Page 204 of Papa's Bébé
Was he . . . did he . . . he couldn’t mean . . .
Before she could question him, he’d opened the door and gotten out.
Dougie let out a woof and waggled his tail as he stared up at her.
“I don’t know why you look so pleased with yourself,” she told him. “I was enjoying that.”
Another woof and he gave her a doggy smile. She found herself smiling. It was impossible to remain grouchy at Dougie.
He was just too darn cute.
Where was she?
After checking the cabin over, Matthieu had helped her walk the animals so they could pee and then they’d taken them inside. He’d told her to get them settled while he got everything inside.
And now he’d lost her.
The cabin was larger than he’d expected, but it wasn’t enormous. So there couldn’t be that many spaces for her to hide. Dougie and Gummy were sniffing around the living room. Princess Priss was sitting on the back of the sofa, watching them with some alarm. He stopped to pat and reassure her. To his relief, she started to purr. So hopefully she wasn’t too upset by the temporary move.
He peered into an open doorway and noticed that Tank and Big B were settled into one bedroom. He walked further down the hallway. Main bedroom with attached bathroom which he’d leave for Maya. Another bedroom. A shared bathroom.
And then there was one last room.
Hmm. He had an idea what this room was and if she was in there . . . well, that would be interesting.
He knew the owner of this cabin, Hayes, never used it anymore. He’d lost his wife, his Little, and this place held a lot of memories for him. Apparently he couldn’t stand to be here but he also couldn’t get rid of the cabin.
Matthieu understood that feeling. And he was certain that Maya would too. The idea of loving someone so much that you couldn’t live without them . . . yeah, he’d experienced that.
Maya had lost her mother. He’d lost both of his parents . . . when he should have only lost one.
When he opened the door, he found her kneeling in the middle of the playroom. It looked like a bedroom fit for a princess. There was a bed in one corner with a white bedspread on it. It had fairies on it. Over the bed was a lacy, white canopy.
Sweet and girly.
He didn’t think it would be his girl’s style, exactly, but it was extremely cute.
In addition to a bed there was also an oversized crib. He wondered how young Maya would regress. If she even knew how young she would regress to. Because he figured she might not have ever had the chance to explore her Little.
It seemed she liked Lego, but that didn’t help him judge anything else she liked.
He’d left her box of Lego in a cupboard in the living room. Maybe he should bring it in here.
His girl was kneeling on a pink rug on the floor and studying some books on a bookshelf next to a desk. She pulled one out and looked at something written inside the front cover.
He thought about sneaking out of the room . . . but this seemed like an ideal opportunity to talk to her.
Matthieu cleared his throat and she jumped, turning around and falling back onto her bottom.
“You gave me a fright!” she complained with her hand on her chest.
“Sorry, Bébé,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare you. What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” She jumped to her feet and wobbled slightly. He moved forward and grabbed hold of her hips. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to pry or anything. Was this a child’s room?”
“A child? I think you know it’s not a child’s room. The crib is rather large, don’t you think?”
She bit her lip, glancing at the oversized crib. “Um, yes. It’s a room for a Little, right?”
