Page 27 of Promising Little Poppy

Smiling back at her Little with a warm, gentle smile of her own, CJ reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of Poppy’s eyes. “Good morning, kitten. How are you feeling this morning?”

As if waiting for the perfect moment to make its needs known, Poppy’s belly growled, the sound loud enough to have her eyes going wide.

CJ laughed, responding before Poppy had the chance to. “Hungry is apparently the answer. I’ll order us some breakfast.” Leaning in, she kissed Poppy sweetly. “Last night was very special to me, Poppy.”

“It was special to me, too.”

Something had shifted between them somewhere in the middle of the night. Poppy knew she would always need CJ, need her Daddy.

And not simply in the Caregiver role that she had so perfectly taken on without so much as a thought to her own needs. She needed CJ as her friend, as her partner, and as her lover.

As promised, CJ ordered breakfast for the pair, and it arrived at their suite only a short time later. CJ set out plates atop the mattress instead of eating at the small table in the living room, and Poppy squealed at the opportunity to have a picnic in bed with the most important person in her life. They dined on a meal of eggs and bacon, of sausage and fluffy pancakes topped with fluffy whipped cream and fresh berries. And when CJ had a little of the whipped cream on her bottom lip, Poppy stunned her by leaning forward and kissing it off her face with an eager, hot tongue.

They showered together, Poppy surprised when her Daddy didn’t opt to bathe her in the tub as she usually did each night with gentle care. But when CJ admitted that she had been feeling a bit vulnerable after the night they shared, telling Poppy she feltshe needed her extra close, it made sense, as Poppy had been feeling the exact same way, only unable to put the feelings into words until she heard her Daddy say them out loud to her.

Instead of clothes, they opted for plush, fluffy robes that were stored in each bedroom’s closet. They were both dwarfed by the fabric that was downy soft and obscenely luxurious. Fresh and clean smelling, the only thing that was missing was the signature warmth of something fresh from the dryer.

“I could stay wrapped in this forever,” Poppy said as they got comfortable on the couch. She sat next to her Daddy, their fingers tangled together as they both looked out at the fire dancing away behind the glass door of the electric fireplace. And while she had meant she could stay wrapped in the comfort of the robe forever, both women felt the unsaid words that also hung between them.

I could stay wrapped in this moment forever.

I could stay wrapped in the magic of the Ranch forever.

I could stay wrapped inyouforever.

Poppy felt her lip tremble, knowing her Daddy was leaving Rawhide Ranch in just a few short days. She wanted to scream to the universe that it wasn’t fair. That she had finally found someone who liked her exactly as she was, flaws and all. And now, she was going to be taken away as quickly as she had arrived in Poppy’s life.

Poppy knew she didn’t need CJ in her life to succeed, that she had been given an arsenal of tools to help. She was still contemplating making an appointment with the Ranch psychologist Master Derek had first recommended to her a few weeks prior, too. Still, she wanted CJ in her life and knew her life would be so much more plentiful with her Daddy at her side.

CJ squeezed Poppy’s hand and with anguished eyes, Poppy turned to look at her Daddy.

“Oh, sweetheart, what’s wrong?” She pulled her Little onto her lap and Poppy happily went, the tears that had been on the verge, finally spilling over as she realized this might be the last time she would sit in her Daddy’s lap.

Poppy sniffled loudly, throwing her arms around her Daddy and pressing her face into CJ’s neck as she cried big, body-wracking sobs that shook her entire frame. Her Daddy’s arms came around her body, locking her into place much in the way a weighted blanket locked its recipient under the gentle pressure of its caress.

“Take a big breath and talk to me, kitten. Tell me what’s wrong, Poppy. Tell Daddy what’s wrong.”

Tightening her grip on CJ, Poppy tried to push words out through the tears. “I know I have a tendency to overreact and blow things out of proportion, and I know that I’ve even said some things that have been hurtful to you, but I’m not overreacting when I say I don’t know what I’m going to do when you leave.” She didn’t let her Daddy interject, instead barreling on like a steamroller while she held the courage to do so. “I know it’s silly that I’ve been living at the Ranch for as long as I have and never looked for a dynamic of my own, for a boyfriend… orgirlfriend, I guess… but I didn’t feel like I needed it.”

CJ remained quiet, running a hand up and down Poppy’s back in reassuring touches that were enough to have Poppy continuing to speak.

“I don’t know what it was about you that made me change my mind, but it was like that day in the cafeteria, when I spilled things all over you and your first reaction wasn’t to yell or to be angry, that something inside of me clicked and I somehow knew that you were meant to be in my life—that I’d never be the same.” Poppy pushed her body away from CJ’s, looking the other woman in the eyes. “How am I supposed to go on knowing that I won’t get to see you at the end of each day? How do Ilive knowing that you’re somewhere out in the world caring for someone else?Lovingsomeone else when it should be me?”

Finally, CJ broke as if unable to watch Poppy hurt for a single second longer. Surging up from where she sat beneath Poppy, CJ wrapped one arm around Poppy’s back while grasping her jaw in the other.

Poppy closed her eyes tightly, terrified of what her Daddy was going to say.

Their bodies were so close together, the electricity and emotion swirling around them in a current worthy of sweeping the strongest swimmers off course. “Look at me, Poppy.”

CJ’s voice was like nothing Poppy had ever heard from her Daddy. It was gritty and rough with emotion. Strained yet quiet as if it hurt her to speak.

It took all the strength she had in her body to open her eyes, but finally Poppy did as CJ had asked. Her normally stoic Daddy looked wrought with emotion and it tore Poppy apart even further, nearly sending her into another fit of sobs.

“Thank you for telling me how you are feeling, I know that isn’t an easy thing for anyone to do. The time we’ve spent together… Poppy, it’s been some of the best days of my life and I’m going to cherish these days forever, sweetheart.”

This was it, Poppy thought. This was their goodbye.

“I wasn’t looking for a partner when I came to Rawhide Ranch and I sure as hell wasn’t looking for love. But somehow in the last few weeks, I found both and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let that go.”

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