Daddy’s Little Fighter (Missouri Daddies #8)

Chapter 1

FRANKIE

“I’m going to go to the store to grab some butter for the cookies,” Frankie called out.

She had been getting better and better about leaving the house with or without Daddy. It was getting a little easier, even if she shook out in public.

He was helping her.

“Do you want me to come with you?” he asked as he walked by the front door. “What am I saying? Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll come with you.”

“Daddy, I’m perfectly fine going by myself.” She pouted. “I’ve done it a couple of times, and I can do it again. I’m just going to the store to get butter, and then I’m going to come back. It’s right down the street.”

It wasn’t right down the street, but it was pretty close. She was going to have to take the car if she wanted to have time to make the cookies before work.

“Little One.” Daddy popped a hand on his hip. “It is not down the street, and you know it. You will have to take the car.”

“Thank you!” She ran up to him and kissed his lips.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” he asked. “I just need to finish putting this food away, and then I can come. Are you going to have enough time to make them before we head to work?”

She sighed. “Yes, Daddy. I am sure I can do this on my own. I’m also sure that I will have enough time if I leave right now to get it.”

He held up his hands and shook his head. “All right. If anything goes wrong, you call me right away. Understand?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

“Do you have my credit card I gave you?” he asked.

Frankie sighed once again. “Yes, I do. I always have it with me. If I don’t use it and spend some of my own money, then I’m going to get into trouble.”

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Good girl for remembering. Now, be safe, and I want to know when you made it there and when you are leaving. Understand?”

“I understand, and I will. You know I always do,” she mumbled toward the end.

It was just as hard for her to leave without him as it was for him to let her leave alone. Frankie didn’t want to go, but she needed to.

“Are you sure?” Daddy asked.

“If you keep asking me, I’m going to say no,” Frankie pointed out. “I need to do this alone. It’s just butter, and it won’t take me long.”

She had been trying to get better about going out alone and not letting people’s stares affect her. It was a lot harder than she thought it would be, but she was slowly improving.

Going out alone. Not the not caring part.

Frankie still cared when people looked at her hands or sometimes her head. That was when she wanted to crawl into the wall and hide away from everyone.

It didn’t get easier when little kids pointed at her shaking hands or body whenever they walked by.

Children didn’t know any better, but it didn’t make it hurt any less.

“I know, but you don’t have to do this alone. I can come with you. I can help you,” Daddy gently said.

“I want to try it on my own,” she whispered back. “I want to see if I can get better at this. You aren’t always going to be there for me. You might get busy, and I have no choice but to go out on my own. If you are constantly with me, then I will never be able to go out alone.”

Maybe she was exaggerating, but she needed to do this on her own.

“It’s only butter. I know where it is in the store, and I won’t do anything else. No matter how much the stuffies call to me to go and rescue them.” She smiled. “Though we need to go soon and buy some. I bet they are awfully lonely in there and need some friends.”

Daddy looked at her, amusement shining in his eyes. “I bet you think they do.”

She gasped. “They do! How dare you think otherwise? They are all alone in there in their cages, and they can’t get out.”

“Next time we go to the store together, we can grab one,” Daddy promised. “But only one.”

She pouted. “I wish I had a thing for even numbers. Maybe I should start now.”

Daddy gripped her chin. “Don’t even think about it. You are not going to create something that doesn’t bother you. Think about the people who actually need things to be in even or odd numbers.”

Frankie closed her eyes. “Sorry,” she whispered.

“You’re okay, but we are not going to create something to get more stuffies,” Daddy told her.

“Okay, promise.”

Now she felt bad. It didn’t make her skin crawl or make her want to be sick if she didn’t have it in even or odd numbers.

“Now, go to the store and come right back.” Daddy stood to his full height.

He handed Frankie the keys, and she walked outside, taking a deep breath as she stood in front of the car. She was really going to do this. She was going to go to the store on her own.

The past week hadn’t been Frankie’s best. Her sleep was horrible, she was nervous about everything, and it was causing her unnecessary stress, which made her tremors even worse. Then Frankie started to worry about her ET, which made it worse than before.

