CHAPTER FIVE

Tami

When Jack steps in through the door, he finds me on the floor with some stuffed animals and coloring books spread around me. I wear a very tight pink sleeper shirt and pajama bottoms. The shirt has a pretty cartoon unicorn on it. I have my fingernails and toenails painted pink as well. Naturally, I have my hair in pigtails and they’re secured with pink ribbons. Sure, it doesn’t fit the pajama look but I want to be a perfect little girl for him. I wear cotton panties, white, because—of course! They’re high cut briefs, somewhere between little girl and adult.

I want to be perfect for him.

This time, I’m not going to lose my Daddy.

This time, I’m going to be a perfect little girl.

“Daddy!” I cry as though I’m surprised. I leap to my feet, giggling with excitement and run to him, leaping up and throwing my arms around him when I reach him. He chuckles as I cover his face with kisses. “Daddy! You’re home!” I say.

Sure, some of the excitement in manufactured. There’s no question about that. What isn’t manufactured, though, is how much I care about this man. Hell, I might be falling in love with him. I feel like I am. I’m being a little bit more girly and gigglier than I might ordinarily be but I don’t mind it. I even like it. In fact, after four months together, I’ve come to really enjoy it.

Even if I’m not in little space, I can behave like this and slip into it.

I love that. I don’t need to be Tami when I’m with Jack. I can be the Tami I want to be—the perfect little girl who takes such good care of her Daddy that he’ll never leave her and I’ll never have to be lonely again.

I sink to my knees and reach for his belt but he grabs my hands and gently lifts me up. I feel a seed of panic form in the back of my mind and put on an exaggerated pout. “Daddy, I want to please you,” I say. “Let me make you feel good.”

“Later,” he says. “Right now, we need to talk.”

“Talk?” I say. The seed of panic in my mind is growing into a full-fledged tree. I force myself to smile and say, “Why would you want me to use my mouth to talk when I can use it to suck you empty?”

I’m not usually this vulgar but the panic I feel is making me desperate. I reach for his pants again and he pushes me away.

Well, okay, he doesn’t push me away, he just grabs my hands so I can’t undo his belt, but it sure feels like he’s pushing me away. My lower lip begins to tremble and I say, “Daddy, don’t you want me?”

The most terrifying thing I can imagine him saying is that he doesn’t want me anymore and he thinks we should break up. What he actually says is somehow even more terrifying.

“I do want you, Tami. The real you. All of you. Not just the submissive little girl who enjoys pleasing me. I want to know who you really are. I want to know your hopes and dreams and fears and goals and worries. I want to know the woman you want to be and I want to help you become that woman.

“I should have had this talk with you months ago. I’m sorry for that. I was so afraid that I would screw things up that I tried to just focus on the fun. That wasn’t fair to you, Tami. Being a Daddy doesn’t just mean I tell you what to do in bed. It means I help you reach all of your goals and become the person you really want to be—the person you have the potential to be.

“Starting today, that’s what I’m going to be. It won’t always be fun. Sometimes I’m going to have to discipline you and hold you accountable to the goals we create together. Sometimes, I’m going to expect you to do things that make you uncomfortable or afraid because they’re things you’re going to have to do to be the person you really want to be. It’s going to be hard but I promise you, I will be with you every step of that journey. Even when you’re mad at me, even when you want to give up, even when you think you’ll never become the person you want to be, I’m going to be with you. I love you, Tami and starting right now, I’m going to be the Daddy you deserve.

“So, what are some goals you want to achieve?”

I stand silently after this speech. My head spins and my mind races a million miles a minute. Part of me is overjoyed to hear him say this. The truth is, I do want a Daddy like that: someone who will help support and encourage and motivate me to become a better person. Heaven knows I don’t want to be a part-time ice cream scooper for the next forty years.

Another part of me is terrified. What if I mess up? What if he sets goals for me and I don’t reach them? What if I try and fail? What if I’m just not good enough to be the person he thinks I can be? I can’t bear the thought of losing Jack the way I’ve lost all of my Daddies.

I take a deep breath and look at him, tears welling in my eyes. “I don’t know,” I whisper.

I think he’s going to be angry or disappointed. Instead, he smiles and says, “Then let’s figure it out together, princess.”