Chapter 32
RAELYNN
Raelynn moaned as she rolled onto her side and reached for Daddy but didn’t find him.
“Daddy?” she mumbled as she lifted her head.
Daddy was nowhere in the room, making her heartbeat skyrocket. She was still in his room, but he wasn’t there. Did something happen?
After maneuvering herself off the bed, she grabbed Niko and walked out of the room, into the main room where everyone was talking to each other.
“Little Miss, why are you out of bed?” Reaper asked. “Is everything okay?”
“Daddy?” she whispered, looking around and trying to find him.
Where did he go? There’s no way he left her, right? Tears pooled in her eyes as she sat down on the ground, hugging Niko even tighter than before. Daddy had abandoned her after telling her he would always be near her.
It had been several days since Daddy had rescued her, and he hadn’t left her side once. Not that she would have let him. She needed to know Daddy was right next to her, so she knew she was safe.
“Your Daddy wasn’t with you?” Reaper asked as he knelt in front of her.
She shook her head. “All alone.”
Sniffling, she rubbed the back of her hand across her nose before she buried her face in Niko. Now she didn’t have anything from Daddy.
“Your Daddy hasn’t left the building or your room,” Levi said. “We’ve been here all afternoon, and he hasn’t once left your side.”
“Daddy wasn’t there,” she sobbed.
Reaper picked her up and held her close to him as he walked down the hallway.
“Raelynn!” Daddy yelled. “Has anyone seen Raelynn?”
Her head popped off Reaper’s shoulder, and she looked up to see Daddy running down the hallway, his towel around his waist.
“Daddy!” she shouted.
He stopped in his tracks and looked at her. “Where did you go, Little Fairy?”
“You weren’t in the room,” she mumbled as Reaper set her down on the ground.
“I was in the shower, baby. I was still with you, but I needed to take a shower to get all the dirt off me,” he explained.
“Dirt?” She tilted her head to the side.
He rubbed the back of his head. “Well, I didn’t want to tell you so soon, but I’ve got a surprise for you.”
“Your Daddy has been very busy whenever you’ve taken a nap,” Reaper said. “Sneaking off like a teenager in the middle of the night to get this project done. We’ve even offered to help, but he’s very secretive about what it is and who can know.”
Raelynn looked between Daddy and Reaper.
“What are you making?” she asked Daddy. “Can I know?”
Daddy smiled. “It’s for you. Do you want to see it now? I have a little part unfinished that will take me another half day. If you can wait until tomorrow, I can show you the finished product. But if you really can’t wait, I can show it to you.”
Rae played with her hands as she looked at the floor. “I don’t know.”
She did. She so wanted to see it right now, but she also didn’t want to ruin Daddy’s surprise.
“Do you want to see it now?” Daddy asked.
“I do, but you haven’t finished it yet,” she mumbled. “I didn’t mean to ruin the surprise.”
She had a way with doing it, didn’t she?
“You didn’t ruin the surprise. I didn’t like keeping it from you and thought about telling you in the beginning, but I also didn’t want you to have to wait,” Daddy explained. “If you really want to see it now, I can show it to you. It won’t ruin anything.”
Raelynn bounced on her tippy-toes. “Can I, then?” Her eyes were wide open as she looked at Daddy. “Can I pleeeease see it?”
Daddy chuckled and held his hand out. “Let’s go get changed, and then I can show it to you.”
“Why don’t I keep Raelynn with me while you change?” Reaper suggested. “I got some cookies that I wanted her to try, and this is the perfect moment.”
“Don’t give her too many.” Daddy gave him a pointed look. “I don’t need my Little Fairy getting a tummy ache.”
She gasped. “I’s would never! Tummy is strong tummy. Niko agrees as well.”
Daddy shook his head. “Even though your tummy is strong, Daddy doesn’t want you to get sick, so not too many cookies or else you’ll be in trouble.”
She pushed her bottom lip out right as Reaper picked her up.
