Page 10 of Harmonizing with Little Heaven Leigh

“Big girls don’t cry. Now get up and go help your brothers get ready.”

“Big girls don’t cry,” she repeated the words out loud without even realizing it. There was a questioning note in her tone as if asking Angel if it was true.

“Big girls absolutely cry. Everyone who has a healthy connection to their emotions cries,” he said firmly, as his hand moved down to her thighs and began landing slow, hard spanks on the tender flesh there.

She hissed in between her teeth and scrunched her eyes up as the pain suddenly escalated. Her toes began to drum against the area rug on the floor, and she whimpered as his palm left burning swatches up and down her legs. “That hurts, Daddy!”

He didn’t say the obvious. They both knew it was supposed to. “You’re allowed to be sad, Heaven. You’re allowed to cry, and be angry, and be hurt. You can feelanyemotion you need to feel because emotions aren’t bad or wrong.” Her Daddy’s reassuring voice drowned out the memories and the voices faded away.

One day, she promised herself, she wouldn’t have bad days when she needed to be reminded of those things. But for today, she was just glad she had Angel to help her through them.

As the spanking reached a crescendo, she let her emotions run wild. Anger, hurt, and years of stuffed down pain crashed over her. “I hate them,” burst from her, garbled and almost incoherent with her sobs. “I hate them so much.”

He didn’t even pause. If anything, the next few swats were even harder. “I think you want to hate them. You wish you hated them, and you have every right to, but I think it’s more complicated than that,” he said.

He wasn’t just guessing, of course. They’d talked about her complicated feelings when it came to her family. She was fine with never seeing them again, but… some part of her would always feel something for them, and it wasn’t hate.

She slumped across his knee and bawled with childlike abandon. Loud weepy sobs shook her shoulders as she hung limp. His hand continued the stern staccato of pain, flashing up and down as it added yet another layer of searing heat.

And then he stopped, and his hand was suddenly gentle as he massaged the burning flesh, easing the sting. “Chiquita mía, I would wipe away all that pain if I could, but I will be here with you, to help you deal with it, any time you need me.”

“T-thank you, D-daddy.” It was barely more than a mumble, but she knew he heard her. It always felt weird to thank him for roasting her butt, but it did help, and she was grateful.

“You’re welcome, Heaven, and when you’re feeling calmer, we can talk about the name and the sign. It is absolutely your choice,” he assured her.

It helped to know that. He always reminded her that submissive or not, she had just as much power in their relationship. They were partners in the way that mattered, and that helped too.

Once the tears had slowed a bit and her body stopped shaking, he scooped her up into his arms and held her in his lap. She snuggled against his chest, feeling small and loved, while they talked. First, about silly unimportant things, to help her relax, but then finally about the name they’d chosen.

By then she’d realized it wasn’t the name that was the problem. On some level she’d known it before, but the pain and tears had helped it rise to the surface. “No, Daddy. Idolike the name. It fits us and it’s cute.”

“Are you sure? It’s not too late to order a new sign, even if we have to open without one, it will be fine.”

She sniffled and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “I was just unsettled from the trip. I forgot that signing the papers and selling everything would be like saying goodbye to Barbara all over again. And then I couldn’t help thinking about everything she did for me and, well, it brought all those old memories to the surface.”

After a second’s thought she added, “I guess it was less work to get mad at a sign, than dig deeper to deal with the emotions.”

He met her eyes and held them for a long moment. “Well, I think we’ll put the sign out of sight for now and give you a few days to destress before we make a final decision. Just to be absolutely sure.”

“But… really, Daddy, I?—”

“I know, Heaven Leigh, but I want you to be sure before we hang it outside the shop. It’s easy to change it now. Later it will be more complicated, and there’s no harm in giving it another think, right?”

“Yes, Daddy.” She sighed and let her head rest against his chest. It was so nice having someone there to talk her down when things got overwhelming. And while she was too stubborn to give up on the name they’d chosen, it really helped that he was giving her the space to make the decision.

No one could have convinced her that Angel wasn’t the best Daddy in the world at that point.

CHAPTER4

Construction finished only a few days later than planned, despite some minor issues that cropped up at the last minute. It was, they were assured, a minor miracle, but the new shop was finally complete, at least structurally. That didn’t mean the stress had ended though, there was still plenty to do before they could open.

All the specialized equipment was installed in the huge kitchen area, and the shop was just getting the final interior touches, before they began moving in the cases and appliances. They were literally counting down the days at that point. Heaven Leigh had posted a calendar on the wall of their apartment, and each evening before bed they crossed off another day with a red marker.

At this stage, they were making daily trips over to the store to check on the progress. It was surprising the number of little things that could go wrong in the final lap.

Once the structural work was complete, they’d moved on to the cosmetics. Bare drywall was still being caulked and primed in the kitchen, but they’d finished painting the entire front shop before Heaven Leigh had pointed out that it was the wrong color. Small errors and mistakes were normal at this stage, or so he’d heard.

Of the sixty different shades of peach they’d considered, Angel couldn’t have told most of them apart, but his Little could. If it was solely up to him, he would have just gone with the wrong shade. He didn’t see what difference it would make, but Heaven Leigh did, and she was proving to be a bit picky about the final steps.

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