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I’ve been waiting since my punishment fuck yesterday and the way he's toying with me under the guise of changing my diaper isn’t helping the needy ache between my thighs. “Daddy,” I whine, lifting my hips, seeking more of his touch. “Please, I’ll be so good if you let me come.”

“Later, angel.” Pulling a fresh diaper from the drawer, he wraps it around me and lifts me into his arms. “If you’re a good girl for our guests.”

The way he keeps mentioning our company and our guests has unease coiling in my gut as I cling to him and we make our way down the stairs. Daddy pauses beside the door to what he and Mommy called our parlor and bounces me lightly in his arms. “I want you to know that no matter what’s said today or what happens, your Mommy and I love you very much. Do you believe me, angel?”

I’m going to be sick. “What’s gonna happen? What’s going on, Daddy?”

“Nothing bad, I promise.”

But his promises don’t ease the churning in my stomach. A churning that only grows worse when he opens the door and I find everyone staring at me with somber expressions. In the middle of the gathered group is a tall man with a silver beard and neatly trimmed hair to match. Even his eyes are silver, and full of concern as Daddy carries me over to an empty chair and settles with me in his lap.

“Hello, little one,” Uncle Max says, flashing me an indulgent smile I’ve only seen reserved for his family. “We want to start by saying that you aren’t in trouble. We’re all here because we love you and we’re worried about you. Nobody is angry, and this is a safe place for you.”

“Speak for yourself,” Solene mutters, but Ms. Myra silences her with a sharp swat to her bare thigh and some whispered words none of us can hear. Whatever she says, Solene blushes and ducks her head and doesn’t speak out again.

Seemingly unperturbed by the interruption, Uncle Max continues. “As I was saying, we’re all here because your Mommy and Daddy are worried you aren’t… settling in very easily. So we brought Dr. Ashcroft in to help us all work through whatever might be upsetting you.”

Dr. Ashcroft smiles, not quite the same way as Uncle Max, but close enough that I can tell it’s meant to put me at ease. “That’s a very pretty dress you’re wearing, Kerry. Is it one of Solene’s?”

Ignoring him, I look over at Uncle Max. “Why do we need a new doctor? We already have Dr. Dreadful.”

At Dr. Ashcroft’s confused look, Uncle Max sighs. “She means Donovan Graves. We call him Dr. D here on the island and the Littles took some… liberties with trying to figure out what the ‘D’ stood for.”

There’s a pause, then Dr. Ashcroft tosses his head back and laughs, long and loud. “Oh, I wish I could have seen the look on Donovan’s face the first time he heard that nickname.”

“He was appropriately horrified and he’s done everything in his power to live up to the name ever since,” Uncle Max assures him with a laugh of his own.

Eyes sparkling, Dr. Ashcroft turns his attention back to me. “I’m a very different kind of doctor from your Dr. Dreadful, little one. There will be no embarrassing exams today, I promise.”

That isn’t as reassuring as he would probably like it to be. “I still don’t understand why you have to be here at all. I’m fine.”

“No you're not!” Hopping down from her Mommy’s lap, Solene plants her fists on hips and glares daggers at me. “You lied and you got me in so much trouble! All because you’re too scared your Mommy and Daddy won’t love you anymore if you’re too perfect!”

I’ve always heard the phrase “the silence was deafening” but I’ve never understood it until this very moment. All I can hear in the absolute quiet that follows Solene’s outburst is all of the judgment coming my way.

“Kerry.” Mommy’s quiet voice draws my attention to her, and the stunned, hurt expression on her face that threatens to break my heart. “Is that true? Did you really think we wouldn’t want you anymore?”

Suddenly, the weight of all my secrets is far more than I can bear. “Yes!” I scream, barely aware of the tears streaming down my face. “Yes, yes, yes, okay? I had this crazy idea that people like Victoria and the other Littles got Daddies and Mommies because they needed them. They were all in some kind of trouble. And I don’t need anyone. I pay my bills, I keep my apartment ridiculously clean, I never get in trouble. I just… I didn’t think anyone would want me unless I was a total mess. And the worst part is, it’s true. I went out that night and got drunk and lost my suitcase and showed up late to work and that was how you found me. That’s why you love me, because I’m like them. But I’m not like them and I don’t want to be! I like having a clean room and eating my veggies and being a good girl. I’m tired of being a disaster and I’m tired of pretending I’m something I’m not just so you’ll love me.”

“Oh, angel.” Mommy drops to her knees in front of me. “You could not be more wrong.”

Sniffling, I stare at her through the tears blurring my vision. “Wh-what?”

“We don’t love you because you need us,” Daddy says quietly, pulling me closer to him. “We love you because you’re sweet and funny and… well, other things we probably shouldn’t say in mixed company.”

Wiping at her own tears, Mommy smiles up at me. “Your Daddy is right. We fell in love with you before we even met you. When all we knew about you was what your Uncle Max had told us.”

“Wh-what did Uncle Max tell you?”

Uncle Max smiles, with far more understanding than I deserve. “I told them how smart and helpful you are. And how lucky they would be to have you for a Little girl.”

My head feels like it’s spinning in place on my shoulders. “But… you didn’t want me. None of the others did, either. Nobody wanted me.”

“That doesn’t mean you weren’t perfect exactly the way you were,” Uncle Max explains gently. “I knew from the moment I met you that it would take a very special Mommy and Daddy to love a Little girl like you.”

“Really?”

“Really. That’s the main reason I hired Graham and Celeste. Not that they aren’t excellent pilots, but I had a hunch you three would be perfect for each other.” His expression turns smug. “And I am rarely wrong about these things.”