Page 13

CHAPTER 12

“There we go! All nice and clean.” Barren finished cleaning her face and hands with the wet cloth. “Cute as a button.”

Phoebe smiled up at him. “Thanks, Daddy.”

“You’re welcome, little girl.” He tidied up their lunch and carried the tray to set it outside the door. Phoebe jumped up and opened the door for him. “Thank you. Now, let’s get you ready for your nap. I haven’t got any pajamas for you, although there might be something in here we could use.”

He hated not having everything she might need.

Phoebe wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “I’m good, Daddy.”

“I know you’re good, little girl. But that doesn’t mean you’re not having a nap. And whether you have one with a hot bottom or not is up to you.”

“My bottom is already hot!” she told him.

“It can be hotter.”

Phoebe sighed. “All right, Daddy. I will try to nap. I really don’t think I’ll fall asleep, though.”

“You said that last night too.”

“I was just tired. It was all the glitter. Glittering makes me tired.”

“I don’t know that glittering is a word.”

“Oh, it is, Daddy. It totally is.”

He crouched to remove her slippers, skirt, and tights. Then he stood and drew off her sweater, leaving her just in a T-shirt.

“Come on, you need to go potty first. You haven’t been all morning.” In fact, she hadn’t drunk much at lunch or breakfast. He needed to get some water into her.

“I don’t think I’ve gots to pee, though,” she complained as he led her into the bathroom.

He placed her in front of the toilet, then drew her panties down before helping her sit. Then he stood and waited.

She stared up at him, her face growing red. “Daddy! Are you going to stay in here?”

“I was going to. Too soon?”

“Way too soon, Daddy. Like a hundred years too soon.”

“In a hundred years I’ll be well and truly dead,” he told her.

“Uh-huh. Me too. And then I won’t be able to die from embarrassment from you listening to me pee.”

Die from embarrassment. His girl could be a tad dramatic. “I’ll go and get the crib ready. Call out when you’ve finished peeing.”

“Uh-huh, I’ll do that, Daddy.”

He drew the covers back on the crib and grabbed Miss Bunny for her to cuddle. He thought about getting Snickerdoodle, but he didn’t want to leave her for that long. And she seemed to like Miss Bunny. Then he grabbed a sippy cup from the cupboard and filled it up with a bottle of water left over from their lunch.

“Daddy? Finished!” she called out.

“Good girl, have you washed your hands?” he asked as he entered the bathroom.

“Of course, Daddy.”

“Well done.” He took hold of her hand and led her into the other room and to the chair instead of the crib. Suddenly, she started tugging at his hand and he stopped, turning to her.

She was staring down at the chair. “I didn’t do anything wrong, Daddy!”

“What do you mean… of course you didn’t… oh wait!” He was an idiot. “I’m not punishing you, little girl. I wanted to give you some water.” He walked over and grabbed the sippy cup of water.

“Oh. Silly me. Of course you wouldn’t spank me. I’ve been so well-behaved.”

“Well, not sure I’d go that far,” he told her as he sat on the chair and drew her onto his lap, lying her back against his arm. Perhaps he should have chosen the baby bottle. But she drank down some water happily.

Damn.

He never thought he would be this lucky. He held the cup for her as she continued to drink. When she turned her mouth away, tugging at his hand, he sat it down again. She’d drunk about a third of it. She could drink the rest afterward.

Standing, he held her cradled in his arms, against his chest as he carried her to the crib and laid her down. He gave her Miss Bunny before tucking her in. “Are you all right with Miss Bunny?”

“Yes, Daddy. I do miss Snickerdoodle, though.”

“We can go get him before we go to the shop later if you like.”

“Oh, yes, please, Daddy,” she said as he moved around the room, pulling the curtains and turning off the lights. A small nightlight came on so they weren’t completely in darkness. Walking back to the crib, he sat facing her.

“I won’t sleep, Daddy,” she warned.

“Roll over, my baby. I’ll rub your back and see if that helps.”

She shuffled over so she faced away from him and he rubbed her back until he heard a soft snore escape her. With a smile, he stood and raised the side of the cot.

Just as he’d thought, she’d gotten off to sleep quickly.

Lucky for her, Daddy knew just what she needed even when she didn’t.

“I’m so excited!” Phoebe skipped back and forth in her slippers as she swung Snickerdoodle around with one hand. Her other hand was firmly encased in Barren’s large hand as he led her toward the store.

She’d finished a nap, something she hadn’t thought was going to be possible. She was usually far too busy to sleep during the day. But she’d woken up in the crib, with all four sides raised! Barren had been there immediately to help her out and he’d taken her straight to the bathroom. Which was a smart move on his behalf because she’d been busting. But now they were heading into Rawhide Ranch’s shop, and she was so excited!

“Now, listen to the rules, please,” Barren said firmly as he came to a stop and turned her to face him.

“Rules?” she cried.

