“Daddy, shh!” Eyes wide with what could only be described as horror, she hurried across the room and scooped up a rainbow-colored bear, holding him close to her chest. “They’ll hear you! You’re not ‘posed to have favorites.”
Jesus, she was adorable. He’d always found her cute, or sexy depending on the moment. But Sam in her Little space was quite possible the most adorable fucking thing he’d ever seen.
“I’m sorry, baby. Of course you don’t have a favorite. Let me rephrase that. Who do you want to bring with us to watch a movie?”
“Oh. Umm.” Still clutching the rainbow bear, she ran her gaze over the mountain of stuffies. “I should probably bring Doc Ock since you bought him for me.”
“Doc Ock? As in Doctor Octopus? Like from Spiderman?”
“Yes.” Her chin jerked up, defiance flashing in her eyes. “Girls can like superheroes too.”
“Of course they can. I just didn’t know that about you. Maybe we can have an Avengers movie marathon sometime soon.”
“Really?”
“Of course, baby. Now, who do you really want to bring with you? And don’t say Doc Ock just because you don’t want to hurt my feelings. I want you to bring whoeveryouwant to bring.”
She looked up at him, her chin firming in a way he recognized as her getting ready to dig her heels in. “Then I want Doc Ock.”
“Samantha.” He let his voice drop, putting as much “Stern Daddy” as he could into the words despite how fucking adorable she looked. “Are you being honest with Daddy right now?”
It had been exactly the right tack to take, judging by the way her eyes immediately lowered and her shoulders hunched slightly forward. “No, Daddy.”
“Then tell the truth. Who do you want to bring with you to watch a movie?”
“Can I bring more than one friend?”
There was such hope in her voice, he didn’t have the heart to tell her no. “How about three friends for now, and when we have our movie marathon you can have as many friends as you want.”
Sam sighed, and again he was forced to swallow a laugh at the sheer drama in the sound. “Okay,” she said, drawing the word out for several long seconds. “Then, um, I reallydowantDoc Ock. And Roy.” She held up the rainbow bear. “And, ummm, can I bring Mr. Snuffles? He’s kinda big.”
Glancing over at a teddy bear nearly as tall as his Little girl, Dylan grinned. “I assume this is Mr. Snuffles?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Mr. Snuffles makes three, then. But first we need to get you changed into some pajamas. Where are those?”
“I can get them.”
He hesitated, unsure of how hard he should push. But he’d always believed in beginning as you meant to go on, and right now that meant being her Daddy in every possible way. “Tell Daddy where they are, baby.”
Again her chin firmed, and he braced himself for an argument. But then she sighed and pointed to a tall dresser along the far wall of her room. “Third drawer down. But I wanna pick them out!”
“All right,” he agreed with a laugh. With the octopus in one hand, he led her over to the dresser and pulled open the third drawer, revealing several colorful sets of pajamas he’d never seen her wear before. Usually she slept in an oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts. Which he didn’t mind, at all, but he couldn’t wait to see her in her Little girl pajamas. “Which ones do you want to wear tonight?”
“Ummm. Unicorns!”
Reaching into the drawer, he pulled out a pair of light pink pajamas dotted with singing and dancing unicorns. It took him some cajoling to get her to part with the teddy bear long enough for him to change her clothes, but eventually he managed to get her into the pajamas. When she was dressed, he gave her the teddy again and stepped back to take her in.
“You are the cutest thing I have ever seen, Sammie.”
A pretty blush stole across her cheeks. “Nobody calls me that.”
“Good. Then it’s a nickname just for Daddy. Let’s get your friends and get you settled on the couch and then Daddy will order us some dinner.”
At the mention of dinner, her expression shifted, worry clouding her eyes. “I should buy dinner. I know the internship doesn’t really pay that well.”
“That’s very sweet of you to offer, baby, but don’t worry about it. Daddy will take care of it.”
