Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Tyler

My phone rang, stopping me from my task at hand. I sighed in annoyance. I had so much to do. My frustration disappeared when I saw Elliot's face on my screen.

Sliding the bar and waiting for it to connect, I smiled when I saw my favorite Little girl come into view.

" Teenie!"

"Uncle Tyler!"

"I miss you, baby."

"Miss you too. ‘Specially Dada!"

I chuckled. "Oh, Daddy misses me the most, huh?"

"Mhmmm," she said, giving a cheeky grin.

"What did you do today, brat?"

She gasped in mock outrage. "Not nice."

"Shopping," she added after sticking her tongue out at me.

"Oh, did you find lots of treasures?"

She nodded, her curls bouncing. "We found some guns that shoot marshmallows! And some sparkly Christmas ornaments! And some bows! And cannie!"

Her excitement was adorable, and I smiled as she talked so animatedly about the candy shop. A feeling of fondness filled me again as she slid in and out of her normal headspace to a slightly bigger headspace. I hoped one day she would be comfortable enough to stay teeny with me all the time.

Elliot came into view and the camera shifted around while he settled her in his lap.

"Hey, man, how was the game the other night?"

"Good, I think I spent more time laughing at Emily, though. She ate enough snacks for everyone in the stadium. You should have seen her face when she took her first bite of cotton candy."

Emily had been raised in a cult and had missed out on so much—like cotton candy. Watching her enjoy so many firsts with her Daddy was precious and helped me remember to be thankful for things I often took for granted.

"She's so cute," Elliot said.

"So cute," Tinsley agreed.

Elliot squeezed her before kissing her cheek. "I think we have the cutest Little ones out of all the friend groups."

"Yas-huh."

Fondness filled me as I watched them interact. They both meant so much to me. I had been so emotionally scarred when I was medically discharged. They'd helped pull me out of that dark place. They'd loved me despite all of the darkness I was battling at the time.

"Okay," Tinsley said, bringing me from my reflection. "We're going tubing. Gotta get ready."

"Okay, I love you guys. Be careful."

"Love you, Uncle Tyler." she said before scrambling off of Elliot's lap and running to grab whatever he'd told her to.

"We love you," Elliot added. "We'll see you soon," he whispered before ending the call. I looked around my bedroom and sighed again. I needed to get my ass in gear.

Elliot

" Are you sure this bus is safe?"

"It's safe, baby," I assured her as I helped her settle into the leather seat.

"It looks questionable."

I laughed. "It's a hot pink bus with yellow swim trunks painted on the side. I don't think it's too questionable."

"It's probably gonna take us down the road and harvest our kidneys."

My shoulders shook from laughter. "I don't think that's going to happen, little one, but even if it did, I am a doctor so I think we'd be okay."

"Hmm, I wonder if you're still going to be saying that when you wake up without a kidney." She shivered, turning to look out the window. "It will be super hard to be a doctor if you're missing a major organ."

I shook my head. She always kept me on my toes. I hoped her spirits would lift once we got to the river. She couldn't be such a nervous Nellie when she was staring at such a fun adventure. I hoped, anyway.

Several long moments later, the bus pulled out of the lot and she gripped my arm for dear life.

"It's okay, baby. The water will feel so nice since it's so hot out."

She didn't answer.

"And I bet if you ask nicely, we can even get you a pink float."

Nothing.

"And maybe you'll see a mermaid," I tried.

Her head shot up and she turned to look at me. "Mermaid?"

"Maybe! Maybe we'll see some mermaid magic," I said, so thankful I'd packed a surprise, color-changing, mermaid Barbie just for today.

"We're gonna drown."

I worked hard to keep from chuckling at my Little one's duress. She was genuinely panicked.

"We're not going to drown, baby. The flow of the river isn't very fast and it won't be over your head in any part of the trip today. Plus, the guides will be there in case anything goes wrong, okay?" I soothed, kneeling in front of where she was sitting on a large, pink tube. I took her hands in mine and stroked the backs of them with my thumbs.

"What if there's alligators?"

"Daddy won't let those scary ‘gators get you," I said, hoping to avoid giving a truthful answer.

"What about piranhas?"

"I promise there are no piranhas in the river." At least I could truthfully answer that one.

"You didn't promise there were no alligators."

"Maybe there are some, but I don't think they're going to eat you in the river. I read all the Yelp reviews and none of them mentioned alligators."

"What ‘bout snakes?"

Shit. "I think you're having some scary feelings right now, huh?"

"Yas-huh, Dada."

"It's scary to do new things. How would you feel if we didn't do it?"

"Happy."

I snorted at her lie. "No, I don't think that's true. You might feel happy at first, but how would you feel later? If we left and you didn't go tubing because you let your fear get the better of you?"

She dragged her pineapple-printed sandals against the dirt as she thought about my question. "Sad. Like I missed out."

