Chapter 33
Jesse
Whatever concerns she’d had about spending Little time with Edie’s friends disappeared within the first fifteen minutes of their playdate. Noelle and Ginny were still a bit standoffish, though not nearly as much so as when she’d first returned to town. But Carly and Taylor were just as open and welcoming as any Littles she’d ever known, and it wasn’t long before all five of them were completely engrossed in a series of board games while the ‘grown ups’ chatted in the kitchen. Edie had played a few rounds with them, but she’d joined the Daddies a while ago and never returned.
“I win!” Taylor crowed with triumph as she moved her piece to the center of the spiral game board.
Huffing loudly, Noelle flopped back against her chair with her arms crossed and a pout forming on her lips. “That’s like the fourth game in a row. I think you’re cheating.”
“I am not!” Insult burned in Taylor’s gaze, and Jesse swore she could feel the fight brewing between them. Obviously, they all needed a bit of a break from games. Jesse glanced around, frantically searching for something to distract them, when her gaze moved to the window.
“We should go see the animals!”
Just like that, the fight was forgotten, and a cheer went up amongst the group. As one, they hurried toward the front door, and as one they all froze in place at the sound of Edie’s voice.
“Where are you going, naughty girls?”
Four sets of eyes swung to Jesse. Apparently, it was on her to explain and get them out of any trouble they might have inadvertently landed themselves in.
Sometimes honesty really was the best policy, and she couldn’t imagine Edie would actually be upset with them, so she didn’t see any reason to make up some crazy story to cover for them. “We thought we’d go visit Luna and the alpaca.”
Edie’s eyes narrowed slightly, and for a panic-filled moment, Jesse thought they might have actually done something wrong. But then Edie nodded, and relief flooded in to replace the panic, nearly making Jesse’s knees weak. “Just be careful. Don’t let them out of the pasture, stay on the outside of the fence, and try not to be too noisy. To the pasture and back, no detours, or I’ll?—”
“We know, we know,” Carly said with an exaggerated eye roll. “You’ll make us all cut a switch.”
Edie gave them all a smug smile in return. “As long as we understand each other.”
Before Edie could change her mind, they escaped out the front door and down the gravel drive to the pasture behind the barn. Luna and the alpaca were both there, happily munching on grass.
“She’s so cute!” Taylor kept her excited squeal to a whisper, per Edie’s instructions not to spook the animals. The alpaca, Jesse had noticed, was even more shy than Luna and would take off running at the first loud noise.
“I know. And she’s so soft.” Reaching out, Jesse ran a hand down the alpaca’s back. “I can’t believe nobody wants her.”
“Aw, poor baby,” Noelle murmured, give the alpaca a pet as well. “She’s a bit scraggly looking. Maybe we should spruce her up a bit.”
“A makeover!” For the first time all afternoon, Ginny looked exactly like an excited Little, bouncing and gently clapping her hands. “We should give her a makeover!”
“How do we give an alpaca a makeover?” Carly asked. “It’s not like we can put makeup on her.”
“No…” Jesse’s mind raced as she took in the alpaca’s nearly snow-white wool. “But we could make her a bit more colorful.”
“I’ve seen videos like that!” Turning away from the fence, Taylor pulled her phone from her pocket. “Where they dye their hair. Fur? Whatever. They look so pretty afterward! And who could say no to a rainbow alpaca?”
It took all of thirty seconds for Taylor to pull up a blog post detailing exactly how to make ‘homemade dye’ for an alpaca.
Taking the phone, Jesse scanned the short list of ingredients. “Oh my god. This is so perfect! We dyed eggs for Easter, so I know we have food coloring and surely Edie has some cornstarch!”
“There’s just one problem.” Everyone turned to look at Noelle, who rolled her eyes. “All the Daddies are hanging out in the kitchen, remember? How are we supposed to get all the stuff if they’re in the kitchen?”
“We could just ask,” Ginny suggested.
Jesse shook her head. “No! I wanna surprise Edie!”
They were all silent for a long moment before Taylor sighed. “I have an idea. But you’re all going to owe me and Noelle so big.”
Grant
Edie returned from the foyer with an odd little smile on her face. Bending down when she reached his side again, Grant pulled her close and dropped his voice for only her to hear. “Everything okay?”
“I think so,” she whispered back. “The girls went down to visit Luna and the not-a-llama. I feel like they’re getting up to something, but I don’t know for sure.”
Knowing Jesse, they likely were getting themselves into some kind of trouble. But from the stories the others had been telling, it seemed to be a bit of a tradition during the play dates.
