Page 6

Smoke

“You can show me, Little one,” I encouraged.

Ashley stood at her closet door, playing with the handle nervously.

“I would love to see your safe space.”

We’d been discharged from the hospital earlier and after a light lunch, I was putting Ashley down for a nap. Nothing had changed yet, other than we weren’t denying our attraction to each other anymore.

She took a deep breath.

“I would love to see her too, babygirl.”

Her eyes widened a bit at the name and I smiled, hoping I’d won her over.

“Love it?” she asked.

“I would love to see it,” I confirmed.

She nodded and twisted the handle, opening the door. Dropping to her knees—and making me wince because of her injuries—she crawled inside the walk-in closet and I closed the space between us, following her in to see her safe space.

A pile of colorful blankets were tucked in the back corner of the closet.

All of her purses and shoes sat on the top of the shelves so the floor was free of them.

Instead, she had a tiny pink crib and matching high chair with a small baby doll sitting on the floor, neatly placed against one wall.

On the other side she had cloth storage totes full of toys lined up neatly.

When she’d shipped all her things here, she’d asked me not to unpack them before she got here.

I figured it was a privacy thing, but standing there in her makeshift nursery, I realized just how private she’d wanted it to be.

“This is beautiful, baby,” I praised. “It’s so neat and tidy and it looks very cozy.”

“Lights, " she said, pointing to the light switch.

Ah, yes. I was seeing baby Ashley.

“You want me to turn them off?”

“Off,” she confirmed.

Okay, well, fuck me. Her Little babble was adorable.

I flipped the lights off and was met with dozens of glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to the walls and ceiling.

“Wow!” I exclaimed. “You did such a good job.”

“Pretty?” she asked.

“Very pretty,” I promised.

“Nap here?”

“You want to nap in your nest?”

She nodded.

“You can totally nap in your nest. Let me get a few more pillows for you, okay? We need to elevate your arm.”

“Arm,” she said, looking down at it.

“Does it hurt?”

She nodded, looking so sad it broke my heart.

“Uncle Dawson will get you some more medicine for it, okay?”

“Unka Smoke,” she corrected.

I grinned. “Uncle Smoke will get you some more medicine for it.”

I grabbed her a few pillows before stepping back into the closet. “Lay down, baby, and let me help you get settled.”

“Babygirl,” she said, patting her chest with her free arm. Her beautiful face was bearing a very large frown.

Chuckling, I stroked my thumb over her forehead. “Lay down, babygirl, and let me help you get settled.”

She snuggled down on her side into her blankets. Kneeling, I gently lifted her arm and propped it up. “How’s your head feeling?”

“Little ouchie.”

“Yeah, unfortunately concussions make f0r ouchie heads. The medicine I’m going to give you will help with both owies,” I told her. “Uncle Smoke is going to make you a baba to drink because the medicine will make you thirsty too. Do you have a favorite baba or do you want one Uncle Smoke has?”

She raised her good arm and pointed toward a pink tote. Standing, I searched the tote and found a pink bottle with fairies on it. “This one?” I asked.

She nodded.

“Alright, babygirl. I’ll be right back,” I promised.

“Right back?”

“I promise.”

“‘kay.”

I headed downstairs, filled her bottle with watered-down apple juice, and grabbed her medicine and an applesauce pouch.

When I got back to her bedroom, she had a bunny stuffie snuggled to her chest. There was something about seeing a Little girl with a stuffie that turned me into a puddle of goop. It was just tooth-rottingly sweet.

She smiled when she looked up at me and I knew immediately I was more gone than I’d already been.

Kneeling back in front of her, I pulled the top off the applesauce pouch. “Dr. Elliot only had big- girl pills and I know they may be hard for you to swallow. He told me applesauce may help.”

“Help?” she asked, lifting her head.

“Yes, help. I’m going to give you a bit in your mouth, then we’re going to put the pill in, and all you have to do is swallow,” I explained, working very hard to keep my mind out of the gutter.

“Babygirl can do it,” she said, giving me a confident nod.

“Babygirl can do it,” I agreed, melting even more.

Once she’d taken the medicine and I’d handed her the bottle, I tucked her in and kissed her forehead.

“Uncle Smoke is going to leave your closet door open so he can hear you, okay?”

She nodded.

“Alright, babygirl, sleep good.”

I stood and left the closet. I’d make sure she was asleep before I relocated the baby monitor I’d hidden in her room.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I called Bash. “I need your help.”

“Anything. What’s up?”

“How do you feel about some more practice with power tools?”

“Fuck yeah,” he answered.

I laughed at his enthusiasm. “I’m going to call Blade too. I need him to pick up some supplies for me.”

