Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Connor waited until the spaghetti sauce was done and the noodles were boiling before he broke Tessy’s concentration on her coloring. She hadn’t turned around once since he’d made her face the other direction.
He walked over to stand beside her. “What picture did you decide to color?”
“The turtle.” She turned her coloring book slightly so he could see.
The image was a sea turtle swimming with some fish near the ocean floor with some coral on the sides, and she’d colored a little over half of it.
“Good choice. The oceanic coloring book was my favorite of the three.”
“Me, too.”
“You did an excellent job with the turtle. I like your color scheme.” He ran a hand down her hair.
“Thanks, Daddy.”
“Dinner is going to be ready in about three minutes, so finish whatever section you’re coloring, and then we’ll put the coloring away until dinner is over.”
She nodded without a scowl or a complaint.
Pleased that he seemed to have broken through her initial distrust, Connor went back to the stove to finish cooking.
Once the burners were off and the food was ready, he went back to the table and pulled out Tessy’s original chair. He put the pillow on it. “Okay, Dinner is ready. Come sit over here please.”
She put the crayon she was using in the center of the coloring book, and closed the page, using it as a place marker. Smiling she came around to the other side. “It smells really good, Daddy. I’m hungry.”
“Wonderful.” He scooted her in, and went to fix their plates. He set both plates on the table, and then went back to get them silverware.
As soon as she had a fork, Tessy dug into the spaghetti. “Mmm.”
He didn’t have the heart to reprimand her for starting without him. Instead he said, “Would you like water or milk?”
“Water,” she answered with her mouth full.
“Swallow before you talk please.”
She finished chewing, swallowed, and repeated herself. “Water, please.”
He got her a glass of water, and poured himself a glass of red wine before finally sitting down to eat.
She glanced between her water and the wine a couple of times, pouted, and drank her water.
Connor was impressed. The little talk they had about Daddy having her best interests at heart must have really sunk in. After he’d had a few bites, he asked, “How old are you, Tessy?”
She paused with her fork in the air. She set it back on her plate and looked off into the distance while apparently thinking that over. “I don’t know, Daddy.”
“Daddy thinks you’re about seven. Maybe eight. Does that sound about right?”
A few seconds later, she answered decisively. “Eight.”
“Eight,” Connor agreed. He liked that age for her. It was old enough that she didn’t need constant supervision. He could be in another room without worrying that she would get into things or accidentally hurt herself. Old enough that she’d want to help out once in a while when he was doing things around the house. Old enough to be assigned a few chores whether she liked them or not. Young enough to still want to snuggle with him at the end of the day. Young enough to still have that childlike wonder about certain things. And young enough to be playful and still need guidance when her emotions overwhelmed her.
He smiled softly, thinking of all the fun they were going to have together.
“This is really good, Daddy,” Tessy said. “You’re a good cook.”
He chuckled “I’m glad you approve. I don’t exactly enjoy cooking, but I do enjoy eating good food, so over the years I’ve taught myself how to make the foods I like.”
“I like baking more than cooking.” Tessy smirked. “Probably because I like eating the results.”
Connor laughed. “Sounds like we have that in common. Would you like to make cookies together the next time Daddy comes over?”
“Yes! We could do that tonight after dinner!” Tessy said with a big grin.
Connor shook his head. “Daddy has other plans for tonight, but we’ll make cookies together next time.”
Her grin faded, but she didn’t scowl at him. “What plans?”
“You’re going to finish your coloring while Daddy cleans up the dinner dishes and puts the leftovers away. Then we’re going to snuggle together on the couch and watch a movie.”
Focusing on her plate, Tessy muttered, “Making cookies would be more fun.”
“Making cookies will be just as fun next time.”
“I doubt it.”
“Hey, look at me,” he said sternly.
She brought her eyes up to meet his.
“If you’re going to have a bad attitude, we can skip the movie, and you can go to bed early.”
“No, Daddy.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I won’t have a bad attitude.”
“Okay, let’s keep it that way.”
She nodded and focused on her plate again and took a few more bites. “What movie are we going to watch?”
“You get to pick, but it has to be a G-rated cartoon.”
“G-rated?”
“That’s right. I might be talked into a PG movie if I approve of the reason for that rating, but certainly not a PG13.”
She sighed. “Okay.”
“Use your words and tell Daddy why that doesn’t sound fun.”
She shrugged. “I’ve seen all the Disney and Pixar movies I can think of a gazillion times.”
He frowned for a moment before realizing she’d most likely watched them with her twins. Probably enough times to know the lines. But her kids were adults now, so he was sure there were newer movies she hadn’t seen a ‘gazillion’ times, and as a Daddy who’d played with multiple Littles, he knew all the good ones. He was about to make a suggestion, when he realized she was also a Mommy , which meant she probably had seen those the same way he had.
“What did you like to watch on television when you were young?”
“When I was young?” she asked.
“Personally, I loved Scooby-Doo, Fat Albert, and Super Friends.”
“Oh yeah, I liked Scooby-Doo, too. And there was something called the Laff-A Lympics that I used to watch. My sister and I always liked the Land of the Lost with the dinosaurs, but my older brother always teased us about it. He said it sucked.”
“Okay, that settles it. We’ll watch some episodes of Land of the Lost tonight.”
“Really? You can get them?”
“I’m pretty good with finding what I want on the internet. I’d be shocked if I couldn’t find at least one episode out there.” And he hoped he could find an entire season, but he didn’t want to get her hopes up if all he could find were some clips.
“You won’t make fun of the show, right? Like if it’s kind of silly or dumb.”
“Absolutely not. Even if it’s not a show I would watch without you, I’m going to love watching your reactions to it.”
She smiled. “Okay.”
They spent the rest of the dinner talking about the old shows they both remembered.
