25. Sean

Sean lay awake, holding Gabby in his arms while she snored softly. He was incredibly proud of her for doing something that scared her, just so they could be closer, and even if that was the only time it ever happened, he would forever be thankful for it. Though, based on her cries of pleasure, he guessed she would probably want to do it again at some point.

Grabbing his phone from the nightstand, he sent Ian a text.

Raincheck for the slumber party. Tomorrow night work?

His phone buzzed almost immediately with a response.

Works for me. Maddie got herself into a little bit of trouble, so that works better.

Sean grinned and shook his head with amusement. Maddie seemed to get herself into trouble a lot. At least it worked in his favor because all he wanted to do was hold his beautiful baby girl all night long. She had given him the best gift he could have ever asked for, and he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

She slept in his arms for over an hour, and by the time she woke, the sun was setting, letting vibrant colors of orange and pink shine through his bedroom windows. When she began to stir, he ran his hand down the side of her face gently, not wanting her to be alarmed when she woke up.

"Hey, sleepyhead. How's my girl?"

A smile crossed her lips as she stretched and finally opened her eyes to peer over at him.

"I'm perfect, Daddy. Better than perfect, actually."

Yes, yes she is. Absolute perfection.

"Are you sore? Why don't I draw you a bath?"

Letting out a content sigh, Gabby nodded.

"Will you get in with me?"

"I would love to."

They spent the next hour soaking in the fizzy water, kissing and cuddling each other. It was heaven, and he didn't think it could get any better until Gabby started grinding her ass on his erection.

"Are you teasing me?" he asked in a low growl.

She giggled and looked back at him with an innocent expression.

"Teasing means I'd just be tempting you without actually wanting to do anything more, so no, I'm not teasing, Daddy."

Letting out a low chuckle, Sean ran his hands up her ribcage and cupped her breasts, toying with her nipples.

"I take it you enjoyed what we did?"

Her hand snaked back behind her and wrapped around his cock firmly.

"I loved it, Daddy. I never thought I would, but with you, it was magical, and I want to do it again."

She didn't have to ask him twice, except he didn't have a condom nearby, and he worried that she would be sore if they had sex again.

"As much as I would love that, baby, I don't want to hurt you, so lay your head back on my chest and relax and let Daddy make you feel good."

She hesitated, not removing her hand from him.

"But what about you?"

Leaning down to run kisses along her neck and shoulder, Sean continued toying with her nipples until she was sucking in air and moving her hips.

"There will be plenty of times for me to get pleasure, but for now, I want to make you feel good."

Releasing her hand, Gabby leaned back, so she was completely relaxed against him and let his hands move and explore her body. By the time he reached her pussy and ran his fingers along her slit, she was panting and already on the edge of orgasming.

Inserting one finger into her channel, Sean felt her walls already tightening, and it only took a few thrusts and his thumb massaging her clit before she was screaming out and bucking her hips against his hand. He continued his pace until she quieted and then slowed his fingers down before pulling them out of her. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and held her as she came down from her high.

"Daddy, come on! I want to go see Maddie. You're taking forever."

Chuckling, Sean carried the backpack down the stairs toward the front door. Gabby and Maddie had exchanged phone numbers and apparently already had a whole list of fun things they wanted to do during their sleepover.

Ian and Sean had decided to have Sean come stay the night as well, just to make sure that Gabby felt comfortable. Ian was also less than thrilled about having Olly come with them, but he said that he would do anything to make sure Gabby felt safe. Apparently, Maddie had been whining for a dog, and Ian was pretty sure that having Olly around would make her even more insistent.

"I'm coming, little girl. Did you go potty?"

Gabby rolled her eyes and skipped off to the bathroom.

"Better watch those eyes, little girl. Sassing Daddy will get you a red bottom."

She grinned back at him, "I wasn't doing anything, Daddy. I thought I heard a noise upstairs, so I was looking up."

Uh-huh.

He loved how free she was becoming with him. Most of the time, he was the only one who got to see that side of her, though he was pretty sure that as time went on she would become more outgoing with others as well. It really all had to do with her feeling safe and secure. And if she didn't, and she was only that way around him, he felt blessed. He gave her a safe space to be herself and finally let go.

However, the nursery was still always spotless, and everything was in place all the time. He hoped he could break that worry of hers. She had told him that when she was younger, if she broke things or messed anything up that she would get into trouble, so she had learned to memorize where everything went so she could put it back when she was done.

