“I should keep a sippy cup in here for you,” he muttered.
Sammi stared at him as his words sunk in. He wanted to keep a sippy cup in his office for her.
He knew.
Her mouth fell open as she blinked several times. How did he know? She had only slipped up once and thought he hadn’t heard anything. Was she mistaken? Had she done something else to clue him in?
“Then you won’t spill on yourself. But you would only drink it in my office, which means I would be able to keep a better eye on you drinking your water.” He brought the water bottle up to her lips, and she took a small sip. “Let go of the water bottle. Daddy will help you drink from it. Just relax on the couch as I talk and give you water.”
She didn’t like the sound of that one bit. Things had changed between them, and she was seeing that.
“First, Daddy wants to know if you dumping out the water was a one-time thing or if you’ve done it every single time. And don’t think about lying because it’s getting added to your tally.”
“My tally?” she asked in disbelief. “When did I get a tally?”
“When you started being naughty. So, was that the first time, or have you done it multiple times?” Daddy asked.
He brought the water bottle to her lips, and she took a couple of sips, pulling her head back when she was done. Sooner or later, she was going to need to pee again, and she was betting on the sooner rather than later.
“It wasn’t the first time,” she mumbled.
She had a feeling he already knew the answer, and she didn’t want to get into any more trouble than she already was.
“How many times?”
She looked down at her hands. He definitely wasn’t going to be happy when he found out it was every single time.
“Little One, answer Daddy’s question.”
“Every time,” she whispered, closing her eyes and waiting for him to start yelling.
“Did you drink any water?” he deadpanned.
Sammi shook her head, still not looking up. She knew what she did was wrong, but she had a good reason for it. Gene knew how much she went to the bathroom. It was hard to miss when she made multiple trips in a short span of time.
“Can you look at Daddy?” he calmly asked.
But she didn’t want to. She didn’t want to see the disappointment on his face. She didn’t want to see the anger either. She knew what she had done was wrong, and she shouldn’t have done it. But she felt like her reasoning for doing so was a good one. She wasn’t doing it to defy his orders. She was doing it so she could do her job.
“Look at Daddy now, Little One,” he commanded.
She slowly lifted her head and met his eyes. She searched his gaze, but he wasn’t giving anything away. Daddy was really good at hiding his emotions.
“Why?” he asked. “Why did you empty your water? Why did you lie to me?”
Was he going to understand if she told him?
“Why?” he asked again, giving her another sip of water.
“I don’t want any more,” she mumbled.
“Tough, you are drinking water until I say you’ve had enough,” he replied.
Sammi glared at him, but he just looked back at her like he was unbothered.
“Little One, answer the question.”
There was no way out of this. He was going to find out either way.