Chapter 20
CHAPTER 20
He bathed her, which was a lot more fun than she’d been expecting when he’d started running the tub. Not only did he fill the bath with bubbles, he also produced a whole box of bath toys he’d purchased at some point without her knowledge. So while he bathed her, she played with a school of mermaids—they’d decided after several minutes of very serious debate that a group of mermaids was called a school—and a pirate ship that did not come with Captain Hook much to her dismay.
But the bath soothed her and reenergized her at the same time, so by the time he dressed her in a pair of leggings and a comfortable t-shirt, she was feeling much more like herself.
“Daddy, will you brush my hair?” she asked, settling on the floor in front of the couch and holding up her hairbrush for him to take.
“Of course, baby.”
Now that she knew diapers were firmly off the table—another discussion they’d had during bathtime—the stress she’d felt around being his baby had all but evaporated. And she was finding that letting him care for her and pamper her was much more fun than fighting him on everything.
At least for now.
Sitting on the couch behind her, he dangled her phone in front of her face. “Kylie’s expecting your call. You better get to it fast before she marches over here and bangs down my door. She’s been texting you nonstop for the past fifteen minutes.”
With a squeal of delight, she grabbed the phone and hit the button to video chat with Kylie. She wasn’t even sure the phone had a chance to ring before Kylie’s worried face filled the screen.
“El! Oh my god! I was so worried! Are you okay? You look…” Kylie trailed off, her eyes narrowing as she leaned into the screen. “You look amazing, actually. You look happy.”
“I am. Very happy. I’ll give you the details later, I just wanted to call so you’d know I was okay.”
“But, you used your safe word. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m positive. I just… realized I needed to set some limits for myself.”
“Oh gee, if only you’d had a friend to tell you that years ago.” Sarcasm dripped from Kylie’s tone and Eliza couldn’t help but giggle.
“Yeah, too bad nobody told me it was okay to have limits and stuff. A real shame nobody like that exists.”
“You’re such a brat. I hope your Daddy uses that brush on your butt later.”
“Shut up , Kylie!”
Behind her, Daddy cleared his throat. “I think Kylie might have the right idea.”
“Daddy,” she whined, twisting around to pout up at him. “I don’t need a spankin’! ”
“Agree to disagree, little one.”
“Rude.”
“Someone is being very rude right now, and it’s not me. Apologize to Kylie. Polite Little girls don’t tell their friends to shut up.”
“Sorry, Ky,” Eliza mumbled.
“It’s okay.” Looking rather sheepish, Kylie giggled. “I kinda deserved it.”
“See, Daddy! I wasn’t being rude, Kylie was being a?—”
“I would stop right there little girl before I decide you need this brush applied to your bottom before Dr. Denten arrives.”
“Dr. Denten?” On the screen, Kylie’s brows drew together with worry. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah. Daddy just wants me to talk to her for some reason. I dunno.” And she was trying not to stress about it because it made her tummy feel weird if she thought about it too much.
Kylie sighed. “I can’t believe you got a Daddy and I still don’t have one.”
“Aw, don’t be sad, Ky. Your perfect Daddy is probably on his way to Rawhide right now.”
“Maybe.” Kylie’s smile was forced, and Eliza found herself wishing she could give her bestie a big hug. “Anyway, I have homework. Talk to you later?”
“Wait!” Twisting around again, she sent her Daddy her most wide-eyed puppy dog face. “Daddy can Kylie come spend the night this weekend? Please?”
“I don’t see why not, if she wants to.”
“Really?” Now Kylie’s smile was so bright it nearly made Eliza squint, which was the Kylie she was used to seeing. “I would love that, um, Professor Eaton. Do I call you Professor Eaton when we’re not in class?”
“We’ll have to work out what you can call me when you’re here,” Daddy said with a laugh. “Why don’t you meet Lizzie in the library Friday afternoon after class and you can come home with us for the weekend. We’ll order pizza and you girls can have a proper sleepover.”
“Okay! Oh, I can’t wait! See you at breakfast, El!”
“Bye, Ky!”
The screen went black and Eliza tilted her head back to grin up at her Daddy. “Thank you. I think Kylie misses me.”
“Mmhmm.” Leaning down, he dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. “I think Kylie isn’t the only one missing her friend.”
“Aw, Daddy. Maybe you should have your friend over for a sleepover, too.”
“Brat,” he said with a laugh, giving her hair a tug. “Now stop moving around so much so Daddy can finish your braids.”
Her Daddy, as it turned out, was a magician with hair. By the time he finished, she had two perfect French braids running down each side of her head.
“Oh, I love it! Can you braid my hair for school every day?”
“I would love to, if a certain Little girl can get her bottom out of bed on time,” he teased.
A knock at the door interrupted them, and the laughter bubbling in Eliza’s chest died. “Is that Dr. Denten?”
“I believe it is. Why don’t you go grab your bear while I let her in?”
“Okay, Daddy.”
Because it gave her an excuse to put off meeting the doctor a little longer, she raced for her room and grabbed her bear off her bed. It occurred to her then that maybe sleeping with a stuffed animal every night should have been a clue that she was more Little than she’d been willing to admit .
