Page 98 of Their Forever Daddy

Grant

* * *

The sound of the back door slamming jolted Grant out of his shock. He looked over at Edie, who was still holding the switch and staring at the door their babygirl had just disappeared through.

Once again, he found himself torn between them. Jesse obviously needed him, but he had a feeling Edie was going to need some help processing what had just happened, too.

“You go on up.” Matt laid a hand on his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Jesse needs her Daddy. I’ll send Edie up when she’s ready.”

Right. Edie had her friends, and from what he’d seen of their relationships so far, she would be in good hands.

Still, it killed him to turn his back on the other half of his heart, and he prayed he was doing the right thing as he made his way up the stairs to the guest bedroom. He could hear Jesse’s sobs before he even made it to the second floor, and his heart broke yet again for his poor Little girl.

Stretching out on the bed beside her, he pulled her into his arms, rubbing his hand up and down her back as she soaked his shirt with her tears.

“Shhh, baby. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

“I’m n-n-not!” she wailed, pressing herself so close he wondered for a moment if she might try to crawl into his shirt. “Everyone heard! I didn’t even mean to say it!”

“I know, baby.” What else could he say? Everyone clearly heard her call Edie ‘Mommy’, and there was no taking that back. But he couldn’t help but feel like there was something deeper going on. A little embarrassment wasn’t enough to cause this reaction, not for his little outlaw.

Unfortunately, there was no talking to her when she was in this state. So he simply held her, and let her cry it out until she finally went limp in his arms and let out a shuddering sigh.

“Poor babygirl,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Ready to talk about it now?”

“No.” Despite the circumstances, the sulk in her voice was absolutely adorable. “I never wanna talk about it, ever.”

“That’s not really an option, little outlaw. Not when you just sobbed your heart out in my arms.”

“It’s nothing. I was just embarrassed.”

“Baby.” His sigh was pure exasperation, with a tinge of amusement. “Do you really expect me to believe that?”

“Would be nice if you did,” she grumbled. But a moment later she sighed and shook her head. “No. No, I don’t expect you to believe that.”

“Then tell Daddy what’s wrong. Are you worried Edie will be upset that you called her Mommy?”

“Yes.” The word was barely a whisper. “We haven’t talked at all about what happens once the month is over and we’re more than halfway there! What if she doesn’t want to keep us? What if she wants to stay here forever, just like before? What if?—”

“What if we actually ask Edie what she wants?” Grant interrupted, keeping his tone gentle. “Do you think that might be a better place to start?”

“I wanted to, but you kept threatening to spank me!”

Grant winced at the truth in her words. “You’re right. I was trying to keep Edie from panicking, but obviously I overcorrected. I’m sorry I didn’t realize you were feeling so uncertain about everything.”

“I wasn’t, not really. Not until Edie told me she was giving me more of a punishment because I was hers. It felt so… like she was claiming me, you know? For real and forever and it got my brain all jumbled out and the more she spanked me the more Little I felt and it just… slipped out.”

“That makes sense.”

“Do you think she meant it?” Eyes still shimmering with tears, Jesse looked up at him, the plea clear in her eyes. “Do you think she really meant I’m hers? Like, forever and ever?”

“Yes, babygirl. I meant every word of it.”

Edie

* * *

It hadn’t taken long for Edie to break out of the weird trance Jesse’s slipup had put her into. As soon as Carly had laid a tentative hand on her arm, asking if she was okay, she’d told everyone to get the hell out of her house and she’d gone racing toward her babygirl.

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