Page 49 of Daddy's Little Surprise

“You’re okay. Take a deep breath for Daddy. Everything is going to be fine.”

But everything wasn’t fine. She could have lost him. It was an exaggeration, but she really could have lost him. Something could have happened be a freak accident.

Tears dripped down her face as she played scenarios over in her head. It hadn’t really occurred to her in the moment that he could have died. Everything could have gone bad. What if he got hit in the face that resulted in him falling backward, hitting his head in just te wrong place?

She didn’t want him to die. He had made her feel so much in a little amount of time. She wasn’t ready for him to leave.

“You’re okay. Everything is fine. Daddy is right here, and nothing is wrong. Can you take a deep breath for Daddy?”

She tried to do what he said, but she just continued to cry. What if something was wrong now and he could die? Did he need to get checked out? Where was the sheriff? He was supposed to be here any second now, but he wasn’t. Was everything going to be okay? Was he going to make it out alive?

“Little girl. Everything is okay. Daddy is all right. Nothing happened. You’re okay. Can you look at me?”

She couldn’t see the bruise and cut on his face, but she knew it was there. How could she get it out of her mind? It had been so blatantly obvious when she first looked at him. The bruise was just forming, but she could see the blood that had run down his face and onto his neck.

“I’ve got him,” another man said.

Rainey hadn’t even realized he’d come up to Daddy. Where had he come from?

“Thanks, man.”

She was still crying, holding her bump as they exchanged holds on the drunk man. Daddy slowly walked toward her, trying not to spook her.

“Daddy is right here. Everything is okay. Can I touch you?”

She didn’t give Daddy a moment to consider what he had just said. She launched herself at him, her bump getting in the way, but she didn’t care. She needed to feel that he was alive and okay. She didn’t know what happened while she was calling the police, but it was bad enough he got injured.

Rainey pulled back and started to inspect his face.

“Daddy is okay.”

Deep down, she knew that, but at the same time, she didn’t. She needed to make sure Daddy was okay. She needed to do it to calm her nerves.

“I’m okay, Little girl. It’s just a little scratch and a bruise. It’ll heal in no time.”

“Please, please just let me look at you. I need to.”

Daddy complied. She just continued to gingerly run her hands over the bruise and cut. Never once did Daddy flinch or wince in pain. But even looking didn’t help her.

She could feel her body shaking with nerves, tears still rolling down her face.

“I could have lost you,” she whispered as she continued to look at his face.

It really shook her to the core. She hadn’t realized that in any situation she could easily lose somebody so importantto her. She also hadn’t realized how much he meant to her. She wasn’t ready to lose him, not when she had just found him.

“You’re okay, Little girl. I promise, everything is going to be okay,” Daddy gently spoke as he ran his hands through her hair.

She pulled back and looked him in the eyes. She burst into another round of tears and Daddy pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. She nestled her face into the crook of his shoulder and neck as she cried.

“Everything is going to be okay. Daddy is right here. I’m not going anywhere. You can stay right here in my arms the whole time.”

“Marco?” a man asked.

She immediately recognized his voice. The sheriff.

“Baxter. So good to see you. Can you give me a couple of minutes?”

“Take all the time you need.”

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