“All right, General Fluffypants.,” she said, finally giving him a name other than “my bear”. “Let’s go meet the doctor.”
Hugging the bear to her chest, she dragged in a deep breath and forced her feet forward. Daddy was standing in the middle of the living room, chatting with a pretty woman with short brown hair. When she turned, her eyes lit up, as though she was genuinely delighted to see Eliza standing there.
“Well hello, Eliza. Aren’t you just adorable? You know, my Little girl Pippi loves to have her hair braided like that. Did you do it yourself?”
“No. Daddy did it for me.”
“Of course he did.” Dr. Denten winked. “Any good Daddy knows how to braid pigtails. Would you like to have a seat with me on the couch?”
“Um, sure. Can my… can Samuel stay?”
“If you’d feel more comfortable that way, he can absolutely stay for right now. Maybe you’d feel better if you sat on your Daddy’s lap?”
She sorta felt like this was the kind of thing she should be “Big” for. But she was still feeling very Little, despite herself, so she nodded. “I think so. Yes, thank you.”
Daddy sat on the couch and held his arms out to her while Dr. Denten settled on the opposite end. Eliza crawled onto his lap, with the General still clutched tightly to her chest.
“I know you’re used to hearing me called Dr. Denten, but the Littles usually call me Mrs. Cat. You can use whichever name makes you feel the most comfortable. Would you prefer I call you Eliza or Lizzie?”
“Eliza. Only Daddy calls me Lizzie.” It felt important, for reasons she couldn’t explain, to make that clear .
Mrs. Cat sent her a beaming smile. “Good job setting that boundary, Eliza. That makes me very happy to hear.”
“Thanks.” Frowning slightly, she plucked at a loose thread on her pajama pants. “Daddy said he was proud of me earlier. For using my safe word and setting a limit. But I don’t really understand why.”
Daddy’s arms tightened around her, and for a moment she thought she was in trouble. But Mrs. Cat’s smile didn’t falter. “I might be able to explain, if you’d like.”
“Sure.”
“Sometimes people think of boundaries as bad things. Like… something you only need if you’re really scared of someone or if someone is mean to you. But really, boundaries are just like the rules your Daddy has for you. They help people know what behaviors you’ll accept and what you won’t. So if you don’t set a boundary, someone might do something that upsets you without realizing it, because they didn’t know it was a boundary for you.”
“Oh.” That made sense, in a way, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d somehow failed her Daddy by setting a limit.
“You still don’t seem quite sure,” Mrs. Cat said, her expression turning sympathetic. “It can feel a bit uncomfortable at first, especially if we’re not used to setting boundaries with people.”
“I guess. I just… it doesn’t feel good. It feels like…” she trailed off, struggling to find the words. “Like I let Daddy down because I couldn’t do what he wanted me to do.”
“Ah. I understand.”
“You do?”
“Mmhmm. But let me ask you something.” Clasping her hands together, Mrs. Cat leaned forward. “Would you rather your Daddy give you a very clear list of rules, so you always know exactly what you’re allowed to do and what you’re not? Or would you prefer for him to not give you any rules and just surprise you with punishments even though you didn’t know you were doing anything wrong?”
“The first one. Definitely. The second one makes my tummy feel sad.”
“Yeah, it would make my tummy feel sad, too. That’s why I set boundaries with people. So they know what I’m willing to accept and what I’m not, and there’s no surprises for either of us. You’d be letting your Daddy down a lot more if you let him be surprised by something that truly hurt you because he didn’t know it was a limit or a boundary for you.”
“But, what if I don’t know something should be a limit? What if it’s a surprise to me, too?”
“That happens, especially when you’re just starting out. When it comes to your Daddy, I think the best thing is for the two of you to take things slow. Try out new kinks and new ‘Little’ things one at a time. So you have a chance to really learn whether you like something or not. And now that your Daddy knows he can trust you to be honest about your limits I think you two will have much more fun trying new things.”
Daddy pressed a kiss to her hair. “I’m very much looking forward to trying new things with you, Lizzie.”
“Me too, Daddy.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Mrs. Cat said with a genuine smile. “Do you have any more questions about boundaries and limits, Eliza?”
“Daddy said I’m not a failure even though I stopped a punishment with my safe word. Is that true?”
“It’s absolutely true. Telling your Daddy what you need is never a bad thing. You can’t be expected to enjoy or even endure every single thing, Eliza. Nobody can. Everyone has limits, and those limits look different for everyone. But the one thing we all have in common is that setting limits, or even stopping something we thought we could handle because we realized it’s too much, does not make us failures.”
She hadn’t had much of a choice but to believe her Daddy earlier. But Mrs. Cat was a doctor, and doctors weren’t allowed to lie. It was against the law, or something. “Okay. I believe you.”
“Good girl. Now, your Daddy wanted me to ask you some questions about school and how you process things. Are you feeling up to those questions right now?”
“Um, I guess. Sure.”
“Good. But just like your punishment earlier, you can tell me if you need to stop. If you get overwhelmed or uncomfortable, we can stop and come back to the questions later. Deal?”
“Deal.”