Page 10 of Daddy's Little Surprise

“The nurse also mentioned it.”

“She did not!”

“Were you paying attention?”

She looked away and shook her head. “I wasn’t because I knew you were.”

It was a bad excuse, but she knew Daddy was paying attention to everything the nurse said. He seemed to care and want what was best for her.

“I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to check out because you knew I was paying attention and have your bestinterests at heart. Good thing I asked the nurse to print it out so you could read over your notes,” Daddy gently said as he pulled into the parking lot of the coffee shop.

Her car was behind the building. It was getting darker, and she knew she had to be quick, grabbing her things and walking to her car. It felt a little sketchy at the back of the building, but she couldn’t complain too much. Rainey didn’t go to a lot of places, so she didn’t have to use her car much.

“Once we get home, I’ll let you look over them for a couple of minutes. If you want to look more, you can tomorrow.”

“I still need to work tomorrow.”

“You will not be working tomorrow. The doctor said you needed rest and sleeping tonight isn’t enough. Text Grace and let her know you won’t be coming in. She has it handled. You wouldn’t have made her manager if you didn’t trust her.”

Rainey clenched her jaw. He was right. If she didn’t trust Grace, she wouldn’t have promoted her to manager.

“I know it’s hard. I know you don’t want to do it, but think about your baby and yourself. Do you want to be on bed rest for the rest of your pregnancy?”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. While she didn’t want him to be right, he did have a point. She didn’t want to be in the hospital where she knew she wasn’t going to get good rest for the remainder of her pregnancy. She also knew she wouldn’t eat much at the hospital because the food was nasty.

“No, I don’t want that,” she whispered.

It sounded truly awful. She still had three months leftuntil her due date. That was a long time to be in the hospital on bed rest and doing nothing.

“I know it’s hard, and we’ll have fun things to do, but it’s okay for you to take a day off. You don’t have to work so much and put your health at risk.”

“But I need the money,” she mumbled, hoping he wouldn’t hear it.

Most of the money her dad left her was used for rent, equipment, food, drinks, cups, and to pay the employees. She was in a lot better situation than a lot of people who opened a coffee shop. She didn’t have loans and was making a profit, which wasn’t normal this fast.

Either Daddy didn’t hear, or he heard and wasn’t going to say anything.

“I’ll quickly grab my stuff and be right back out.” Rainey unbuckled herself and got out of the car.

Her sole focus was to open the door and get to her office so she could grab a set of clothes, her stuffed animal, and her binkie. And that’s exactly what she did.

Rainey bent down to the couch and grabbed her stuffed animal, a leopard named Tootsie. When she realized she was Little, it was one of her first purchases. It was still soft like the day she’d bought it. Granted, it did stay locked up for more than a year, but she still brought it out every once in a while to hug when Pete wasn’t home.

“Oh, Little girl, you sleep here?”

She yelled out in shock, quickly turning around and seeing Daddy standing in the doorway. When had he gotten here? She hadn’t heard him close his car door or walk behind her.

“I’m sorry for scaring you. Do you sleep in your office?” Daddy asked once again.

Rainey looked down at her feet and nervously rocked back and forth on them. “I’m still trying to get money for a place.”

No one knew she lived in her office, and she didn’t want anybody to. She didn’t want to have the pity that came soon after.

Daddy wrapped his arms around her and held her. She felt herself slowly relaxing into his embrace. He would keep her safe from everything in the world; she just knew it.

“It’s going to be okay. Everybody goes through a rough patch in their life. I did, and now I’m here. Daddy is here to take care of you. You no longer have to live in your office.”

She pulled back slightly. “You can’t take care of me.”

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