Chapter 5
FRANKIE
Frankie stood in front of the door, her shoes on her feet. Dominic’s words were getting to her this morning, and she wanted to go out and prove that she could go out again. But she continued to glare at the door, not moving an inch.
It had been a week since they had gone to the club. A week of her being inside again. Part of her wanted to go outside since she had before, but the larger part wanted to stay inside where it was safe and no one would see her.
Would she be able to leave the house by herself again one day? Did Frankie even want that?
She had been thinking about it long and hard recently. Ever since Dominic had told her people missed her, it had gotten her mind thinking about everything. She didn’t think anyone would miss her that much and were only contacting her out of a feeling of duty.
But Dominic said otherwise, and she didn’t know how to feel about that. It had been three years since she had last seen them. So much had probably changed, and she wouldn’t fit in anymore.
Right.
That was why she shouldn’t go outside. Not that she really wanted to. Frankie was content being in the house all the time, where no one could make fun of her or point out that she was shaking.
Safe.
But as she stared at the door, she wondered if she would be safe at the club with Daddy. Everyone knew what she had, and Dominic had said it didn’t matter.
“Little One?” Daddy called out.
Frankie quickly took her shoes off and walked over to the window before Daddy saw her. She didn’t know why she wanted to keep it a secret, but she did. Frankie didn’t want to let her Daddy down if he saw her standing in front of the door with her shoes on like she was going to leave the house.
Because Frankie knew she wanted to step outside.
Frankie took a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to calm her nerves before Daddy came in. If he saw her huffing and puffing, he would know something was up.
“There you are. I knew I should have checked your favorite spot first.” Daddy smiled. “How are you feeling today?”
After going to the club with Daddy, Frankie had been exhausted. She took naps, ones Daddy didn’t have to force her to take, several days in a row. It was exhausting going out and seeing Dominic out of the blue.
“Good.” She smiled back at him.
“Great. I have a question.” He sat down next to her and looked in her direction.
Frankie clasped her hands together, holding them tight as she looked at Daddy. What was he going to talk to her about?
“Some of the other Littles would love to see you. Would you be up for meeting them sometime this week?” he asked. “They can come to our house so you are comfortable, and they don’t have to stay long. They would just like to get to know you, and possibly hang out in the future.”
She looked at Daddy, unsure. Dominic had said the same thing about them wanting to meet her. Did she really want to meet them? Would they really not judge her for shaking?
“If you want, I can give them your phone number so you can talk to them first. If you want to meet up with them later, you can,” Daddy suggested. “They are all super sweet girls, and I think you would get along with them.”
“I…” She paused.
“No pressure. I just think you would like talking to them and having friends who are Little.” Daddy shrugged.
“You can give them my number,” she said before she could stop herself.
Frankie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Had she really just told him to give the other Littles her number?
“Little One?” Daddy gently said. “Can you look at me?”
Frankie opened her eyes and looked at him.
“I don’t want you to agree just to make me happy. I want you to agree because you really want to,” Daddy grabbed her hand and squeezed gently. “I want you to be okay with them being able to contact you.”
Did she really want them to have her number, or was she just agreeing to make Daddy happy? Frankie thought it was a bit of both. She wanted to see whether the other Littles really didn’t mind that she had Essential Tremors or if Dominic and Daddy were lying to her.
“You can give them my number,” she reiterated.
There was only one way to see if they were telling the truth, by talking to the other Littles. And she didn’t have to see them in person if she didn’t want to. This was just texting.
“I’m proud of you.” He smiled. “I’m always proud of you.”
“There’s nothing to be proud of,” she mumbled.
Frankie knew Daddy wasn’t trying to make her feel bad, but him telling her he was always proud of her just didn’t sit well with her. She hadn’t done anything to deserve that.
“Baby,” he gently said, helping her into his lap and holding her close to him.
“You may not see it, but I do. Several months ago, you didn’t want to do anything with the other Littles, didn’t even want their phone number.
Several months ago, you wouldn’t have stepped out of the house, but you did a couple of days ago. I’m proud of you.”
Tears pooled in Frankie’s eyes as she looked at Daddy.
“I know,” he whispered as he brought her head to his chest and slowly started to rock them back and forth. “But everything is going to be okay. I am very proud of you.”
Daddy was proud of her.
Frankie didn’t realize how much she needed to hear those words until now. Holding onto Daddy’s shirt, she let the silent tears fall down her face as Daddy held her.
“I’ve got you,” Daddy whispered in her ear. “I’m not going anywhere.”
They sat in silence for several minutes before Frankie pulled away and looked at Daddy.
“I want you to know that I don’t expect you to go out after talking to them over text,” Daddy explained. “I just want you to talk to them and see if you would be interested in meeting them in person at the house or at a coffee shop.”
Unease filled Frankie’s stomach at the thought of going into a coffee shop where everyone could stare at her and make fun of her.
Was that their plan the whole time? Frankie’s breathing picked up as she thought about the scenario.
It had happened before, and she didn’t want it to happen again.
