Page 14 of Daddy's Little Patient

With a pillow under his arm to help brace it, he settled her in his lap, laying her back against his shoulder. She nestled into him, her body warm and pliant in the soft onesie and restrictive jacket. Puppy barks played softly in the background as Cole brought the bottle to Kelly's lips.

"Open up, sweetheart," he coaxed gently.

As she drank, Cole stroked her hair gently, reveling in the softness of her brown locks between his fingers. The morning sunlight filtered through the curtains, casting a warm glow overthem both. He could feel the tension melting from Kelly's body as she sank deeper into her little headspace.

"That's my good girl," Cole murmured, wiping a small dribble of milk from her chin. "Daddy's got you."

The sweet chocolate milk flowed easily, and Kelly suckled contentedly, her eyes fixed on the animated dogs dancing and singing across the TV screen.

This was exactly what she’d been needing. What they’d both been needing, he realized with a start as she relaxed completely in his arms. A few days of this—nothing but onesies and diapers, bottles held by him and drunk from the comfort and safety of his lap, her highchair and her Naughty Chair already facing the wall in her Naughty Corner—and he had no doubt her heightened anxiety would finally calm back down.

Patience, gentle attention, and some mandatory Little time, that was what they both needed. And now that he’d found something that seemed to be helping, he had no doubt in his mind that the next six weeks would pass much easier.

Good job, Daddy, he thought to himself, smiling gently down at her while she watched the movie, her eyelids growing heavier with each suck and blink.

He caressed her bangs back from her eyes. God, he loved her. He loved that he could calm her like this too, in his arms and close to his heart.

Now he just had to keep her that way.

Chapter Four

Two weeks later…

Laying in bed, the morning sun peeking through the crack in the window curtains, Cole folded his hands behind his head and studied the ceiling.

For the last few weeks, Cole had pulled out all the stops. It didn’t take him long to figure out the more she was left with nothing to do but sink into her own head and unhappy thoughts, the more trouble she tried to get into. He couldn’t even say she was doing it on purpose. He doubted she was. It was her, on cranky autopilot, trying to do everything she could so she wouldn’t have to ask for help.

Although these were all actions he could and would have spanked her for in an instant any other time in his life, right now, he couldn’t justify it. He knew what she was doing, even if she didn’t, because she’d been this way for as long as he’d known her. The worse her day was going, the worse she felt inside, the more she tended to internalize it, twisting reality on reflection until she’d convinced herself it was all her fault. That she was a bad girl, and the only thing that could possibly make it all rightagain was if Daddy took her across his knee and made her good again one hard swat at a time.

None of that fit in this situation. She wasn’t bad, she was injured. A spanking might make her feel good again, but the risk of her hurting herself even more in the struggles and throes caused by a really good spanking, were too high. So, he did the next best thing he could think of. He took her out of the house, and together they did “all the things,” as Kelly was apt to say when her Little side reared its sweet head.

The first day they went to the zoo, where he ended up signing her up three times for camel rides. And boy, did her Little come out! The poor zookeeper must have spent twenty minutes kindly and patiently explaining why it wasn’t a good idea to have camels in the big city and, when that failed, explaining why the zoo would not be selling her one of theirs. He was pretty sure ten years from now–when he knew she was secure enough for him to pop the question without too high of a risk she might say no–there was going to be a pet camel in his living room, spitting on the carpet and eating his couch.

That was something “future him” could deal with because his hands were full enough as it was, what with working remotely from home, taking care of her, and now the daily excursions out to have fun. He took her out for ice cream, for picnics in the park where she spent a happy hour feeding the ducks and geese. He only turned his back once, to take their garbage to the nearest trash can. When he turned back, she had captured one of the birds and was approaching with thatDaddy-do-you-love-melook on her face and the world’s most laidback wild duck in her arms.

“No,” he told her before she could even open her mouth. He never should have gone to the public restroom after that, but fortunately, once they were in the car, he managed to detect a soft muffled quack before he took the highway exit for home.He turned around in record time, returning the duck to the park before taking Kelly straight home for twenty minutes of corner time with her hands on her head and her bare bottom on full display.

“How many times does Daddy have to tell you no?” he asked.

Head bowed, Kelly had answered, “Once.”

“Apparently, not today.”

Marching her into the bathroom, he gave her an ice water enema to help her remember what happened when she ignored his nos. She cried, hugging her tummy while he used her naughty girl butt plug to make her hold it for a good twenty minutes. Afterwards, he rocked and cradled her, with a cup of hot cocoa and extra marshmallows to comfort her now that discipline was done. He also pulled her collar out of his playbag, hoping just wearing it would ease her into a more submissive mindset. Sometimes that worked; sometimes he had to grab her by her collar, hauling her up onto her tiptoes before yanking her in close, nose-to-nose, close enough to kiss. Close enough to watch her submissive self melt as he growled “no”.

The days seemed to pass in a dizzying whirlwind of punishments as Kelly fought her body’s need to rest and heal, along with near-daily outings to keep her overthinking mind distracted.

They killed three hours at the arcade once the swelling and bruising in her fingers faded back to almost normal. He took her for dinner at Pizza and Pipes, where an old organ played theatrical music to the enthusiastic dancing of animatronic puppets on a theater stage, complete with a red velvet curtain that came up and down between each show. He spent two hundred dollars online at the Lego Shop, plus expedited shipping in the hopes the packages would arrive within days rather than weeks. He even took her to their local dungeon, a place they’d been to before although not recently and neverregularly. In fact, it had probably been a year since last they’d attended. But they were welcomed back as if they’d never left, and Kelly spent several hours crawling on the floor with the other Littles, sharing their coloring books and drawing media, playing Jenga and board games until it was time to go. And just yesterday, he went to the store for pizza and enough candy and ice cream to put together a fairly professional-looking sundae bar. She sugared out completely, and it was 1 A.M. before he got her to sleep.

And one time–one time–he spanked her. It was gentle and fun, with several swats finding their way between her legs for stinging spanks that didn't take anything more than a flick of his wrist to bring her crying up onto her toes. He loved that she could orgasm from that alone, and he made sure between spanks and busy fingers and his cock that she came over and over, until he'd exhausted her. She slept like an angel all night long.

Unfortunately, the fun and relaxation she gained rarely lasted beyond the day and never more than two, but then bratty Kelly always returned and it was as if they were back on Day One. She needed spanking, if for no other reason than because she'd convinced herself in her mind that was the only thing that would chase away the bad feelings relentlessly chewing her up inside. And this morning was definitely no exception.

She kicked the table legs all through breakfast, poking at her eggs, bacon and toast with blackberry jam (her favorite) and eating very little.

"Eat your food," he told her in his Daddiest voice.

She bowed her head, as if that could hide the sullen side-eye she shot him.

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