Epilogue

Cruz

Three Months Later

"Are you ready?" Michael called to me from the other room.

"Just about," I called back, and shrugged on a lightweight jacket. It was fall, and sometimes, even in South Florida, rainy days like today could bring temperatures in the high sixties. As a lifelong Floridian, that felt a little cool to me.

I came out in the living room to see my big, gorgeous Daddy packing up my bag with juice boxes and fruit snacks. I saw him put in my sippy cup and flushed a little, still easily embarrassed by all of this, though I was getting better. It was a work in progress.

"I miss Fozzy."

"I know," he said without turning around. A month earlier, he had surprised me with a new bear that looked a lot like Fozzy, to keep me company while Fozzy was sent to a teddy bear restorer in Atlanta. He had packed up the Fozz carefully and sent him on his way, and the restorer was supposed to be excellent, so I'd had to trust that he was in good hands. Honestly, he'd been falling apart, and his stuffing was coming out, so I didn't have much choice. I was anxious to see him again and see if they'd been able to fix him. It had really touched me that Michael had thought of it and that he cared enough for my feelings about an old teddy bear to do that for me.

Michael had been full of surprises in the past few weeks. I'd given up my old place and moved into his condo. And I now had chores to do. I wasn't happy about that, but they did make me feel accomplished after I'd done them, and they were simple things like rinsing the dishes and loading the dishwasher and then unloading it afterward. Or doing laundry for both of us and that meant everything from washing to drying to folding and putting away. It had helped me get a handle on things and not feel so disorganized. I felt like I was contributing.

At first, we took things really slowly. I went back to work, of course, and Michael did too. I told him I wanted to keep my job, and he agreed as long as I came to him if I began to feel overwhelmed. He was busy with his other project in Miami, so we kept our relationship mostly at home or during our weekly trips to the beach house. I knew that he'd been talking a lot with Lawrence, and I'd seen him going up to the Littles Room from time to time. We never talked about it much, but he did say he was learning.

Meanwhile, I was becoming more open about things when I was feeling stressed or pressured at work. I had pulled my special outfits out of the bag and put them in my dresser drawers, and from time to time I'd put them on and relax in front of one of my movies, like Frozen , or Willy Wonka. We had most of the streaming platforms, including the Disney Channel, so I was enjoying working my way through all of them.

I was beginning to find it easier and easier to slip into my space where I could just drift and twist my hair with one hand and suck my thumb with the other. The only fly in the ointment was that Daddy didn't like the thumb sucking. He said it made the skin of my thumb all pruney and nasty and wasn't good for my teeth. He'd gotten me a pacifier instead and wanted me to use it if I felt the need. I didn't want to.

It was a bridge too far.

But then I had to sit through the little talks about how good boys minded their Daddies and didn't I want to be a good boy? And on and on. Finally, I'd sigh and agree and be rewarded with a cuddle and a kiss on the forehead and an extra fruit snack. Eventually, I used the pacifier some, though I still wasn't entirely happy about it.

Daddy had lots of rules for me to follow, but none of them were too bad. He liked for me to go to bed after I watched one movie on the nights I was wearing my outfits and for me to get "a good night's sleep." I also had to eat three meals a day, and no junk food, non-negotiable. And most nights, Daddy would draw me a bubble bath and lead me into the bathroom. That was heavenly. Afterward, he'd dry me off and put me to bed—always with him. Some nights I was deep in a dreamy kind of space where all I wanted to do was cuddle up beside him or lie half on top of him and go to sleep.

Other times, I was wide awake and ready to make love to my sexy Daddy, who took such good care of me.

As for the "punishments" or the "behavior modifications" as he liked to call them, they consisted of time-outs in my bedroom with no television or books or anything to interest me. Or even worse, I had to stand in the corner, facing the wall. He even drew a circle I had to put my nose in and not move it. I really hated the corner and almost yearned for a spanking. Almost…

I don't know why my body got so excited when Daddy put me in it.

"I have a surprise for you," Daddy told me as I came into the kitchen.

"I love surprises," I said, and he smiled.

"I know. Here you go." He pulled out a beautiful brown teddy bear from where he'd had it stashed in one of the cabinets.

"Fozzy!" I scooped him into my arms and hugged him tightly to me. They had done a wonderful job in restoring him and he looked almost as good as new. It was like welcoming an old friend when I held him close.

"I can't wait to show him off to my friends," I said. Daddy leaned in to kiss me.

"I love seeing you so happy. Put him in the bag if you like, and don't forget your pacifier."

"But I was thinking—now that I have Fozzy back, can't I just go back to the way things were with my thumb?"

"Nice try, but no chance. You know, they make these plastic training things to go around thumbs to help people stop sucking them. Do you want me to get you one?"

"I most certainly do not."

His lips twitched. "Okay. Just a suggestion."

I put Fozzy in my bag and zipped it up, turning to walk past him and still feeling a little outraged. A plastic thumb guard? He must be crazy.

I must have said it out loud, because he suddenly reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me back over toward him, and for one brief, scary moment I remembered I was dealing with a powerful Dom here as well as my Daddy. I looked up at him, not quite knowing what to expect and hoping he wouldn't send me to the dreaded corner, even if it did make my dick hard when he did.

But he only kissed me until I lost my breath and began swooning a little in his arms.

"Don't think for one minute that I'm going to go easy on you because I'm your Daddy now and not your Dom. I'm going to assume getting Fozzy back made you so excited you forgot to be respectful. Isn't that right?"

"Yes, Daddy." I squeezed him hard. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I love you so much."

"I love you too, baby." He whispered in my ear. "But you're still standing in your corner when we get home."

I gasped and he laughed.

"Now let's go show off that bear."

The End