Chapter 4
Dallas held her Daddy’s hand tightly as they took the elevator back downstairs.
Her tummy danced with nerves and her heart was beating so fast she thought it might beat right out of her chest. She’d brought Teefs for emotional support, but the zombie baby was being very quiet too.
Dallas thought maybe she had sympathy nerves.
“You’re being so brave, Bitty,” Pike told her.
She didn’t feel brave. She felt like she was gonna throw up.
She hesitated when Daddy went to step off the elevator, but Pike put his free hand on the small of her back and guided her toward the Ranch Shop in the lobby.
The couple walked into the shop and Dallas was disappointed that Daddy wasted no time in going straight to the back of the shop where all the Little items seemed to be.
Daddy must have asked where the Little girl things would be located when he checked in because Dallas doubted he would have been able to locate them in the big store without some help.
“Hello! Welcome to the Rawhide Ranch Gift Shop. Can I help you find anything?” an older man with salt and pepper hair asked them.
“Yes, actually. That would be really helpful. I’m out of my element. My Little girl, Dallas”—he paused so Dallas could wave and greet the man—“is going to explore a younger headspace and she needs a few things. Can you help us with that, Tate?” Pike asked, reading the name on his nametag.
“Oh, how exciting! I would love to assist you. Let’s start with the basics. Are you thinking about diapers?”
“No!”
“Yes,” Pike answered at the same time Dallas did.
“Dallas Kate,” Pike said sternly, raising one brow in warning.
She swallowed the froggie in her throat. “Yes, Master Tate. We are going to be trying diapers.”
Master Tate smiled at her kindly. “Well, we have the best selection, let’s go look!” He encouraged, leading them to a big wall of diapers.
“So to determine her correct size you can go off the chart on the back. We find it to be accurate.” While Pike flipped a package of diapers over, Dallas studied all the packages.
“Daddy!” she gasped, pointing, “They have ghosties and jack-o’-lanterns!”
Both men chuckled at her excitement. “I see, Bitty. Do you like those?” Pike asked, looking at the diapers she’d pointed at.
She nodded frantically.
“Okay, so we will take a size medium in the ghosts and jack-o’-lanterns.” Pike said, studying the shelf. “Do you like the bat design, baby?”
Dallas nodded again.
“Okay, and we will take a pack of the bats, and the candy corn print as well.”
Tate grabbed the packages from the front of the shelf.
Another employee came over and took them from Tate. “I'll take these to the cashier for when you’re ready to check out.”
“Thanks, Becky,” Tate said with a smile.
Pike returned the smile. “Ah, that’s very helpful, right, Bitty?”
Dallas nodded. “Thank you for your help, Master Tate.” She was glad to know they didn’t have to carry all her diapers all over the store.
With the diapers chosen, Pike went to the next items on his mental list. “Okay, so we will need wipes, diaper rash prevention, baby wash and shampoo, and she’s starting in the nursery Wednesday. She will be in the Caterpillar Room, so maybe a special backpack for her to put her things in?”
Tate nodded. “Let’s start with the wipes. Would you prefer regular or sensitive?”
“Sensitive,” Pike answered. Dallas didn’t necessarily have sensitive skin, but she knew her Daddy would choose the one that would be safer for her.
“Alright, would you like unscented powder to prevent skin irritation?”
“Actually… I’m not sure. I want to keep her skin protected, but she has severe asthma. I’m worried powder may trigger an attack,” Pike said, proving he always kept her safety his top priority.
“Oh, how about a cream then. A lot of our customers prefer this one,” Tate said, reaching out and grabbing a yellow package off the shelf. “It’s made with all natural ingredients.”
“Yes, this is perfect,” Pike said.
“We have lots of options for baby bath, but I always recommend this basket here,” he said, tapping the green basket of products. “It has baby wash, shampoo, bubble bath, and a duckie for the Little one.”
“Perfect,” Pike said, grabbing it from the shelf.
“Ducky!” Dallas exclaimed, pointing to the little duck with a cowboy hat inside.
“You’ll have to give your new friend a name,” Pike told her with a wink.
“Now, as far as backpacks, we have a big selection. I’ll show you over to those,” Tate said, leading them to a different part of the store.
Dallas immediately noticed a large clothing section and hoped to work up the nerve to ask Daddy to look at all the pretty clothes.
“Do you see one you like, Bitty?”
She scanned the bookbags, immediately falling in love with a black sequin one with skeleton zippers.
“Ah, I thought you might like the pretty black one,” Pike said, grabbing it as well.
“Anything else? We have bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers, snap crotch onesies,” Tate offered.