It was a never-ending cycle. Daddy and she were trying to get it under control, but it wasn’t working very well.

“Frankie?” Daddy called out.

“Sorry!” She turned to him. “I’m okay! I was just thinking, but I’m leaving now. I won’t be long.”

Before Daddy could say anything, Frankie climbed into the car and shut the door. She didn’t need him stopping her before she even left.

She was going to do this.

Frankie waved at Daddy as she pulled out of the driveway. After a short journey, she got to the store and parked.

Taking a deep breath, she got out of the car and slowly started to walk toward the entrance.

“I can do this,” she whispered to herself.

Butter.

That was all she needed to get, and then she could go home again.

Frankie held her hands together, trying to stop them from shaking even more. Her tremors had started earlier when she woke up from her nap and realized she needed to go to the store to get butter. It had taken her almost two hours to get up the courage to tell Daddy where she was going.

Two hours to think.

Two hours of working herself up.

Two painstakingly long hours.

She walked to the far side of the store and down the aisle where the butter was stored. As she got closer, there were five children standing around the dairy refrigerator. Her steps faltered as I got closer.

What am I going to do?

Frankie knew she shouldn’t have gone without Daddy. He would have known what to do. He would have taken care of this.

Just go up to them and ask them to move.

Clearing her throat, she gained the attention of the group.

“Ex-excuse me,” she stuttered. “I ne-need the butt-butter.”

“She just said butt.” Aa boy giggled and pointed at her, which made all the other little kids laugh.

Where were their mothers or fathers? Why were they here all alone?

Frankie would normally laugh with them, but the nerves were overpowering everything. She needed Daddy here with her, but he was at home where she had told him to be.

How could have thought she could do this on her own? She wasn’t strong enough for this. Not when kids were involved. While a lot of them had been super nice to her, there were a couple that couldn’t let her tremors go and made it a huge deal.

But these kids hadn’t done that yet. They hadn’t said anything about her hands shaking to Frankie yet.

“Pl-please,” Frankie stuttered.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before looking at the kids in front of her. They were staring at her, not taking their eyes off her for several seconds. Frankie shuffled as she waited for them to move.

Were they going to?

Finally, the little boy moved out of the way, and Frankie reached to grab two packs of butter.

“Why are her hands shaking?” a little boy asked.

“Her whole body looks like it’s shaking,” a higher voice pointed out.

Flinching, she sucked in a breath as she grabbed the butter.

Just ignore them.

That is what Frankie needed to do. Ignore them and move on. She had what she needed, and now she had to get home so she could bake them really quickly before work.

“She looks like someone who is getting electrocuted.” The little boy giggled as he demonstrated what she looked like.

Looking down at her hands, she realized they were tremoring really badly. The kids started to laugh as they pointed at her, their cruelness shaking their whole bodies. Frankie looked around and realized several people were looking at the scene in front of them.

After dropping the butter, she ran out of the store and straight to her car. She didn’t look where she was going as she ran through the parking lot, and before she knew it, an arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her chest into someone.

“Wow,” a deep voice rumbled. “You need to watch where you’re going or else the car would have hit you.”

But Frankie didn’t care and didn’t see the car. She needed to get away from everyone and hide. How could she not have seen what she looked like when she shook?

“Frankie?” the man called out her name.

Looking up, she realized Dominic was holding her against his chest.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Why are you crying?”

She hadn’t even realized she was crying, but that didn’t matter. Pushing against his hold, Frankie tried to get away from him, but he tightened his arm around her.

“No, you are not leaving. Where is your Daddy?”

That simple question made Frankie break down, going limp into Dominic’s body. She cried as all the emotions whooshed out of her. She should never have gone to the store without Daddy. She should never have gone out in public, period.

“I’m calling your Daddy,” Dominic gently said as he held onto her. “Let’s go sit somewhere quiet.”

It didn’t take long for Dominic to get her into his car before phoning her Daddy. She hid in the passenger seat, trying to stop herself from shaking but failing miserably. What was she thinking?

“Frankie,” Daddy gently said.

“I’m never going out again!” she wailed as she flung herself into his arms.