Chapter Thirty-One
ASHER
“Come on, Little Daisy. It’s time to wake up,” Asher gently said as he ran his hands through her hair.
She looked so peaceful, sleeping on his bed, all snuggled into his blanket.
“Don’t wanna wake up,” she whined. “Wanna sleep. So comfortable.”
“It’s already ten in the morning,” he told her.
That didn’t seem to do anything.
“Sleep.”
“Do you need to go potty?” he asked.
“Don’t wanna mess with the water. Too sleepy to react fast enough,” she mumbled, pushing her face into his pillow.
Asher’s whole body froze as he heard her words.
“What do you mean?” Daddy asked. “Why wouldn’t you react fast enough to do what?”
So many things were whirling through his mind. Was something wrong in the house?
“Don’t wanna talk. Just wanna sleep. Please, Daddy,” she begged him.
“You can take a nap later in the day, but you need to wake up now and have some breakfast,” he explained as he ran his hands through her hair again. “Come on, Little Flower. It’s time to wake up.”
She grumbled under her breath, and Asher bit the inside of his cheek, desperately trying not to laugh at how cute she was.
“Don’t wanna,” she whined.
Asher helped her sit up. “Come on, Little Flower. Breakfast is homemade pancakes with syrup.”
Her eyes flew open as she looked at him. “Yum.”
He gave her a soft smile. “I knew that would wake you up.”
“I’m so sleepy. I’ve never felt this tired before,” she rubbed her eyes.
“Do you normally sleep for such a long time?” he asked. “You slept for almost twelve hours last night.”
She gasped. “Wh-what?”
“Yeah, you were really tired last night and fell asleep in my lap. That was around ten thirty last night. It’s ten right now.”
“I’ve never been able to sleep that long,” she whispered.
Asher hummed. “Have you felt safe in any other house?”
She shook her head. “I don’t have a nightlight, and while Chilli helps me when she sleeps on the bed, I know that if anyone were to come in, she wouldn’t be able to do much.
I’ve never seen her get aggressive before, so I don’t think she would do anything.
And with traveling, I never really had a place that just felt safe. ”
He wondered if she was fully awake and knew what she was saying to him. Daisy didn’t seem the type of person who would give up information like that.
“And did you feel safe last night?” he asked.
She smiled. “I always feel safe when I’m with you. I don’t have to worry as much. Even when we met for the first time, I was a little scared.”
“Scared?”
Daisy nodded. “Scared or nervous. A random man was talking to me, someone who was super kind and super attractive. Someone who was a Daddy. I didn’t think they were real. Though I’m glad I went there that night.”
Asher kissed her forehead. “Daddy is glad you went there, too.”
She leaned into his embrace and let out a contented sigh, pride swelling inside Asher as he heard it. This is what he had always wanted.
“Do you want to talk about how you said you weren’t going to be fast enough if you wanted to go to the bathroom?” he said.
Her eyes grew wide, and she shook her head. “Nope. Nothing. I don’t know what you heard, but it wasn’t that.”
His eyes narrowed onto her. “Little Daisy.”
She was definitely hiding something. He was going to get to the bottom of it, no matter how much prying and questioning it would take
“Nothing is wrong!” She raised her voice.
“Are you lying to Daddy?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Shit. Shit. Wait, let me revise what I just said.”
He gave her time to gather her thoughts.
“I can handle everything.”
“So there is something wrong,” he hummed. “Tell Daddy what it is.”
“It’s really okay.”
“Daisy,” he growled.
She sighed and looked away from him.
“Daddy isn’t mad, but if you lie to me, I’m going to get a little annoyed. Tell me what’s wrong,” he demanded.
“The toilet likes to overflow when it’s filling up, but I’ve gotten it down to where I turn on the water and know when to shut it off, so it doesn’t happen,” she quickly explained. “I’ve got everything under control. You don’t need to worry about a thing.”
His mind was reeling with what she had just said. “The toilet likes to overflow?”
“Yes, but there is a solution. I’ve already found it, so you don’t need to worry about anything. I promise I’ve got it all handled.” Daisy smiled.
Asher didn’t like the sound of that. Nothing in the house should be broken. If it was, he was supposed to fix it right away.
“But I don’t want you to handle it. I’ll come over today and see what’s wrong and have it repaired,” he said.
Daisy waved her hands in front of her. “You really don’t need to do that.”
Frustration grew as he continued to look at her.
“And what are you doing to handle the situation?” he asked.
“If I’m awake, I know what it sounds like when I need to turn the water off. That’s why I only use that bathroom when I absolutely need to, and when I’m fully awake,” she explained.
Asher shook his head. “But you shouldn’t need to do that. You shouldn’t have to worry about something like that happening. You should be able to go to the bathroom with no problem.”
“Daddy, it’s really fine. I don’t need it to be fixed. It’s been this way for several months. I’m perfectly fine.”
“No. I told you to tell me if anything was wrong. I told you I would fix it because I’m your landlord.
But even if I weren’t your landlord, you still should have told me since I’m your Daddy.
I would have helped you,” he explained. “I want to take care of you. I want to make sure that you have everything you need. I want you to have an easy life where I can take care of you, no matter what, but I can only do that if you tell me the truth and explain what you need. Do you understand?”
Daisy didn’t look him in the eyes, and he knew that, while she may have understood, she probably wasn’t going to do it.
“Little Daisy,” he gently said. “Daddy desperately wants to take care of you. Daddy wants you to rely on him.”
“It’s just money wasted,” she mumbled. “I figured out how to work around it so it doesn’t overflow. You don’t need to waste time and money on trying to fix it.”
Asher cupped her face. “But it’s not time or money wasted.
I would do this for any of my tenants. I want to fix it for you, so you don’t have to worry about it.
I want to fix it, so if you wake up in the middle of the night, you can go to the bathroom without worrying about it overflowing.
I want to do this for you because you are my Little Daisy. ”
She leaned into his hand, and pride swelled within him. It was the little things she did whenever he was near her that showed she truly felt comfortable around him.
“After breakfast, we are going to go to your house, and I’m going to see what’s wrong with it.
I have some tools in the back of my car.
If I need anything else, then I will go get the parts and come right back, so we can fix your toilet today,” he informed her.
“I don’t want to hear any arguments about it. ”
She sighed. “Okay.”
“Good Little Flower. Now, I have some pancakes downstairs if you’re hungry.”
Daisy enthusiastically bobbed her head.
“Why don’t you go potty while I cut up your pancake. When you’re done getting ready, you can come downstairs. I’ll have it all ready for you,” he said.
“You don’t need to call it potty,” she mumbled.
He hummed. “But I think you like it. I think it makes you feel Littler.”
Her cheeks flushed pink, and he knew he was right. Sometimes she wore her emotions on her sleeve, and he could tell everything that she was thinking or feeling.
“I don’t like it.”
“Are you lying to Daddy?” he asked.
Her eyes grew wide as she looked up at him. “OK, maybe my Little likes it a little bit,” she whispered.
“And there’s nothing to be ashamed about,” he gently said.
“Every Little likes different things, and that’s okay.
I wouldn’t be a good Daddy if you couldn’t express what you like and what you don’t like.
I know it might take you some time to be comfortable telling me whether you like something or want to try something, but I will never judge you for that.
I will never tell you that we can’t try something you’re interested in. ”
“I think my Little would also like you to help when I go to the bathroom,” she blurted out.
Daisy’s eyes grew wide as she stared at him. And before he could say anything, she pushed the covers away and attempted to leave the bed, but, at the last second, her leg got caught in the covers, making her trip up.