Chapter 49
“ T ime to stop playing and have some dinner, Little girl,” Matthieu told Maya.
After her nap, they’d spent time playing in the playroom and building up her Lego village again.
It turned out she was very particular about what went where. And there was a story behind every building and who lived in it.
It was pretty darn adorable.
They’d run out of time to head into town to get his packages but they could do that in the morning.
“Soon, Papa,” she murmured. “I just have to get Mrs. Winters’ garden looking right.
She’s very particular about it. And she really hates when Mr. Summer’s dog poops in it.
What they don’t realize is that the dog poop is going to bring them together and soon Mrs. Winters will be buying a second rocker for her front porch. ”
“While that is very interesting, Little girl, it’s time for dinner. You can finish tomorrow.”
“I can’t finish tomorrow!” She stared up at him, clearly aghast.
“Why is that?”
“Because I have to finish now. I can’t stop.”
“You can stop.”
“Nope.”
“Excuse me,” he said in a dark, deep voice. “Did you just tell your Papa no?”
“Umm.” She peeked up at him and then away. “I don’t think so. That doesn’t sound like me. That sounds like someone else, someone naughty who is not me. Because I’m a good girl. Good girl Maya, not naughty girl Maya.”
“Then good girl Maya should be on her way to the dining table, not sitting here creating dog poop.”
“It’s hard to make good looking dog poop from Lego!” she cried.
“I’m going to count to three. I don’t need to tell you what happens after that, do I?” he said. “One. Two.”
She wisely jumped up before he said three. But there was a frown on her face and she was clearly upset with him. “Papa! I was busy!” She stomped her foot.
Right. That was enough of that.
“You’re going to be very busy after dinner. Busy writing lines.”
Her mouth dropped open. “That’s not nice.”
“Neither is arguing with your Papa and stomping your foot.”
She grumbled as he took her hand and led her to the dining table. He’d already put her food on a plate for her and he helped her into her chair, pushing it in.
“Eat your dinner,” he commanded as he sat across from her.
“I isn’t hungry,” she grumbled.
Oh, she was in a mood, wasn’t she?
“I think someone needed a longer nap today. Or maybe a longer spanking.”
“Papa!” she cried. “I did not.”
“Really? Because you’re in a bit of a grumpy mood. And one or both of these things should cure that.”
“I’m not grumpy!”
“Hmm. Well, you might want to think about that for a while. And you are eating some dinner.” He moved so he was sitting on the seat next to her.
Then he reached for her plate and forked up some mashed potatoes. “Eat.” He held the fork up.
She just stared at it.
“Ahh, you must want the choo-choo train.” He drew his hand back and then brought it toward her mouth. “Here comes the choo-choo train. Chugga-chugga-choo-choo.”
It seemed to do the trick as she giggled and took the mouthful of food.
“That’s better,” he murmured, feeding her some more food.
He got a kick out of feeding her.
Hell, he got a kick out of taking care of her in all ways.
That was something he wanted to do for the rest of his life.
He continued to feed her until she claimed to have had enough. He figured she’d eaten enough so he ate his dinner while she did her lines next to him.
“Sit still,” he warned as she sighed, fidgeting.
“This is just so boring, Papa!” she complained as he got up and carried their plates to the kitchen to put them in the dishwasher.
“It’s meant to be. It’s punishment. How many lines have you written?”
“Twenty!”
“Only thirty to go.”
He turned away, smiling as she groaned. She really was adorable.
Matthieu settled onto the sofa in the living room. Dougie jumped up beside him as he turned on the television. After around five minutes, his girl walked over to stand in front of him.
“Finished, Papa.”
“Let me see.” He held out his hand and she put the piece of paper into it.
He checked over her lines, which said: I will listen to Papa and not stomp my foot .
There were fifty of them and he set the piece of paper to one side.
“Good girl,” he praised her.
He could tell she liked that. She practically preened as she climbed onto his lap when he held his arms open.
“I’m sorry I was grouchy, Papa,” she told him as he hugged her tight.
“That’s all right, Bébé,” he told her. “We all have off days. And Papa knows that you love him.”
“I do love you. So, so much.”