32. Ian

Keeping Maddie in bed for the next couple of weeks was like trying to herd cats. Every time he turned around, she was trying to get out of bed to do something. It wasn't until he brought in a notebook that he'd labeled Maddie's SpankingBook and showed it to her that she finally started obeying him and stayed in bed.

He wouldn't spank her while she was recovering, but she already had a hell of a paddling coming once she was healed for keeping her anxiety from him, and she didn't want to add to it. He'd even hung a small wooden hairbrush on the wall opposite the head of the bed, so she was constantly looking at it while she was stuck there. She hadn't liked that one bit, but he wanted her to remember in the future that she should come to him for everything. He didn't give a shit if she got a splinter, she needed to know that she should go to him to make it better.

Ian contacted a therapist that Zane, The Playground owner, recommended. Apparently, she belonged to the club as well and was a sex-positive therapist, and according to Zane, she had several Little patients. He called and got some appointments scheduled for Maddie so she could begin to work through everything that had been contributing to her anxiety and sadness. He should have done that after Cameron had first passed away. She argued with him about going to a therapist at first, but he'd reminded her that she had entrusted him with her health and safety and that he would always do whatever needed to be done to protect that, even if she didn't like it. She reluctantly agreed.

It had been a little over two weeks since her fall, and he was driving her to her first therapy appointment. She was quiet on the drive, and Ian hoped he was making the right choice for her. When he parked and came around to her side to help her out of the car, she looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"Will you come into my appointment with me? Like, into the room when I meet with the therapist? I don't want to do this alone."

He leaned down until he was only a couple of inches from her face and smiled warmly.

"I will do whatever you need from me, little girl. You don't ever have to do anything alone that you don't want to."

Maddie let out a deep breath and smiled, "Okay. Let's go."

As soon as they were checked in, a door opened, and a tall, blond woman stepped out wearing a fitted pencil skirt with a white blouse tucked in at the waist, and a matching fitted blazer. She smiled kindly in their direction.

"Madison Michaels?" she asked.

Maddie looked over to her and nodded.

"I'm Dr. Savannah Tolland, but you can just call me Savannah. I'm ready for you."

"I would like him to come in with me if that's okay?" Maddie asked.

Savannah looked at Ian and nodded, "Of course it's okay. Come in."

They walked into the office, and she closed the door behind them. Ian studied the room and decided it looked like a regular therapist"s office, except in the corner of the room, there were several bean bags and baskets filled with toys and a bookshelf filled with picture books.

"Please, have a seat wherever you're comfortable," she said.

Ian followed Maddie to the plush couch, sitting down next to her. Savannah sat in a leather armchair opposite of them and smiled.

"Can I get either of you coffee or juice or water?"

Maddie shook her head and grabbed onto his hand. Ian smiled at Savannah and shook his head.

"Thank you for the offer," he said.

"Of course. Please let me know if you change your mind. I always start with telling a little bit about myself with new clients, so you have an idea about them and hopefully feel more at ease as we start discussing deeper topics. Is that okay with you, Maddie?"

She nodded, "Yes."

Savannah smiled, "Great. Well, as you can see on the wall, I have several diplomas saying I have the skills and knowledge to be a licensed therapist; however, unless you want to know specific credentials, I usually skip over that part because it's a bit boring. From your paperwork that was filled out, it looks like Zane recommended me to you, so I assume you are both members of The Playground?"

Ian nodded.

"Excellent. I am what's called a sex-positive therapist. This means that I am comfortable and encourage my patients to be who they are around me, and there is no topic off-limits. Some clients come to me because they want to talk about feelings surrounding their kinks, and some come to talk about completely vanilla feelings. All of it is welcome here. Most of my patients are a part of the BDSM community, but they don't have to be in order to come here. I have many different types of patients from Masters, Doms, Daddies, Mommies, Littles, subs, pets, and pretty much everything else you can imagine. Do you two identify as any of those?"

Maddie looked up at him as though unsure if she should answer, so he spoke up.

"I'm her Daddy, and she is my Little."

Savannah smiled, "I suspected as much. That's wonderful. I have a play corner over there for Littles that we can use anytime if you feel like it, Maddie. Some Littles do very well with actual play therapy, or some just prefer to be in Little space during our time together because it can be easier to talk about things. Whatever makes you comfortable, okay?"

Ian could feel Maddie's hand relax in his, and he could see her smiling out of the corner of his eye.

"Okay. Thank you."

"Ian, as long as Maddie is okay with it, you can come to any of her therapy sessions as well, and if you two choose, you can come as Daddy and little Maddie if that's what makes you both more comfortable."

"Thank you," he said, smiling back at her.

"Do either of you have any questions before we get started?"

Ian shook his head.

"Are you a Little?" Maddie blurted out.

He grinned as a smile spread across Savannah's face. He already knew the answer to that without even asking.

