Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kelsey didn’t want to go to sleep.
She was tired, sure. Playing with her friends had seen to that. But closing her eyes and resting for eight hours meant that was eight hours less time with Daddy.
There would be plenty of time to sleep when he was… gone.
Oh gosh, she hated thinking about that. If she continued to, she’d cry.
So, she closed her eyes shut tightly and thought of all the fun she’d had today and what was to come tomorrow.
It worked a little too well. Now, she was way too excited to go to sleep. After tossing and turning for a little while, Daddy, lying beside her, finally said, “What is going on?”
Groaning, Kelsey rolled toward the nightstand and flipped on the lamp before flipping back over on her other side so she could look at Marco.
“I can’t sleep!”
“Why not? Is something wrong?”
“No. It’s just… well, I’m not ready to stop having fun. This place is amazing. Being here with you—away from all the stuff out there, you know, in the real world—I just… don’t want to settle down yet.”
Understanding filled Marco’s eyes. “What do you want to do?”
She suspected he might have sexy time on his mind, and she would love that too, but right now she was thinking along different lines.
“I want to go back to the ball pit.”
This clearly caught Marco by surprise.
She laughed. “That’s not what you were thinking, huh?”
He laughed, too. “Well… no. But if that’s what you want…”
“Here’s the thing,” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder to stop him as he was getting up. “I don’t want it just to be me in there.”
“You want your friends?”
“Oh, they can come, too, if they’re not already asleep. But I want you to get in there with me.”
For the second time in a minute, she’d shocked Marco.
“Me?”
“Uh-huh.”
She watched as he lay there thinking it over. Finally, he relented with a nod of his head. “Okay. This is your special time.”
Giggling, Kelsey slid out of bed, grabbed her pajama shorts and slid them over her diaper, and then quickly followed Daddy.
The fun wasn’t over yet!
“I just run and jump in?” Marco asked.
“Or grab the rope and swing in. You saw me playing earlier.” She playfully punched his shoulder. “Come on, surely you’ve been in a ball pit before.”
She instantly regretted asking the question. He’d told her a little bit about his childhood earlier, and it wasn’t the ball-pit kind.
He didn’t seem to mind though. “As it turns out, I don’t have many encounters with ball pits.” His smirk was a little cocky.
Kelsey was glad she hadn’t upset him.
“So I get to be with you your first time?”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“I’m honored. Okay, just watch me.” She unhooked the rope from its post and got ready to launch. “This is going to be amazing. Push off like this—” She demonstrated, looking over her shoulder to see if Marco was paying attention. “Then just let go!”
She was laughing all the way into the balls.
“Hit that button and the rope will come back to you.”
He’d watched her earlier, so he probably already knew this, but he was either playing along or stalling for time.
Kelsey suspected the former.
Something told her Daddy was a little nervous about letting loose and having fun like this. But it would be good for him. He’d see.
When the rope arrived at Marco, his movements were slow and deliberate, but to his credit, he didn’t back out as Kelsey was worried he might do.
“Here goes,” he stated quietly.
“Whoa!” Kelsey swam away as fast as she could before Marco’s huge body crashed right down on top of her.
He made one heck of a splash, too, as he plummeted beneath the surface. Colorful balls rained down a second or two even after he’d disappeared.
His head popped up quickly. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to land right where you were!”
But she was laughing so hard, it took her a minute to answer.
“That was great! And you should have seen how high those balls shot up!”
He laughed, too, and it was good to see the light in his eyes. “I guess I am a little heavier than you, babygirl.” A wink accompanied the statement. “How deep is this thing?”
“I’m not sure, but it goes really far down.”
Before the conversation could continue, Trixie called out, “Hey, can I play too?”
Kelsey saw her friend running from the hallway that led to the bedrooms and into the vast main room.
Stephanie appeared hot on her heels. “Me too!”
A moment later, both of their Daddies appeared, though they didn’t seem nearly as enthusiastic as their Littles did.
“I’m sorry if I woke you up,” Kelsey told them. “I just couldn’t sleep.”
Trixie waved it off. “Oh, I wasn’t asleep yet, either. Daddy was dozing, but I was up playing my game.” She held up her cell phone before putting it against the wall where it wouldn’t be stepped on.
John mumbled something about too much screen time, but it was obvious he was kind of groggy.
“Me and my Daddy were up too, kissing,” Stephanie said.
Kelsey and Trixie laughed and made kissing noises while Stephanie blushed. Sneaking a quick peek at Marco, she saw that he seemed amused.
Good.
She was wondering how he was taking all this. Having a Little around was one thing. But having multiple Littles running around, being their silly Little selves, was quite another thing.
He appeared to be taking it all in stride, though. Even loosening up a bit.
Breaker sighed. “These cuties are hyped up, it seems.”
“They sure are,” John said as he yawned and stretched. “Looks like they’re going to make a night out of it.”
“Yep.” John bowed forward, popping his back, and then said, “I’m going to go get a more comfortable chair. If we’re going to do this, I don’t want to sit on that damn bench.”
Marco seemed quick to chime in with, “Hey, I’ll give you a hand.”
Kelsey figured John didn’t need the help, but he must have suspected that Marco needed to talk just like she did.
“Sure,” he said.
She wondered what all that was about. Hopefully everything was okay.
Maybe she would find out eventually. If not, it was all right. Marco needed space and privacy just like anyone else.
Right now, all she needed to focus on was having fun!
As her friends jumped in the ball pit and hurried toward her, she did just that.
It was an amazing night.