Page 26 of Daddy Devious

I’m still humiliated, still unsure of how I will ever recover from what just happened to me. But when I pull my hands from my eyes, I smile around the rubber tip of my pacifier.

At least my bath has bubbles.

Maxwell

Victoria finally lowers her hands, exposing her tear-stained face as she smiles tremulously around her pacifier. Soft, pitiful sniffles fill the bathroom as she floats, her hands batting at the bubbles surrounding her.

We have a bit of time before we have to be at the doctor’s office, so I open the toy chest beside the tub. “Duckies or mermaids?”

Two dark, red-rimmed eyes peer up at me with curiosity. “Wha’?” Her words are adorably muffled by the pacifier, as if she’s forgotten it’s still in her mouth.

“To play with.” Reaching into the box, I hold up one of each. “Rubber duckies or mermaids?”

That seems to get her attention, and she sits up straighter, peering over the edge of the tub at the box. She pulls the pacifier from her mouth, passing it to me distractedly as she scans the contents. “These are for me?”

“I don’t see any other Little girls in my bathtub,” I tease, earning me one of those adorable blushes I love so much.

“But I’m too old to play with toys in the bath.” Despite her protests, there’s a note of longing in her words. “Those are for babies.”

“And you’re my baby.” To me, it’s that simple, though I am not unsympathetic to her dilemma. “So, which is it going to be, little one?”

Perfect white teeth nibble at her bottom lip as her gaze returns to the box. “I don’t know…”

“It would make Daddy very happy if you played for a while, Victoria.”

Some of the worry fades from her expression, though there is still a hint of doubt in her eyes when she looks up at me again. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Well… if it’s for you, I guess I don’t have a choice.” There’s a note of triumph in her voice, as if she’s uncovered some kind of loophole that allows her to enjoy being a baby without embarrassment. “Hmmm. Mermaids, please.”

Plucking a blonde mermaid and her redheaded friend from the box, I hand them to Victoria. For a while, she just watches them float in the bubbles, occasionally pushing one this way or that.

It’s more fun than I had truly anticipated to watch her discover this side of herself. I thought I would have to work harder to bring the Little girl hidden inside her to the surface, but other than the expected rebellions, she’s taken to being my little one like well, like a mermaid to water, I suppose.

I watch as she picks up the redheaded mermaid and plunges her beneath the water with a splash. Her cheerful giggles replace her sniffles in the air as she loses herself in the game.

“We need pirates,” she declares, peeking over the side of the tub again. “Do we have pirates?”

“Ahh…” I scan the contents of the toy chest. “No, little one, no pirates.”

The sigh she heaves is full of childlike scorn. “We need pirates.”

Curious now, I tilt my head to the side as I watch her continue to play. “Why do you need pirates?”

“Because.” She draws the second syllable out in pure exasperation. “The mermaids need someone to drown.”

It’s as much the answer itself as the matter-of-fact way she delivers it that surprises a laugh out of me. “How silly of me to forget the pirates, then.”

“Silly Daddy,” she agrees with a sweet, high giggle.

Leaning in, I drop my voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “You know, I bet if you asked your Auntie Cat very nicely, she wouldtake you to the toy store and buy you some pirates. Especially if you told her why you wanted them.”

“Okay! Let’s go!” She lunges forward, spilling water out of the tub and onto the floor, narrowly missing my pants.

“Not so fast, little girl.” I press a hand against her chest, pinning her in place as she pouts up at me. “We need to get you washed up so you can be nice and clean for Doctor D and Auntie Cat.”

Her bottom lip puffs out even further. “Don’t wanna go to the doctor.”

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