Having Edie tucked up by his side was both comfort and distraction. Comfort, because as much as he tried to assure Jesse that Edie’s friends would become their friends, he was keenly aware of how out of his element he was with this group. He had no idea what they were talking about half the time, especially when they started in on the car Matt was fixing up.
Distraction because, well, everything about Edie seemed designed to drive him to distraction. He could barely concentrate on the conversation at hand because all he could think about was dragging her upstairs and forcing her to come over and over again without making a sound.
Thoughts of torturing his sweet little pixie kept him occupied until the front door slammed again, and the sound of giggling Littles once again filled the house.
And then, moments later, the sound of raised, angry voices.
“Give it back!”
“No! It’s mine! Let go!”
Ian and Dom shared a look. “Uh oh,” Dom said, sounding far more cheerful than Ian looked, though as far as Grant could tell that seemed pretty par for the course for the two of them. “We should go see what that’s about.”
Curious to see what the ruckus was, Grant followed the group into the living room. Just in time to see Noelle place her hands on Taylor’s shoulders and shove.
Hard.
Luckily, Taylor was standing in front of the couch, so the shove didn’t hurt her. She just fell onto the cushions, glaring up at her friend. But judging by the furious looks on both their Daddies’ faces, that technicality wasn’t going to be enough to save either of them.
“Noelle Joy Grady, what has gotten into you?” Wrapping his hand around his errant Little girl’s arm, the normally laid back Dominic transformed in front of Grant’s eyes into a strict, no-nonsense Daddy. “You have about thirty seconds to give me a good explanation for what I just saw before I paddle your bare bottom right here in front of everyone.”
Unfortunately, Noelle was too busy glaring at her friend to take in her Daddy’s furious expression. “She started it!”
“That is not an explanation, little girl. Edie, I don’t suppose you have a paddle or a hairbrush I could borrow.”
That got her attention. Eyes wide, Noelle whipped her head from side to side as she reached her free hand behind her to cover her bottom. “Daddy, no! I don’t want a spankin’!”
“You’re definitely getting a spanking, sugar plum. But I’ll let you decide if it’s in front of all your friends or in private. Start talking, and I’ll wait until we get home to blister your bottom.”
“Um—I—we were just?—”
“It was my fault!” Taylor blurted out, drawing everyone’s attention to where she was curled up on her Daddy’s lap on the couch. “I’m sorry, Dom, I knew it was going to make her mad but I did it anyway, please don’t be mad at Noelle! It’s all my fault, I swear!”
“No, it was my fault!” Sniffling loudly now, Noelle gave her Daddy a pleading look. “I’m sorry, Daddy, I didn’t mean to be naughty.”
It occurred to Grant then that nobody had actually admitted exactly what they’d been arguing over. And as he looked around the living room, another observation hit him in the gut.
“Excuse me, gentlemen, but I believe your interrogations may have to wait a moment. We seem to be missing a few naughty Little girls.”
Jesse
“Oh my god, I can’t believe that worked!” Giggling wildly, Jesse raced back down the driveway with Carly and Ginny hot on her heels.
“I know! I thought for sure someone would see us or hear us!” Cheeks pink from the exertion, Carly grinned. “But we should hurry, I don’t know how much longer Noelle and Taylor can keep them occupied.”
“Okay.” Sounding more like a drill sergeant than a Little, Ginny slowed down once they reached the barn. “You go get the alpaca while Carly and I start mixing colors. It’ll be easier if we can get her into her stall before we try to dye her, or else we’ll be chasing her all around the pen.”
“Good idea. She’s used to me, so it shouldn’t be hard to get her back into the barn.”
That, as it turned out, was a bit of a miscalculation on Jesse’s part. She wasn’t sure if the alpaca knew they were up to something, or if she was just feeling feisty, but it took her much longer than she’d anticipated to wrangle the animal into the barn while Luna watched on with mild interest.
“Here she is!” Jesse declared through gasping breaths as she nudged the alpaca toward the stall.
“Perfect! We’ve got red and yellow and orange ready to go. Carly’s working on blue and green now.”
From her spot on the barn floor, Carly held up one of the Styrofoam bowls they’d managed to snag for mixing the colors with a grin. “Blue is ready too!”
Taking the yellow from Ginny, Jesse scooped up a handful of dye and grinned. “Ready?”
“Ready!” Ginny said, holding up her own scoop of orange.
The alpaca watched them with what Jesse could only describe as wariness as they slathered the makeshift dye onto her fur. “Don’t worry, sweet girl. We’re going to make you beautiful so you can find your forever home.”
She was so caught up in covering every inch of fur in her ‘section’, she didn’t hear the sound of footsteps on the wood floor of the barn.
“What the hell is going on here?”
