Page 53 of Daddy's Little Cupcake

“Charlie.” His voice went stern.

Charlotte shrunk into the couch. She didn’t like it when he used his stern voice at her. It made her feel extremely small, and he wasn’t with her right now to look after her.

“Can I talk to big Charlotte?” Finn asked.

She let out a sigh and took several deep breaths. She needed to get her mind in the right spot to talk to him as an adult and not her little side.

“Yes?” she whispered. She didn’t feel confident at all that she wouldn’t fall into little space again.

“Are you feeling alright? What’s wrong?” he asked.

"I'm okay, just tired," she said honestly.

Charlotte didn't want to lie to him anymore. She was tired, and they both knew it.

"How much sleep have you been getting?" Finn asked.

She thought about it for a second. She had gotten eight hours of sleep the night before, but before that it was only six hours.

"Last night I got eight hours," she said.

"And the night before?"

Charlotte let out a sigh. She knew her Daddy wanted her to get at least eight hours of sleep each night, but it was hard when she worked another job. She had to get home and eat something small before she could take a shower and go to bed.

"Charlotte, don't lie to me," Daddy said.

"Six hours," she softly said.

She knew he heard her when he let out a sigh.

"For how many nights?" he asked.

She knew that was coming next. She was in trouble, and she couldn't do anything about it. Charlotte hadn't followed what her Daddy wanted her to do, and she had to pay for it.

"Four or five nights. I can't remember." She sat up straight on the couch.

She felt worse now, and it was only growing. Charlotte didn't know if it was only because she had lied to him about her sleep or if it was because she had kept this secret for a while.

Daddy had asked her why she was so busy the other day, and she lied. She said she had a project going on at home and he couldn't see it. A big fat lie, and she knew when he found out it wasn't going to be good. She just didn't want to tell him that she had a second job.

"You know the rules," he said over the phone. She heard the disappointment in his voice, and she felt even worse about it now. "What is the rule?"

"To get at least eight hours of sleep," she replied.

"That's right, little one. Do you know why?"

She nodded her head but quickly started to speak because he couldn't see her. "To keep me healthy."

"That's right. I want you to be healthy, and getting less than eight hours of sleep can make you feel bad and be in a bad mood," he said. "I don't want that."

"I know." She let out a sigh.

She hated that she disappointed her Daddy. Charlotte knew now that he couldn't find out about her financial position or that she worked a second job. She didn't want to see or hear the disappointment.

"I really want to see you right now, but I know you need to get into bed. Do you work tomorrow?" he asked.

"I don't work tomorrow," she replied.

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