“I just tapped your arm for saying that about the most beautiful gift I’ve ever received. I’ll treasure it always. The blanket, the cake, the dinner…it’s the best birthday ever.”
When he calmed down a bit, he began to spill the beans about his childhood and his family’s expectations for him. He wasn’t broke. Far from it, but he refused to touch the trust fund. “I may be stubborn, but I won’t make money the way my family has.” By the time he finished, I understood all the times he didn’twant to do anything fancy. Why he valued the small things like his beloved dives.
And why there was tension between him and his family that had made him feel very alone in the past. And when he’d cried it out, he went back for more cake, all smiles again, and definitely going to spend the night.
Chapter Thirteen
Ridge
It had been a long time since I’d gone to Chained or any other little event or club with someone other than Ernie or Hal, or, in most cases, both. Before I met them, it was usually me going alone. I’d never been with just a daddy, though. I’d met some daddies there to do scenes, but we’d never gone there together, and I was both excited and nervous about doing so for the first time tonight with Memphis.
He’d insisted on getting one of the fancy changing rooms, and I felt bad because they were pricey. I found that it didn’t bother me even a fraction as much for Daddy to spend money on me as it did when my brother tried to, only affirming that my issues with accepting anything that cost money had more to do with the control my family tried to exert.
There were only three rooms left when he booked, and he told Ms. Lily to pick her favorite.
“I have no idea what we’re walking into,” he said as we reached the room.
“Have you never used one of these rooms before, or just not this room?” It was difficult to tell from his tone.
“I’ve never used one of these rooms before. You’re my first.”
I really liked the sound of that. I wasn’t under the delusion that Daddy had never met another that he was into as much as me, that he somehow waited for me all these years. That would be ridiculous. But knowing this one thing was exclusive just to me? It was like a hug.
We went inside, and it was as if we had been transported into the land of the Fae. There were murals of a forest on the walls, with little fairies painted on them. The chair was shaped like a mushroom. The changing table was decorated to look likeit belonged to a gnome. In the back corner was a troll, but I tried not to look at him because the artist went a tad too terrifying with its appearance. It was the one part of the room that didn’t quite fit while simultaneously probably being one of the biggest draws.
“Did you want to get dressed yourself? Or do you want me to get you dressed?”
We’d discussed where we wanted things to fall as far as who did what, but being our first time here, I appreciated him clarifying.
“Both,” I said definitively, and then I confessed, “I already have some things on.”
I hadn’t done that as a way of taking any of this time away from us. It was just a habit. I always put my thick underwear and onesie on before I arrived. I didn’t love being in the communal changing rooms longer than I had to be, and it was rare that my friends and I got a room. We’d certainly never gotten this one.
Daddy helped me out of my clothes, and then he helped me get into my coordinated pants that went with my onesie, both of them kitty-cat themed, and my kitty-cat socks. I also had cat ears that I’d thought about bringing, but this was our first time playing together, and cat ears sometimes gave off kitten vibes, even though that wouldn’t be what I was intending. So I thought it best just to leave them out of it.
“What do you think? Do I look cute?” I twirled around slowly, letting him see me from all angles.
“You look the cutest. Are you ready to go play?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
He took my hand, threading our fingers together, and we worked our way to the little room. We didn’t stop anywhere else, like I often did when I came. I usually had just as much fun talking to like-minded people out in the other area, and maybewe’d do that afterward. But that could wait for another night without me feeling like we missed out.
“What do you want to do first?”
We’d already talked about what I liked to do in the club, so he knew my favorites, but we hadn’t discussed the specifics of what tonight would look like, not wanting it to feel like we were following a checklist.
“I want to play with the big bricks first.”
I loved Lego, big and small, but they were something I never indulged in because it very quickly became an extremely expensive habit. They didn’t have the big-kid kind out tonight, but they had tons of the huge ones. We took out the tote of them and began building.
We were still feeling out who would lead and how much control he took we played, and these blocks were a good way to start because, in some ways, there were right and wrong methods, but in others, it didn’t matter. Ultimately, we tried to build a house, the roof proving problematic, but it didn’t matter. I had a ball. It was a mix of Daddy handing me a brick to put on and me asking him to fetch one because I had a particular color in mind. We used nearly all the bricks, and our house was as tall as I was.
“Oh, no! No more bricks.” I decided I’d had enough. “Something new, Daddy,” I whined. “Please?”
“Of course. Let’s put these back in the tote, and then we can do whatever you want next.”
Whatever I wanted was sitting in the huge rocking chair on Daddy’s lap as he read me book after book after book. He was amazing at telling stories. He did all of the voices, and none of them sounded close to the others.
