Page 25 of Rekindling Little River
“Really?”
“Really.” Dave adjusted his position so he could look directly into their eyes as he asked, “Would you like to try a more organized scene like that?”
As Dave’s heart raced in anticipation of River’s answer, River’s breathing picked up and their pupils dilated, letting him know before the words left their mouth what their answer would be.
“Yeah, Daddy. I think I’d really like that.”
“It will mean time planned for you to be Big River. We can’t do a scene like this in Little headspace.”
“We can’t?” River seemed genuinely confused as to why and it made Dave smile.
“No, baby, we can’t. If you hadn’t noticed, your Little isn’t the most coordinated person and while I want to hunt you, I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Daddy!” River gasped in mock-outrage. “My Little self has the grace of a ballerina, the strength of ten men, and the stealth of a ninja!”
Considering that River couldn’t even say it with a straight face let Dave in on the fact that they didn’treallybelieve all that. “If you say so, baby.” He chuckled. “But just in case, why don’t we plan to be Big for this particular scene anyway?”
River shrugged as if they hadn’t a care in the world, and it made Dave realize that he’d helped them achieve that, and as River followed up the shrug with, “okay, Daddy,” Dave felt he had a purpose for the first time in a long time. To keep River as happy and carefree as any person could be.
CHAPTER 24
River
River snuggled in with their Daddy and thought about how easy it would be to get used to this. His strong arms wrapped around them, his warmth at their back, surrounded by his safety and protection. It was the stuff dreams were made of.
They lay there, pacifier in their mouth, swaddled in a diaper, and feeling the most carefree they’d ever felt. It would be hard to go back to being alone when they got home. They didn’t want to think about that right now. All they wanted to think about in that moment was… that moment. Right then there was no future, there was no past, there was only now and the glorious feeling that they were experiencing.
“I can hear you thinking, little one. You’re supposed to be sleeping.”
Daddy‘s voice was soft and deep and just a bit sleepy. River wasn’t sure they had ever heard a more beautiful sound.
They rolled over so they faced Daddy and touched his cheek, just staring into his face and taking in the warmth and comfort of his expression. Their eyes drifted closed, their breath evenedout, and with their hands still placed on their Daddy‘s face they slipped into a sweet, dreamless sleep.
“Rise and shine, sleepyhead.”
River groaned and snuggled deeper into the mattress.
“It’s time to get up, babysaurus.”
“Don’t wanna,” they grumbled and pulled a pillow over their head to continue sleeping.
“Uh-uh, baby. You signed up for the guest class this morning in the Butterfly Room. It’s time to get up and change if you’re going to get breakfast before class.”
With a loud groan, River rolled over and tossed the pillow. They really did want to go to the class. “Too early…” Daddy chuckled at their proclamation, which they could understand since only a couple of days ago sleep was something they rarely got more than a few hours of. Still, there was something about being surrounded by Daddy that made them sleep more and they liked it.
“Well, I wouldn’t say early considering it’s after ten, but if you still want to sleep more after class we can come take a nap.”
“What if I want to come to bed but not to sleep?”
The way fire lit in Daddy’s eyes made goosebumps rise on River’s skin and told them Daddy’s answer before his mouth did. “That could be arranged too, baby.”
River tossed back the covers and said, “Well, what are you waiting for, Daddy? The sooner I get to class, the sooner we can get back in bed.”
Daddy chuckled low and deep as he placed a hand on their shoulder and prevented them from springing up. “First thingsfirst, baby,” he said as he placed a hand on their diaper-clad abdomen.
River’s tongue poked out the side of their mouth as they carefully sprinkled glitter over the lines they’d drawn in glue. They wanted their picture to be perfect because it was for their Daddy, and after everything he’d done for them this week, he deserved the best. Golden sprinkles drifted onto the swirls of the sun, giving it the perfect amount of sparkle to nourish the flowers of the garden River had drawn for it to shine on.
“Earth to River,” Tay teased, making River aware of the fact their classmates had been trying to get their attention.
