Page 40 of Her Gentle Daddy

Gabby stared down at the wiggly pooch and giggled when he let out a little bark of agreement to Sean’s words.

“What’s his name?”

“His name is Olly.”

She turned to look at Sean, “You got me a Golden Retriever, and he has my favorite name?”

“I got to choose his name. When I called the breeder four weeks ago, they asked if we already had a name in mind because they would start using the name in his training, so he already knows it.”

“I still can’t believe this is my actual life. I never imagined how good my life could actually be, and it’s all because of you. Thank you, Daddy. I will never be able to truly show you how thankful I am for everything you’ve done to help me.”

Sean leaned down and kissed her on the lips, gently at first but soon, he was kissing her deeply, exploring her mouth with his tongue as he cupped the back of her neck. When he released her mouth, she smiled up at him.

“Baby girl, you being the person you are is everything I’ve always wanted, and you don’t need to thank me for a thing because you’ve made my life so much happier and fulfilling since I’ve met you. You’re my girl, my everything.”

16

GABBY

A freaking dog! She had a dog! Holy cow. She had always wanted one, dreamed about having one, even pretended Patches was a real one at times, but she never thought she would actually have a puppy of her own. The little fluffball was the cutest thing she’d ever seen and as soft as velvet.

Sean brought out a whole slew of toys, beds, collars, leashes, shampoo, and everything else you could possibly need to care for a dog, and Olly was happy to test out every single toy that she held out for him. She giggled when he got excited and would wiggle his entire body as he let out little barks of encouragement for her to throw a toy. He was freaking adorable.

While her Daddy cooked dinner, she was on her tummy on the floor, coloring and playing with Olly, who tried to help her by picking up the markers in his mouth and running off with them. Even though he had already had some training and seemed to be fully potty trained, he was still definitely a puppy and loved to put anything in his mouth that he could.

After dinner, Gabby followed Sean up the stairs for bath time, carrying Olly in her arms. Sean helped her get undressed and sat her on the toilet to go potty while he got the bathwater running. As soon as he turned on the taps, Olly started barking excitedly and tried jumping up toward the tub, making Gabby giggle.

“I think he wants to take a bath with me, Daddy.”

Sean gave her an exasperated look and shook his head.

“Nice try, little girl. He might be your new best friend, but bathing together is where Daddy draws the line.”

“Sorry, Olly. You have to stay out of the bath,” she cooed.

The puppy wagged his tail as though he understood and then laid down on the floor by the bathroom door. Sean put her into the bathwater and began washing her while she played with her bath toys. When his cloth-covered hand washed her pussy, she felt herself tense with a mixture of arousal and nerves. She loved when he washed her there, but she appreciated that he didn’t linger and that worried her for when the time came that he might want to get intimate. Luckily, she didn’t have too much time to think about it any deeper because Sean pulled the drain plug and lifted her out of the tub, wrapping her up in a thick towel.

“Can the puppy sleep with us?”

Sean picked her up and carried her into the nursery to get her dressed, the dog trailing right behind them.

“At bedtime, no. He’ll sleep in a bed right next to your side of the bed, but at naptime, when you’re in your princess bed alone, he can sleep up on the bed with you.”

Gabby was madly in love with her puppy. Several days had passed since she’d gotten Olly, and she had barely felt any anxiety. The only time she felt a little bit anxious, it was as though the dog knew, and he trotted over to her and pawed at her legs until she sat down on the floor to pet him, which made all the worry disappear.

She had been thinking about the name written on the piece of paper that was still in her backpack. On several occasions, she’d thought about getting onto the iPad that Sean had given her and searching the name to see what she could find, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up. Somehow, Gabby felt comfort in knowing that there might be someone out there who was her sister and didn’t know that she even existed, rather than Gabby meeting her and being rejected.

Luckily, Olly had been keeping her busy. She was able to take him to therapy with her as well as to work. Savannah had been thrilled when she walked in with the puppy, and somehow, Gabby got the feeling that she was part of the whole surprise. Her therapy session with Olly there had been the best one she’d had since meeting Savannah. She felt safer to open up more, knowing he was there for her to hold and snuggle. Patches had always been her comfort and support, but he wasn’t a warm body that reacted to her as Olly did.

Zane didn’t seem quite as thrilled about Olly coming to work, and Gabby guessed it was probably because on the first day at the club her naughty little puppy found a small leather paddle and decided it was his own personal chew toy. Gabby apologized several times and told Zane she would pay for it but the man told her not to worry about it and mumbled something about upping Sean’s membership fee.

After that incident, Zane seemed to warm to the puppy, even when he ran around the club with the leather paddle in his mouth as though he was rubbing salt into the wound.

Gabby was starting to trust Zane more and had even started a conversation with him a couple of times about ideas for the nursery. He was always kind to her and listened patiently, even when she would suddenly realize that she was talking openly with him and would reactively shut down. Somehow, he figured out how to draw her back out again and would often sit on the nursery floor while they talked. She guessed that he was trying to make himself seem smaller than he was so he didn’t intimidate her.

Jace, the other club owner, was also very nice, but she didn’t know him very well. He brought her little dark chocolate squares every once in a while and told her she was doing a great job but he didn’t try to push her for more conversation, which she was thankful for. He was just trying to win her over one little chocolate square at a time, it seemed.

She was finishing up for the day in the nursery, wiping down some of the toys when her Daddy walked in. She dropped the cloth she was using and ran over to him, springing up into his arms.

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