"I think you'd feel that way too, so don't you think it would be more fun to face the scaries and try it now?"

"Nuuu," she whined, kicking her foot.

I cupped her chin in my hand and forced her to look at me. "Tinsley, are you lying to Daddy?"

She gave a sigh much too big for her body. "Yas, Dada."

"Do you think you could be a brave girl for me?"

Another huge sigh. "Okay." Her pouty tone made it sound like I'd ask her to give up her last cupcake, not go on a fun water adventure with me.

I pressed a kiss to her forehead. "How about if Daddy gives you a good girl reward for trying something new? Will that help?"

Her eyes widened and she nodded so hard, I wondered how her noggin didn't roll right off her shoulders. "Yas-huh. It would help."

I reached in my waterproof bag and pulled out the Barbie.

She gasped in excitement, reaching for her.

I opened the package before handing her the doll. "This one changes colors in the water, so she'll be a different color when she gets wet."

She held her new friend close to her chest before giving me the best hug.

"Thank you, Daddy," she whispered, being mindful of her surroundings. We were pretty secluded, though, and it wasn't busy today.

"You're welcome, Tinsley. I promise you're going to have so much fun."

Tinsley

I glared at Daddy from the exam-room table. I was not having so much fun. My leg hurt because I'd scraped it on a stupid piece of trash, cutting it, and my arm hurt because I'd had to get a shot because of the stupid trash I scraped myself on.

"I'm sorry your tubing adventure didn't start off so fun, little one," the doctor said. "Do you think maybe a lolli would help?"

My entire body heated and tears pricked my eyes. Thankfully, the doctor had been open to our lifestyle, because this could have been much worse. He didn't even bat an eye when he saw my diaper. Of course, he may have had some suspicions I was a Little from all the dramatics I'd caused on the way in here. I was partly convinced an alligator had taken a tiny munch out of me. I bet it tasted delicious.

"No, thank you." I didn't want a pity candy. I just wanted to go back to the hotel room.

"How about two red ones? I heard red ones have magical powers."

"No, thank you."

He chuckled and looked at Daddy. "Tough crowd."

"She was being a brave girl and trying something new and it didn't go like we'd planned. I think she's having some angry feelings right now," Daddy explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sweet girl. Was it your first time going tubing?"

I nodded before reaching up to rub my arm. It really hurt.

The doctor pulled some things from a cabinet, and handed me a cup of orange medicine. "This will help your arm, sweetheart."

I took the medicine, trying not to gag. I hated orange-flavored things.

"Good girl, baby," Daddy praised.

"Okay, so she just needs to keep the area dry and clean…" The doctor trailed off. "I don't need to tell you any of this, you know what to do."

Daddy laughed. "It's hard to doctor your own baby. It's even harder when they get hurt."

"It is. I can remain calm in any situation, unless it involves my own Little one getting hurt."

"Little one?" I asked, perking up a bit.

"I do have a Little one," he answered. "Her name is Hazel."

"Hazel?" I repeated.

"Yes, you may have already met her. She was working at Christmas Charm today."

"Oh, from the Christmas shop! We met her earlier today, didn't we, baby?"

"So nice," I answered.

He chuckled, "Well, I am so glad she was nice to you."

"Play?" I surprised myself by asking.

"Do you wanna meet Hazel for a playdate?" Daddy asked, clarifying with me.

"Please." I nodded.

"Well, I think that's a great idea. I'll set it up with your Daddy, okay?" the doctor said. He introduced himself, but I couldn't remember his name. I thought maybe I'd just call him Dr. Hazel's Daddy. Yeah, that was a super good name.

"Yes, Sir." Meeting a new friend almost made it worth getting eaten by an alligator.

Almost.

I sat on the couch, coloring in my favorite coloring book, while Daddy finished filling out the accident reports for the tubing company. They had been really nice and even sent me flowers. It wasn't their fault that someone had tossed scrap metal over in the river, it just sucked that someone had to get hurt. It sucked even more that that someone was me.

"How are you feeling, little one?"

"Tinsley fine, Dada." My scratches weren't deep. I hadn't even needed stitches.

"I'm still very sorry you got hurt."

"Poor baby," I baited.

Laughing, Daddy stood and walked over to the couch I was lounging on. "Poor, poor baby."

"Yas, so sad." I stuck out my boo-boo leg for extra emphasis.

"So sad," he agreed, dropping down on the couch beside me.

Sighing dramatically, I rubbed my leg. "Poor baby."

He lifted me onto his lap and I looped my arms around him.

"What can Dada do to help his poor baby feel better?"

I pretend to think about it for several seconds. "Three kisses."

"Oh, three? Wow, it must really hurt to need three magic kisses."

I nodded. "And ice cream for dinner."

Snorting, he tickled my belly. "Three kisses and ice cream for dinner?"