Edie’s furious voice made Jesse jump. And she wasn’t the only one startled. The alpaca took off running out of the stall door she and Ginny had left open. Carly’s scream pierced the air as she covered her head to avoid being trampled by the alpaca currently making a beeline for the group at the entrance to the barn.
“Whoa, girl.” Stepping in the alpaca’s path, Edie held up her hands, stopping the animal in its tracks. The alpaca danced in place, its head swinging from side to side as it searched for an exit. “Grant, there’s a harness to your right. Can you grab it for me, please?”
Daddy grabbed the leather harness and together they managed to get it over the animal’s head and down its neck.
“Carly!” His tone frantic, Matt rushed forward and dropped to his knees beside his babygirl, pulling her into his arms. “Baby, are you okay? Are you hurt?”
Jesse’s stomach twisted with guilt as Carly burst into tears and threw her arms around her Daddy’s neck. The guilty feelings were only amplified by the glare Matt sent her way. “What were you girls thinking? Someone could have gotten hurt!”
“I’m sorry.” Tears blurred in Jesse’s eyes, and she thought she might actually be sick from the knots in her stomach. “We didn’t mean for anything bad to happen!”
“Matt.” In direct contrast to the tense atmosphere and the chaos of what had just happened, Edie’s voice still had the soft and soothing tone she’d used with the alpaca, who was now fully harnessed and standing quietly beside Edie with yellow and orange dripping from her fur. “Why don’t you take Carly up to the house and get her cleaned up. We’ll all be up in a few minutes, as soon as we get things settled down here.”
“Sure. Come on, babygirl. Can you walk?”
“Yes, Daddy.” Sniffling loudly, Carly wiggled out of his arms and rose to her feet. “Don’t be mad at Jesse, it was my idea, too. We were all helping.”
A muscle jumped in Matt’s jaw, and Jesse had a feeling he wasn’t really in the mood to listen just then. “We can talk about it after we get you cleaned up.”
Matt led her out of the barn with Carly protesting the whole way she was fine, and he shouldn’t be mad at her friends. The rest of the group watched the pair leave, but once they were out of earshot, all eyes turned back to Jesse and Ginny, who had been caught literally red-handed. Or yellow and orange handed, as the case was.
“Princess…” Trailing off with a sigh, Rex placed his hands on his hips and shook his head. “What have you gotten yourself into now?”
“Believe it or not, we actually have a really good explanation.” Despite her confident words, Ginny’s voice trembled slightly, giving away her nervousness.
“I can’t wait to hear it,” Rex drawled, one eyebrow slowly lifting toward his hairline.
Jesse was kinda glad he wasn’t her Daddy. There was something about him that was just a little too… dangerous for her liking. But Ginny didn’t seem to have any problem going toe to toe with him as she tossed her long red hair over her shoulders and met his dark gaze.
“Well, Jesse told us Edie was having a hard time finding a new home for her alpaca friend. And we just thought maybe she needed a makeover. I mean, really, who could resist a rainbow alpaca? She’ll be adorable when we finish with her.”
Rex ran a hand over his face, and Jesse was left with the distinct impression he was trying his damndest not to laugh. But when he pulled his hand away, his expression was as stern as ever. “You know this was very naughty, right princess?”
Ginny just grinned and gave a careless shrug of her shoulders. “Fashion is never naughty, Daddy.”
“Wait a minute.” Dom moved forward, pulling a very reluctant-looking Noelle along behind him. “Is that what the fight with Taylor was all about? Were you two the distraction?”
“That depends,” Noelle said, her expression set in mutinous lines.
“On what?”
“On if I’m going to be in more trouble for fighting with Taylor, or more trouble for creating a distraction.”
Rex turned his head to the side and coughed, but Jesse caught the hint of a smile on his lips. Unfortunately for all of them, he seemed to be the only one at all amused by what had happened.
Dom, on the other hand, looked absolutely stunned. “Little girl, do you really think this is the best time to be playing games with me? Because I have to tell you, I am about this close to taking my belt to your bare bottom, and that’s before I turn you over to Edie for whatever punishment she has in mind.”
A collective gasp went up in the barn and Jesse’s stomach sank to her knees. She really hadn’t meant to get her new friends in trouble, especially when they were finally starting to like her.
“What?” Noelle’s voice went shrill. “You can’t let Edie spank us!”
“I absolutely can, and will, Little girl. And I have a feeling everyone else in this barn will agree with me that if anyone has earned the right to teach you all a lesson today, it’s Edie.”
Rex and Ian both voiced their agreement as Edie looked on, a smug smile on her face. “Thank you, boys. As it happens, I have just the punishment in mind. Come on, girls. It’s time you all finally learned how to cut a switch.”