Chapter 17
MIA
Mommy and Daddy are… different. When I first got here, they were polite toward each other, almost too polite, like strangers who happened to share the same house. But now they’re talking and laughing and touching, acting more like newlyweds than strangers.
I should be happy for them. They deserve this, deserve each other.
But watching them move around the kitchen together as they make dinner, I can’t help the jealous monster that claws at my insides. It was foolish, really, imagining that I could have a place with them. I let myself dream, and I really should know better by now.
“Mia, will you set the table, babygirl?” Turning from the stove, where she’s busy whipping up some kind of delicious smelling sauce, Mommy smiles and nods toward a cabinet. “Plates are up there and Daddy can show you where the silverware is.”
Really? She’s giving me chores when it’s clear as fucking day they’re going to be putting me out on the streets the first chance they get?
Sliding down in my chair, I fold my arms over my chest. “No.”
Daddy closes the door to the fridge and frowns at me. “Mia Grace. Didn’t we just have a talk about telling Mommy ‘no’ this morning?”
My heart trips in my chest. If they’re referring to each other as Mommy and Daddy, maybe they aren’t planning to get rid of me.
No. I can’t let myself go down that road. If I give into that bright, painful hope, it might actually kill me to be wrong. “Whatever,” I mumble, sliding further down in the chair.
I’m aware of Daddy moving a split second before his hands grip my arms, hauling me to my feet.
With one hand still holding me by the arm, his free hand swats my bottom as he leads me to an empty corner in the kitchen.
The swats don’t hurt, not really, thanks to the thick cotton of my diaper, but I still dance and cry with every spank.
“You are going to stand right here until you’re ready to be our good girl again, Mia Grace. I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but our babygirl does not act like a brat when she’s asked to help out around the house.”
His words reignite that painful hope inside me. Followed by a righteous anger that burns even brighter than my hope did. How dare they string me along like this, calling me their babygirl and acting like I’m part of the family when they’re just going to be getting rid of me?
Spinning away from the corner, I glare up at Ethan. “No! I’m not standing in the stupid corner!”
Mouth open, he only stares at me, which confirms what I already knew. Because if Ethan was really my Daddy, he would already have me bare-bottomed over his knee, spanking the attitude right out of me. And it’s that confirmation, that fear that spills out of me now.
Pulling my foot back, I rocket it forward—straight into his shin.
Total silence falls in the kitchen, and for a moment I can only stare up into Ethan’s stunned eyes.
Then shock gives way to fury and I do the only thing I can think to do.
I run.
“Mia Grace!” Ethan bellows. “Stop right where you are, little girl!”
But I don’t stop. I keep running until I reach the playroom, my head whipping around as I search for a place to hide.
The sound of Ethan’s heavy footsteps echo on the stairs, closer and closer, and my heart feels like it might beat right out of my chest. I need somewhere to hide, somewhere they’ll never find me.
There! The closet!
Yanking open the door, I hurry into the large walk-in closet, and realizing with growing dread that it’s barely even half full. Not nearly full enough to hide me from the furious man storming up the stairs behind me.
But I’m out of time, so I yank some of the clothes off their hangers and pile them on top of me. With any luck, they’ll just think they left a pile of clothes on the floor and not look any closer.
Muffled voices come through the closet door. Ethan and Sloane. It sounds like they’re having an argument but about what?
Me, probably. Tears fill my eyes as I try to smother my heavy breathing. They’re probably arguing about whether they should wait or just put me on the street now.
“I’ve got this, Daddy. You go downstairs and finish making dinner, and calm down. We’ll be right behind you.”
Mommy. I choke on a sob, my heart shattering in my chest as the closet door opens and closes again behind her.
“Mia, baby, I know you’re in here. Come on out, babygirl, Mommy just wants to talk to you.”
Talk. Right. Talk about how there isn’t any room for me in their perfect marriage.
Well, I don’t want to talk to them, so they’ll just have to deal with it.
“Mia.” There’s more steel now in Sloane’s voice, and I have to clench my core against the sudden rush of need between my thighs. “Mommy is going to count to three. If you do not show yourself by then, you will be a very sorry Little girl indeed. One.”
Shit, shit, shit. I don’t want to talk to them, but I also don’t want to be in trouble. And really, it isn’t fair for them to punish me if they’re just planning to get rid of me!
“Two.” A pause, and then a heavy sigh. “I really don’t want to punish you, babygirl. Please come out and talk to me.”
“You’re gonna spank me anyway!” The words burst out of me before I have a chance to even think about them, and I silently curse myself for giving away my position.
“Daddy will probably spank you for that tantrum you threw downstairs, but right now Mommy just wants to talk to you, baby.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why do you wanna talk to me when you’re just gonna get rid of me?”
“Oh, baby.” Light pierces my eyes as the pile of clothes is lifted off me.
And then I’m in her arms, being cradled against her chest as she carries me to the pretty canopy bed in the playroom.
Perched on the edge of the bed, she holds me so I’m straddling her thighs, forced to look her in the eye.
“Why on earth would you think we want to get rid of you?”
Tears blur my vision. “Because you’re so happy now. And you deserve to be happy. But I guess I thought… well, I thought you wanted me to be part of your family. And I know you don’t, not really, but—”
“Stop right there, little girl.” Righteous anger blazes in Sloane’s dark eyes, whips through her voice. “I don’t know how this got so twisted in your head, but we are a family. Nobody is getting rid of anyone.”
It takes a moment for her words to truly register. “But… you’re so happy.”
A slow smile curves her lips. “Of course we are, baby. We’re happy because you’re here and our little family is finally whole.”
“Oh.”
“Uh-huh.” Lips twitching, she reaches up to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear. “So I don’t want to hear anymore nonsense about us getting rid of you. I’m your Mommy and Ethan is your Daddy and that’s how it’s going to be for the rest of our lives. Understood?”
The relief I feel is so stark it might have sent me to my knees if I wasn’t already on them. “Yes, Mommy.”
“Good girl. Now, I think a certain Little girl owes her Daddy a big apology, don’t you?”
Shame heats my cheeks as I nod. “Yes, Mommy.”
“Come on. Let’s go downstairs.”
Hand in hand, we make our way down to the kitchen. Daddy has already set the table and put the spaghetti—with mini meatballs, my favorite, I realize with a twinge of guilt—out for us to eat. When Mommy and I step into the kitchen, he looks over, a frown tugging at his lips.
“Are you done with your temper tantrum, little girl?”
“Yes, Daddy. Um, I’m really sorry I threw a fit. And for kicking you. I was just…”
Mommy squeezes my hand. “She was scared because she thought we were going to get rid of her.”
For the second time that evening, Daddy’s mouth falls open in shock. “Why the hell would you think that?”
“Because you’re so much happier now and I thought… I thought if you were that happy, you wouldn't need me anymore.”
Sighing, Daddy shakes his head and scoops me up into his arms. “That could not be further from the truth, angel.”
“I know. Mommy explained you’re so happy because of me. Is that true?”
“It is. You are the missing piece of our family, Mia Grace, and we have every intention of keeping you forever.”
Throwing my arms around his neck, I bury my face against his throat. “I’m really sorry I kicked you.”
“Not as sorry as you’re going to be later. But right now we have some spaghetti to eat.”
“Daddy,” I whine as he buckles me into the booster seat between him and Mommy at the table. “Are you really gonna make me wait until after dinner for my spanking?”
“I really am. I think it will be good for you to spend some time thinking about what you can do differently the next time you’re scared or worried.”
Looking down at the pile of spaghetti and meatballs in front of me, I sigh.
It’s going to be a long dinner.