Page 21 of Daddy's Little Fighter
“I’m so proud of you,” he gently whispered in her ear as he ran his hands through her hair. “I know it must have been scary to leave the office without me, not knowing whether anyone was going to see you or not. I’m proud of you for being brave and going out of your comfort zone. How are you feeling now?”
How was she actually feeling? Frankie didn’t know, and she didn’t know if she wanted to really think about it.
“Frankie.” Daddy had a warning in his tone. “You are not getting out of this. It is important to think about how we feel after something exciting or nerve-wracking.”
Sighing, Frankie pulled away and looked at Daddy. “I don’t know,” she mumbled.
“Nope. We are not going to do that. We are going to sit here and think about how we feel and talk through it.” He gave her a pointed look.
Clenching her jaw, she looked away for a couple of seconds. Right.
“Everything. I’m feeling all sorts of emotions,” she whispered. “I’m worried, happy, sad, overwhelmed, and annoyed.”
She was feeling all of the emotions, and she didn’t really know what to do with them. She had already cried several times, and now she wanted to hit a things, but that wasn’t like her.
Frankie didn’t do things like that.
“And those are all valid feelings. Do you want to talk about it more?” Daddy asked.
She thought about it for a couple of minutes before shaking her head. Frankie grabbed her hair on either side of her head and started to pull, trying to get all of the emotions out of her. She didn’t want to feel any of this. She wanted to be happy and content like she normally was.
“Wow, Little One.” Daddy took her hands and stopped her. “We do not pull our hair. What is going on?”
Tears pooled in Frankie’s eyes once again as Daddy gently moved her hands out of her hair.
“No,” she mumbled.
Pulling her hair was helping her release all of the emotions she didn’t want to feel at one time. Why couldn’t he just let her do it? It would make everything so much simpler.
“No.” Daddy’s voice was stern. “We are not hurting ourselves to help regulate our emotions. We can talk about it and get through this together.”
Frankie shook her head. “I don’t want to talk,” she wailed.
Why couldn’t Daddy understand that sometimes a person couldn’t talk about it? That they needed to let it out in some other way. This was the only way Frankie knew she could do.
“Okay, then what do you want to do?” he asked. “Nothing that is going to harm you. We do not do that.”
Frankie looked off to the side and thought about it, but she couldn’t make herself say the words. It wasn’t her. What would Daddy say if he knew what she wanted to do?
“Come on, you can tell Daddy anything. I’m not going to judge you,” he gently said. “What do you want to do?”
She opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to get herself to utter the words, but she couldn’t. What if it did nothing and they wasted money? She also didn’t want to go out and be on camera or have other people see her.
Yeah, she wasn’t going to suggest that to Daddy.
“I can’t,” she whispered.
Daddy cupped her face and brought their foreheads close together. “It’s okay. One day you will be able to tell me.”
If she were ever able to go outside without any thoughts. Sure, she was out right now, but she was in his office, and no one else could see her. It was safe.
“I’m going to call Trent real quick,” Daddy said as he placed her on the couch and walked over to the window, his phone already up to his ear.
Silence filled the room. Why was Daddy calling Trent?
“Do you still have those plates you were wanting to get rid of, Trent?” Daddy asked.
CHAPTER 9
