Chapter 9

She woke up wrapped around her Daddy's body. Pushing herself up some to peek over him, she saw the time. Six o'clock. Her stomach growled in protest. It had been hours since she'd eaten a picnic lunch with her Daddy at the park.

What should she do? Could she go rummage around his kitchen? That sounded pretty ballsy to make herself that comfortable in his house. Maybe she should just go home? But her car wasn't there. She could call a ride share service.

The sound of his stomach rumbling a response made a giggle burst from her lips. Maybe she could go make a snack to share. She started to ease her way to the side of the bed, but his arms tightened around her.

One eye opened to look at her. "Are you as hungry as I am?"

"Starving," she admitted.

"How do pancakes sound?"

"Amazing."

"Let's go."

In a few minutes, they stood in front of the stove. Maya only wore an oversized T-shirt. She'd watched Deke add all the ingredients from the recipe in the battered cookbook. Now, he poured the thick mixture onto the buttered griddle. It smelled so good.

"I always use the pancake batter mix," Maya confessed. "It's so much easier."

"You'll see why I make it from scratch when you taste these."

"Are you making a bunny?" she asked when he added two ears to a round pancake.

"I am. What other animal should I make?"

"How about a giraffe?" Maya asked.

"Oh, a challenge. Let's see."

Her giggles started almost immediately. As he labored over the animal, she pointed out, "That could be anything from a donkey to a dog."

"A critic, huh?" Deke asked with an eyebrow arched in affront. "I'll try it this way."

The second giraffe was only the long neck and head. It looked remarkably like that creature. Well, unless it was placed on its side. Then it looked like a dachshund with no legs. Maya decided not to tell him that.

"I love it. Very giraffe-y," she complimented.

"Thank you. Can you guess this one?" He made a squiggle up and down.

"A worm?" she guessed.

"You've got it."

When those were cooked, he removed them from the griddle and poured two large pancakes.

"What are those?" she asked.

"Those are the ones to fill Maya's and Daddy's tummies," he answered as he moved over to the refrigerator. "Let's get some milk to drink?"

"I don't like milk," Maya said as she wrinkled her nose with disgust.

"Little girls need milk to have strong bones. Daddies, too. Sometimes adding ice cubes to make it very cold helps it taste better."

"I don't think that will work."

"You'll try it for me, right?"

The glint in his eye told her there was only one right answer to that question. "Yes, Daddy. I'll try it." She could always get some water when she proved to him that she didn't like it.

"Thank you, Maya."

He flipped the pancakes before filling two large glasses with ice and milk and setting that on the table with forks and knives. By the time he'd pulled a couple of plates from the cabinet and found the maple syrup and butter for the table, the pancakes were fully cooked. He scooped the golden disks up with the spatula and carried both to the table.

Maya followed him, sniffing at the aroma. Now, she was famished. She hesitated, not knowing where to sit.

"This is Daddy's chair. Maya's chair is now right here next to me." Deke seemed to understand what was going on in her mind. He helped her into the indicated place and scooted her up to the table.

Placing the plate of the animals in front of her, he plopped some softened butter in one spot on her plate and made a puddle of syrup for her. "Now, you can dip, dip, dip your animals before you eat them." He picked up the giraffe's head and demonstrated what he'd suggested before lifting it to her lips.

"I can't eat a giraffe, Daddy," Maya said, leaning back and shaking her head.

"I thought you might think so. They can just be your friends and we'll eat these," he suggested as he took a seat.

With the pancakes slathered in butter and syrup, he cut a bite and held it up to Maya's lips. Immediately, she set down the bunny and concentrated on the food in front of her. Opening her mouth, she allowed him to feed her.

"This is so good," she mumbled as she chewed.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Precious Girl. Just give me a thumbs up."

Maya responded with two vigorous thumbs up. She watched him take a bite himself and enjoyed his expression as he ate. Swallowing, she said, "They're good. I don't know if you have some special ingredient in your recipe book, but those are so much better than the mix ones."

She watched him cut another bite and knew that would be hers. Without thinking, Maya reached for her glass and took a big drink. She felt her eyes widen in surprise. The milk was actually good.

"It's better cold, isn't it?" he asked with a smile.

"Did you do anything else to it?"

"No. Just milk and ice. I do buy the milk fresh from the local dairy. They deliver every week."

"You drink that much milk?" she asked.

"At almost every meal when I'm at home. I like milk."

"Oh." She didn't know anyone who drank milk on purpose. Eyeing his powerful frame, she wondered if that helped him be so strong.

"Some characters eat spinach to be strong. I wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole. I'll stick with milk," Deke told her.

Maya took another sip and set her glass down before pronouncing, "I like this milk."

"That calls for a celebration. How about a bite of pancakes?" he asked, lifting the fork to her mouth.

She nodded and opened her mouth. How did he make everything fun?

"Are you staying here tonight?" he asked.

Freezing for a split second, she went with what her heart told her to do and nodded. "I'd like that, Daddy, but I have to be at the restaurant by nine to help get everything ready."

"Our schedules match perfectly. How about if we set an alarm for seven and I can have you at your apartment by eight?"