He reassured her that she would never get into trouble for playing and making a mess of her room or other areas of the house because everything was fixable and cleanable. Savannah had told him that breaking habits like that would take time since they were fear-based habits, which had been a way for her to survive back when she had been in foster care.

"Okay, Daddy, I'm ready."

He smiled down at her and pulled her in for a kiss, which she automatically returned and kissed him back. When he released her, she was staring up at him with an expression on her face that he couldn't read.

"What's wrong, baby?"

Gabby shook her head, "Absolutely nothing. Everything is perfect. I never thought my life could be so amazing, and it's because of you that it is. I'm just so grateful for you, and I love you so much. Thank you for choosing me."

She struggled to get the words out without her voice cracking, and it only took a second before he swooped her up into his arms and sat down on the couch with her on his lap.

"You never have to thank me, baby. Choosing you was the easiest thing I've ever done in my life, and I am the one who is grateful that you trusted me enough to care for you. Being your Daddy is by far my greatest accomplishment. I want to marry you, Gabby."

Her eyes widened as she stared up at him in surprise.

"Are you asking me to marry you?"

Way to ruin it, idiot.

"No. I mean, yes. But not officially. You deserve the whole magical romantic proposal and all of that. So I guess I will just say that my plan is to marry you, and now you have time to think about what your answer will be when I ask."

Reaching up and running her hands through his beard, she smiled up at him.

"My answer is yes, Daddy. I don't need a magical proposal. Everything about being with you is magical to me, and being yours forever is the icing on the cake. So my answer is yes."

Completely dumbfounded and speechless, Sean blinked several times, staring down at her in shock.

"Yes, you want to marry me?"

Gabby nodded, grinning so wide that he couldn't help but grin back.

"I want to be your wife. Gosh, I never thought I would want to be a wife or would even be asked to be someone's wife, but I want to be yours."

Swallowing the lump forming in his throat, Sean leaned down and kissed her as though his very last breath depended on it, exploring her mouth with his tongue, nipping at her lips and holding the back of her neck, she was pressed to him until they had to release for air.

Lifting her from his lap, Sean sat her on the couch and stood.

"I'll be right back, you stay here."

He went back into his office and opened the floor safe under his desk, pulling out the little black box that he'd had in there for weeks. Carrying it back to the living room, he sat next to Gabby and pulled her into his lap again.

Holding the box in front of her, he opened it to show her the ring he'd had designed for her. Letting out a gasp, her hands flew up to her mouth as she looked from the ring to him and back again.

"I had this designed for you. It has our initials inscribed inside the band."

Tears sprang from her eyes as she let out a sob.

"You really do want to marry me?"

Giving her a quizzical look, Sean wiped the wetness from her cheeks.

"Of course, I want to marry you, Gabby girl. I've wanted to marry you since the day you became my little girl. Do you not like the ring?"

Shaking her head, Gabby flung her arms around his neck and sobbed.

"I l-love it, it's so b-beautiful. I'm just so surprised. You had really planned on proposing."

Holding her against him, he rubbed her back and whispered sweet words to her about how much he loved her and wanted to make her the happiest girl in the world. When her crying stopped, and she pulled away from him, he smiled and pulled the ring from the box, sliding it onto her ring finger.

"How did you know my ring size?"

He grinned, "You know all the dress up jewelry? When you were playing, I paid attention to which rings fit that finger, and then I took one of them to the jeweler."

She giggled and stared at the sparkling diamonds, moving her hand every which way to see them sparkle.

"The jeweler probably thought you were crazy."

He had definitely gotten a strange look from the sales associate when she took the plastic ring from him, but it didn't matter. He would look crazy a million times over if it meant he got to make all his baby girls' dreams come true.

"Shall we go to a sleepover?"

Looking up from her hand, she grinned.

"I almost forgot about that. Maybe we should go upstairs first?"

Sean laughed and shook his head. His girl was turning into quite the little minx.

"As much as that sounds beyond amazing, I still think your body needs to recover from last night."

Sticking out her lip in a pout, Gabby nodded and stood from his lap.

"Fiiiiine. But you can't keep that magic stick away from me forever."

He burst out laughing and swatted her bottom.

"You are such a naughty girl. Maybe I should warm your bottom before we go."

"No, no. I'm a good girl. Come on, Daddy, we're gonna be late."