"Yas-huh." My heart beat rapidly in my chest as I waited for his answer.

"Go get your sandals, little girl."

Giving a shriek of excitement, I hopped off the couch and ran to find my shoes. I couldn't wait to tell the other Littles that I got to have dessert for dinner.

Elliot

I tapped out a quick text to let the doctor from earlier, Dawson, know I was going to take Tinsley for ice cream, and inviting him and his Little, Hazel to join us. I left out thepart about it being our dinner, not wanting him to think I was a pushover.

After putting Tinsley's shoes on and checking her diaper, I took her hand and led her to Main Street.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, baby?

"You having fun?"

"I am having the most fun with you."

"Didn't do nuffin'."

"What do you mean we didn't do anything?"

"We didn't do nuffin' for you."

"We did lots of things that were fun for me."

"Like what?" she asked, turning to look up at me.

"We went to the candy shop, I got to take you shopping, and we went to the water park and tubing."

"But you was Dada all that time."

"Yes, baby. I was."

Silence surrounded us as she processed what I said.

"Being Dada is fun?"

I stopped walking and scooped her up, setting her on my hip. I didn't give a fuck who saw. "Being your Dada is the most fun."

She smiled and tucked her head into my neck. I rocked her back and forth a few minutes before setting her on her feet again.

We walked the rest of the way to the ice cream shop and I enjoyed watching her face light up when she saw Hazel.

"Daddy, look," she whispered, pulling at my hand.

"I know. Are you so excited to have ice cream and maybe make a new friend?"

"So ‘cited."

Hazel was pulling Dawson's hand too and we exchanged amused looks before meeting each other halfway.

"Hi!" Tinsley chirped first.

"Hi!" Hazel repeated. Both Little girls were standing partially behind their respective Daddies.

Laughing, Dawson said, "I hope they warm up to each other or it's going to be a very quiet ice cream date."

We hadn't needed to worry, though. Both Littles warmed up very quickly. Tinsley sat beside me chattering away about her friends at home and all of their adventures. I missed our friends even though we'd only been gone two days. We were such a tight-knit group.

"That's so ‘citing!" Hazel said. "I don't have any Little friends in real life."

Her words hurt my heart. It was probably very hard to find friends with similar lifestyles in such a small town. We were lucky because Pike and Travis both owned kink clubs that gave us a chance to meet others like us.

"You can be Tinsley's friend!"

I smiled at my Little one's sweet words. Learning over, I pressed a kiss to her curls.

"Do you wike living in Strickland?" Hazel asked, trying to eat her quickly melting ice cream.

"Yas-huh. Is small and quiet."

"Do you has a job?"

Dalton reached forward and helped wipe the ice cream from Hazel's hands.

"Nu," Tinsley answered, after taking a bite of the dessert I was feeding her.

"You do, Little one," I corrected. I hated that she wasn't more forthcoming about her crafting. She was very talented.

"Well, I have a booth at the famer's market," she corrected, clearly hoping we would drop it.

"Oh. What do you sell?" Dawson asked.

My Little girl flushed and fidgeted in her seat. "I make things." Talking about her success had never been easy for her.

"She makes all kinds of really cool things, but she's most popular for her Little clothes. She sells them online and then people pick them up at the market," I filled in for her. "But her booth sells painted rocks, crochet stuffies, jewelry, and other fun treasures."

"That's amazing," Dawson praised.

"So cool," Hazel agreed. The right side of Tinsley's mouth tipped up in the smallest smile, but I'd take it. She deserved to be proud of her work.

"Like working at the Christmas store?" she asked Hazel.

"I love it. It's so magical!"

"So magical," Tinsley agreed.

"Yes, the owners have it decorated perfectly, even down to making the place smell like sugar cookies," I commented.

This time Hazel flushed and looked away. Her Daddy nudged her softly.

"I-I am the owner. D-Daddy and I own it," she admitted reluctantly. What was up with these Little girls and being so shy about their accomplishments?

"We do own it, but Hazel makes all the choices regarding marketing. She is a very smart business Little," Dawson praised, kissing her on top of her head, much like I had done with Tinsley.

"Business Little, I love that term." I chuckled.

We finished our ice cream and decided to take the girls to the park in the middle of town.

They held hands and skipped ahead of us, each one looking back to make sure we were still behind them.

My phone chimed from my pocket and I pulled it out, reading the message from Tyler. It looked like I wasn't the only one missing everyone. I worried about him being alone so much and I hoped to change that in the future.

"Work, Dada?" Tinsley asked, worry evident on her face.

"No, baby, just Uncle Tyler checking in."

She nodded and went back to happily hopping with Hazel.

"We're going to be here all week. We would love for you and Hazel to spend some time with us if my plan works out. Is your week busy?"

"Thank you, that's very kind. We would love that if it works out. No, we're both free after five tomorrow and Friday, and pretty free Saturday and Sunday."

