldn’t put it up on land he didn’t own, he’d called Prince Aric, who’d given him immediate permission.

It was a lot of fun and sometimes, the other girls came over to play with her.

When she was lying naked on the change table except for her training pants and Ziggy, Ian put the middle strap over her. “I need to go get your clothes. Silly Daddy.”

Yeah, right. Sure he had. She knew that Ian loved seeing her in these silly training pants. She squirmed as he stepped into the wardrobe. The door to the nursery opened and she glanced over as Jack walked in.

He was smiling. “Oh good, you’re awake, baby. How are you feeling now?”

“I’m good, Daddy.”

His gaze took her in, his grin widening. “Ian, I brought you up the bottle you wanted.” Jack held up the baby bottle filled with a protein drink.

“Oh good, thanks.” Ian walked back into the bedroom holding an adorable dress. It had a picture of a zebra on the front and tiers at the bottom. It was short, though. Really short.

“You know, with how much our baby has been peeing today, you might want to leave those training pants on,” Jack suggested, his eyes dancing.

That rat!

“No, Daddy Two.”

Jack’s eyes narrowed. “Daddy Two? I don’t think so. You know . . . I just saw this really pretty potty online. I think I’ll order it for our girl since she doesn’t want to wear training pants.”

Her mouth gaped open. “I’ll wear them! I’ll wear them!”

She knew he was mostly teasing her.

But there was always that ten percent chance that he’d do it. Jack loved a dare. Or to push things to their limit.

And she was not peeing in a potty.

Ian dressed her and Jack left. Thank goodness.

“Now, let’s check these pants. Make sure you’re all good to keep wearing them.” Ian snuck a finger down between the pants and her mound.

Monkeyballs.

She kind of liked this. Which was another reason Jack had probably pushed it on her. He knew her well. And this was a sure-fire way to keep her in Little headspace.

“Come on, Little girl,” Ian said. “Time for a bottle, then you can play for a while.”

Ian cradled her to his chest while they sat in the rocking chair and fed her the bottle.

Sighing happily, she sucked on her bottle.

Bliss.

Jameson stepped into the house. He’d hated having to leave his girl after the morning she’d had, but he’d needed to go check on a patient this afternoon. She’d been so brave today, going back into the desert.

He knew that she was bound to be upset and needing him.

So he was shocked by the peals of laughter he heard coming from the living room.

“Come here, brat!” Jack said, chasing Maggie behind a sofa.

Jack was holding some sort of clay creation in his hand. It was a melding of bright colours that hurt his eyes. But he managed to figure out it was some sort of trophy.

“Papa! Save me!” Maggie dove at him. A whirlwind of crazy hair in a cute dress. The skirt of the dress was so short that it flew up around her ass as she ran around. And he could see that she was wearing thick training underwear.

She ducked in behind him, breathing heavily.

“Nobody is going to save you from the wrath of Daddy number one!” Jack told her.

Oh, so that’s what the trophy said. Daddy Two. Jameson had to hide a smirk.

“Come here, baby girl, and get your punishment,” Jack commanded.

“I donts want to! Maggie is a good girl. Tell him, Papa!”

“Hmm, I’m not sure. Did Maggie have a nap?” Jameson asked.

“Yes!” she cried.

“Did she have all of her bottle?”

“Yes! Well, most of it. I was full from lunch!”

“You ate three bites of your sandwich for lunch,” Ian said as he walked in, giving her a look of disapproval.

“Daddy! That’s not nice. No tattling or you’ll be put in the naughty corner.”

Jameson turned to find her waggling her finger at Ian adorably.

Fuck. Everything she did was adorable. It would be all too easy to just give in to her. To give her everything she asked for.

But that wasn’t necessarily what she needed.

Today had been hard for her. And he’d hated leaving her. But knowing that Ian and Jack were here for her had allowed him to go.

Ian knew just how to get her into Little headspace. How to make her feel secure enough to regress further.

Jack could make her laugh and smile. He was fun. But he also knew how to enforce boundaries.

“Hmm, Maggie isn’t sounding like a good girl to me,” he said. “And now she’s teasing one of her Daddies. I think that means she’s been a bit naughty.” He nodded to Ian, who picked her up and threw her toward Jack who caught her.

She squealed. “No, Daddy Jokes! No!”

Daddy Jokes.

That was seriously cute.

Jack dropped her down so she had her legs around his waist. “Daddy Jokes?”

“You don’t like it?” she asked. “It’s like Jack. But Jokes because you’re always so funny.”

“Like it.” Jack shook his head. “No. Actually, baby girl, I love it.” He kissed her lightly and she hugged him tight.

Ian nodded at him and the two of them left them alone, moving into the kitchen. Ian grabbed him a beer and Jameson watched him finish making dinner.

“Everything okay at the hospital?” Ian asked him.

“Yes.”

Ian shot him a knowing look.

“Just a really sick patient.”

“You know we’re here if you need to talk, yeah?” Ian said.

Jameson nodded, feeling that tightness in his chest easing. This was what he’d missed. Leaning on others. Having them turn to him if they needed something. That feeling of family.

He’d never have had this with Elizabeth. He realized that now. She wouldn’t have understood why he needed Ian and Jack.

“I let Jack look into Elizabeth’s life.”

“What? Really?” Ian turned away from the stove. “Why now?”

He shrugged. “I never wanted any sort of revenge, but after seeing her in London, I just wanted some closure.”

“What did he find?”

“That she’s fucking miserable.”

Ian spat out the mouthful of beer he’d just taken. “Yeah?”

“Oh yeah. Her husband caught her cheating and started divorce proceedings. She gets nothing because there was a prenup. That’s why she was latching on to that guy we saw her with. He’s loaded. But apparently, he’s dumped her too. Oh, and she lost her job a while ago because she was accused of bullying. She’s on the bones of her ass.”

“Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person.”

Jameson couldn’t agree more.

“I love this, you know,” he confessed quietly. “I missed it. Missed the two of you so much, and now we have Maggie. She completes us.”

“We missed you too, brother. This was always the way it was meant to be. The three of us and her. A family.”

Family.