Page 14 of Promising Little Poppy

With gentle hands, CJ poured water over Poppy’s hair, washing, rinsing and conditioning with care. The experienced Caregiver made sure that soap never touched Poppy’s eyes, ensuring she was safe through something as mundane yet intimate as a bath.

Finally, CJ gestured for Poppy to stand, and she felt shy for a moment. But when CJ arched an eyebrow in her direction, she did as instructed, truly wanting to please CJ by doing as her Caregiver asked.

“Hold on to my shoulder to steady yourself if you need. And if you want me to stop, you can say red. I’m going to wash your legs and your privates now. Is that okay with you, Poppy.”

Her breath hitched but her voice was steady when she responded. “I’m ready. I’m still green.”

CJ’s smile in return was bright enough to light entire galaxies, and Poppy had the feeling that the trust she was extending toward CJ gave her courage to resume her own story as she continued to treat Poppy’s body with a delicate care Poppy realized she’d never experienced before.

“I was a handful to say the least. Always getting in trouble and running away from home. Always looking for something to make me feel like I belonged. I was just a kid, and I felt like my parents had abandoned me. I mean, theyhadabandoned me. Then, one summer—I must have been fourteen or fifteen at the time—my grandfather found me in my room and told me he had an important job that only I could help him with.”

CJ’s hands traveled over Poppy’s thighs and then she urged Poppy to spread her legs. Poppy hitched a breath as the soapy cloth made contact, sliding through the folds of her most sacred place. Sure, she had been touched between the legs before. But this wasn’t like the times a man had touched her there to roughly prepare her for sex. This wasn’t clinical or something a person worked though quickly to get to the good stuff. No, CJ took her time to slide between the folds of Poppy’s vulva. To massage the cloth over her mons and through Poppy’s thick pubic hair.

This felt different. Reverent.

As if every inch of Poppy’s body was worth celebrating. Worthworshiping.

It also, Poppy realized, felt amazing. She hadn’t been touched like this in years. Hadn’t had another person place their hands on her body since the end of the often emotionally abusive relationship that had led her to the Ranch.

And that thought alone was enough to jolt her back to the present, where a fully clothed CJ was washing Poppy between her legs. Trying to redirect the gravity of the moment, she remembered the conversation the two had previously been having and tried to steer them back toward what was certain to be safer territory than her own currently conflicting emotions. “What was the job your grandfather gave you?”

As if recognizing Poppy was already pushing herself far beyond anything CJ would have ever expected, she dropped the cloth over the side of the tub before beginning the process of rinsing Poppy’s body with fresh, warm water.

“He had found an abandoned litter of kittens in the barn they kept their gardening tools in. Too young to be on their own, he looked and looked but never found the mother cat. I’m not sure why he thought I should be in charge of them, but something tells me the man knew it was exactly what I needed. Together we carried five screaming kittens from the barn to the house. I made them a makeshift bed in a large, cardboard box. They were so tiny their eyes hadn’t even opened, and I had to tend to them every two hours around the clock for the first week.”

CJ helped Poppy out of the tub, wrapping her in a huge towel that stretched all the way around Poppy’s curvy frame. It made Poppy feel tiny and cute, and she loved it more than she expected. Back at her dorm at the university, she used a smaller towel that made her feel like a giant. But in the suite, with this fluffy sheet, she felt like royalty. Already, she knew she would miss everything about this bathroom when she went back to her dorm. The way there was actually room to move around withease, the bright light and spacious vanity–not to mention the tub she wanted to live in.

“I was exhausted,” CJ continued as she carefully dried Poppy’s skin. “But I knew that those kittens were counting on me. And as they grew and gained strength, I did right alongside them. I learned so much about myself that summer, particularly that I thrived when having a purpose, when given a reason to care for those around me like I did for those kittens. It was something I likely never would have learned if I’d stayed with my parents, and it was something that changed my life.”

After making sure Poppy was dry, CJ helped her into a clean pair of simple white, cotton panties and a nightgown that fell down to her knees. This nightgown, much like the silly yet cute shirt she had worn earlier, had a cartoon print on the garment. Though this time it was an all-over print of a bunny holding a carrot in adorable poses surrounded by flowers in all colors of the rainbow.

CJ watched Poppy with rapt attention as her Little brushed her teeth. Pushing herself onto the counter in the bathroom, CJ continued the story that she had started in the tub. “You remind me of those kittens because they might have been cute, but they were also full of sass. And sometimes, when not happy, they even took a swipe with their tiny little murder mittens. But even when they were acting fierce, a lot of the time, it was because they were actually afraid themselves.”

Poppy blushed, thinking back to how mean she had been to CJ the day they first explored the Littles’ Wing together, how her fear made her lash out, just like the kittens CJ described on her grandparents’ flower farm.

Quickly, she finished brushing her teeth, making sure she rinsed just as well as she’d brushed. Wanting to lighten the mood, she wiped a stray water droplet from her bottom lipbefore she spoke. “And here I thought that it was because I was so irresistibly adorable.”

CJ threw her head back and laughed as if loving that Poppy was feeling comfortable enough to joke around despite the heavy nature of their night together. Truly, in just a few short days, Poppy had begun to flourish just by having a bit of extra one-on-one attention CJ showered her with—attention that anyone would have been lucky to receive. Having someone to listen to her, to truly take her fears into consideration, had been something Poppy had been lacking, even if she’d been unaware of the fact until she was paired with CJ in such an unconventional way.

Together they finished getting Poppy ready for bed. CJ insisted on combing through her Little’s still-damp hair, making sure it was once again free of tangles. And then she led Poppy across the suite to Poppy’s room. “Come on, kitten. I’ll get you all tucked in.”

CJ pulled the sheets back, ushering Poppy into bed. She found the stuffed kitten they got at the gift shop and tucked it into bed next to Poppy then leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to the kitten’s forehead followed by one to her Little’s brow, too. Sitting on the side of Poppy’s bed, CJ smiled with such tenderness it almost brought a tear to Poppy’s eyes. “For what it’s worth, Poppy, youareabsolutely, irresistibly adorable. And I know you think I forgot about it already, but I haven’t. And if you are comfortable calling me Daddy, I would be honored to hold that role in our dynamic.”

Poppy sleepily smiled back, a bit worn out from another emotional day with CJ. Yet, from under the covers, Poppy slipped one of her hands free and reached out for CJ’s hand. “I’ve been spending so much time with other Littles as I explore this side of myself that I think I just got used to hearing them use the term so freely.”

Though that was partially true, Poppy also felt an unfamiliar jealousy when she thought about someone else calling CJ Daddy. She knew that CJ had other Littles before her, and when they’d talked about honorifics at the start of their dynamic, it was one of the titles CJ said she was comfortable being called.

Still, Poppy hadn’t ever thought that she would want to call anyone Daddy. Especially not another woman.

Yet there was something to be said for CJ. The strong, silent way she cared for Poppy, the energy she gave off that spoke to how she would be there to take care of the problems that simply felt like too much for Poppy to handle on her own.

CJ was nurturing and affirming, yet she gently pushed Poppy outside of her comfort zone in a way that would previously have had Poppy shutting down.

CJ was every bit a Daddy if Poppy had ever seen one.

And with CJ’s permission, Poppy decided that Daddy was, in fact, the perfect name to use. It gave CJ the respect she so beautifully earned by treating Poppy with the care and appreciation Poppy had so desperately been missing without ever knowing. “Okay, Daddy. I would like that very much.”

CJ

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