Page 32 of Forever Ink

“Mmm?” I was already reaching for my toys and moving them into my imaginary farm on the mat.

“The sound of your laughter. It lets me know I’m doing a good job. And now I need to get you some breakfast.” Daddy stood up and I saw he was naked.

“Daddy.”

“What baby bear?”

I pointed at his junk. “You is naked.”

Daddy looked down and chuckled. “Well what do you know, I am. Better put some clothes on. I don’t want to scare anyone.”

“Not scary, sexy.” I let out a giggle and hid behind my hands.

“Well, I’m glad you think so. I would bet Cal and Doc wouldn’t agree, and I know Mouse would yell the house down if I walked downstairs in my birthday suit.”

Daddy brushed a kiss against my forehead, but I was too enraptured with my animals to really respond. My head was already lost in a magical village where all the animals lived and were friends.

A gentle knock at the door had me muttering, “Come in” without thinking about what I was doing until I saw a pair of SpongeBob pyjama pants in my peripheral vision. Blinking, I looked up and saw Mouse, looking sleep tousled and kind of sad. Mouse seeing me like this didn’t freak me out. He knew about this part of my life, and I knew he’d never judge me. And right now he looked like he needed to play in Animal Town too.

“Hey, M, wanna play?”

Mouse nodded, his long hair bouncing around like a horse’s mane. “I had nightmares again, feel like shit.”

“Well, you can help me make the town square if you want.” I handed him the bag that had the little toy village buildings. Mouse started to reach out for the bag before hesitating. I looked up and smiled. “It’s okay, just me and you. Daddy won’t say anything.”

I saw Mouse’s shoulders relax and he grabbed the bag, smiling softly as he sat down properly on the mat.

“Ok, Pig and Wolf are going to run the craft shop.” Mouse grabbed the two animals and a small house and moved them to one side of the mat.

“We’re going to need a shop. Llama and Horse can run that.” I sunk deeper into my little space, enjoying having someone other than Daddy playing with me. Daddy was always fun but there was something cool about having Mouse here alongside. Mouse knew a lot of stuff about littles, and I knew he might be like me too, but he’d never had anyone to really play with. That kind of made my heart hurt for him. Mouse was the best friend and brother someone could have, but people only saw loud and angry Mouse, the sweary one, not the Mouse I knew.

We got the village made and started to move our animals around. I took a sneaky peak at Mouse and he was much more relaxed.

“M?”

Mouse looked up, smiling. “Yeah, Rhee?”

“Do you want a Daddy too? I mean you can’t have Simon, he’s mine but someone like him, a Daddy, I mean,” I blurted out. Seeing the shocked look on Mouse’s face I was suddenly worried I shouldn’t have said anything. “Sorry, M, shouldn’t be nosy.”

Mouse’s hair flew in all directions as he shook his head. “No, Rhee, it’s ok. I never really thought about it.” He screwed his face up, thinking. “Well, that’s not entirely true. I brought it up once with Ziggy, but he said it was weird and only sick fucks wanted to do that.”

“Ziggy is a butt face,” I blurted out.

Mouse’s shoulders shook with laughter “True. He is a butt face. But I don’t know, I’ve not let myself think about it for a long time. I think I’m too bratty and loud for anyone to want me as their little.”

“Lies. You speak lies about my friend.” I bopped him on the nose. “You are the sweetest kindest Mouse ever. Maybe just a little prickly like a hedgehog sometimes. And you are just finding out what you want. I mean what I have with Daddy might not be what you want with a Daddy when you find one, but you could have fun finding the space that is right for you.”

“I’m okay without a daddy, Rhee. I mean this is nice, and if you wanted, we could maybe sometimes do this again, if Simon doesn’t mind.” Mouse bit his lip. I could see he was worried what Daddy would think.

I crawled over to Mouse, careful not to squash my animal village, and threw my arms around his neck. “I’m certain Daddy won’t mind.”

“I won’t mind what?” Daddy’s voice sounded from the door where he stood holding a tray full of delicious smelling food. Oh, it smelt like pancakes.

Daddy put the tray down on the bed and gave Mouse and I an expectant look. He didn’t seem surprised to see Mouse here at all.

“Well, I told Mouse if he ever needed to have some time out he could always come to ours and help me with my Animal Village.”

Daddy reached over and ruffled my hair. “That sounds like a good idea,” He answered. I saw him giving Mouse a questioning look, but Mouse just kept building his side of the town.

---