"Perfect!"

"Hazel will really love that, thanks for including us."

"Little families need to stick together," I said with a shrug. I acted like it was no big deal, but truthfully, I would be so lost without the support of our friend group. I hoped we'd be able to include Dawson and Hazel in the future. We'd make it work, no matter the distance.

Tinsley

I let Dada push me on the swing and giggled when Hazel's Daddy pushed her super high.

"I'm gonna fly!" She giggled.

I was glad Daddy knew I didn't wanna go that high.

"Work tomorrow?" I asked Hazel once she was swinging slower.

"Yeah, ‘til five."

"Play after?" It was silly for me to make plans without asking Daddy first, but he probably didn't mind.

"Yeah!" she agreed.

"Whatcha doing tomorrow?" she asked me.

I looked back at Daddy and he chuckled. "We're going to hike to the waterfall."

"Two waterfalls!" I squealed. I was so very excited to check this one off of my bucket list. Anna Ruby Falls was known for its beauty and also that it had two waterfalls that turned into one big one.

"Is so pretty. We goed last weekend!"

"We did," Hazel's Daddy agreed with a chuckle.

She shot him a glare and he raised his hands in surrender.

"I falled in the water," she admitted after a minute.

"Oh nu," I said. I shot her Daddy a glare too. That wasn't funny at all.

"How did you fall down, baby?" he asked, chuckling again.

"A mean bug attacked me, and I fell backward and slid down on the rocks."

I continued glaring at her Daddy. I still didn't see anything funny.

"It was a grasshopper. It hopped on her shirt. But why did Daddy laugh?"

She sighed. "Cause when I fell in the edge of the water, I landed on my butt and my training panties soaked up lotsa water."

A small giggle escaped me as I pictured Hazel walking home with a swollen booty.

"I hadda waddle like two miles."

Daddy guffawed behind me and I joined in. "I'm sorry," I said between giggles.

Hazel giggled too. "Daddy said we could take them offs and I could just wear my wet shorts home, but there was too many people on the trail and I was worried someone would see."

Still giggling, I made a mental note to stay away from the water.

"Did you have fun, baby?" Daddy asked, giving me a bath later that evening. My scraped leg was resting on the lip of the tub. I studied the ouchie.

"Hiking damorrow?"

"We are going hiking tomorrow," he confirmed.

"No, Tinsley go hiking tomorrow?"

He stopped bathing me and looked me in the eye. His handsome face wrinkled in concentration.

"Of course Tinsley's going hiking. Daddy would never go without you."

Giggling, I raised my soapy hands and cupped his face. "Am I okay to hike with my ouchie leg?"

He blinked, then laughed. "Sorry, baby. I was struggling to figure out what you were asking. Yes, your leg will be fine. I was talking to Dr. Dawson while you girls were sliding, and he agreed with my thoughts about just keeping it wrapped."

"I glad. Really wanted to go."

Daddy rubbed my wet back. "I promise we would go, even if Daddy had to carry you in a scuba suit."

I smiled, knowing he was telling the truth. Daddy would do anything for me.

"I miss Uncle Tyler," I admitted after a few minutes. I was worried about him.

"Me too, baby. Do you want to call him after your bath?"

"Yas-huh, Daddy."

"Sounds like a plan, baby."

Daddy finished washing me and lifted me out of the tub with a big fluffy towel. I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed.

"Oh, thank you for the love, baby," he said, squeezing me back.

He laid me on the bed and dried my skin, pressing kisses to each area he dried. When he got to my pussy, I froze. His head dipped and he kissed my cunt sweetly. I spread my legs and I felt Daddy grin against my skin.

"Please, Dada?"

His big hands cupped my butt, and he lifted me to his mouth. Using his thumbs, he pulled my lips apart. He took a long firm lick before swirling his tongue around my clit. "You taste so good, little one," he groaned before sucking my pearl into his mouth and working it gently with his teeth.

"Ump," I whined, lifting my hips out of his hands.

"Let me hear you, baby," he commanded before sucking me back into his mouth.

I hated this order. I would rather paint an entire horse with a Q-Tip than be vocal during sex.

I knew Daddy would stop if I didn't obey, though.

"It feels good, Daddy."

I was rewarded with two thick fingers pressed into my slick channel.

"Ohh!" I cried out in pleasure.

Hooking his fingers and flattening his tongue, he had me on the edge of climax in no time.

"Daddy, Daddy, please!" I cried, hoping my begging would make him gracious.

Two taps with the hand that wasn't inside me gave permission. I exploded in Daddy's mouth with a cry. He continued working my cunt with his fingers and tongue until I went slack against the bed.

"Fucking beautiful, little one."

"Thank you, Dada."

He chuckled sadistically. "Oh, love. We're not even remotely done. Daddy wants to see you fall apart for him again and again."