Daddy’s Little Surprise (Missouri Daddies #6)

17. Chapter Fifteen

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

RAINEY

R ainey was not so patiently waiting for Daddy to arrive. He wasn’t late but she just wanted him there now.

“You’re going to wear two holes where you’re staring.” Grace chuckled.

“Sorry.”

“No need to be sorry. I’m happy to see you so excited and waiting for him to come. It’s good for you.”

“I know, but I shouldn’t be gazing into space. I could be cleaning something.”

“Nope. You’re okay right where you are. I know you’re the boss, but it’s not a problem. It’s not like we’re super busy or anything. There’re a couple customers in the store but they don’t need anything.”

Rainey didn’t even know if she would be able to really concentrate on cleaning anything right now.

“You know, I just had this feeling you guys were going to hit it off. That’s one of the reasons why I showed you his picture. I saw him walking by several times but didn’t really think anything of it. He was just walking his dog.”

“He is pretty good. I’m happy I met him.”

She really was. She couldn’t remember the last time she was this happy. She never got this excited and impatient to see Pete.

“Ooooo, he’s coming.”

Her eyes searched through the glass window and immediately found him. He was confidently walking toward the front door.

“He’s so handsome,” she whispered.

“All yours, girlfriend. Go meet him by the door.”

She giggled and waddled to the door right as he walked into the shop. She immediately wrapped her arms around his torso and gave him a big hug.

“You okay?” Daddy asked as he wrapped his arms around her.

She relaxed into his embrace and took several deep breaths.

“Little girl. Are you okay? Has anything happened?”

She wanted to tell him she thought she saw her ex but didn’t want to burden him with that news. It could have just been her eyes playing tricks on her. She didn’t want to make him worry if he didn’t have to.

Rainey didn’t know how his day had been. Was it stressful? Maybe she should ask how his work was before she mentioned anything. If he were too stressed, she wouldn’t mention anything. But would that raise a flag for him? What if he knew something was up?

“Grace. What happened?” Daddy asked.

“I’m fine. Nothing is wrong,” she quickly said, realizing she hadn’t answered his question.

Daddy looked down at her and stared into her eyes for several seconds.

“Are you sure?” Daddy asked.

“Yes, Daddy. I’m sure.”

“We’re going to go take her lunch. If you need anything don’t hesitate to knock,” Daddy said to Grace.

“Have fun. I know you’re the Daddy but make sure she gets off her feet!” Grace called out.

Rainey groaned and shook her head. She had sat down three or four times already.

“What am I hearing about you not resting?” Daddy asked as they walked into her office.

Rainey pointed a finger up at him. “I have! When the girls came over, I was sitting down the whole time. Grace made me sit down several times before you got here. I have been off my feet!”

She was not going to get into trouble for something she had done.Rainey was getting worked up about it.

“Little girl.”

“I’m serious. You can look at the camera feed if you want. I’ve sat down so much today.”

She wouldn’t have suggested it if it wasn’t true. It felt weird to be resting this much, but she knew Grace was right.

“Rainey. Listen to Daddy.”

“Am I going to be in trouble?”

“No, Little girl. I believe you.”

She let out a breath of air and nodded. She didn’t know why she panicked Maybe it was because it was going to be the first official punishment. From the books she’d read and people she’d talked to, the first one was always the most nerve-wracking.

“Really?” she whispered.

“Yes, Rainey. I know you’ve put your feet up because Grace has sent me pictures.”

“You’re lying.”

There was no way he got Grace to send him pictures of her when she was resting.

“I’m not lying, Little girl.”

“You asked her to send pictures any time I sat down?”

Rainey couldn’t believe it.

“I didn’t. She just sent them to me. I promise. You can go ask her. Better yet, you can read through the messages. It starts with her sending me pictures of you sitting and ends that way.”

“Really?” she whispered.

“I wouldn’t lie to you. Do you want to see the messages?”

“No. I trust you.”

Daddy wrapped his arms around her and just held her close to him. She took a deep breath and relaxed into Daddy.

“Grace just wants to make sure everything is okay. She wants you to behealthy and thriving. She wasn’t sending the pictures with malicious intent, she was sending them to keep me updated that you were taking care of yourself.”

She would have realized that if she had been thinking clearly and not letting shock take over.

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need to be sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Rainey didn’t know how long they stayed in this position. She loved feeling his arms wrapped around her. They made her feel safe, secure, and loved. Something she hadn’t felt in a long time. Now she was feeling it almost daily.

“Let’s sit down so we can eat lunch. I bet you’re hungry.”

She was hungry but didn’t know if she would be hungry for whatever he’d brought. His food seemed to be good and did not make her sick. Hopefully they could continue the trend.

