Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Isabella
There's a note of amusement in Uncle Max’s voice, and some of the tension leaves my shoulders. If they’d overheard us, there’s no way they would be laughing. I have no doubt if they caught wind of our plan, we’d all be getting our bare bottoms paddled right here in the middle of the store.
“Nothing, Daddy,” Victoria says in a sing-song voice that nearly makes me groan. I’m certain she’s about to give us away, but Uncle Max just laughs and shakes his head as he takes her hand in his.
My own Daddy scoops me up, propping me on his hip the way he always does. “Have you picked out any new toys yet, little doll?”
“No, Daddy. There’s too many choices.”
“Hmm. Why don’t we start with the stuffies, then? Every Little girl needs a special stuffie all her own.”
Tori gasps, narrowing her eyes at Uncle Max. “How come I don’t have a special stuffie all my own?”
The look Uncle Max gives my Daddy is so withering, I can’t help but giggle. “Thank you, Gideon.”
Daddy shrugs. “It’s not my fault you neglected your sacred Daddy duties.”
“You’re right.” With mock solemnity, Uncle Max gives his head a slow shake. “My apologies, little thief, for neglecting you so severely. We will rectify this oversight immediately.”
“Thank you.” Tori tilts her nose in the air with a delicate sniff. “That’s more like it.”
“Where is Cat and her hairbrush when I need her?” Uncle Max raises a brow. “If you’re going to be sassy, we can go home and you can spend some time in the corner with a red-hot bottom instead of picking out a new toy.”
A furious blush slashes across my friend’s cheeks. “No, Daddy. Sorry.”
“That’s better. Let’s go find you a stuffie.”
We move as a group back toward the front of the store to stand in front of the long wall of stuffies.
“A unicorn!” Squealing excitedly, Tori wriggles out of Uncle Max’s arms and races straight for a giant pink unicorn with a sparkly rainbow-colored mane. It’s so large, she staggers backward under the weight of it. “Can I have this one? Please, Daddy, please?”
“I should have known.” Shaking his head, Uncle Max chuckles. “Is there a more reasonably sized one, little thief?”
Bottom lip trembling, Tori pouts up at him. “But I want this one.”
I watch, fascinated by the exchange. It’s clear from the look on his face he would prefer for her to pick out something different. But it’s equally as clear he isn’t about to tell his Little girl no, at least not when it comes to this ridiculously giant toy.
“All right, little one. If that’s the one you want, then that’s the one you can have. But you have to carry it to the car and into the house.”
“Yay! Thank you, Daddy!”
Juju is a bit more careful, slowly perusing the selections in front of her. “I’ve never really had a special stuffie of my own before…”
My heart breaks for this woman with the seemingly perfect life. Even as broke as we often were in my family, I had no shortage of toys and special presents from my parents. No shortage of love. What was it like to grow up with everything at your fingertips, except the love that should have been so easily given by your own flesh and blood?
Uncle Jasper steps in, scooping Juju up into his arms, holding her tight as they scan the selections together. “Well, this seems like a perfect opportunity for you to pick out just the right one. Do you want a unicorn, like Tori?”
“No.” Frowning, Juju shakes her head. “I want something special. Just for me.”
“Hmm. Well, we have lots of different options here. What about a cute froggy?”
Juju wrinkles her nose in clear disgust. “Eww, frogs are slimy.”
Okay, well, I kinda like frogs. I think they’re cute, and one of my best friends back home used to keep some really pretty ones as pets. But I keep that thought to myself, because I need these friends on my side if I’m ever going to escape here.
The pair make their way down nearly the entire wall of stuffies, with Uncle Jasper making suggestion after suggestion and Juju rejecting each one before she wriggles out of his arms with a gasp.
“Daddy, look!” Squealing with delight, she holds up a black-and-white kitten. “She looks just like the barn kitty! Can I have her, pretty pretty please?”
Juju’s kitten is a much more “reasonable size” than Tori’s unicorn, a fact Uncle Jasper looks rather relieved by as he smiles down at her. “Of course you can, princess. You can have whatever stuffie you want. Are you sure that's the one, or do you want to keep looking?”
“No, Daddy, she’s the one.” A look of awe comes over Juju’s face as she strokes the stuffie’s soft fur. “She’s perfect .”
“Don’t you mean, purrrrfect?” Uncle Max asks with a grin, earning him a round of groans from the two Littles in front of him.
“Daddy, that was embarrassing,” Tori says with a sad shake of her head. “No more dad jokes, please.”
“Oh man, you have to be kitten me,” Uncle Jasper chimes in, and I have to bite back a laugh as both Juju and Tori glare up at him.
My attention is pulled from the teasing of my friends and their Daddies when Daddy speaks, low and quiet in my ear. “Your turn, little doll. What kind of stuffie would my Little girl like to take home?”
Suddenly, I have a much better understanding of the overwhelm Juju must have been feeling a few minutes ago. The wall of stuffies seems to stretch on forever and ever, with millions of choices. Far too many for one Little girl to be able to make a selection from.
