Page 30 of Protecting Little Phoebe

She skipped over to him and plonked herself down in front of him.

Oh to be that young again. He started to carefully brush her hair.

“That’s so nice,” she said.

“It is?”

“Yeah, I didn’t realize how relaxing it would be to have someone brush my hair. When my brothers would do it, they’d hack at it so hard that my scalp would sting for ages afterward. This is much nicer.”

“That wasn’t very kind of them.”

She shrugged. “I guess they were annoyed about having to take care of me. My dad worked a lot, so they had to help take care of me and Joseph.”

“They should have been more careful with you. You’re precious.” He finished off one braid and started on the other.

“I am?” she asked in a hushed voice.

“You are,” he replied firmly. “And you should expect to be treated like a princess.”

“Ooh, I like the sound of that. Because a princess gets whatever she wants.”

“I’m afraid that’s not the case.” He stood and moved around her so he could hold out his hands. She slid her hands into his and he lifted her to her feet.

“I think they do.”

He’d forgotten what this felt like. He’d had a relationship with a Little before Krystal, until she’d left the country. They hadn’t been in love, but he’d cared about her, enjoyed being with her. But with Phoebe he had the feeling that things could be very different. He’d already developed feelings for her in the short time he’d known her.

He lightly squeezed her hands. “Into bed, little girl.”

With a nod, she climbed into bed, and he drew the covers up, tucking her in. She rolled onto her side as he drew a chair over beside the bed.

“Now. Before you go to sleep we need to have a small chat about this glitter prank.”

“It wasn’t me! I didn’t do it.”

“You didn’t do it?” he repeated.

“Nope.”

“So you didn’t explode any glitter bombs.”

“Wellll,” she said.

“And before you answer, I should tell you that telling the truth is a big rule. So lying to me would result in a punishment.”

She sighed. “I was trying to say that I might have thrown a teensy bit of glitter, but you have to understand the peer pressure I was under.”

“Peer pressure?” he asked.

“Yes, I mean, if I’m given glitter and I don’t use it, then am I really a Little? It’s a whole Little thing. I don’t expect you to understand. But if you’re given glitter then it’s expected you will throw it… or glue it to something, I guess. But I didn’t have any glue and everyone else was throwing it around. Sooo that meant I had to as well. I don’t want to be a bad Little.”

“You could never be a bad Little,” he reassured her. “Being a bit sassy or naughty could never make you bad, understand?”

“Okay. I understand.”

“That’s my good girl. But you know there are consequences to every action, right?”

“I don’t like the word consequences,” she said. “It doesn’t sound very nice.”

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