“I brought homemade chicken with pasta. The chicken has some spices on it but it’s not super spicy. If you can’t eat it or don’t like it, I did bring some plain chicken, too.”

There he was, being so thoughtful. What did she do to deserve him? Absolutely nothing. He was too good for her.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Anytime. I love doing this for you.”

Rainey sat on the couch, and Daddy sat on her office chair right in front of her. He opened several containers and forked some food before bringing it up to her. She reached for the fork, but Daddy pulled it back.

“Let Daddy feed you.”

“I can feed myself here.”

“Nope. Daddy is going to do it. If we were home, you would be in a highchair and I would be feeding you soft foods and a bottle.”

Rainey wiggled in her seat. The idea of being fed by Daddy in a highchair excited her. She wanted to do that, to try that.

“I promise we’ll do that when we get home. You won’t have to wait long. ”

She smiled and relaxed. She honestly could not wait to get home so they could do it. Would she be able to do this when the baby came? Was she going to have to stop being Little? Put it on hold until her baby grew up and was out of the house?

Her smile dropped as she thought about those questions. She was so excited to finally have a baby of her own, but she was worried. Being a Little was part of her, and she didn’t want to let that go. It helped calm her when she was super stressed. How was she going to de-stress if she couldn’t do what helped her relax?

“What’s wrong?” Daddy asked as he fed her a mouthful of food.

“It’s nothing.”

But maybe she should bring it up to Daddy. It also affected him since he was the Daddy, but what if he told her they should stop now so she didn’t get used to it? It would break her heart, and Rainey didn’t know if she was prepared for that.

“It’s not nothing. That’s unacceptable. Communication is important. I can’t read your mind.” Daddy gave her a pointed look. “The girls texted me saying they were worried about you before they left. Is that what you’re thinking about?”

Rainey shook her head. “It was different.”

“Let’s talk about both of them.”

Which one was better to talk about first? If she talked about being worried about Little Time, it could result in him telling her they should stop until their baby had grown up. She didn’t want that. But the other option was telling him about her seeing her ex. Was she ready to talk about that ?

“You’re okay. You’re in a safe place. I’m not going to judge you. But something is bothering you. I want to help.”

“I thought I saw my ex, but it couldn’t be possible. He was standing right next to Echo’s man. Or I think he’s her man. But my ex doesn’t know where I live. I didn’t tell him.”

She figured since the girls told him they were worried about her, she should talk about that. Even if she didn’t really want to, she didn’t know what the girls had told Daddy. They could have said she thought she saw someone she knew, and Monroe could have mentioned her terrified look.

“What did he do?”

“It was nothing. It’s just, he doesn’t know where I live. I didn’t tell him or anyone where I was moving. But I’m pretty sure it was just my eyes playing tricks on me.”

“Not good enough. What did he do to make you run away?”

“He was verbally abusive, and when he drank, he got physically abusive. I knew I needed to leave. When I found out I was pregnant, I left in the middle of the night. He was part of some gang, I don’t know the name of it, but he changed, and I just knew I couldn’t stay anymore.”

Part of her felt lighter for telling him. She hadn’t told anybody yet, and it was like a weight lifted off her chest. She didn’t have to carry this alone. But it also put him in danger because if her ex-boyfriend was in town and part of a gang, it could end very badly.

Daddy placed her food down on her desk and took her hands. “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you and talk to the guy who’s been following Echo.”

Rainey pulled her hands out of his and shook her head. “ You can’t do that! You don’t need to do that. I’m sure it was just my mind playing tricks on me.”

He just looked at her, making her nervous.

“Please. It really could be my mind playing tricks on me. For all I know, he could have been a completely different person who looked like my ex. I really think my mind was playing tricks on me. I don’t want you to go there and ask questions, possibly get hurt, and it be all for nothing.”

“Not all for nothing. I’m going to keep you safe, and if that means going to talk to a coupleof people, then I will.”

“Please, you don’t have to.”

“Okay, Little girl. If you see your ex again, you tell me immediately. Understood?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

Hopefully, she wouldn’t see her ex again. She didn’t want Daddy to go and talk to them. Echo’s man looked a little scary. And by a little, Rainey meant it was a lot.

“Open wide.” Daddy started to do the airplane with a fork full of her food.

She happily opened her mouth and started to chew.

“Can you cook for me all the time?” she asked.

“Little girl, no talking with your mouth full.”

Rainey pouted as she finished chewing her food.

“But yes, I can, and I will. Daddy loves cooking for you and making sure you and our baby get all the food you both need.”

Something warm and fuzzy filled her as he spoke those words. She felt loved and cared for in this instance.

