24. Chapter 22
NOAH
“ S weetheart, come on,” Noah gently said. “It’s time for us to go home.”
Frankie was playing with Lita on the floor of his office. Did she want to play with anyone else? They had Littles come in all the time wanting to play with someone new for the night.
“Okay, Daddy,” she whispered.
He knelt in front of her, gripping her chin with his hand. What he was about to suggest? He didn’t know how well she was going to take what he was about to say.
“Yes, Daddy?” she asked.
“What do you think about coming here on Saturday so you can play with some other Littles?” he inquired.
Frankie pulled her head out of his grip. “No.” She shook her head. “I’m okay playing by myself.”
Noah’s eyebrows pulled together. Why didn’t she want to play with any other Littles? He hadn’t asked before, but he thought she would be interested in it. He was surprised by her reaction.
“Is everything okay?” he asked. “Why don’t you want to play with the other Littles who come?”
She shrugged and looked away. “I just don’t.”
His eyes zeroed in on her, clutching her hands together, and that was when he realized.
“Are you worried they might tease you for your hands shaking?” he gently asked.
“No.” Her voice broke.
Noah sat on the ground and pulled Frankie into his lap, holding her close. “Baby, they would never make fun of you. They would love to have you to play with.”
She shook her head again before burying it in his chest. “I don’t want to, and you can’t make me.”
He sighed and snuggled her even closer to him, if that was possible, and slowly rocked back and forth.
“I don’t want to go and play with them,” she mumbled.
“Shh.” He rubbed her back. “If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. You’re okay.”
Her whole body relaxed as he said those words. Was she really that worried and stressed about playing with them? He didn’t want her to be playing alone forever. He wanted her to have friends.
“Let’s go home,” he gently coaxed her.
Frankie was passed out in their bed, all snuggled up to Lita and his pillow.
Noah had been lying right next to her, but he wasn’t able to fall asleep.
His mind was going a mile a second, trying to figure out he could help her, encourage her out of her comfort zone, but also nurturing and loving her.
Noah didn’t want to push her away. He didn’t want to show her that he didn’t care about what she wanted, no matter how unintentional it was. He did, but he also wanted her to make friends so she could hang out with some other Littles.
“Daddy?” she mumbled, rolling over more onto his side.
He sat on his side of the bed and started to run his hands through her hair, trying to calm her down. “I’m right here,” he whispered.
She sighed, and her whole body relaxed. Noah couldn’t help but smile. Frankie was so special to him. He wanted to give her the world and shield her from anything bad.
“Come lie with me, Daddy,” she whispered. “Want a cuddle.”
Chuckling, he pulled back the covers and slipped under them, allowing Frankie to cuddle right up to him. He was going to call one of the other guys to get their opinion of the situation.
Now it was going to have to be for another time. Monday when she went back to work. As much as he didn’t want her to go back to work, he has to let her. He promised she could.
Noah just wanted her not to work and be able to relax and enjoy life, but he figured Frankie wouldn’t like that. If she felt bad for getting paid while she was on leave for her injury, she wouldn’t want him paying for everything.
But maybe one day she would. Maybe if he showed her it was okay, she would warm up to the idea.
“What’s wrong, Daddy?” she asked, looking up at him.
“Nothing,” he whispered. “Just go back to sleep.”
Frankie let out a little noise of disagreement. “I don’t like that, Daddy. Something is bothering you.”
He sighed. “Just work stuff,” he partially told the truth. “Just some work things I’ve been trying to go through. And Baxter hasn’t gotten back to me yet.”
Noah felt bad for lying to her, but he didn’t need her worrying.
“Wait.” She sat up.
He sighed when he realized what he had said.
Sheriff Baxter hadn’t gotten back to him on whether he had caught the guy yet.
Noah didn’t like knowing that someone had attacked and threatened Frankie was still out there.
There shouldn’t be. He should be six feet under, so he wasn’t a risk to her anymore.
“Baxter hasn’t gotten back to you?” she whispered.
“Not yet, but he will. It’s only been a couple of hours. Everything is going to be okay. Sheriff Baxter is going to find this guy, and he’s going to put him away. You don’t have to worry about that,” he gently tried to calm her, sitting up.
Frankie was shaking, and he knew he’d messed up.
“Baby, I shouldn’t have said anything, I’m sorry.” He pulled her into his lap and held on tightly. “You were fast asleep, and I shouldn’t have said anything. Let’s go back to sleep.”
“I don’t think I can sleep,” she whispered, holding his shirt extremely tightly.
“Of course you can. Daddy is going to wrap you up in a blanket and keep you right next to me the whole night. You’ll be snug as a bug in Daddy’s big bed.” He kissed her forehead.
Frankie pulled back, and a look of uncertainty flashed across her face. “I don’t know.”
“Try it for me?” he suggested.
Frankie needed all the sleep she could get. Noah didn’t know how many hours she had missed over the years, and he wanted to make sure she never missed a minute of sleep again.
“Daddy is going to put you on the bed while I go get a soft blanket,” he said.
Frankie held onto his shirt as he tried to get up.
“The soft pink one?” She looked up at him with big eyes.
“Yes, sweetheart, the soft pink one,” he cooed at her. “Now, can you let go of Daddy’s shirt so I can get it?”
She looked at her hand where she was gripping his shirt before slowly letting go.
“Such a good girl. Daddy will be right back.” He got off the bed and headed out of the room, straight toward the closet.
Noah hadn’t realized when he bought this blanket the other day that Frankie would get so attached to it, but she had. So what did he do? He went out and got more, so when one lost its softness, he had another. He was just going to have to make sure he never ran out of one.
“Daddy is back,” he announced, walking into the room.
Frankie was still sitting on the bed, looking directly at the door.
“Daddy is right here and isn’t going anywhere,” he reminded her. “Do you need to go potty before we wrap you up?”
Her cheeks turned red, and he took that as a yes. After placing the blanket on the bed, he picked up Frankie and walked to the bathroom.
“Daddy is going to help you.” He started to pull her underwear down.
She didn’t protest as he helped her onto the toilet.
“I think we should have had our first kiss by now,” she mumbled. “This, I think, is a little more intimate than kissing.”
Noah chuckled and grabbed her face between his hands and left a small kiss on her lips. “There, now we’ve kissed. Though I have given you several forehead kisses and I have never done that before.”
She gasped. “Never? Not even to your other Little?”
He shook his head. “Never felt right with anyone but you, I just knew I had to and it’s become addicting.”
“Thank you, Daddy,” she whispered as he cleaned her up.
“Anytime, sweetheart. Now, let’s go wrap you in this blanket and placed right next to me so we can go to sleep.” He pulled her panties up before lifting her and carrying her into the bedroom.
When her feet were on the ground, he quickly laid out the blanket before turning to her.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
She nodded and held her hands up. In one movement, he picked her up and gently placed her at the top of the blanket before starting to swaddle her in it.
“Is that okay? Not getting claustrophobic?” He stopped.
“No, Daddy. It feel good,” she mumbled, her eyes drooping.
Smiling, he continued to wrap the blanket around her before settling her in the middle of the bed.
“Are you coming?” she whispered with her eyes closed.
“Yes, baby. I’m right next to you,” he said, sliding into the bed.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“Love you, too, Frankie.”