She blinked fast. “It’s perfect.”
“We also thought we’d celebrate our precious girl moving in with us,” Roland said, already sitting down on the sofa and patting his lap. “Come here, sweetheart.”
She didn’t hesitate. She climbed onto his lap, tucking herself against his chest, and he kissed her temple before pulling out his phone.
“Thought we could do a little shopping.”
She perked up. “For what?”
“For you. For your Little self,” he said, scrolling through a list of things offered in the Ranch store. All the photos showed the items were clearly designed for Littles and their caregivers. “Toys, kitchen sets, coloring things. Whatever makes you feel good and safe.”
Sydney leaned in, cheeks already flushing. “I don’t know what I want.”
“That’s okay,” he said, handing her the phone and wrapping his arms around her waist. “We’ll find it together. And whatever the store here doesn’t have, we can order online and have it delivered.”
They spent the next hour like that. Sydney was nestled in his lap, with Levi occasionally chiming in with suggestions from over her shoulder as he cooked something in the kitchen. Roland teased her gently when she picked out a sparkly apron with cupcake patterns. She shrieked with laughter when Levi insisted on adding a plush toy shaped like a chicken nugget to the cart.
She chose pastel sippy cups, a wooden play kitchen with a brilliant pink kettle, and a soft blue onesie with cloud patterns. When she hesitated over a yellow dress with puff sleeves, Roland kissed her cheek. “Add it. You’ll look like sunshine in it. Warm up our day when it’s all cold and snowy outside.”
After adding the dress to the cart, Sydney scrolled past a section labeledPacis and Comfort Items.Her thumb hovered, then slipped past, pretending she hadn’t seen it.
But Roland caught it.
“You skipped a page,” he said softly, brushing her hair behind her ear.
She shrugged. “I just… I didn’t want to overstep. That’s… really Little.”
Levi leaned over from the kitchen, drying his hands on a towel. “Sweetheart, there’s no such thing as too Little for us. You get to be exactly who you are. Exactly how small you feel even if that changes from day to day until you find the one that is you.”
Roland handed her the phone again. “Let’s look together. No pressure. But if something calls to your heart… we want to know.”
With trembling fingers, Sydney tapped back to the section. It felt a bit like opening a door she hadn’t dared try before.
And there it was. A pale lavender pacifier with tiny stars on the shield.
She held it up wordlessly.
Levi smiled. “That one’s perfect.”
Her throat tightened. “You don’t mind?”
“We love every version of you,” Roland said, kissing her shoulder. “Even the smallest.”
By the time they finished, the cart was as full as her heart, her cheeks were sore from smiling, and she felt so special.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sydney
Okay, obviously Sydney hadn’t thought this going back to work business through.
It had made perfect sense in her head. She needed the money. Shewantedthe routine. And, if she were honest, she missed it. Missed the confidence she felt when talking to her clients, the satisfaction of helping someone through a tough spot, even the mind-numbing admin tasks. What she hadn’t thought through was the minor detail that her phone was currently under Daddy Levi’s lock and key.
And she needed that phone to get into pretty much everything on her laptop, as she had it password-protected to the hilt.
Her phone had been with him and Master Derek pretty much from the moment she stepped foot on the Ranch.
And she hadn’t asked for it back because… well, it had felt good, actually. Safe. Not having to think about it. From the updates they’d been giving her, she knew that he was still sending her messages. Not that she knew how, because her South African SIM wasn’t supposed to be able to work here.
