4. Ash

Chapter four

Ash

D ear Daddy on a popsicle stick. Who knew telling Drake that I'm a little would unlock the hidden Daddy within?

The obvious hurt on his face when I first told him my secret made me realize I should have told him sooner. And the way he pushed back his own hurt to comfort me? Total Daddy material. I need to find a way to spoil my Dadd—bestie. Drake deserves all the love. And cookies!

I rush to our door, my whole body vibrating with happiness, as I try to slide the key into the lock. It doesn't work. The keys fall. I giggle. My little side started to surface when we were talking about all my toys, but now that we're home, it's getting harder to push down. "You get to meet Nelly!" I cheer.

Drake chuckles and bends down to pick up my keys. "You're always so adorable when you get this excited."

I bounce on my toes. Drake likes me like this! He isn't sad anymore. I beam over at him. Oh em gee, he makes it so hard not to love him.

Drake barely has the door open before I rush past him, sprinting into my room. I plop down onto the carpet and shimmy under the bed. I don't need to go that far under, but as soon as I hear Drake gasp, I wiggle my butt, not quite sure if it's an adult wiggle or a fun tushy wiggle.

"Help me, Drake! Help me! Grab the box on the other side."

I shuffle out from under the bed in time to see him pull out the other Tupperware. I push the boxes together and snap off the first lid. "Here are all my coloring supplies." Without thinking, I tip the box and dump everything on the floor. Markers, pens, and pencils scatter everywhere, causing me to giggle.

Chancing a peek at Drake, his mouth has fallen open with shock. I giggle again. His head pops up at the sound and he looks over at me, eyes sparkling.

"Drake! Open the other box. Open it! Open it! It's filled with all my coloring books."

He chews on his lip and laughs. "Ah. That's why this one is so heavy."

Drake's fingers find the latches on the side of the plastic box and unsnaps them. Before he can pry the lid off, I'm tossing it to the side, pointing at each coloring book, and diving into an explanation.

"Which one is your favorite?" he asks. His tone sounds light and playful. I cock my head. He's never talked to me like this before. It's kind of cute.

"This one." I pull out a coloring book that has my favorite Pokémon on the front. "This one is filled with all the Eeveelutions . Oh, wait!" I point at a different coloring book, then change my mind and point at another. "That one. Wait, wait. This one!"

I sink further into my little headspace easily. Naturally. I don't even want to stop it anymore. Not with Da–Drake looking at me with that soft smile, like I'm his boy.

Settling on the Chibico coloring book with the cutest of cute creatures on the front, I wave it triumphantly in the air. "This one is my favorite!"

"Show me, little one."

My eyes widen and I giggle. Crawling forward, I scramble into his lap as he lets out a shocked harumph . Drake's strong arms wrap around me, settling me in place. I open the coloring book and show him all the different creatures I want to color, all while pointing and jabbing at the pages.

Drake laughs. "Gently, baby boy. You don't want to poke a hole through the paper before you can even color it. Do you?"

Shaking my head from side to side, I pause to study my bestie. He's so sweet like this, even if he's a little nervous. Tears brim my eyes. I wrap my arms around his neck, and he pulls me tighter to him. Something is happening between us, but I can't figure it out until I'm big again. All I can focus on is that he likes me. Drake isn't pushing me away.

"Will you watch me color?" I ask Drake, cheeks burning.

He presses a kiss to my temple, and the light scratch of his scruff tickles my face, causing me to laugh.

Drake pulls out a coloring book. "Why don't I make a copy of one of these cute little Chibico animals and color with you? I like this one that looks like a little cat."

My eyes widen. "That's Nelly! Do you want to meet her now?"

Before I can answer, I'm scrambling off his lap and jumping on my bed. I rip off the covers and pull Nelly out of her hiding spot.

Drake stands, eyeing the purple stuffy in my hands. Why is he smiling?

"Is that the Chibico I bought you when we were in middle school?"

I nod frantically, my heart pounding. "You remember?"

"I do."

"She gives me the best cuddles. She reminds me of you, Da–Drake."

"Well then, she's perfect. Why don't you bring her out to the living room with us and I can color this picture of her for you?"

Tucking a few coloring books under my arm, I grab a handful of markers and sprint into the next room. I toss everything onto the coffee table and plop down on the carpet. Drake settles on the carpet next to me, propping Nelly on the glass in front of us. I can't believe I forgot her in all my excitement. Both of us have our legs tucked under the glass table, our backs pressed against the back of the sofa.

Drake smiles over at me as I begin to color, falling further into my little space.

"If this becomes a habit, maybe we can find a really soft rug to place here." He pats the floor next to him. "What do you think? Would you like a rug for your coloring area?"

I wiggle in my spot. "Can we get a rainbow rug?"

Drake picks up a purple marker and holds it up to Nelly, matching her fur. Once he seems satisfied, he starts coloring with me. "I think a rainbow rug would be perfect in here."

Warm arms wrap around me, and I nuzzle into the hard chest with a happy sigh.

Reality crashes back, and I snap my eyes open. Drake is sleeping next to me. In my bed. My fingers curl around the black silk of the sheets. There's a large, white five-drawer chest in the middle of the room, and against the opposite wall is a matching six-drawer dresser with a mirror attached to it. Okay. Maybe not my room.

My fingers brush my wavy black hair out of my face as I peer up at Drake. His lips are so close to mine, all I need to do is lean forward and I would be kissing him. The urge to do so is strong. Especially after he took such great care of me yesterday. Peeling myself off of his chest, I sneak out of his bed and tiptoe to my bedroom.

