Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Catharina
“Auntie Cat!”
Excited squeals meet my ears as we turn the corner. Five happy Little girls race toward me, and I instinctively reach for Victoria, scooping her up with a laugh as the others vie for my attention, tugging at my dress and bouncing on their toes while they all talk at once.
“Girls, girls!” Delighted, as I always am, by their excitement, I pitch my voice up to be heard over the din. “Settle down!”
Their excited chatter fades, and they all look up at me expectantly, while I look over at Alexis.
My Little girl is standing off to the side, her expression closed off, guarded in a way that tugs at my heart. And it isn’t until I see her there that I realize I dropped her hand when the others rushed me.
Setting Victoria down, I reach out for Alexis. She hesitates, just a moment, but that single second is enough to have guilt clawing at my chest. Taking her hand, I pull her to stand in front of me, facing my nieces.
“Alexis, you’ve already met Victoria and Natalie and Camilla.
” They wave excitedly, and some of my guilt eases.
“This is Juliet, she’s with your Uncle Jasper,” I gesture toward Jasper’s Little girl, who is watching us with her own guarded expression—she’s almost always the last to be won over.
“And beside her is Isabella, your Uncle Gideon’s Little girl. Girls, this is Alexis. My Little girl.”
Juliet’s head cants to the side, and I brace myself.
I don’t think Juliet really intends to be mean, she’s just very blunt and trust doesn’t come easily to her.
We’ve already had issues with Natalie and Camilla joining our family, but if Juliet thinks for one second I’m going to let her get away with being anything other than welcoming to Alexis, I’m sure my hairbrush can convince her otherwise.
Thankfully, it seems my worry is unnecessary. “I like your hair,” Juliet says, tilting her head to the other side as she runs a critical eye over my babygirl. “Are those your natural curls?”
“Thanks. And they are, but they kinda do whatever they want.”
“Lucky,” Juliet says with a wistful sigh. “Mine is a bitch to curl and—”
“Juliet!”
Whipping around, Juliet stares up at her stepbrother-turned-Daddy and I can’t help but grin as she shoves her hands behind her back. As if that is going to stop Jasper from spanking her naughty bottom.
Hands on his hips, Jasper glares down at his recalcitrant Little girl. “Ask Auntie Cat for her hairbrush, and then bring it to me.”
“No, Daddy, not the brush!”
I could make things easy on her and hand it over without her asking. But I also know that being forced to ask is part of the humiliation and, as such, part of her punishment. So I stand silently by, waiting for her to realize it’s in her best interests to obey.
“One, Juliet Sloane.”
Shoulders slumping, Juliet slowly turns to me, her blonde braids dangling forlornly by her face as she drags her feet—literally, with her shiny Mary Janes scraping the sidewalk with each step—over to me. “May I please have your hairbrush, Auntie Cat?”
“Such a polite Little girl,” I praise her as I open my purse to retrieve the wooden-backed hairbrush I keep there.
To be honest, it’s really the only reason I carry the purse at all.
Here on the island, everyone knows who I am and we all have accounts set up with every store so there’s no need to carry a wallet.
But keeping a fearsome implement on hand is a tried-and-true way to keep my Little ones in line, so I carry the brush with me everywhere.
Handing it now to Juliet, I swallow a laugh as she takes it and drags herself back over to stand in front of her Daddy.
Jasper props one foot up on the bench just beside the front door of the toy store and in a flash he has Juliet’s diaper off and his Little girl is draped over his knee, her bare bottom waiting for his discipline.
“We have discussed your language over and over again, little girl. If this keeps up, you are going to wear a pacifier strapped into your mouth for a week. Am I understood?”
“Yes, Daddy, I’m sorry!”
But her apology is, it seems, too little, far too late. Jasper doesn’t even bother to warm her up with his hand before snapping the hard, wooden back of my brush against her defenseless bottom.
Juliet’s howls fill the air, her feet kicking uselessly as her Daddy peppers her bottom with hard swats.
