Page 80 of Daddy's Little Survivor

But those times were over. He had responsibilities and she knew that, but it didn't make it any easier. She had thought about talking to him about delegating some things but didn't feel like it was her place. She didn't know the club in and out like he did and didn't even know if there were things he could delegate.

Monroe just worried he was going to wear himself thin and that wasn't going to end well. She didn't want him to hurt himself or make himself sick. She didn't know the first thing about taking care of someone. She sucked at cooking and whenever somebody got sick, she would always end up sick soon after.

Maybe that was one of the reasons why she was a Little and not a caregiver. It didn't come naturally but she also didn't really have a drive to do it. That could possibly change if it was Daddy on the line. She didn't want him to suffer so she would suck it up if she had to. Probably make a lot of mistakes as it happened but she would probably learn.

“What are you thinking so hard about?” Daddy asked.

She shrugged her shoulders and looked at her legs that were covered in the blanket.

“Oh no. You don't get to just shrug your shoulders. Daddy asked you a question and would like an answer,” he said.

Daddy had told her before they made a fort that he was going to be checking on her throughout the evening. She had gone through something traumatic and he wanted to make sure she was okay. Her insides flipped as he said that because it was the sweetest thing. He really cared about her and she secretly loved it.

He had also reminded her that if she didn’t want to talk about something she shouldn’t lie but just tell him. It was a weird concept, but she agreed when they talked about their relationship. She was trying her best to follow that rule, but it was a lot harder than she thought.

“I was just thinking if you got sick that I would make a terrible caregiver,” she whispered. “I'm a terrible cook, I don't know how to do laundry very well, I suck at making beds, I get sick very easily after if I'm around people, and it just wouldn't end well.”

She felt like a failure at that moment. Even though most of her foster care homes weren’t the best, they had still done her laundry. Then when she was with Jared, he had maids that came and did everything. He didn’t trust her to do anything and he didn’t let them interact with her. When they came, he made sure she stayed in one room.

Daddy chuckled and brought her close to him. She loved when he had his arms wrapped around her. It made her feel safe and loved. Everything she hadn't felt when she was growing up or lived with Jared.

“Don't worry. I'm not going to get sick,” he said. “I promise.”

“You can't promise that.”

Sickness was one thing people couldn't promise. It came and went, no matter who the person was.

“What brought this up?” he asked.

She shook her head. She didn't want to answer that. It wasn't her place to really talk about his work because she didn't understand it.

“Little Bunny,” he said and patted his lap. “Come here.”

Monroe crawled into his lap and he wrapped his arms around her.

“You can tell me anything. Something is bothering you and I want to help.” He ran his hands through her hair.

She felt tears well up in her eyes and she sniffled. This had been bothering her for a while because he had been working from home and for a lot of hours. She didn’t want to overstep and get involved with something he didn’t want her to.

“Monroe.” He said her name and pulled her back a little. “The only way for this relationship to work is if we have open and honest communication. You can come to me with anything, and I will listen.”

She loved and hated when he said her name like that. Everything inside of her wanted to tell him but she felt like it wasn't her place.

“Love,” he said. “It's obviously troubling you. What is it about?”

“Your work,” she whispered and looked down at his stomach. “It's not my place and I shouldn't have said anything.”

He placed his hands around her face and made her look at him. She could see the worry across his face and didn't like it. She didn't want to make him worry and yet she did.

“What about my work? You can talk to me about anything. This is how a relationship works. Open communication. Honest communication,” he said.

She took a deep breath in. Was she really going to tell him? Maybe she should have talked to Charlotte about this first. She had been in her relationship longer than Monroe and had to have some wisdom.

“I'm worried about you,” she honestly said. “I'm worried you're going to burn yourself out and you're going to get sick. I'm worried that once you get sick, I'm going to get sick and have to take care of you. I suck at taking care of people and I don't want to make things worse. It's not my place to talk about it because I don't know anything.”

“No. It is your place to talk about it. You may not know much about my work but that doesn't mean you don't have your worries and can't talk to me about it. Something has obviously been bothering you and we need to talk about it. I don't want you to worry so we're going to talk.” he said. “I don't want you to ever feel like you can't come and talk to me. Even if it's something you don't know a lot about. Now, can you tell me why you're worried about me burning myself out and getting sick?”

All Monroe wanted to do was curl up in a ball and say nothing. She had already gone out of her comfort zone to tell him that she was worried about him regarding his work. But she knew she needed to do this because she had already brought it up, and she needed to get it off her chest. That and he asked her nicely to tell him.

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