McKenna had the mommy scrutiny down. Giggling and squirming wasn’t the correct response though. A single brow rose just like Mommy’s did.

“I’ve um, got a girlfriend?”

“Was that meant to be a question?”

“Do you know what a mommy is?”

“You know I do. I’ve worked the kink cruises with you.”

This was getting nowhere fast…

“I moved in with her the day before I left and now here I am, and I miss her. I want my mommy.” Came out in a puff of sobs.Get it together, Darcy, you’re on the clock.

It took McKenna longer than expected to respond and I swear I held my breath until she did.

“Ah, gotcha. That’s a lot of changes for one little girl to make in a month.”

Little girl? Was she a…

Is there a minimum age to be a mommy or daddy? Maybe not ‘cause Chase said at Pride Camp his bestie was a daddy and Chase and him were the same age of twenty-two, or was it twenty-three?

“We went to pride camp for a week, then to Vale’s. You remember my bestie, Vale?” she nodded, so I kept going. “He has a big jungle gym and a silly indoor playroom climbing thing in the basement where his daddy works out while he swings around. They live on Whidbey Island in the coolest house. They even built a bedroom with a ginormous bathroom for me and mommy when we’re there.”

“That sounds awesome. I’m glad it worked out for Jack and Vale.” I forgot McKenna knew Jack too, but at least she was smiling.

“Me too. He just needed the right person to understand him. Just like me and mommy.”

She pointed at my tray. “Alright, your mommy may not be here but I am. We’ve got a busy night ahead of us so eat up. You’ll need every bit of energy you can get.”

“’Kay.” Her order hit me just like mommy’s did and it was on the tip of my tongue to call her that.

Initially, I’d dreaded our lunch, but given the outcome I felt lighter. Maybe it was just talking about mommy that made it that way, but I was able to push through the sads and get through the rest of my shift without incident.

Now for Mommy to read me to sleep.

Chapter Four

Vivienne

I could hear it in Darcy’s voice. She’d been at sea for three weeks now and was on the verge of a full-blown melt down. One that would likely rival her Seatac incident.

“Mommy, are you still doing dommey stuff with other people?” The huff in her tone must be addressed though I knew she wasn’t in the right frame of mind for a stern response.

“Yes, I am, Princess. We should’ve had this conversation already and I apologize for not addressing it with you.” Her eyes welled with tears that came through the video screen clear as day. “But if it helps ease your worries I will let you know that while you shouldn’t question your mommy, none of the scenes has resulted with my hands touching any personal areas nor does anyone but my Princess touch mommy’s special areas.” She sighed, and I knew I’d hit the issue head on. “Also, I’ve begunmoving some of my subs over to other Dom’s.” I didn’t dare go into detail when I’d barely managed to stop her impending tantrum.

“Thank you, Mommy. That means a lot to me.”

“Anything for you, Princess. Now, let’s get to that story.” After that, I’d be making a call to my dear old friend Armando Solis. Darcy didn’t know he and I were acquaintances. Strict confidentiality and NDA’s I took very seriously didn’t allow for that. But I’d like to bend his ear about Darcy’s behavior and maybe get another set of eyes on my girl. I didn’t wish to control all aspects of her life, but I’d ask her to consider finding a new local job, or if I had my way, no job at all when she came home from this three-month trip.

And if she decided to hand over all control to me, I was one hundred percent on board with that. No pun intended. Outing my relationship with Darcy to him I could do. From there it was up to him what he wished to share of his own.

Quiet on the other end had me glancing at the phone screen. As she had every night since she left, Darcy soundly slept before I’d finished the book.

“Night, sweet girl. Mommy loves you.”

Sleepily, she murmured. “Love you, Mommy.”

A quick glance at the clock warned me it was too late to ring Armando. Instead, I sent a text asking him to reach out tomorrow but before I sat the phone down it rang.