I doubted that, but I wasn’t going to argue with her. I turned back to the counter and started whipping together the eggs and chopping the veggies. Gloria left me alone and headed toward the living room to pick up the remnants of poker night.
It didn’t take long for the smell of breakfast to drift toward where Daddy slept. I felt him press against me before I heard him even enter the room.
“Good morning, Sweets.” His grumbly voice sounded like music against my ear.
“Morning, Daddy,” I whispered back, looking around to make sure Gloria didn’t hear me slip up again.
“Breakfast smells good, Rebekah, but you didn’t need to cook for me.”
“I wanted to! Well, that was before your housekeeper walked in and scared the fuck out of me.”
“Language, brat. I let the colorful word slide yesterday because you were upset about your ice cream, but I won’t tolerate my girl saying such ugly words.”
“You cuss all the time, Daddy. Why can’t I?”
“Because you are too sweet for such naughty language.”
“Well, if I can’t say them, I don’t think you should be allowed to say them either.”
“Who’s the Daddy here? Me or you?”
“You are, but fair is fair.”
“You’re right. I’ll stop using cuss words as long as my sweet Little brat does as well.”
I held out my hand for us to shake. “I think we need a swear jar or something. I could make a lot of money off you with how much you cuss, Daddy.”
Daddy rolled his eyes at me, but shook my hand anyway. Pulling me close, he dropped a kiss on my lips before taking over cooking. I sat at the table and watched while he performed magic in the kitchen.
“Good morning, Beau,” Gloria said, stepping into the kitchen and heading toward the closet by the front door. After putting the poker chips on the shelf in there, she closed the door and turned toward me.
“I knew it wouldn’t take long for that man to take over cooking once he woke up. Did you make those pretty flowers on the living room table?”
I blushed but nodded. I didn’t have anything to be embarrassed about. Lots of adults played with Legos.
“You did good. Beau, it seems like that vase I bought for you finally has a purpose.”
Daddy grunted from where he stood with his back toward us, focusing on the food. I hadn’t even noticed that he had put the roses I built in a vase, but a quick peek into the living room showed them sitting on the table on display.
“Good morning, Gloria. How are you this morning?” Daddy asked, grabbing one more plate from the cabinet.
“I’m doing okay, you know, I stay plenty busy. I gave your girl a scare this morning. You’re mean for not telling her about mecoming in, I thought the poor girl was going to crawl under the counter and hide.”
My blush deepened as I looked down, hoping the floor would open up and swallow me whole. Luck must not be on my side this morning, though, because I continued to sit there, unfortunately.
“Play nice, Gloria. I’ve just convinced her that I was worth taking a risk on, I don’t want to scare her away just yet.”
Gloria let out a rapid string of Spanish that had me wishing that I had paid more attention in my high school Spanish classes. Daddy didn’t seem to have a problem keeping up with anything she said, though. If I were wearing panties, they would have been soaked listening to him speak to Gloria in her native tongue. His normal voice was smooth, but when he spoke Spanish, his voice was as smooth and velvety as chocolate.
Daddy placed three plates on the table before turning and grabbing orange juice from the fridge. I got up to quickly grab each of a glass, wanting to be helpful. “Beau, Gloria, can I make you a cup of coffee?”
Gloria waved her hand, declining my offer. I knew that Daddy had at least one, sometimes two or three, cups of coffee in the morning. I asked him one time at the office why he drank so many cups, and he told me that it puts hair on his chest. He could be full of it at times.
Daddy got up and came to where I stood, wringing my fingers as I waited for his cup to brew. I would make a cup for myself once I was done with him. I was honestly surprised that I was functioning right now without it.
“My name isn’t Beau, Sweets. You call me Daddy.”
“I can’t call you that while Gloria’s here. She’ll hear it and think that I’m a freak.”
