Page 90 of Daddy's Little Cupcake

Charlotte took a deep breath in and tightened her fist around his shirt. She wanted the comfort right now as she spoke to him.

“I’m sorry for not coming to you and saying this. I was worried that your feelings would get hurt. I didn’t know how to bring this up, but I promised that I was going to. You just beat me to it.”

“I forgive you, my little cupcake. I knew you were going to come to me eventually about it, but I wanted to ease your worries.”

Charlotte moved her head and looked up at him, but her hand was still tightly gripping his shirt.

“How did you know?”

“Daddies always know. But if you really wanna know, your body language and your facial expressions told me. I knew after I spilled my guts to you that it was gonna worry you. I’ve seen it happen before with my friend. His little one has been independent since she was a tiny little girl, and moving in with him was hard because she didn’t know if she would have her own space. I saw it firsthand, and I knew I needed to address it with you.”

Tears welled up in her eyes. “Thank you for being such a good Daddy.”

He held her tightly against him and ran his hand up and down her back.

“So what’s your decision?” Daddy asked.

“I’ll move in,” she whispered. “I-I don’t wanna get rid of my house though. I just…I just think I can do good with it.”

“What were you thinking?”

“I don’t know. Maybe renting it out? I honestly haven’t given it much thought, but I know that I don’t want to sell it.”

“I think that’s a good idea. We can brainstorm ideas together. If you want.”

Charlotte beamed up at him. “I love that idea.”

“Great! We’ll start writing ideas down on a piece of paper.”

Charlotte snuggled up into his arms and relaxed.

“Thank you, Daddy.”

“You’re welcome.”

They sat there for several minutes, basking in each other's embrace. Charlotte felt so much more at ease knowing if she needed space that she could have it. She didn’t realize how much she had worried about that until he mentioned it.

“Want to go eat ice cream? I’ve got some in the freezer,” Daddy suggested.

“What flavor?”

Charlotte knew there was only one right type of ice cream flavor.

“Cookies and cream, vanilla, chocolate, and butter pecan.”

Her stomach rumbled at the mention of cookies and cream ice cream. It was so delicious, and she could eat her weight in it.

“Cookies and cream!” she screamed and scrambled off of his lap.

Charlotte raced out of the room and toward the kitchen.

“No running!” Daddy yelled after her, but she didn’t pay any attention.

She wanted the ice cream right now.

“Charlotte Ann! You stop running right this instant, or your bottom will be bright red!”

That didn’t stop Charlotte from running into the kitchen. Nothing was going to stop her from getting her ice cream.

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