Page 16 of Poppy's Place

Carter

Every minute I spent with Poppy, I fell harder for her. I’d never had that kind of connection with a person, much less after just one night together. But I thought that meant it was real.

When you know you know, and I definitely knew. Poppy was mine.

For the next several days, I brought her lunch to make sure she didn’t forget to eat it and then met up with her for dinner every night. When we went out together, she was bubbly and sweet and everything I wanted in a girlfriend. And when we were home, she easily regressed into a silly, happy, needy Little girl.

Poppy was perfect in every way.

I spent time with her in her playroom, but on Friday night, her friend group, the Little Lovelies, had another playdate planned. And she invited me to be there.

I was ecstatic, not only to get the invitation, but to get to see Poppy with her friends and in their safe space. There was just one thing I had to do first.

I was sitting in the café on Friday morning, waiting for a quiet moment to make my request. As soon as Kylie had some downtime, I went over to the counter and asked if she would mind taking a short walk with me.

“Of course, boss.” She turned to Andrea and motioned toward the register. “Can you watch this? I need to go talk to Carter for a few minutes.”

“You got it.” Andrea was washing mugs and saucers, but there were no customers in the shop, so she would be fine if any came in.

Kylie slipped off her apron and came behind the counter. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just wanted to check in with you about something that’s not work related.”

“Oh…” She smiled widely as if she knew exactly what I was gonna say. “Gotcha. Can we walk down to the post office? I need to get stamps.”

“Definitely.” We stepped outside, and I glanced over to Poppy’s. She was probably sitting at her desk with her back to the window, but I couldn’t see her from my angle. “Have you had a chance to talk to Poppy recently?”

“You mean, your baby girl?” She was practically giddy as she teased me.

I chuckled and slipped my hands into my pocket. “Yes, my baby girl.”

“Yeah, and I’m so happy for both of you. I don’t know why I never saw it before, but you guys are perfect for each other.”She turned to me, and her jaw dropped. “You’re coming tonight, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I want to make sure you’re comfortable with me being there. Obviously, I won’t be there as your boss, but as your friend’s Daddy, but I wanted to make sure you’re alright with that.”

“Yeah, of course.” She waited for a woman with a stroller to pass us before she continued. “I’ve run into coworkers and even a few professors at kink clubs before, so I know it happens. As long as you’re comfortable with it, I’m comfortable with it.”

“Excellent.” We approached the post office, so I opened the door for her, and she ran to the machine to buy some stamps. When she was done, I followed her back outside. “Will your boyfriend be joining tonight as well?”

“Yeah, my Daddy will be there too.” She looked at me and winked. “It’ll be nice for you guys to get to hang out for more than a few seconds on his way in or out of the store. And he’ll appreciate having another caretaker around for when things get a little crazy. I hope you don’t mind a little bit of nudity now and then. Some of us get pretty deep in our regression and forget about grown-up things like clothes and potty breaks altogether.”

I laughed at that. “Yeah, Poppy warned me, and I’m ready for anything. Thank you for being so open-minded about this.” I stopped and looked her in the eyes. “And thank you for telling Poppy she could trust me. I think your endorsement saved me weeks of wooing her.”

“Ehh.” She waved off the comment as we started walking again. “Maybe one or two dates, but definitely not weeks. You seem like you’d be a great woo-er all by yourself.”

We walked the rest of the way in relative silence, with an understanding that our relationship might be about to change outside of work, but it didn’t have to change anything at work.

With that final detail covered, I headed back to the office to get a few things done before heading home to shower and change for the playdate. Poppy made it clear that the Daddies could watch from afar, but she didn’t expect me to play with her because her friends would be there.

That meant I could be comfortable. I put on a black t-shirt and performance joggers so I could get down on the ground to play ponies if she wanted me to, but I looked more like a bouncer than a businessman.

I got to Poppy’s thirty minutes before her friends were due to arrive, and she called me from the top of the stairs as soon as I entered the stairwell.

“Daddy, I need your help!”

Taking the stairs two at a time, I rushed to her side, ready to save her from a burning building or giant rat. Instead, she shoved two scrunchies into one of my hands and a hairbrush in the other. “My braids aren’t braiding right.”

Her hair was parted down the center of her head with wet strands resting over each shoulder. I tried to focus on the accessories she handed to me, but I was more than a little distracted by the fact that she was wearing a diaper and nothing else. “Hey, baby girl. You look like you’re almost ready to play.”

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