“Come here, Brookie.” Caden carefully lifted her from her crib, supporting her head as he learned to do since her injury. “She’s okay. Just a bit of a headache. Darn stitches.”
Brooklyn looked at everyone and whispered, “Hi!”
The crowd led her back to the kitchen, where Zale grabbed a bag of frozen peas from the freezer. After handing it to Caden, he made himself at home, getting a sippy cup of juice for her while Caden sat down at the table with Brooklyn on his lap.
“Come join us,” he invited the Littles.
Immediately, they swarmed the table. Talking in quiet whispers, they chose their seats. Soon the women had something to drink in front of them.
The cold pack on her head helped almost instantly. After a big drink of the tropical fruit juice, Brooklyn rallied. “Hi, girls. Thank you for helping me.”
“Of course. While the guys are out of town, we always support each other. You don’t have to thank us. Maybe I’ll need someone to bail me out during the next deployment,” Aspen said.
“Bail you out? Like from jail?” Brooklyn asked in confusion.
“Little girl. What do you have planned?” Zale growled.
“No. Not jail, Daddy. I mean, if my car breaks down or I get sad, I’d need you all to come to my rescue,” Aspen said quickly.
“Better,” Zale told her.
“I’ve never been so glad to see anyone, Giana,” Brooklyn spoke up, distracting everyone from their focus on Aspen.
Her new friend mouthed,I owed you one.
“I was glad to see you when you popped that door open and whisked me away from Tom,” Giana said with a shiver. “I’m glad I was on call so I could come ride with you to the hospital. Let’s call it even now.”
“I like that idea,” Brooklyn said. She lifted her nose to sniff. “It smells really good in here.”
“Are you hungry, Brookie?” Caden asked.
“Five more minutes with the icepack on, little girl,” Zale announced. “That’s enough time for the team to get the food together, and your daddies will bring each of you a plate.”
Brooklyn looked at Caden and whispered, “I have to potty.”
“Let’s go get that taken care of now. Guys, I’ll be right back,” Caden said to the other men as he carried her to the large master bathroom.
When they were alone, Caden instructed, “You hold on to the peas, and I’ll get your pants.”
In a short time, Brooklyn sat on the toilet. Caden hadn’t let her out of his sight since her accident. He always stayed with her in the bathroom now. It was getting easier to relax and pee. Inside, even though she was embarrassed, Brooklyn loved having him there. Nothing was off limits to Caden.
At least he hadn’t dressed her in a diaper today. Brooklyn blushed remembering how she’d actually used one a couple of times while groggy with the medicine. Caden hadn’t minded cleaning her up at all. She smiled a bit, remembering how much he’d seemed to enjoy taking care of her.
“What are you thinking, little girl? You’re not plotting fun with your friends, are you?” Caden asked, looking at her suspiciously.
“No, Daddy. I’m happy being little here with you.”
“I love you, Brookie.”
“I love you, Daddy.”
CHAPTER 18
Acouple of days later, Caden’s refrigerator still groaned with the leftovers of the food their friends had brought over for the gathering. Brooklyn checked out each of the yummy dishes inside and tried to decide what she wanted to eat. Popping open the container of wings Koa had brought, Brooklyn chose one to munch on as she decided what else sounded good. Everyone had laughed as Koa had pulled the foil off his dish, except for Giana, who’d rolled her eyes so hard they almost made a noise.
“Do not encourage him or you’ll be eating wings for the next ten years,” Giana had warned.
Brooklyn didn’t really understand why it was so funny, but figured there was a backstory she’d missed out on. The team worked and played so closely together they had a lot of history together. All she knew was that Koa’s wings were yummy.
