She’d just ignore that corner.
“Are you all right?” He crouched in front of her, placing his hands on her thighs. “Maybe you should lie down. Do you need a drink?”
“I’m fine, Daddy. Just twirled one too many times.”
“No more twirling.”
She huffed out a sigh. “Daddy, you can’t ban twirling.”
“Sure can. Just did.”
She just shook her head.
“I’m gonna write it on your rules.”
“You are not. I like twirling. I do it when I’m happy. Daddy, I can’t believe you did all this!” She needed to distract him. Or he really would make it a rule.
“We still need some more cabinets for storage. And I don’t think you have nearly enough toys. Although it won’t be long until Christmas. You just need to make sure you’re on Santa’s nice list and not his naughty one.”
She gave a shocked gasp. “I is always nice.”
He tapped her nose. “No more twirling then.”
She pouted. “Daddy, that’s silly.”
“If I wasn’t there, you could have fallen over and hurt yourself. What if you’d done it outside and hit your head on something? Nope. No more twirling.”
He was truly insane. She’d just have to save her twirling for when he wasn’t around.
“Daddy, can I do some more crafting?”
“Yep. I’m going to get you a snack first, then set up the cabinet with your stuff. I’ll find a sheet to put down to save the carpet. You sure you’re not dizzy?”
“I’m fine, Daddy.” She clasped his face between her hands. “Thank you for doing this for me. Nobody has ever done anything like this for me before.”
“You like it then?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I love it.”
Just like I love you. Surely it was too soon to say it. She bit her lip as he moved back and the moment was gone. It welled inside her. This love for him. It was deep and limitless. It could consume her if she let it. And she wanted that. Wanted him to fill her entire world. And she wanted to be the same for him.
Doubt bubbled in her stomach and she pushed it down.
He’s not going to leave you, Marisol.
Trust him.
Linc watched Marisol crafting with an indulgent smile as he set up the rest of her room. He wished he’d had time to put it all together before she woke up. But it needed a few more things anyway, including her bed.
Had anything felt as right as this? Not even leaving his job in the city and coming here had felt this right. Certainly, being with Jess hadn’t felt like this. Marisol was a part of him in a way Jess never had been. She fulfilled all parts of him. While Jess had been a Little, she hadn’t really embraced it like Marisol did. Now, he was coming to realize that while she’d liked him serving her, she hadn’t wanted to give back.
This was it. This was what he’d always wanted.
“Daddy! These scissors aren’t sharp enough. I need proper scissors.”
“Not sure you’re old enough for proper scissors.”
“Daddy, of course I am. I need to cut out snowflakes for my picture and these ones keep ripping the paper.” She held up the mangled snowflake with a pout.
“Okay, Daddy will get you some proper scissors. But I’m going to supervise to make sure you can use them safely before I leave you to it.”
“Yay!”
He returned with a pair of scissors and watched her carefully cutting out a snowflake. Her tongue was poking out as she used them.
Adorable. He left her to start putting together the bookcase.
“Daddy, I’ve finished it!” Marisol called out about twenty minutes later.
“What is it, teeny?” he asked, looking up from where he’d finished putting up her ball pit. He’d strung some fairy lights he’d ordered around the top. He also had fairy lights to go along the top of the canopy of her princess bed when it arrived. All the ball pit now needed were the balls.
“Ooh, Daddy, that looks great! Can I play in it now?”
“Yep, soon as I get the balls in it. What did you make?”
She held up her creation proudly. She’d made a greeting card and glued the snowflakes on the front then covered it with a sprinkling of blue glitter.
“That’s gorgeous, baby. I’m so proud of you.”
She lit up. Her smile was beaming. He bet no one had ever really told her that they were proud of her. Leaning down, he kissed her forehead.
“Want to sit in the ball pit while I pour the balls in?”
“Oh yes.” She put the card down then scrambled into the ball pit. He poured the balls in as she squealed and picked them up, throwing them around, some landed out of the pit and he grabbed them, throwing them back in and laughing with her.
Happiness filled him. This was definitely everything he’d ever wanted.
29
“Bath time, teeny. Then Daddy has some big girl activities for you.”
Big girl activities? Hmm. She wondered what exactly those were. Heat built between her legs. This was the longest she’d spent in Little space and she’d had the best afternoon playing and crafting. She’d even helped Linc pour the beans into the beanbag.
Although she thought maybe she was more of a hindrance than a help, since at least a third of them landed on the carpet of her playroom. But he hadn’t growled at her. He’d just patiently scooped them up.
Her beanbag was epic. She wanted another one for his office and for the living room.
“Can I use the bath crayons, Daddy?” she asked. They’d already had dinner and he was tidying up while she colored at the table.
“Of course. I’ll go run your bath. You keep coloring.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
“And drink some water.”
With a huff, she reached for her sippy cup. She wasn’t going to admit it, but she much preferred the baby bottle.
“Right, the bath is running,” he said, walking back into the dining room. “Come on, teeny. Let’s get you undressed.”
“Can’t, Daddy. Not finished.”
“You can finish in the morning.”
She probably should have heeded the stern note in his voice.
“Nope. Gotta finish now.”
Suddenly, her pen was pulled from her hand. “Daddy! I was still using that.”
“Does someone need a reminder about listening to Daddy?”
“No.” Although she wasn’t sure what he meant by reminder. But she figured ‘no’ was a pretty safe answer.
“Because I could have you write out fifty times, I will listen to my Daddy.”
“No, Daddy.” She sat up straighter. “I is listening. Listening ears are on.” She pretended to switch her ears on.
“That’s what I thought.” He held out a hand, helping her stand and led her to the bathroom. She looked back at her coloring book with a sigh.
It was such a good picture, too.
When they reached the bathroom, he immediately started stripping her.
The bath was nearly half full and he’d been generous with the bubble bath.
“Ooh, I loves bubble bath,” she said excitedly as he stripped off her socks and then dumped all of her clothes in the dirty hamper. All she was dressed in was the ruffly pants.