If I’m being honest, getting caught hadn’t actually weighed in on my decision-making process just yet. But Tori is right. The odds of us being found out before I even make it onto the plane are pretty high, and if that happens, I have no doubt every spanking I’ve gotten up ‘til now, including the whipping on the balcony, will seem like nothing but love taps.
“That’s a chance I’m willing to take to help my friend.” Arms crossed, Juju lifts her chin in the air, the very picture of rebellion. “She can’t just give up on her dreams, Tori! What kind of friends would we be if we allowed that?”
Tori turns to me, her eyes wide and filled with worry. “Do you really miss it that much?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper, tears blurring my vision. “It’s all I ever dreamed of, from the time I was actually a little girl. I’ve worked my ass off my entire life to be a ballerina.”
“But?” Tori prompts gently.
“I don’t wanna leave Daddy. I wish there was a way I could do both.”
Silence descends on the nursery, throwing me back into the pit of despair and indecision I’ve been wallowing in since yesterday, until it’s finally broken by Tori’s quiet sigh.
“Well. I think the answer’s pretty clear. We have to get you back to New York.”
ChapterTwenty-Seven
Gideon
“Oh, my little thief. I’m afraid this is going to be a very unpleasant plane ride for you.” Chuckling, Maxwell looks up from the monitor on my desk, where we’ve been listening to our Little ones make their plans, to meet my eyes. “How do you want to play it?”
Part of me is tempted to march right up there right now and give my Little girl the spanking of a lifetime. But that’s much more Jasper’s style, and I can tell by the way he’s pacing a hole in my rug that he’s itching to do exactly that.
Me, I’ve always been a bit more… patient. It’s what makes me so lethal in the world of business. Where others are bulls in a china shop, barging in and knocking down walls, I prefer to watch. To wait for exactly the right moment to strike.
“I say we let them go through with it. I’m curious to see exactly how they planned to pull this off.” I also want to give my little doll a chance to change her mind. If she does, I’m willing to be merciful. Oh, she will still get her bottom warmed, there’s no doubt about that, but it won’t be nearly as severe.
If she doesn’t change her mind, however… Well. Then I suppose she’ll learn exactly how creative her Daddy can be when he’s determined to teach a naughty Little girl a lesson, won’t she?
* * *
Izzy
The plan is in motion. After a brief argument about the best way to distract the Daddies, Tori snuck Juju’s kitten downstairs and hid her somewhere even we don’t know where she is so that even if the Daddies check my nursery, they won’t be able to find her. Now the entire household is in a bit of a tizzy looking for the stuffie and nobody even seems to notice I haven’t joined the fray as I take one last, long look around my nursery.
In some ways, it’s like I’m seeing it for the first time, and I allow myself to really pay attention to all the little details Daddy so carefully added. Little things that remind me of home, of my childhood are all over this place.
It’s not just a nursery. It’smynursery. Even if Daddy moves on and claims another Little girl, this will never be her nursery. Or if it is, it will only be because he’s removed all of the pieces of me from this room and replaced it with pieces of her.
That thought threatens to tear the last of my resolve to pieces, so I deliberately turn and walk out of the room.
In the hallway, I pause and look around, making sure that there’s nobody there to see me before I sneak toward the stairs. Whatever Juju and Tori are doing, they seem to have everyone’s attention and are keeping them far away from the front of the house.
Hurrying now, my heart pounding, I tiptoe as quickly as I can down the stairs to the front door. I yank it open, not even stopping to see if an alarm goes off before I make a break for Juju’s car in the driveway. Only, I’m not really sure which one belongs to her and Uncle Jasper since our Daddies all own the same black town cars.
Taking my chances, I head for the one at the front of the line that’s been formed in our horseshoe of a driveway and pull on the driver’s side door handle. It immediately pops open, and my knees literally go weak with relief as I search for the button to pop the trunk. But it’s a newer car, with lots of fancy buttons to push and living in New York for as long as I have, I haven't needed my own vehicle in years.
After what seems like hours, I finally locate the button for the trunk and slam my hand against it. Shutting the driver’s door, I run to the back of the car and climb inside. It’s a tight fit with all the luggage—how many clothes does one Little girl need for a week-long vacation anyway?—but I somehow manage to squeeze myself in and mostly close the trunk lid over me. Hopefully, their driver will just assume it came open somehow and won’t bother to check before closing it all the way.
Curling myself into a tight ball, I close my eyes and drag in a deep breath, willing my nervous system to calm as I wait to make my escape.
* * *
Gideon
I pretend not to notice my naughty Little girl frantically popping open the trunk of Jasper’s car and climbing inside. The lid doesn’t quite close, and I wonder if she knows that the pink ruffles of her dress are hanging out of the trunk, flapping in the wind for anyone to see.
“We’ve found the kitten!” Holding the black-and-white stuffed kitten high, proud as any Olympian carrying the torch, Jasper strides into my office with Maxwell and two nervous-looking Little girls in tow. Even if we hadn’t caught onto their plan already, their faces would be a dead giveaway that they were up to something. I suppose we should be grateful our Little ones don’t have very good poker faces.