“Yes, rules.”

“I don’t see how there can be more rules, Daddy. I think if you come up with any more rules my head might explode.”

“I think you can handle it,” he told her solemnly. “While we are in the shop, you are to stay within eyesight of me at all times. No running off to look at something or wandering away. Understand?”

She sighed. “Well, okay, Daddy.”

“And if Daddy tells you to do something, you have to do it straight away. I don’t want any arguments or pouting.”

“But pouting is so fun.”

“Little girl,” he said in a warning voice.

“Yes, Daddy. No pouting. I understand.”

His girl was a demon to shop with. She flitted around from thing to thing, picking it up and then discarding it.

She never went out of his eyesight, though.

“Oh, Daddy this is just the cutest!” she cried, running her hand over a white, fluffy scarf with matching hat.

They would look good on her and he picked them up to put them in the basket.

“You don’t have to buy them for me, though.” She reached in to take them out of the basket.

“New rule,” he said.

“Oh no, Daddy! Not another one.”

“Yes, another one. If something goes into the basket, it doesn’t come out unless I take it out.”

“All right, Daddy.”

He realized he’d made a mistake after that as she stopped reacting with excitement at everything she saw. Finally, he drew her to a halt after they’d walked past a red onesie with white hearts on it that he just knew she had to love.

“Right. We need a chat.”

Her eyes widened in alarm, and she pushed her hand behind her to cover her butt. “I didn’t do it! It wasn’t me! I’m innocent, I tell you!”

“Little girl, what are you talking about? Innocent of what?”

“Um, of whatever you were about to punish me for.”

“I wasn’t going to punish you,” he told her.

“But you said chat. Chat is the code word for I’m gonna spank you.”

He shook his head. “Sweetheart, no. Sometimes a chat is just a chat.”

“Drat. Gonna have to update my internal book of Daddy code.”

“You have an internal book of Daddy code?” he asked.

“Yep. It only had one word. Chat means you’re gonna get spanked. Now chat can have a dual meaning.”

“I’m sorry,” he said solemnly. “That seems very confusing.”

“Oh, it is. You have no idea how confusing you Daddies can be.”

“Have other Daddies been confusing you?” he demanded.

Rein it in. You sound jealous.

“Um, no, just you, I guess.”

Right. He smothered his jealousy. “I just wanted to talk to you about why you aren’t looking at anything.”

“Um. What do you mean?”

“Before you were all excited about everything. Now you keep telling me you don’t want or need things. Is it because I’m getting these things for you?”

“It doesn’t feel right to spend your money, Daddy.”

“I don’t want you worrying about money,” he told her.

Maybe you should tell her that you have plenty of money. That you could likely buy everything in this shop four times over and still not put a dent in your bank balance.

He opened his mouth to do just that, but something held him back. Or should it be some one held him back? Because all he could see was Krystal telling him that she’d only been with him for his money. It wasn’t that he thought that was the reason that Phoebe was interested in him.

Far from it.

She had no idea he had money. And did she need to know yet? It wasn’t like she’d spoken about her finances. This was early days, and those conversations could come later. Still, he didn’t want her to worry about that.

“This isn’t something for Little girls to worry about, understand?” he said. “Money is an adult worry.”

“But even Littles have to worry about money.”

“Did you come to Rawhide so you could worry about adult things or so you could escape for a while and indulge your Little?”

“Well, yeah, I didn’t want to think about Big stuff for a while.”

“Then you won’t. Understand? You’re going to trust me to have this handled.”

“I’m not taking advantage of you?” she asked worriedly.

“Little girl, no. You could never.” Reaching up, he cupped her face between his hands. “You’re my best girl. Now, how about we get you that onesie back there?”

“Oh, yes, please, Daddy!”

Twenty minutes later, she gaped at the pile of things on the counter. Wow. Daddy had bought her half the store it seemed.

“You have some nice treasures here,” the woman behind the cashier desk told her. “I’m Becky, by the way.”

“I sure do, Becky!” Phoebe said excitedly. Then she pointed at a bright item that was attached to a black piece of leather. It was long and rounded at the bottom. “What’s that, Daddy?”

“It’s something that you can chew on instead of gnawing on your thumbnail,” he explained.

“You can also suck on it like a pacifier,” Becky told her as she packed it away in a bag.

“You put the leather part around your neck and wear it like a necklace,” Barren added.

“Oh. That’s a good idea.” She caught sight of a blue notebook with something written across the top. “Rules for Littles. Daddy!”

“You said you wanted all your rules written down.”

“This book is very helpful,” Becky said as she packed it away. “It even has pages for you to write down any transgressions and punishments if you want. Helpful when a Little is sick and can’t be punished straight away.”

Goodness. Wasn’t that helpful?

Not.

“Come on, little girl. Let’s go put your new things away.”

She sighed. “All right, Daddy! Let’s go.”