“Bet. I’ll grab some beer and we can order pizza. I have a feeling whatever we’re doing might take a while.”

“Do you have time?”

“Absolutely.”

I was a lucky man.

“Let’s make it a party. Bring the Littles too.”

Loud shrieks filled the phone line and I smiled at his Little girl’s enthusiasm.

“So fun!” Allyson squealed.

I agreed. It was going to be so fun.

***

Ashley

I woke up feeling like my bladder was going to explode.

Struggling to climb from my soft blankets, I crawled out of the closet.

Oh no! I really needed to go. Rushing out of the bedroom door, I almost crashed into Bash and Blade carrying a bright pink structure.

I didn’t have enough time to even wonder what they were doing. It was a bathroom emergency.

“Oh, sorry, Little one,” Bash apologized.

“Is okay!” I yelled, rushing toward the bathroom. I slammed the door shut, ripped down my shorts and panties, and made it just in time. My arm throbbed from the movement and I sighed. I needed to work on remembering it was ouchie.

There was a knock on the door. “Babygirl, are you okay?” Dawson asked.

After finishing my business and washing my hands, I opened the door.

“I’m okay.”

“Are you sure? Uncle Bash said you seemed to be in a hurry.”

Tattle-tale.

“I really had to go to the bathroom,” I said.

“Yeah? Did you need to pee pee or poop?” he asked, completely serious.

My eyes widened. I was not answering that question.

He chuckled at my obvious horror, and brushed my hair back. “Did the medicine make your tummy hurt?”

Shaking my head, I answered, “No.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Okay, but if that changes you can tell me, alright? No hiding it from Uncle Smoke.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Eloise walked by holding a rolled up rainbow rug. “Hi, Ashley!” she exclaimed, dropping the rug on the floor and rushing to give me a hug. “How do you feel?”

“Um, better.” Why were they all here?

I looked up at Dawson to find him grinning.

“I have a surprise for you,” he said.

“For me?”

“We’ve been working very hard on it the whole time you were napping,” he added. Taking my hand he guided me to the stairs that led to a loft space in his home. He helped me up them one by one until we reached the top.

“There’s our girl,” Blade said, looking up from drilling what looked like a small bed together.

“My girl,” Dawson corrected, making my Little surge with pride.

“Well, let’s show your girl what we’ve been working on.” Bash laughed.

Dawson put his hand on the small of my back and swept his arm around the room.

“I wanted you to have a safe place to go that was bigger than just your closet. This loft is away from everything and super quiet. I thought it would be a good place for you to have a playroom. I tried to base the colors off of your blankets and cloth bins. The walls were already gray, so I thought maybe you’d like it if we painted the furniture bright colors.

Blade and I made a bed for you. I know the room is a bit small, so we raised the bed a bit so you could have toy storage underneath.

Blade and Bash worked on the toy box and bookshelf while Eloise, Ally, and I ran to Target to get some fun things to add to the walls,” he said, motioning to each piece as he talked.

The toy box was purple and the bookshelf was teal.

They’d done a wonderful job matching everything because the rainbow rug really pulled everything together.

They did this all for me? my Little asked.

“You did this for me?” I asked out loud.

“Of course, babygirl. Don’t you understand how special you are to all of us?” Dawson asked.

“I found the bag, Uncle Smoke!” Ally said, rushing up the stairs.

“Careful!” Bash reminded her. “Walking feet!”

When she saw me she tossed the bag on the ground, much like Eloise had the rug. “Hi! How do you feel?” she asked, walking over to me.

“Better,” I answered.

She hugged me gently. “We were so worried about you,” she said, pulling back from me.

“You were?”

“Of course, silly goose! You’re our friend!”

“Thank you all for doing this, i-it really means a lot to me and um… my Little,” I struggled.

“We’re glad to have you both in our lives,” Blade said, looking back at me from where he was installing hooks in the wall.

“Here, Daddy,” Eloise said, picking up the bag and handing it to him. He unfolded the fabric inside and hung the most adorable tapestry on the largest wall in the loft. It had a big rainbow with tiny forest animals on it.

“Bunnies!” I squealed before slapping my hands over my mouth, but I was only met with encouraging smiles.

I love it here!

Me too, baby.

“Thank you all so, so much. I’ve never had this before.. And I’m really thankful,” I told them.

“You’ve never had a playroom before?” Eloise asked. “I didn’t either, not before Daddy.”

“Me neither,” Ally added.

“No… I mean...” I struggled.

“Take your time, babygirl,” Dawson encouraged.

“No, I’ve never had a playroom before now, but I meant friends. I-I’ve never had friends before and I’m really glad you’re all here.”