“Come on, Little Miss. I promised your Daddy you would have a cookie or two but no more than that,” he said as he walked off.
She leaned up to his ear. “I thinks you should give me fours.”
Reaper chuckled. “Four? That’s a lot though.”
“No a lot. Just right,” she humped and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fours is the perfect amount. Not too many and not too little.”
He sat her on the chair at the bar and shook his head. “You are not getting four. I don’t need your Daddy giving me a lecture, and I don’t think you want to get a spanking, either.”
She shrugged. “I don’t think Daddy would give me a spanking for that.”
Xavier’s head tilted back as he let out a full belly laugh.
“Why are you laughing?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
Reaper set two cookies in front of her and a small glass of milk.
“You think your Daddy won’t spank you if you have more than two cookies?” Xavier asked.
Raelynn picked up a cookie and bit into it, letting the sweet-and-salty flavor dance across her taste buds. While she didn’t normally enjoy plain cookies, she had to admit that these were pretty amazing. The way it melted in her mouth.
“He didn’t give a limit when he said not to eat too many, so who’s to say that four isn’t a lot?” she asked.
“All of us Daddies know two is the limit. We’re all on the same wavelength,” Xavier explained. “Isn’t that right, Reaper?”
“He’s telling the truth, Little Miss. We all know what’s too much and too little when it comes to things regarding Littles.
None of us want you to have a stomachache and not be able to see your surprise,” Reaper chimed in.
“Wouldn’t it be devastating to know about your surprise and get sick because you ate too many cookies, and not be able to see it for another day? ”
“I hadn’t thought,” she whispered. “But I don’t think having four cookies is going to make me sick. If anything, I think it’s going to make me happy. Happy because I get to fill my stomach with warm, delicious cookies and then drown them in milk.”
“Do you only want one cookie?” Daddy asked as he walked into the main room.
Raelynn straightened her spine and looked over at him, grabbing a second cookie and stuffing it in her mouth.
“You can’t take my cookie.” But it didn’t sound anything like that with how stuffed her mouth was.
Worry flashed across Daddy’s face. “No talking with your mouth full. Daddy doesn’t want you to choke.”
“Just slowly chew and enjoy it. Don’t try to force yourself to swallow a lot of it, so you can talk,” Xavier commanded.
Her shoulders slumped as she slowly finished off her cookie.
“All done,” she quickly said and showed Daddy the inside of her mouth. “Can we go see the surprise now?”
Rae was sitting on the edge of her seat, leaning forward as she looked at Daddy.
“Whoa, Little Fairy. Sit correctly on your chair so you don’t fall off,” Daddy instructed as he helped her sit back in her chair.
“I think I should order several highchairs so we can strap every Little one down while they’re sitting and eating,” Xavier muttered. “Or else I think all of us are going to have heart attacks.”
“I was looking at one the other day. It gets a lot of good reviews. We could try it out with either Echo or Raelynn. That way we don’t buy one and then it doesn’t work,” Reaper explained.
Xavier snapped his fingers and pointed at Reaper. “You buy it, and if we need to buy more, I’ll use my money.”
“It’s not that scary. I don’t see what the big deal is,” Raelynn said. “I was perfectly safe.”
The three of them shook their heads, and she sighed before looking at Daddy. There was no way she was going to get them not to buy highchairs. The thought of sitting in a highchair while Daddy fed her made her feel all warm inside. It was another way Daddy was going to take care of her.
“It’s terrifying to see the person you love about to fall, when they don’t even realize it.
You could hit your head on the ground and get a concussion or crack your head open.
Daddy doesn’t want that for you, and Daddy would be so sad if you had to stay in bed for weeks while you recovered and couldn’t play with your surprise,” he gently said as he cupped her face with his hands.
“And I think you secretly like the idea of sitting in a highchair and me taking care of you. Don’t you even try to lie, because I know you well. Daddy knows his Little girl.”
She buried her face in his hands and closed her eyes.
Of course he knew. Daddy seemed to know everything about her, even when she was trying to hide it.