Once they were both done eating, Connor decided to let Tessy stay where she was to color. He hoped she was deep enough into her Little headspace, that she’d be able to focus on her coloring instead of his cleaning up.
“All done?” he asked.
She nodded and pushed her mostly empty plate away. “Thank you for dinner, Daddy. It was really good.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart.” He put both of their plates on the counter, and then moved her coloring books and crayons over to her. “Okay, time to finish your turtle picture. I can’t wait to see it when you’re done.”
Smiling she opened the book and happily colored.
Connor didn’t hear a peep out of her the entire time he did the dishes and put the leftovers away. Once he was done, he pulled a chair over so he could sit right next to her and watch her progress.
She glanced at him. “Do you want to color, too?”
“No thanks, I’ll just watch you. Besides, you’re almost done with this picture, and then we’re going to put the coloring away for the night.”
“Okay.”
While Tessy colored, he checked his phone for places to stream episodes of Land of the Lost. By the time she was done with her picture, he knew how to get it.
“You did a really nice job,” Connor said. “Do you want to cut it out and hang it on the refrigerator?”
She put a hand over the picture as if she were protecting it. “No, Daddy! The pictures have to all stay in the book. That way once they’re all colored it’s like you have a picture book.”
“I see.” He nodded. “No taking the pictures out of the coloring book. Got it. Time to put them away.”
She removed her hand from the picture, and he stacked the three coloring books together and put the crayon box on top.
“Where should I put them?”
Tessy scrutinized the stack for a few moments. “Do I get to color them anytime, or only when you’re here?”
“You can color them anytime,” he assured her.
She grinned. “They can go in my nightstand beside my bed.”
“Okay.” Connor took a step in that direction, but then paused. “If Daddy finds out that you’ve been losing sleep because of too much coloring, I’ll have to make a rule about when you can and can’t color.”
She pouted.
“Understand?” he prompted.
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Okay. Go sit on the couch and wait for me.”
Once she stood, he grabbed her pillow as well as the coloring items and took them all to her bedroom. He came back and found her waiting for him on the couch. It only took a couple of minutes for him to pull up episode one.
“Oh, you found it!” She remained sitting, but bounced up and down a couple of times with excitement.
Once the show was queued up, Connor sat next to her and put his arm around her shoulders.
“Ready?”
“Yes, Daddy. Thank you for finding it.”
“You’re welcome.”
Over the next three hours, they watched six episodes, laughing frequently, and pausing it to talk once in a while.
When episode six was done, Connor turned off the television. “Okay, time to get ready for bed.”
“Bed?” Tessy pushed away from him and sat up straight. She looked at her wall clock and shook he head. “It’s not even ten yet, Daddy. We can watch another episode.”
Connor rubbed her back. “No more television tonight sweetheart. You need sleep.”
“But it’s not even ten ,” she whined.
“I know, but it’s time to get ready for bed, and then Daddy’s going to read you a story to help you fall asleep.”
She scowled at him and crossed her arms.
Before she had a chance to say anything, Connor quickly yanked her across his lap, swatted her backside twice while she gasped and yelped, and then sat her back up on the couch. He pointed a finger at her. “What did I tell you about scowling at me?”
She burst into tears.
He sighed and took both of her hands in his. “Tessy, tell Daddy what he said about scowling.”
“N-Not to.”
“Yes. And why aren’t you supposed to scowl at Daddy?”
“B-Because y-you always h-have my best interest at h-heart.”
“That’s right.” He pulled her onto his lap and gave her a hug. “I don’t mind if you argue a little bit, and I don’t mind if you pout or even cry sometimes, but scowling is going to get you swatted every time.”
“Sorry, Daddy.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Apology accepted.” He let her sniffle against his chest for a few minutes before nudging her to sit up. “Okay, Tessy, time for bed. I want you to go brush your teeth, wash your face, go potty, and do whatever else you usually do before going to bed.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
He helped her stand. “I’ll read you a story once you’re in bed.”
“Okay.”
He smiled as he watched her walk to her bedroom while rubbing the sting out of her bottom. It was adorable. He checked his emails while waiting for her. About ten minutes later, he went to the bedroom to check on her. She was still in the bathroom, so he sat on the bed and pulled out his phone. He looked through his kindle library until he found a middle grade chapter book with talking animals that he’d read before.
When she came out of the bathroom he stood up, turned down the comforter, and patted the mattress.
She got in bed, and he tucked her in.
“Aren’t you going to bed, too?” She sat up in a panic, “You’re not leaving, are you, Daddy?”
“I’m not leaving,” he reassured as he gently pushed her back down. “But Daddy has some emails to finish before bed. So I’m going to read to you, turn off the light, and then go sit on the couch to do some work. Daddy will come to bed in about an hour.
“That not fair. I have emails to do, too.”
Connor shook his head. “Tessy is a Little girl who most certainly doesn’t have any emails to answer. But you’re right, it’s not fair. It’s not meant to be fair. Daddy is a responsible adult, and Tessy isn’t. There are different sets of rules for us for a reason.”
She focused on her blankets, clearly thinking that over.
Connor continued, “So you’re going to close your eyes, listen to Daddy read one chapter of an age-appropriate book, and then you’re going to go to sleep without worrying about anything while Daddy stays up to do some work.”
After a moment she looked up at him. “I don’t like it.”
“That’s okay. You don’t have to like it; you just have to do it. Because Daddy knows what’s best for you.”
With a dramatic sigh, Tessy closed her eyes. “Okay.”
“That’s my good girl.”
He kissed her head, turned off the lights, and read to her. She was asleep before the first chapter was over. Smiling, Connor went back to the living room to respond to a few emails. About half an hour later, he got ready for bed, carefully climbed in beside Tessy, and drifted off to sleep.