Quietly, I click my door closed and dive onto my bed. Last night comes back to me in happy little flashes that cause me to kick my feet into the air. "Oh my gosh!" I squeal, wiggling around on my comforter. I feel like a teenager with his first crush. Although, that's pretty accurate, since Drake was, in fact, my first teenage crush.

I spot the clock on the nightstand and wince. It might be early, but if I don't hustle, I'll be late for work, and my boss, Lucy, will give me a write-up. I swear the woman has it out for me. Lucy was absolutely horrible yesterday. It's probably why I really needed some little time. Her bullying and manipulation have only gotten worse, but since I need the job, and she's the boss, I don't think there is much I can do.

As I get ready for work, I notice my phone is plugged into the wall and is fully charged. Another wave of giddiness hits me. Drake plugged it in for me. I had no idea. I swipe my phone open just as my screen lights up with an incoming call.

"Daddy John?" I answer, cradling the phone between my ear and shoulder.

"Hey, you," he rumbles. "How are you this morning?"

I giggle into the phone. "Good. I'm getting ready for my shift at the café, but besides that, I'm really, really, really, good."

Daddy John chuckles. "And what has you so excited this morning?"

"I told him!" I whisper-yell. "I finally told Drake, and he took it so well. Okay, that's not entirely true. At first, he was confused, and I could tell he was really hurt. I've wanted to tell him for years, but I was just so scared of losing him." My mind wanders back to the day my older sister found me playing with my toys. She yelled at me for being so immature and told me she wouldn't let me live in her house if I refused to grow up. I shake the memories away. Clearly, Drake isn't like Angela.

"Hey, don't do that. What counts is that you told him. When we met, you told me your goal was to tell Drake that you're a little. You did that! Pat yourself on the back, because you did a good job. I'm so proud of you, boy."

"Thank you." The praise lights me up. This is the second time in less than ten hours that someone told me they were proud of me. "Can I tell you all about my night?"

"Of course. But first, did you open the mail I sent you the other day?"

I laugh at his serious tone. Who sends random snail mail like this anymore? "Daddy John, you really should have emailed it to me. Let me open it now before I forget."

"There's something magical about holding a piece of paper in your hands, trust me. You'll love this."

I peek my head out of my room and wince. Of course, I left Drake's bedroom door open. A brown head of hair is sticking out from under the covers. I clap a hand over my mouth to keep myself from giggling out loud. I don't want to wake him up; I know he has a hard time sleeping, and values any moment of sleep he can catch.

"You still there, boy?"

"Mmhmm." Walking out to the kitchen, I spot the mail on the dining table. Before I can get distracted, I pull out the notebook and pen Drake and I keep here just for occasions like this and jot down a quick message.

Thank you for last night. I'm adding coloring with you to my list of favorite things to do. See you after work. Text me if you want me to pick up dinner—Ash

Even though he knows it's me, I sign my name at the end of my message, anyway. It's just something we do.

And because a certain roller coaster symbol on the envelope catches my eye, I finally rip my mail open. I squeal. "Omg, Daddy John! Is this info on the new adult amusement park?"

"It is. And their soft opening has a special theme, take a look."

Flipping through the brochure, I gasp when the title comes into view. ‘ Embrace Your Inner Child.' "Does this mean some of us can go to the theme park and act like children? In public? For fun?"

The thought of being able to skip around an amusement park, ride the rides, and get into my little space without the fear of being judged sounds too good to be true. Suddenly, nothing sounds better.

"I have it on good authority that invites went out to several clubs filled with littles. I can't be sure, but I think one of the owners is into age play."

"So cool," I gush, as I look at the images of bright rides and attractions. "Can you imagine having the money to build yourself a whole amusement park? Brilliant."

"I might bring one of my friends. He's a little from my local club."

"Aww," I tease. "Is he someone you like?"

"There's potential there," he murmurs.

"Oh," I say as I deflate when I flip to the last page. "The date is two weeks from now. There's no way I can afford this, even if my boss would actually let me get the time off. I can't go."

"I'm sorry, Ash. Just think about it, okay? And if money is the only issue, we can figure something out. Or maybe you can plan something in the future with Drake?"

Excitement buzzes through me. "Yes! I would love to go there someday with Drake. I also really want to introduce you two. He called you my Daddy Godmother."

"Oh, shit," he barks out a hearty laugh. "That's actually fitting. Now tell me all about your night."

Grabbing my keys and wallet, I head out the door to my car and switch over to Bluetooth . I tell Daddy John all about my evening with Drake and how he made me feel so safe. When I arrive at work, I hang up with Daddy John and check the time. I cheer when I realize I made it with five minutes to spare. Pulling my phone back out to text Drake, I noticed he beat me to it.

Drake: Thank you for last night, and for trusting me. You always can.

Drake: Here's something to make you smile, if your jerk of a boss gives you a hard time.

(See Photo attachment)

My heart pounds and I'm already smiling as Drake's photo begins to load. The image takes my breath away. It's Drake, lying on his back in bed. He looks like he just woke up, with his messy brown hair and half-hooded eyes looking into the camera. He has a wide smile on his face, and he's shirtless. But, besides his devastatingly good looks, there's another part of the photo that makes me smile even wider. He's holding Nelly up to the phone too, and she's angled in such a way that it's as if the two of them took a selfie together.

Ash: You two look so cute. I wish I was in bed with both of you instead of at work.

I hit send before realizing how that sounds. My face gets hot and I glance around to see if anyone is witnessing my total and utter embarrassment. ‘ I wish I was in bed with both of you? ' Oh God. I bury my head in my hands and lean forward in my car. Before I can freak out even more, my phone vibrates.

Drake: Me too. Maybe tonight we can cuddle and watch a movie.

And just like that, my smile is back. My whole body is buzzing with happiness, that when I enter the cafe and clock in, I don't even register Lucy's sneer until later.