“Thank you,” she whispered, tears filling her eyes.

He had made her cry more times than she could count, but most of them were happy tears if not all the time. Daddy just had a way with his words that made her all emotional.

“Sorry. I told myself I wasn’t going to cry today.”

“You can cry any time you want or need. It’s healthy to let your emotions out.”

“I don’t even know why I’m crying. I think it’s just because you said such nice words.”

“I’ll make it my mission to do it all the time. Shower you with love and kind words.”

She shook her head and took another bite from him. He was going to be the death of her.

“I’ll make up for all the times you didn’t have kindness shown to you. For when you didn’t get shown love.”

“That’ll be a lot of times,” she muttered. “You’ll probably get tired of doing it.”

“Never. I promise you that.”

Rainey sighed and relaxed into the couch. She hadn’t realized how tense she had gotten while they were talking. Maybe it was because they were talking about her ex-boyfriend.

Daddy gave her another bite of food and looked down at her feet.

“Little girl, we need to get you some compression socks and better shoes to help you.”

She looked down at her feet and grimaced. Even though she had sat several times this morning, her feet and ankles were still swollen.

“I’ve been putting money away for that. Hopefully, after this month, I’ll be able to get some.”

“After work, we’ll get you some.”

“No, I can do that.”

“We’re going to do it.”

“But I don’t have the money.”

Daddy gripped her chin with his fingers. “When you are with me, you don’t pay for anything.”

“That doesn’t seem fair,” she huffed.

“It doesn’t need to be fair. When you are with me, I take care of you and your needs. Money is part of that.”

“So, what I’m hearing is I need to not go out with you to buy the socks so you can’t. Then when I get the money, I can go without you.”

“No.”

“What do you mean no? You just said I don’t pay for anything when I am with you.”

“When you are with me as a couple. We are together, in a dynamic. You are with me, so I will be paying for things.”

Her mouth hung open as she stared at him. Was he for real right now? He couldn’t be.

“Then what do I do with the money I earn if you are going to be paying for everything?” she asked.

“Put it away in a savings account.”

“I still don’t see how this is fair. I’m living in your house, and you are going to be paying for everything. What am I going to do to earn my keep?”

“Absolutely nothing because you don’t need to. I want you to focus on yourself, the baby, and your coffee shop. I don’t want you to worry about anything else. Let me do that for you.”

“I don’t know if I can,” she muttered.

“I know it’s going to be hard, but can you try?”

Even when she was with her ex, Pete, she still worked to pay for things. She worked at a diner, waitressing. Nothing that used her basic business associate degree. But now, now she could.

“I guess.” She shrugged.

It was going to be extremely hard no matter what. Daddy was so kind and understanding. Him wanting to take care of her was something she wasn’t used to. He was the exact opposite of what Pete was.

“So, after work, we’re going to stop by a store and get some socks and shoes. What time do you get off?”

“Five. It might be a little bit later, depending on how much cleaning up we need to do.”

“That’s fine, Little girl. I’ll be here a little bit before five, and if you need anything, I’ll help out.”

Daddy set the food on the seat next to her.

“Can you get up?”

She looked at him funny but got up anyway. He sat down, and before she knew it, she was on his lap. Rainey immediately snuggled in as Daddy continued to feed her.

She couldn’t remember the last time she was this relaxed. To have somebody feeding her but also holding her like she was the most precious cargo in the world.

“Such a good girl. When you have your days off, we’ll be doing this multiple times. When you take your nap, I’ll give you a bottle and you can fall asleep in my arms as we slowly rock in the rocking chair.”

“You have a rocking chair?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yes, baby, I do. And we can sit in it whenever you want. Whenever you want a snuggle, you just let me know, and we can rock together.”

“Anytime?”

“Unless Daddy is busy with something super duper important. But I will almost always say yes. Just ask.”

She relaxed even more into his embrace and closed her eyes. She was so peaceful, something she hadn’t felt in a long time. It wasn’t just the town.

It was Daddy.

He was the peace to her chaotic life. It had only been a coupleof days, but he had managed to make her feel the most relaxed she had felt in years, maybe even her whole life.

“You are my?—”

Knock. Knock.

“Come in,” she called out.

She had been ready to tell Daddy he was her peace, but she got interrupted. Maybe it was for the better. Maybe it was too soon, but part of her didn’t feel like it. It felt right to tell him in the moment that he brought her so much peace. He had already told her he loved her.

Grace peeked into the room. Rainey had completely forgotten she was sitting on Daddy’s lap but it was too late. Grace had already seen her.

“Is there something wrong?” Rainey asked.

“Two people are fighting, and I don’t know what to do.”