"That would give me plenty of time to get ready for work," she said, thinking aloud.

"And pack a bag so you can stay here tomorrow," he requested.

"Are you going to make love to me again now?" As soon as the words burst from her mouth, Maya slapped a hand over her lips and felt her face heat with embarrassment.

"No. I don't want you to be sore tomorrow. When we're finished with dinner, I'll give you a warm bath. We can play in your playroom for a bit before bedtime."

"I just woke up. I can't go to bed early."

"You've had a very big day," he reminded her and fed her another bite of their easy dinner.

As she chewed, all the events of the day flashed through her mind. Good-girl spanking. Orgasm. The park with swings and a picnic. The playroom. Sex. More orgasms. Nap. It had been a very big day.

As if sensing her replay of their activities, Deke asked, "What was your favorite thing we did today?"

Without hesitating, she answered, "Spending time with Daddy."

"I enjoyed your company, too, Precious Girl. Here, have another bite, and then you can tell me what your schedule is this week."

Soon they had demolished most of the pancakes and discovered where their schedules overlapped. Deke worked most nights at Stuff-It and Maya usually worked during the day to get ready for the lunch and dinner rushes. They did discover they would have one day entirely off together like they'd had today and partial days several times a week. That would have to do for now.

Maya could ask to work in the evening a few days a week. She could chop vegetables, make salsa, and do other preparations the night before without sacrificing the quality of the food. She wouldn't change anything now to upset the way she'd always supported her family's restaurant until she made sure that this relationship was going to last.

"Let me clean the kitchen, and I'll run a bath for you," Deke instructed. "Would you like to color? There are some crayons and coloring books in your playroom on the bookshelf."

"I can help you do the dishes," she rushed to offer.

"Not going to happen. That's your Daddy's job. You can either color or work on a puzzle from your room."

"I'll color."

"Good idea. I thought you'd like that. Go choose a book and grab the colors."

Maya stood and rushed from the room. She heard him order, "Walk, Little girl," and she slowed down. Once in the room, she found three different choices. Selecting the coloring book with fun animals, she picked up the crayons and noticed colored pencils underneath. Did she get to choose? Grabbing that package, too, Maya walked back to the kitchen as she flipped through the pages to find one she wanted to work on tonight.

"Daddy? There are colored pencils, too," she told him as she set things on the table.

"You choose which ones you want to use," he suggested. "If you feel very Little, you'll probably prefer crayons."

"Oh." Maya looked at both and back at him. "Do you care which ones I choose?"

"Of course not. You're my Little girl regardless of whether you're Little Little or Middle Little."

Suddenly colored pencils seemed like a lot of work. She'd have to work harder to fill in all the space, and it was harder to keep from seeing all the lines. Little Little was how she felt tonight. Maya opened the crayons and spread the colors on the table.

When Deke pulled out the chair next to her, she looked up in surprise. Was he finished?

"Can I help you?" Deke asked.

"You want to color with me?"

"I could work on the background if you would like," he suggested.

"Make it green, Daddy," she requested and pushed a light green crayon toward him.

"Perfect."

The two of them worked in quiet for a while. Maya kept an eye on his coloring. To her relief, he seemed to be really good at it. She knew she wasn't the most artistic person on the planet, but she always tried her best. He could have just blown it off and scribbled all over the page. He didn't. Deke seemed to enjoy doing this with her. It made coloring feel less weird and more fun.

"I haven't colored in a long time, Daddy," she admitted. "I used to love doing this. When I was a small child, my parents would sit me at a table in the back where they could see me during the lunch and dinner rushes. I had to stay there out of the way and quiet, but I could choose from reading, coloring, or playing a game on my tablet."

"What did you usually choose?"

"Coloring. Mom and Dad always put the finished picture up on the refrigerator at home," she shared.

"I have a very boring refrigerator. We'll start an art gallery as soon as we finish our picture. Tell me what else you like to do," he requested.

"I like to read and watch TV. I love the big holiday dinners we have at my mom's house when the restaurant is closed."

"Do you like working with your family?"

"Yes. They care about me. It does get annoying sometimes, though."

"I can understand that," he told her before changing the subject. "It looks like you're almost done."

"I just have the flowers to do. Should I make them blue or pink?"

"How about some of each?"

"Oooh. Good idea."

In a few minutes, she set her crayon down with a click. "I'm done."

"I have this one patch left," Deke said as he colored the last corner. "There! I'm done, too. Let's hang it on my refrigerator. You choose a spot and I'll grab a magnet."

When he got up and turned away to open a drawer, Maya picked up his green crayon and added a small heart to the bottom corner. As he turned around, she put the crayon back in the box and added the other ones on the table to disguise her action.

To her surprise, he picked the red still lying on the table and drew a larger heart next to hers before kissing the top of her head. He didn't say anything about it but just handed her his crayon so she could put it away.

It took several tries to put the picture up in the perfect spot. She loved that her Daddy didn't mind if she changed her mind a few times.

"I love it there," he told her when she'd decided. "Bath time, Precious Girl."

Maya peeked over her shoulder at the picture before they left the kitchen. Those two hearts seemed just like a Daddy and his Little girl. She loved it.