Series: Little Cakes Series by Pepper North
Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
As she continued eating, Tatiana tried to wrap her mind around this unbelievable new development. She was in Maniac’s house. She was Little. She was his Little.
She needed to pinch herself to believe it.
Chapter Six
“Would you like any more, Rainbow?” Maniac asked when she set her spork down with a click.
“No way! I’m stuffed,” Tatiana groaned, rubbing her stomach.
“Let Daddy clean up the dishes, and then we’ll get you ready for bed.” Maniac pushed her chair out, removed her bib, and unfastened the belt around her waist.
“I can help,” she offered, jumping to her feet to pick up his dish and hers. “Besides, it’s too early for me to go to bed.”
“I would love your help. Carry the plates over to the counter, and I’ll get the table wiped off. You can color while I put everything away.”
“Oh, I can put stuff in the dishwasher. Why don’t you relax while I clean up? You cooked,” she reminded him, hovering by the table.
“We’re partners at work, dividing the jobs fifty-fifty. At home, we’re Daddy and Little girl. I take care of you, Rainbow.”
“You don’t want me to do anything?” she asked, looking down at him as he sat relaxed at the table.
“I want you to be my Little girl,” he answered easily when she frowned at him in confusion. “Come sit on my lap and we’ll talk this through.”
Maniac removed the plates from her hands and drew her close to sit on his hard thighs. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed a light kiss on her temple.
“You can carry the plates over to the counter. I love it when my Little girl is thoughtful and wants to help. I’ll take care of the rest of everything. You can color me a picture to decorate my refrigerator,” he suggested, waving a hand toward the plain stainless-steel refrigerator door.
Tatiana looked at the very empty space that begged for color to liven it up. She forced herself to focus on the work that needed to be done. “That doesn’t seem fair if you do all the work.”
“Do you enjoy coloring?” he said.
“Yes. Of course. Especially decorating Floppy. She looks so good with fresh ink.”
“I can’t wait to see her,” Maniac said with a fond smile. “Do you know what I like to do?”
“Tattoo people?” she guessed.
“Yes,” he confirmed with a nod. “But I like other things too. I get a kick out of taking care of my Little girl. There’s nothing too small or too big that I will do for you that I won’t love.”
“Like doing the dishes?” she guessed.
“Exactly. And making our lunches. And giving you a bath.”
“You’re going to give me a bath?”
“After I have the kitchen put back in order,” he confirmed.
“With bubbles?” she suggested.
“If you would like them,” he agreed.
Tatiana squirmed slightly on his lap. She adored how he looked at her—as if she were the most precious thing in his life. Like a piece of a puzzle, everything clicked into place. “You really want to take care of me, don’t you?”
“There is nothing more important to me. You’re my Little girl.”
Tears welled into her eyes and she stared at him through the blurry liquid. He wanted to be her Daddy like the lucky Littles in the books she read. Not like that other man who’d proclaimed himself to be a Daddy and then treated her so poorly. Tatiana wrapped her arms across her chest to comfort herself as that old garbage rebounded into her thoughts.
“Little girl,” Maniac said softly, wiping the moisture from her cheeks. “I don’t know what that man did to you, but I will spend every moment showing you how a Daddy really cares for his Little girl. I’ll be glad to go explain the difference to him.”
There was no way Tatiana could miss the threat underlying that statement. “He’s not in town anymore, Daddy.”
Determined to take away any power the awful man had wielded, she swept all the bad feelings into a small virtual box in the back of her mind and slammed it closed before continuing, “And he’s not important. I’d rather you spend your time showing me how a real Little relationship works.”
“I can do that, Rainbow.”
“Okay.”
Maniac hugged her tight, drawing a startled squeak from Tatiana. “Ready to color?"
"Yes, please."
When he relaxed his arms around her, Tatiana hopped to her feet and stepped back to allow him to stand as well. She watched him open a drawer to pull out new jumbo packs of crayons, colored pencils, and markers as well as three thick coloring books. Tatiana picked up the plates and carried them carefully to the kitchen counter and returned to find Maniac wiping the table clean to create a space for her.
Grinning at him, she impishly sat in his chair, drawing a chuckle from Maniac at her boldness. It was still warm from his body heat, making Tatiana wiggle on the seat as she focused on the supplies in front of her. She hesitated to ask for something different.