Page 17 of Their Little Foursome

“Yes, Lori, I will always come. Close your eyes. I’ll see you when you wake up.” Leaving the room, he pulled the door closed.

Lori felt a moment of fear at being left alone for the first time in a strange place, but forced herself to remember “alone” didn’t mean “abandoned”. Turning on her side, she looked through the rails of the crib. It really was a nice room, but she’d really rather be allowed to stay up with her Daddy. There were ponies to pet and perhaps ride, and Luna had said something about caterpillars and butterflies that sounded like fun. Erika had mentioned a cafeteria where the bestest mac ’n’ cheese was served every single day. And there was a whole huge store to explore.

But what Lori really wanted to see was if there really were other Littles like her. Sure, she’d seen the couple on the porch, but they had looked like the Bigs at Daddy’s club. There had even been a couple of other Littles in the classes with her. But Littles who lived as Littles every day? Ones who took vacations where they could wear Little clothing and run and play instead of taking boring walking tours of museums? Did they have their own Daddies or Uncles to take care of them? Did they have Mommies or Aunties like she once had?

“If they do, I bet their Daddies don’t make their Littles miss out on the fun by taking naps,” she said to Fauna.

“I bet they do. Now go to sleep unless you need Daddy to demonstrate how it feels to wear your diaper over a hot bottom first.”

Lori’s head whipped up to look at the door and finding it closed, wondered how he’d heard her. A light caught her attention and she recognized it came from a baby monitor. Wow, it had to be very strong to have picked up her voice from several feet away.

“Do you think he can hear us now?” she whispered as softly as she could against the stuffy’s fur.

“Yes, I can, and that’s two. If I have to tell you again to close your eyes and go to sleep, your diaper will come down and your brush will be applied to your naked bottom. Understood?”

“She can’t answer, Mr. Daddy. She’s already asleep.”

Gordon chuckled. “Thank you, Fauna. Have a good nap; that goes for you too, sweetpea. Sleep tight.”

Or the brush will take some bottom bites…

Lori slapped her hand over her mouth to stifle the giggles as her mind twisted the line of the rhyme. Hugging Fauna closer, she closed her eyes and drifted into the arms of the sandman.

CHAPTER 6

Gordon

“You think this is the Big House?”

Lori looked from him to the large home illuminated by the lights of the golf cart she and her Daddy were sitting in. “It’s definitely not little.”

Chuckling, Gordon turned off the ignition and climbed out. Jared had told him about the golf carts and he’d thought Lori might like to take a ride in one. He’d been right. His Little girl had been bouncing on her seat, pointing out various places she thought they should go, happy as a lark… until they arrived at their destination. Helping her from the cart, he crouched down and waited until her eyes met his.

“You’re going to be just fine, sweetpea. You’ve already met everyone who is coming except for Sadie. I promise you have nothing to worry about. It’s just dinner with friends.”

“Your friends,” she clarified softly.

Gordon nodded. “That’s right. My friends who want to be your friends as well. And, if Sadie is anything like Jared, Erika, and Luna have said, you will have a brand-new friend as well.”When she still looked a bit uncertain, he squeezed her hands. “Tell you what. If you get uncomfortable, if you feel like you can’t breathe, just let me know. I promise I’ll take you back to the room.”

“But… I-I don’t want them to think you picked a bad girl.”

“Lori, you will never, ever, be a ‘bad’ girl no matter if you live to be a thousand years old. And I promise you nobody else would think that either. These people understand how this might be a bit scary for you. Master Derek created this very Ranch specifically to provide a safe place for people who were frightened, who were hurt, who needed someone who understood how horrid the outside world can be, so I promise no one will judge you or me, or anyone else for that matter.”

“You really think Sadie is nice? And Little like me?”

Gordon smiled and cupped her face in his palms. “Yes, baby, maybe not as Little as you are, but she is Master Derek’s Little girl, just like you are mine. Of course, there is only one sure-fire way to know if I’m right. Do you know what that is?”

His hands slipped from her face when she turned her head to look up at the house. “Go inside and see.”

“That’s right. Is that what you’d like to do?”

Returning her gaze to him, Lori said, “You’re sure they won’t think me rude?”

“I’m positive.”

“Okay, we can go, but if they serve Brussel sprouts, I’m not gonna eat even a teensy bite.”

Gordon’s bark of laughter broke the tension and he bent to kiss her quickly before straightening. “Understood.” Spotting Fauna lying on the golf-cart’s seat, he picked the stuffy up and handed her to Lori. “Fauna can eat them for you.”

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