Page 41 of Daddy's Little Survivor

Monroe didn't understand why he kept saying he wouldn't have walked into the office if he’d known she was in there. Had Michael told them about her?

“I just told them I was helping someone and I couldn't come into work. They were told you had a rough past, and while I didn’t know what it was, I told them I wasn't going to introduce you to any of them because I didn't want you to be scared. I wanted to be mindful that you didn't even trust me and weren't comfortable around me in the very beginning and I didn't want to make it worse,” Daddy assured her.

It was like he could read her mind, but she knew that wasn't possible. It must be her expressions because Jared would always manipulate her with how she showed her emotions. She thought that after spending six years with Jared she would have gotten better at hiding her emotions. It was hard for her and she found it exhausting. Back then, she didn't want to have to do another thing that was exhausting because she was already worn out.

“He feels sorry for what he did, that he made you panic, because it wasn't his intention. He called me right away to let me know you had run across the room and hidden under my desk and he could hear your cries. He didn't mean to scare you,” he said. “He told me before I walked in that he was sorry for scaring you.”

Monroe started to feel bad that she overreacted. She should have known it wasn't Jared, but he looked just like him. Well, they had a lot of similarities. They both had a short beard and short brown hair. Leo and Jared were about the same height and had the same skin tone. For a second, she wondered if they might have been brothers, but she remembered Jared saying he didn't have any siblings and that he was thankful for it.

“Can you come out from under there?” Daddy asked. “I’m getting kind of lonely and I would really like a hug right now.”

She looked at him, trying to figure out if he was being serious or not. He was getting lonely?

“I'm serious. I got scared when you were hyperventilating and whispering that he was here. Right now, I'm scared and could use a little comfort and would really like a hug,” he said. He paused. “What’s Mr. Wiggle been getting up to?”

Monroe hadn’t meant to scare him. She had been scared because she thought Jared was back and was going to take her. She didn't know it was going to affect Daddy like that.

She slowly crawled from under the desk and into Daddy's lap with Mr. Wiggle. His arms wrapped around her and she felt secure and safe. She felt warm inside as he held her tightly against him.

Monroe didn't know if he needed the hug or if she really needed the hug and he saw that. Maybe both. This was their first official hug and she didn't know how she had lived without hugs before. They were the absolute best thing ever and she never wanted to stop hugging him.

That all ended when Daddy spoke again.

“We need to have a talk,” he said.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

MICHAEL

Michael had been startled, to say the least, when Leo had called him. Apparently, Leo had startled Monroe, and now she was under his desk crying.

It hadn’t occurred to Michael that someone might walk into his office–he’d only planned on being away long enough to grab a coloring book for his Little Bunny. But then Oliver had stopped to ask him something, and suddenly, there was a call from Leo.

The whole thing frightened him and he wasn't lying when he told her he was scared and needed a hug. When he got there, she was hyperventilating, shaking, pale, and murmuring ‘he was here’, and Michael didn't know what to do.

He tried to talk to her but didn't think she could hear him at that moment. That worried him even more, but he kept talking to her as if she could, hoping that on some level, the sound of his voice might begin to calm her.

Once she had finally calmed, he knew they needed to have a serious conversation about her background. They’d had an extensive talk about what triggered her and what didn't, but this was different.

Leo’s appearance in his office wouldn’t have scared her that much unless something else was going on. Yes, Leo was tall and intimidating, but he was nice when a person got to know him.

What got to Michael was the fact she kept whispering ‘he’ was here. Almost as if Leo reminded Monroe of the person who hurt her. Could he have looked like Leo? Did they have the same build? Did they have the same eye color? Did they have the same beard?

He didn’t know and it drove him crazy. He didn’t like being in the dark, especially when it came to people he cared about.

Every fiber in his being wanted to give her space so she didn't have to tell him when she didn't want to, but he needed to know. He couldn't continue to walk on eggshells around her because she needed a firm hand, but he also didn’t want to trigger her into a panic attack. Michael wanted to protect her but didn’t know how or when he would make her panic. It wasn't healthy for her and he needed to make it better.

He knew her abuser’s name was Jared, but nothing else. She didn’t need to give him the person’s full name at this point. He just needed to know what happened so he could help her deal with the trauma.

Michael knew he wouldn't be able to help everything, but he wanted to make it easier on her. He wanted to help her start healing emotionally so she could fully sleep through the night and be her true self.

Every once in a while in the past twenty-four hours, he had seen little parts of her, real parts of her. When she fell into Little space, she was his happiest Little Bunny. And he could tell that she was a cuddler and a snuggler, and he couldn't wait for the day they got to do that.

Those couple of seconds when she cuddled into his arms was the best part of his life. The way she just snuggled into his embrace as he held her tightly against him was the best feeling ever and he couldn’t wait to get more.

“Monroe,” he said, trying to gain her attention.

She looked down at her lap and he felt his heartstrings get tugged a little. He didn’t like seeing her like this.

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