Page 159 of Broken Daddy
He rocked her back and forth and she pressed her good cheek against his chest as she brought her thumb to her mouth and sucked.
“Poor baby. That’s it. Take your comfort.”
Sometimes, she sucked her thumb to comfort herself. But she hoped no one came in.
“Don’t worry. I have you.”
Devi wasn’t sure how long they sat there, but if she hadn’t had to pee, she’d have been happy to sit there all afternoon.
Knowing she wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer, she started wriggling on his lap. She didn’t think about removing her thumb and telling him what she wanted.
She just thought that he should know.
“Does my baby girl need to go pee?”
Strangely, she shook her head. Huh? What was wrong with her? She did need to pee. Really badly.
So why did you shake your head?
“I think you do. You should tell Daddy if you need to go potty,” he murmured.
Potty? She didn’t potty! She was a big girl.
Devi huffed out a breath and sucked on her thumb harder.
“Do you need to go potty?”
That was just too much. She took her thumb from her mouth. “It’s not potty, Daddy. Big girls go toilet.”
“I don’t think my girl is as big a girl as she thinks she is. I think she might be a baby.”
Rude.
But she didn’t protest, she merely put her thumb back in her mouth as she allowed him to carry her to the bathroom.
Yes.Allowed.
And then sheallowedhim to pull down her pants and panties and put her on the toilet.
Just like sheallowedhim to clean her up. It was all with her permission. When he tried to carry her back into the bedroom without washing her hands, she pointed at the sink.
“No. You’re not going over there,” he told her.
He couldn’t keep all mirrors from her.
“You’re so incredibly beautiful. I just . . . I don’t want you hurting.” He carried her back into the room and then washed her hands with a cloth. “Understand?”
She nodded. She guessed there was plenty of time for her to look at her face.
“I do need to talk to you, though.” Sitting on the bed, he faced her, his expression serious.
Her stomach twisted into a knot. She didn’t like the sound of that conversation. Actually, she thought she might just avoid it all together.
Her brain wasn’t ready to handle anything else. Being in Little headspace was freaking bliss. It meant that Hayes had to do all the worrying, while she got to just . . . be.
Okay, so it was a nice thought, but she couldn’t live forever in Little headspace.
“Not ready to come back, huh? Well, I suppose this could wait . . .”
