33. Maddie

Maddie had no idea where he was taking her or what they were doing, but she was excited and couldn't wait to see what he had in store. It didn't take long before they pulled into the empty parking lot of the zoo. She looked over at him in confusion.

"What are we doing here? There are no cars. It's Wednesday, why are they closed?"

Ian smiled and hopped out of the driver's side, coming around to let her out.

"They are closed because they are doing some construction to a few of the exhibits."

"Then what are we doing here?"

He held out his hand for her and led her up toward the gates where a man was standing, waiting for them.

"Mr. Jacobs, it's good to see you again," the man said.

Ian reached out and shook his hand, "Nice to see you again, too. We are looking forward to the day."

"Good. The zoo is all yours except for the exhibits that are blocked off. Most of the construction is being done inside the buildings, so you most likely won't see many construction workers around, but you may see some zookeepers out and about. They all know you're here and will stay out of your way. The snack bar is open for you, though, and they have prepared what you asked. If you need anything, you know how to reach me."

Maddie stood and listened to them talk, but what he was saying wasn't exactly sinking in. They were going into the empty zoo? Why was it all theirs?

The man left them, and Ian led her in, stopping at the bathroom first, walking right into the ladies' room with her.

"Go potty, little girl. I'll be waiting right here," he said as he leaned against the wall.

Maddie stared up at him in shock.

"Do you need help, baby?"

She shook her head and moved quickly into the stall. As embarrassing as it was for him always to be around when she was going to the bathroom and helping her wipe, she also loved how small it made her feel. She still felt that the man had no boundaries, but that was one of the things she loved most about him.

After going potty and washing her hands, he led her outside.

"What are we doing here, Daddy? I'm confused."

He turned to her and grabbed her hands.

"I rented out the zoo for the day. They had some construction that needed to be done anyway, so I coordinated it with them to do their work at the same time we are here. So, it's just Maddie and Daddy and all the animals for the day."

She screamed and jumped up and down, unable to believe what he was saying. She got the entire freaking zoo to herself! She jumped up into his arms and clung to him like a monkey, kissing his entire face. He laughed and held her tightly against him.

"I take it that you like this surprise?"

Maddie nodded, "Best surprise ever!"

They spent the next several hours exploring all the exhibits. Ian told her they would save the elephants for last since they were her favorite. The animals were more active than the last time she had been there, and there was even a peacock roaming the zoo with a zookeeper.

After they'd seen all the other animals, Ian suggested they get some food from the stand by the elephant enclosure.

"I asked them to have the snack bar open so you could get an elephant ear since you didn't have one the last time we were here."

She smiled up at him, feeling overwhelmed with emotions for this sweet man who always thought of her first.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" she asked.

Ian squeezed her hand, "I love you too, Maddie."

When they arrived at the elephant enclosure, Maddie climbed onto one of the step-ups to get a better look at the elephants. She was disappointed to see the baby elephant wasn't out, but there were four others that she watched with delight.

"Madison," Ian said from behind her.

She turned around to answer him but instead, her mouth dropped when she saw him down on one knee. Tears instantly sprang to her eyes, and her heart felt as though it was going to beat out of her chest, only this time with excitement instead of anxiety.

"Your brother told me once that I deserved the best in the world and that one day I would get it. I didn't realize it at the time, but he was talking about you. You are the best thing in the world and my life became complete the day you became mine. He asked that I approve of whoever you marry and baby, I can't approve of you marrying anyone but me because I am meant to be your husband and your Daddy. Will you be my wife, Maddie-Rose?"

She leaped into his arms before he could open the ring box, toppling him over onto his butt.

"Yes, yes, yes! Fuck, yes!"

Ian chuckled, "No swearing, little girl."

He brushed the hair back from her face and smiled up at her.

"You sure?" he asked.

She glared at him, "Don't go backing out now. I'll have Cam haunt you."

He let out a bark of laughter and helped her get to her feet.

"I am never backing out of this, baby. I know in my heart that Cam would have given me his blessing, and there is not another person in this world for me. You are it. You are everything."

She gasped at the beautiful antique-style ring when he opened the ring box. Her hand trembled as he slid the gorgeous piece onto her finger, and then she flung her arms around his neck again and kissed him.

Ian pulled back slowly from the kiss and grinned.

"I have another surprise for you."

"I don't think there's a surprise that could top this, Ian Jacobs."

He leaned down closer to her ear and whispered, "Your bottom is going to pay for calling me by my name. My name is Daddy to you, little miss. Now, turn around, baby girl, and see what your other surprise is."