"No, I'm not a Little. I'm actually a Mommy."

He appreciated that she didn't seem offended by the question and answered Maddie honestly in a kind voice. He liked the woman and hoped that his baby girl would too.

"Oh. Okay," Maddie said.

Savannah seemed amused but nodded her head and started asking Maddie questions. They spent most of the therapy session with Maddie telling her about her life history. Toward the end of the appointment, Savannah jotted down some notes before she looked up and smiled again.

"It sounds like you've had a rough few months. From what you're telling me, I believe you might have PTSD. Do you know what that is, Maddie?"

She looked over at Ian and then back at Savannah.

"Isn't that something that people from the military sometimes have?"

"Yes, they do, but it isn't just something they have. Anyone can experience PTSD from a traumatic experience. It sounds like you are having some after-effects of losing Cameron, triggering your anxiety and thoughts. The good news is that PTSD is something that we can work through in your regular therapy sessions, and it should improve some of your fears and anxiety. Would you like to do that?"

Maddie nodded, "Yes, please. I don't like how I've been feeling."

"Okay. We will work on it together. I'm going to give you my card, so if there is anything you need between now and our next appointment, feel free to reach out to me by text or call, however, if you are feeling sad or anxious or have any bad feelings, going to your Daddy is always a good start. I know it can be hard sometimes because you don't want to feel like you're a burden, but there is no such thing as a Little being a burden to their caretaker. Okay?"

Ian looked over at Maddie and hoped what Savannah had said sank into her. She needed to know she could come to him for everything. She squeezed his hand and nodded.

"Okay. Thank you."

They left her appointment, and it seemed as though Maddie was walking a bit lighter as they walked to the car. He knew in his heart that he'd made the right decision by taking her.

He helped her into the car and buckled her in. When he moved away from her, she grabbed onto his shirt and pulled him closer until his lips were on hers. He kissed her long and deep, only breaking contact when they were both out of breath.

"Thank you for making me go, Daddy. I love you."

He smiled, "I love you too, baby girl. She was nice, wasn't she?"

"Yeah. She was really nice. I like her a lot."

"How about we go get some ice cream?"

Maddie cheered and clapped her hands happily as he closed her car door and got into the driver's side. His girl was back, and he intended to keep her forever.

They went to their favorite ice cream shop downtown, and he got talked into letting her get three scoops against his better judgment. Luckily, she announced that she was full by the time she was done eating the second scoop. Probably for the best. She really didn't need all that sugar.

It was nearly dinnertime when they got home, so he made a quick stir-fry and fed her as she sat next to him at the counter. He'd learned that if he threw vegetables in a stir fry with some sauce, she didn't complain about eating the "yucky vegetables" as much. He'd also made it a nightly routine to give her a bottle of the nutritional drink before bed to make sure she was getting enough vitamins. He found that feeding her a bottle while she lay in his arms each night was quite an intimate experience, and he wasn't sure it was something he would ever give up, even once she was fully healed.

After dinner, he ran her a bath, poured in some of her favorite bubble bath, and dumped her basket of bath toys into the water before helping her in. For the most part, she let him take care of her how he wanted to.

The only thing she still got all blushy and shy over was when she had to use the toilet in front of him, which was pretty much all the time because after she'd gotten home from the hospital, he hadn't let her out of his sight for fear she would get dizzy and fall. After he asked her if she wanted to add some points to Maddie's Spanking Book for yelling at him to get out of the bathroom while she went potty, she shook her head and stopped trying to make him leave.

After her bath, he got her into a pair of her footie pajamas and tucked her into bed. They hadn't had sex since she had fallen, and he still hadn't punished her for not telling him about her anxiety. Those things would both wait until she was completely healthy.

"I'm not tired, Daddy."

Ian sat on the edge of the bed, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"Well, you need to go to sleep because tomorrow we are going to go somewhere special."

Her eyes lit up, "Really? Where?"

He chuckled, "It's a secret, but that means you need to be a good girl and go to sleep for Daddy."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh, right, like I'm going to be able to go to sleep now."

Raising his eyebrow, Ian gave her a look, and she smiled in return.

"Okay, okay, I'm sleeping. See, my eyes are closed. I'm asleep now. I'm snoring, can't you hear it?"

She imitated snoring noises, and Ian burst out laughing. She was such a freaking brat sometimes.

"Little girl… you are really going to get one heck of a spanking when you're all better."

Maddie let out a squeak and made a show of snuggling down into the blankets.

"Okay, Daddy, I'll try to go to sleep, but it's gonna be hard because it's almost like I'm waiting for Santa Claus to come, and you know how hard it is to sleep when he's coming."

He shook his head and kissed her before he went to the bathroom to take his shower, and when he came back out to the bedroom, his little girl was sound asleep right where he'd left her.