“How is someone so adorable so darn messy?” Daddy asks when he’s wiping my face. I grin up at him as he wipes once more over my chin. So I maybe, might have, intentionally made a bit of a mess because I love the way he always wipes my face off for me. “Let me clear this up and we’ll go run your bath. Do you want bubbles and toys?”
“Yes, please.” I take my own plate to the sink and we wash them together. I don’t have a dishwasher in this house, but the other dishes Daddy cooked in are already clean and drying on the counter.
“Okay, Aussie.” Daddy’s hands guide me back out of the kitchen and to the bathroom. “You sit here and I’m going to run the bath and get everything ready. What do you want to wear when you get out?”
“Um.” I think about it. I try to remember everything I have now that we’ve gone through all the clothes. “I don’t know. Surprise me?”
Daddy checks the temperature on the water, sitting on the edge of the tub. He turns his head to look at me over hisshoulder. “Do you want to wear a diaper tonight or training pants?”
The question is asked so nonchalantly. I think about it for a second. “Diaper. If that’s okay.”
“Of course it is, Aussie.” Daddy moves to grab the bottle of bubble bath we put under the sink and squirts some out under the running water. The scent of blueberries fills the room immediately. “Do you need help getting undressed?”
“I can do it,” I say with a smile.
“Okay, then you strip down and I’ll go get your clothes ready. I’ll be right back.”
He leaves the door open and I pull my shirt over my head. Then drop my shorts and boxer briefs to the floor. I look at myself for just a moment before I move to sit in the tub. It’s only a couple of inches deep right now, barely hitting my ankles. But the water is warm and the bubbles are building up so my lower half is hidden by the time Daddy comes back.
Well, kind of comes back. A rubber ducky lands in the water, startling me. I look up to the open door but no one is standing there. I reach for the duck when a second one plops into the tub, hitting a patch of bubbles and sending them flying in the air. This time I catch Daddy disappearing from the doorway and giggle.
“How many of these do you want?” I hear him ask. “Because I have, like, a billion.”
“I don’t have that many duckies!” I call out. He reappears and, admittedly, does have a whole bucket full. Without question, he dumps the contents in the water and I’m surrounded by different colored floating ducks, a toy boat, and three of those fish that squirt the water from their mouths. I grab a ducky ineach hand and then look at all the others before looking back up at Daddy. “Okay, maybe I have a few.”
“A few?” He laughs and gets down on the floor. I have a bath rug, but it doesn’t offer much padding. “Aussie, I think you are single-handedly keeping the bath toy market in business. There’s still a whole other bucket. Which one is your favorite?”
Daddy slips out of his shirt and I try not to ogle him. But how can I not? His chest is broad and muscled, solid but also the perfect shape to cuddle against. The hair isn't centered just over his pecs or down the middle, it's all over his tummy too. Soft, dark brown hair, with a trail that disappears under his pants.
“My eyes are up here, Aussie.”
My whole body flushes at being caught staring at him. I look back up and then to the water. Sitting in the water, it’s up to my belly now. I watch Daddy reach over and turn the water off. I pick a duck at random and hold it up. It’s blue and has specks of glitter on it.
“I like this one.”
“And does this one have a name?” Daddy’s other hand brushes up and down my back, splashing water on me. “Oh, let me guess. Is it… Quackers?”
I giggle and shake my head, thinking for a moment. “No silly. It’s Blucky.”
“Blucky?” Daddy tilts his head and squints his eyes at me.
“Yeah. Blue and ducky together.” I hold him up higher and look at Daddy. “Blucky!”
I submerge the duck into the water and continue to play. Daddy joins in, helping me build a story of Blucky and Fred — Daddy named the green one— going on an adventure together. The larger of the squirting fishes is the bad guy. I end up withbubbles on my head and nose and Daddy has some in his beard before the story is over.
“Alright messy one,” Daddy says. “The water is going to get cold soon so we need to get you cleaned up. Can you help me clear all the toys out, please?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
A silence settles over us for just a moment. That’s the first time I called him Daddy out loud. I look up at him, hoping it’s okay. The answering smile and the kiss he gives me is more than enough. I do as he asks, showing that I’m a good listener. He thanks me and gives me another kiss before helping me lean back to get my hair wet. The bubbles are almost gone so when I lean back in the tub, there’s nothing hiding the lower half of my body.
Daddy doesn’t say anything and focuses on washing my hair. I close my eyes and relax into the feeling of his fingers massaging my scalp. I hum in contentment when he does it a second time with the conditioner.
“Do you want to wash your body or Daddy?” Daddy is sitting on the edge of the tub now and I tilt my head back to look up at him. His fingers are still carding through my hair.
“Can you do it?” I ask. I’m having such a fun time and Daddy’s hands on me is relaxing. I like the feeling. “Please, Daddy?”
He narrows his eyes and purses his lips. I bat my eyes at him. “I hope you know that those words won’t always work on me. But tonight, they will. Go ahead and stand up, baby. Let’s get you squeaky clean and then dressed, okay?”