“I ordered most of that online, not realizing you had such a large selection.”
Dallas hadn’t realized Daddy had purchased, much less bought those things for her, of course she’d been too busy rocking on her new horsie to pay attention to what he’d unpacked.
Tate chuckled, “Most don’t realize, but now you know and we’re here if you need anything else.”
Daddy thanked him again and led Dallas to the check-out area.
“Could you deliver these to our room?” Daddy asked Becky who stood behind the counter.
“Absolutely,” she said, writing down the room number on a slip of paper.
“Thank you, Ms. Becky,” Dallas said, making sure to make eye contact with the woman.
“You’re so welcome, darlin’,” she said, smiling as she bagged their items.
After Daddy had charged everything to the room, he guided Dallas out to the main lobby. “Where are we going now, Daddy?” she asked.
“Well, I’m feeling hungry and I thought you might be too.”
Dallas tilted her head to the side and listened to her tummy. “Yeah, my tummy is hungry, Daddy.”
He chuckled. “I thought so. Let’s go feed our bellies, Bitty.”
Pike held her hand as they walked into a large cafeteria. It was set up just like a school lunchroom. It wasn’t very crowded, probably because it was only 5 pm in Montana. At home it was already 8 pm.
Dallas held Teefs tightly as she and Daddy went down the food line. Daddy hadn’t asked her what she’d wanted to eat and just knowing she didn’t have to make a decision already made her feel better.
“Hold my pocket, Bitty,” Daddy said, causing Dallas to look up at him in confusion. “My hands are full with our food and I want you close to me, so grab my pocket and hold on.”
She did as he asked and was rewarded with a soft “Good girl.” Pike had always been protective of Dallas but asking her to hold his pocket was new. She didn’t hate it.
She followed Pike over to the table he’d decided they would be sitting at and he set their trays down.
After pulling out a chair for her and helping her get settled, he knelt down in front of Dallas. “I want you to sit right here, baby. I’m going to get our drinks. Do. Not. Move.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
She watched Pike as he walked across the large cafeteria. He was so hot with his backward baseball cap, black shirt, ripped jeans, and black boots. He stood out from some of the other men who were also getting drinks, but they all dipped their heads at him.
Pike came back quickly and sat beside her. “Thank you for waiting like a good girl, Bitty.”
“Welcome, Daddy.”
He kissed her nose before handing her a small cup of lemonade.
He had a coffee and Dallas wished she did too.
She was so very tired. Pike started to cut up some of the food on her plate.
She was excited to see grapes, chicken nuggets, and french fries.
She was less thrilled to see the broccoli and salad.
She yawned before slapping her hand over her mouth. “Sorry, Daddy. I’m not bored. Just a bit tired,” she explained.
“I know, Bitty. Daddy’s tired too,” he said before passing her a plate. He’d cut her nuggets and grapes into smaller pieces for her and it made her heart swoon a bit.
Picking up her chicken nuggets she dipped them in the ranch dressing Daddy had put on the plate.
“Wait, Bitty,” he said, pulling a bib from his pocket. He fastened it around her neck before nodding at her to continue.
She looked down at the black bib with her favorite spooky clown on it. It definitely hadn’t come from the gift shop.
“Did you have this made for me?”
“I did. There are so many new things in the nursery that you haven’t seen yet. Daddy was a super-secret sneaky Daddy and ordered things for Teenie Tiny Dallas from a special online shop.”
She ran her fingers over the soft material. “Thank you, Daddy.”
“I will always do everything I can to make you happy, baby.”
Dinner was quiet, probably due to the couple being fatigued, but that didn’t stop Pike from feeding Dallas several bites of broccoli and salad.
“Take a bite, Bitty.”
Dallas’ face heated. The crowd in the cafeteria had grown and she was nervous.
“Nobody is going to say anything, baby. All they're going to see is a Daddy feeding his babygirl.”
Dallas swallowed nervously, but she was a good girl and obeyed him.
“Good girl,” he praised, getting another bite ready.
“Teefs wants a bite,” she said, turning the zombie baby around in her lap. Daddy smiled and patiently fed her stuffy some too.
When the veggies were finished, Daddy wiped her hands and face, took her bib off, and tucked it back in his pocket. “Are you and Teefs all done?”
She nodded and yawned again.
Pike helped her stand from the table before standing himself. “Hold my pocket again, Bitty.”
She did and walked beside Daddy as he turned in their trays and cups. Once his hands were free, he scooped her up, settling her on his hip. “Let’s go get ready for bed, baby.”
That idea sounded great to Dallas. It had been a very long day.