Leaning down, I slide my hands around my Little girl, cupping her heavy breasts as we watch the scene unfold in front of us.
“Do you see that, little imp? That’s what happens to Little girls who misbehave in public.
” Her nipples are hard, straining against the fabric of her pretty dress, and I clasp them between my fingers and squeeze until she whimpers.
“Naughty Little girls who can’t behave themselves get their bare bottoms spanked no matter who is watching.
Do you understand what I’m saying, Alexis Paige? ”
“Y-yes, Mommy,” she whispers, her voice breathless and tight.
Chuckling softly, I nuzzle my nose against her neck, dropping my voice even lower. “Your little nipples are so hard, baby. I bet if I put my hand in your diaper, I’d find you wet and dripping, wouldn’t I? You like the thought of Mommy spanking your naughty bottom in front of everyone, don’t you?”
“No!”
Her response is quick, but lacking any heat. Little liar.
But that’s fine. I know what I know, and I am one hundred percent certain my Little girl is going to find a way to earn herself a very public trip over Mommy’s knee sooner rather than later.
With her breasts still in my hands, we watch together as Jasper paddles his Little one’s bottom, the skin turning pink, then rose, and finally a deep, angry red by the time he’s finished.
Naughty Little Juliet lays slumped over his knee, sobbing her heart out as he moves the brush to his other hand so he can rub at her reddened bottom.
“Are you ready to be my good girl now, princess?” he asks softly, the harshness slipping from his tone now that the punishment is over.
“Y-y-yes, Daddy.”
“Take the brush back to Auntie Cat, and then you can have a snuggle.”
Reluctantly pulling my hands away from my own Little girl, I watch as he carefully returns Juliet to her feet, and she takes the brush from him, her cheeks blotchy and her eyes still streaming with tears as she returns it to me.
“Tell Auntie Cat thank you for letting us borrow her brush.”
The color in Juliet’s cheeks deepens even further. “Thank you for letting us borrow your brush, Auntie Cat. I’m sorry I said a naughty word.”
“You’re very welcome, my sweet girl. And thank you for that very nice apology.”
Sniffling back tears, Juliet hands the brush off to me and then turns on her heel to rush back to her Daddy’s arms. Jasper scoops her up, bouncing her lightly in his arms as he soothes and snuggles his very sorry Little girl.
My heart constricts at the sight. This is the family I’ve always dreamed of, and it’s finally complete now that I’ve found my very own Little one.
But when I look down at Alexis, I catch the glint of tears in her eyes. There’s such a look of longing on her face, it makes my chest ache.
“What’s wrong, little imp?” I ask softly, pulling her attention up to me.
“Nothing.” Her mouth curves up in a smile, but there’s a tightness to it that matches the sadness still lingering in her eyes.
For once in my life, I’m not sure of my next move. Clearly, my Little one is upset about something. But it’s just as clear that she doesn’t want to share, and the thought of forcing her to bare her soul with our entire family watching doesn’t sit well with me.
Later, then. When we’re back home and it’s just the two of us, I will pull my babygirl’s secrets from her.
For now, we have a new stuffie friend to find.
Alexis
Taking my hand, Mommy smiles down at me, but it doesn’t look quite like her normal smile. It looks as forced as mine feels, and there’s a little twist of guilt in my tummy.
“Let’s go find you a new friend, my sweet little imp.”
She doesn’t sound upset, so I tell myself that it was just my imagination.
Doing my best to set my own jumbled feelings aside, I follow her into the largest toy store I’ve ever seen.
Rows and rows of every toy a Little girl or Little boy could ever want line the space and a shocked gasp slips from my lips.
Beside me, Mommy chuckles softly. “It’s quite impressive, isn’t it, little one?”
“There’s so many,” I breathe, craning my neck in an effort to take everything in. “Oh!”
Dropping her hand, I rush forward, my fingers trembling slightly as I pick up the box I’ve been dreaming of my entire life. My parents wouldn’t let me have the little toy oven as a child, no matter how much I begged and pleaded for one.