Somehow, he always knew. And to be honest, Raelynn wouldn’t have it any other way.
Sometimes it got annoying because she couldn’t hide anything from him, but she also loved it because it made life with him so much easier. Life with Daddy was just the best.
“Do you want to go see the surprise?” Daddy asked.
“Please,” she whispered and looked at him, bouncing up and down in her seat.
“Maybe don’t bounce, either. That’s one way you’ll also get hurt. One wrong move and you’ll slip off your chair,” Xavier said, looking away from her.
“Are you just a big worrywart?” she asked.
“I’m not. I just don’t want you to cry over something we all told you to watch out for,” he replied.
Reaper leaned in, covering his mouth with his hand as he whispered. “He is a big worrywart and a big softie once you get to know him. He doesn’t like to show it, but he has a soft spot for all Littles. But you have to keep it a secret.”
She nodded. “Secret is safe with me.” She giggled as she looked at Xavier, who was looking at her, confused.
Daddy picked her up and held her close as he walked to the back of the building.
“Bye, Little Miss,” Reaper called.
Waving bye, she snuggled into Daddy’s chest, completely at peace with him.
“Daddy wants you to close your eyes until I tell you to open them. Do you think you can do that?” he asked.
“Yes, Daddy. I’ll try.”
She didn’t know how well she was going to be able to keep her eyes closed with how excited she was.
“Can you give me a hint of what it is?” she asked.
Daddy chuckled and shook his head. “No, Little Fairy. You are going to see it in a couple of seconds, and I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”
“Okay,” she mumbled and looked down at his chest.
“Keep your eyes closed until Daddy says to open them.”
Raelynn closed her eyes and buried her face in Daddy’s chest again so she didn’t get tempted to look around.
“Are you ready?” Daddy asked.
She had her eyes closed for what felt like forever while Daddy walked out into the backyard.
Raelynn could feel the slight breeze hitting her skin, the birds singing their many different tunes.
She didn’t know what he had built or done, but she was ready to see whatever it was. Raelynn was dying to see it.
“Yes, Daddy,” she said. “Can I open my eyes now?”
“Okay, you can now,” Daddy replied.
Raelynn slowly opened her eyes, getting used to the brightness before looking around.
“What am I loo—” The words fell from her mouth as she looked around the edges of the fence. Tiny houses were scattered on the ground, pinned to the fence, and even hanging off poles.
Rae kicked her feet, trying to get Daddy to put her down.
“Down, please,” she begged.
She wanted to get a closer look at what he had done. She wanted to see the fairy lights up close, the sparkling glitter as she trailed her eyes across the fence from one tiny house to another.
“Do you like it?” Daddy asked as he set her down on the ground.
Raelynn sprinted toward the first house, getting her face all up and personal with it as she took in every little detail. It was a small wooden house, painted in all different colors, with grass and flowers right next to it.
Tears ran down her face as she moved onto the next house. It was different, slimmer and taller than the one before, and had a blue roof instead of a pink one. And it was glittery and magical.
“Little Fairy?” Daddy called out.
She turned to face him, and his face morphed into panic.
“Are you okay?” Daddy asked as he knelt in front of her. “What’s wrong? Tell Daddy, so I can make it all better.”
“Nothing’s wrong,” she whispered.
“Then why are you crying?”
“Because you made all of this!” she wailed, flailing her arms around and pointing to each house. “It’s everything I ever dreamed of. What made you want to build it?”
She hadn’t told him she wanted something like this. That it had been her dream since he started calling her Little Fairy and indulging her Little.
“I might have asked Ace to hack into your phone and check your search history to see whether you were looking at things like this,” he said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “When he said yes, I knew I had to make it happen. But that was a while ago, and I didn’t have the time to do it until now.”
She flung herself at Daddy, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing tight. “I love it. Thank you so much, Daddy.”
“Anything for you, Little Fairy,” he whispered as he wrapped his arms around her.