Maddie grinned, knowing he was being playful about her bottom paying, or at least she hoped he was. She turned around and about thirty feet away from her, the baby elephant that she'd seen the last time they were at the zoo was walking toward her with a zookeeper.

She looked to Ian, smiling down at her, and she slapped her hands over her mouth to keep herself from screaming. The last thing she wanted to do was scare the animal.

"Go on. Go meet her. Her name is Ellie."

Even though she wanted to run over there and meet Ellie, she was also a bit nervous about being so close to such a large creature that she walked over slowly.

"Hello. You must be Maddie. I'm Susan, and this is Ellie. She is very friendly, so if you reach your hand up, she will use her trunk to sniff you first, and then you can start petting her."

Maddie turned back to look at Ian for approval, and when he nodded his head, she turned back around and reached her arm up to the elephant's trunk. Ellie used her trunk to explore Maddie's arm, making her giggle with delight when the end of her trunk moved to her neck and sniffed.

By the time they left the zoo, Maddie was walking on cloud nine. She had been able to spend over an hour petting and playing with Ellie. She even got to feed her some small watermelons, which the animal was very pleased about, and showed her appreciation by using her trunk to play with Maddie's hair and make a mess of it.

"This has been the best day ever, Daddy. I know Cam is happy too. I feel it."

Ian smiled softly and nodded his head, reaching over to take her hand as he drove through traffic.

Two weeks had passed since Ian proposed, and Maddie was finally feeling back to her old self. Her head was nearly healed, and she hadn't had a headache in over a week. Ian had finally made love to her, several times in one night, and she was pretty sure they were both walking a little funny when they had gotten out of bed the next morning.

Maddie was playing in her Little room when Ian walked in… with the wooden hairbrush. She eyed the mean-looking implement, and butterflies came to life in her tummy.

"Hi, Daddy," she said sweetly.

Ian sat down in the oversized armchair, "Hi, baby girl. Come here."

Uh-oh. It was actually going to happen.

She deserved it, though, and she knew it. She had kept something important from him that had to do with her health and safety, and she knew it was against the rules. But she had hoped that maybe, just maybe, he would have decided not to spank her this one time.

Yeah right. It was Ian. He had the memory of… well, an elephant.

Putting her dolly down, Maddie came to her feet and walked over to him slowly. He waited patiently for her and then pulled her between his legs.

"You know why you're about to be spanked with not only my hand but the hairbrush, right?"

She nodded and lowered her eyes. She hated being spanked but she hated the talk right before the spanking because it always made her feel terrible for being naughty and disappointing Ian.

"I love you, baby and it's my job to keep you safe. But I can't do my job without your help, right?"

"Right," she answered quietly.

"When we got together, we both agreed to this and we both want this dynamic so that means that I am going to always follow through with disciplining you when you break the rules or disobey. I hope that in the future it will serve as a reminder to make a better choice when faced with something."

"I know, Daddy."

Tears were already falling down her cheeks when he helped her get into position over his lap.

"If your head starts hurting or anything else besides your bottom, you tell me right away. Understood?"

"Yes, Daddy."

The first smack landed and before she could scream out, the second one landed on the other cheek. He wasn't giving her a warm-up and he definitely wasn't going easy on her. Spank after spank by his hand landed on her flesh making her cry out and squirm against him but he had a firm grip on her that barely allowed her to move.

By the time he stopped spanking her with his hand, she was a sobbing mess and a very sorry little girl. She had kicked her pants and panties off completely and his leg had moved over the back of hers so she was no longer able to kick.

"Give me your hands, baby."

Reluctantly, she moved her hands behind her back for him to grab hold of. She hated having to do that because it meant the worst of the spanking was coming and she was completely restrained.

"Is your head doing okay?"

She sniffed, "Yes, Daddy, it's fine."

The back of the hairbrush came down with a loud crack, and Maddie screamed out as it came down again. She hadn't experienced the hairbrush yet, and it was nothing like she'd imagined. It was worse.

Ian spanked her until she went limp across his lap and was sobbing loudly. She didn't want to fight it anymore. She knew she deserved it and needed it, and if she were honest with herself, as badly as the spanking hurt, she felt completely loved and safe across his lap as he disciplined her.

When it finally stopped, Ian pulled her up and rocked her against him, letting her cry in his arms for a long time. The release of emotions felt cleansing, and she felt even closer with her Daddy than she had before.

She was his, and he was hers.