She didn’t think she would be able to survive it again.
“Wow, baby. Deep breath in and slowly let it out. Good girl. Now, let’s do it again.
” Daddy cupped her face, forcing her to look him in the eye as he calmed her down.
“You don’t need to go to the coffee shop tomorrow.
That can be several months from now or even a year. But it’s something to work toward.”
Right. She could work toward that. And if she couldn’t, Daddy would probably forget about it in a month or two. That was, if none of the other Littles talked to him about it. And if she really didn’t want to do it in a couple of months, Daddy wouldn’t force her to do it.
He had never forced her to do anything she didn’t like… unless it was a punishment. Then he doubled down and went through with it. But she deserved those since she was naughty.
“I’m going to give the other Littles your phone number real quick.
Just to warn you. I would expect a text right away,” Daddy prepared her.
“They have been talking to their Daddies about this for a while. To say they are excited to talk to you is an understatement. They are very excited to get to know you.”
“Why?” Frankie asked. “They don’t know me.”
She had never met these Littles in her life, and they wanted to get to know her that badly? Who were they?
“You’re right, they don’t. But they saw you on Halloween, and they know I have a Little girl of my own.
They are curious and want to know you. They want to be friends with you,” Daddy explained, rubbing his thumb across her cheek.
“They are the types of Littles who don’t want people to be alone and will do anything in their power to get you to join their group, even if in the beginning you don’t want to.
They want to be your friends and have play dates with you.
They have a lot of playdates at the club or at their houses. ”
And Frankie didn’t know how to feel about that. They were complete strangers to her and all of a sudden they want to invite her into their group? Was there some ulterior motive?
“They are the sweetest people you will meet. They don’t want anything bad happen to anyone and will protect you with their lives, even if it means getting out of their comfort zone to do it. They are fierce and loyal.” Daddy chuckled. “Sometimes too fierce and loyal, but they are good people.”
It was like Daddy was trying to sell them to her. Frankie giggled at the thought.
“What’s got you laughing?” Daddy asked.
She shook her head.
“Ah, you have to tell Daddy, though.” He gave her a pointed look.
“It just sounded like you were selling a product, like you were trying to sell them to me. Make them look all good so that I can’t say no.” She giggled once again.
Daddy shook his head and chuckled.
“How are you feeling about everything?” Daddy softly spoke.
Sighing, she closed her eyes for a brief second.
“Frankie?”
“I don’t know,” she mumbled. “It’s a lot, but I’m thinking about stuff. I don’t know if I want to message them back.”
What if they demanded to meet up with her tomorrow? What if they didn’t understand she wasn’t ready to do anything outside yet?
“What are you worried about?” Daddy asked.
Frankie suppressed a shrug, knowing that if she did that, Daddy would still make her answer. But sometimes she wanted to just jiggle her shoulders and that would be the end of it. Daddy would never allow that to happen, and sometimes Frankie was grateful for that.
“Them pushing me to leave the house when I’m not ready,” she whispered.
Frankie liked to please people, and if enough people asked, she was worried she would go out when she wasn’t ready. She was really concerned it be worse than last time.
She didn’t know if she would ever be ready.
“Frankie. Little One,” Daddy cooed at her. “They know you don’t want to leave the house, and they are okay with that. They aren’t going to pressure you into leaving. Will they ask questions? Probably, but I’ve told them to limit them.”
They stared at each other for several seconds, neither of them speaking.
“If you do feel like they are pressuring you, you tell someone. You can even thell them. They don’t want that and will feel awful if they realize they unintentionally upset you,” Daddy explained.
If she told Daddy they were pressuring her and he told their Daddies, Frankie was going to feel bad, and then the other Littles would feel bad, and then she would feel even worse. It was a cycle that she didn’t want to get into. Her brain was running away with her.
“Frankie, promise me that if they start to pressure you to go outside when you aren’t ready, that you will tell me or talk to them.” Daddy gave her a stern look.
Frankie clenched her jaw.
“Little bit.” His voice held warning.
“Fine.” She sighed. “I will talk to you if they start to pressure me.”
Now she just had to make sure that if they actually did talk with her, they never got onto the topic, so there wasn’t any chance of it happening.
“Good.” Daddy kissed her temple.
Frankie snuggled into his chest and relaxed. She had a feeling the next couple of days were going to be exhausting with the Littles messaging her. And Frankie knew Daddy would make her take longer naps to combat her crankiness.
“I’m still unsure,” she mumbled into his chest.
“Just message with them for a while and then think. You don’t have to come to any decision today or tomorrow,” Daddy gently said. “Take your time and get to know them.”
“O-otay,” she whispered.
A smile blossomed across his face. “I’ve got to get back to work, but be expecting a message.” He kissed the top of her head and walked out of the room.
Frankie gazed out of the window. It looked so peaceful out there, deceiving since she knew it was anything but. The calmness around Frankie didn’t last long as her phone started to blow up. Sighing, she looked at her phone.
Welcome to the Littles club! -Charlotte