And now here it is, in my hands. Clutching it to me, I look up at Mommy, putting every bit of pleading I can manage into my eyes. “Can I have it, Mommy, please? I’ll be so, so good, I promise!”
Her expression shifts, and my heart plummets into my stomach even before she speaks. “I’m sorry, little one, but no. You were very rude to Millie earlier, and rude Little girls don’t get extra toys.”
Blinking back fresh tears—I swear I’ve cried more on this damn island than I have in my entire life—I slowly return the box to its shelf.
“My sweet baby.” Mommy crouches beside me, running a hand over my hair, and for a moment I’d swear she almost feels guilty about denying me. “We can come back another time for the toy. But Little girls need consequences when they’re naughty so they can learn. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Mommy.”
An emotion that almost looks like relief flickers over her face as she rewards me with a bright smile. “That’s my good girl. Would you like to go see the stuffies now?”
“Okay.”
At my dejected response, she sighs, but doesn’t relent. Rising to her feet again, she presses a kiss to my forehead before taking my hand in hers and guiding me through a door into a section of the toy store that seems almost like its own shop.
Every inch of every wall is lined with stuffed animals. From traditional teddy bears to more exotic animals like iguanas and what I think might even be a platypus, this section of the store is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
“Go on, baby. Pick out a new friend for us to take home.”
“I don’t even know where to start,” I say with a shaky laugh.
“We’ll help you!” Looping her arm through mine, Victoria drags me away from my Mommy, the other girls trailing close behind. “Picking out your first stuffie is serious business.”
Her expression is so somber, I can’t help but giggle. “Is it?”
“It is,” Natalie agrees with a nod, though her eyes are sparkling with a hint of mischief. “What kind of animals do you like?”
“Um, I don’t really know. All kinds, I guess.”
Juliet rolls her eyes. “That’s such a cop-out! You have to have a favorite.”
Beside her, Isabella frowns and swats Juliet’s arm. “Don’t be mean, Juju.”
“I’m not being mean!” Pausing, Juliet tilts her head, her nose scrunching in thought. “Am I being mean?”
“Yes!” the other girls all say in unison, prompting a chorus of giggles as Juliet’s cheeks flush.
“Sorry, Alexis. I wasn’t trying to be mean.”
“It wasn’t that mean,” I assure her, partly because it really wasn’t and partly because I can tell her apology is sincere and she’s clearly trying hard to be a good friend. “What’s your favorite?”
“I have a black kitty that was my first. I love her so much.” Her entire face lights up as she talks, and for the first time I feel like I’m seeing Juju, my Uncle Jasper’s Little girl and not Juliet Blackwood, the heiress.
Even when she was getting her bottom paddled right in front of us, she didn’t seem quite as Little as she does right in this moment.
“Mine was a unicorn!” Grabbing my hand again, Victoria drags me over to a section of wall that sparkles so brightly I wish I’d brought sunglasses. “Like this! Do you like unicorns?”
“Who doesn’t like unicorns?” I answer with a giggle as I run my gaze over the glittery offerings in front of me. But as much as I do actually like unicorns, nothing really calls to me.
Apparently sensing my hesitation, Victoria gives my hand a squeeze. “It’s okay if you want something else. Let’s keep looking.”
Together with the rest of our friends, we wander up and down the aisles, until my head swims with the overwhelming number of choices. I’m just about to go running back to my Mommy to tell her it’s too hard to pick just one when I spot her. The most perfect stuffie to ever exist.
“Oh.” With a soft sigh, I reach for the giant red panda on the shelf. With her ruddy fur and full cheeks, it feels like I found my soul sister in stuffie form.
Cradling her close, I press my cheek into her soft fur. “She’s beautiful.”
“Just like you, little imp.”
At my Mommy’s words, my heart swells. And for the first time in my life, I think she might be right.
If my chubby little panda friend is beautiful, maybe I am, too.