And at this moment, I am very much a Little girl. The sheer number overwhelms me, despite my promises to myself to stay strong and defiant in the face of everything the man cradling me so gently has thrown my way. Wrapping my arms around him, I bury my face in his neck, and for once it isn’t simply a show to win him over.
“Aw, little one. Still too many choices?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Hmm. What if Daddy picks out three for you and you can choose from one of those?”
The offer calms some of my anxiety, enough for me to lift my head and scan the wall again. “But what if I don’t like what you choose?”
“Then we can try again. But I think you’ll find your Daddy knows you better than you realize, little doll. Let’s see…”
Humming to himself, he makes his way slowly down the wall. When he pauses to reach for the first animal, he turns his head to look at me, his expression mockingly stern. “No peeking, little one.”
Despite everything he’s put me through, a giggle escapes my lips as I once more bury my face in his neck. It’s like a game, letting him pick out my stuffies in secret.
I keep my eyes hidden while he continues down the wall, pausing two more times. “All right, little doll. Daddy’s going to put you down, but I want you to keep your eyes covered until I tell you to open them.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
Squeezing my eyes shut tight, I don't even attempt to peek as he lowers me to my feet. I can sense him moving around me, arranging things just so, and the excitement bubbles in my chest, making me dance in place while I wait.
“And… open!”
My eyes pop open and I immediately gasp at the selection he’s placed in front of me. One stuffie is an oversized version of the frog Juju rejected earlier, and I can’t help but melt a bit as I wonder if Daddy noticed the longing way I looked at the frog.
The next is smaller, but not by much. A simple, traditional brown teddy bear. There’s something… nostalgic about it that tugs at my heart, and I nearly make a dive for it.
But then I spot the third and final animal Daddy has selected for me. A hippo, but not just any hippo. She’s wearing a ballerina tutu and shoes, much like an old movie I remember my mom watching when I was little. Parts of the movie were too scary to watch, but I remember the dancing hippos and alligators. How I’d sit and track their every graceful movement, even though they were just cartoons. It’s a memory I’d long forgotten about, and I fleetingly wonder how he knew about it when I didn’t even remember.
The question is only a passing thought before I’m overcome with emotion, hugging the giant stuffed animal to my cheek. “She’s perfect,” I whisper, burying my face in her soft fur.
“There, now. That wasn’t so very difficult after all,” Daddy says quietly. “We have a bit of time before lunch if you’d like to keep looking for some new toys.”
“No. This is all I need.” Craning my head, I smile up at him, and for the first time I’m not thinking about how I got here or how I’m going to escape. There’s only me and my Daddy and the most perfect stuffed animal ever created. “Thank you, Daddy.”
“You are very welcome, little doll. Come on, let’s get some food in your tummy. Even little dolls need to eat.”
* * *
Gideon
Lunch is a relatively tame affair, as tame as it can be with three bouncy Little girls all excitedly showing off their new stuffies to anyone who will stop and indulge them. On our island, that’s pretty much everyone. Daddies, Mommies, and even another Little all stop by the table to ooh and ahh over their selections.
Isabella, for her part, seems to be feeling better than she did after her appointment with Doctor D. Which is a good thing considering our next appointment.
“Let Daddy carry your hippo, little one, so you can hold my hand.”
Pouting adorably, Isabella cradles the giant hippo to her chest. “No!”
As sweet as she looks, defiance isn’t something I can simply allow to pass. Fixing her with a stern expression, I hold out my hand. “Isabella. Be a good girl and give Daddy your hippo.”
“No! It’s mine! I want to hold her!”
I’m aware of our audience, in the form of her Uncles and their Little girls watching us, the former with a sense of amused curiosity, the latter with something more akin to horror, as if they can’t believe their friend is being so brazen in her defiance.
Neither can I, if I’m being honest. “Little girls do not tell their Daddies ‘No’, Isabella. Do you want a spanking right here in front of everyone?”
The threat lands, just as I’d hoped, and her eyes go wide as she whips her curls back and forth. “N-no, Daddy.”
“Then let me hold your hippo, little one. You may have her back as soon as we get to our destination.”
Tears sparkle on her lashes. “You promise?”
“Cross my heart, little doll.”
Sniffling pitifully, she slowly releases her grip on the hippo, holding the large stuffed animal out for me to take it from her. I tuck it up under one arm and reach for her with my free hand. “Thank you for listening, sweet Isabella. Tell your Uncles and your friends goodbye. We’ll see them again tomorrow night.”
“Bye-bye,” she says, a hint of pink rising to her cheeks, making me wonder if she’s embarrassed by her naughty behavior or by being scolded in public. A bit of both, if I had to guess.
“Dinner is tomorrow at seven,” I tell them, gripping my Little one’s hand firmly. “Don’t be late.”
Anticipation sparkles in my friends’ eyes. “We wouldn’t dream of it. Come, Victoria. It’s naptime.”
“But Daddy, I don’t need a nap!” Victoria whines, even as Maxwell lifts her into his arms and carries her to a waiting car. Jasper does the same with Juliet, leaving me and my little doll alone on the street for the first time in hours.
Which is perfect timing for what I have planned next.