Page 17 of A Little More Love

“Ditto, baby,” Tinsley parroted.

Taking her chin in my fingers, I tilted her head up to look at me. “Who am I to you, Little girl?”

She visibly swallowed before answering, “Papa.”

“That’s right. I’m Papa to you, Tinsley Kate, and the next time I have to remind you, your bottom is going to pay the price.”

“Yes, Papa,” she whispered contritely.

I pressed a kiss to her cheek before letting her go. “Now, about those cookie pancakes. I also think I need forty-three.”

Chapter Six

Tinsley

“I don’t want to,” I cried, kicking the legs of the chair Papa had placed me on.

“I know you don’t, baby, but I want you to trust me on this.” He took my hand and knelt in front of me.

“I don’t wanna do that either,” I yelled. I was so angry. It felt like I’d swallowed a bomb and it was exploding inside of me.

“Tinsley, I know you’re upset, but we don’t yell at Papa. Reach inside of you and find your nice words,” Daddy scolded.

Swallowing, I nodded. “Mmm, sorry, Papa.” I didn’t mean to be so angry, I justhatedhis and Daddy’s idea.

Papa reached out and stroked my cheek gently. “Thank you, Teenie. Can we talk about what’s bothering you now?”

I nodded.

“Do you think we can talk about it calmly and respectfully?” Daddy asked.

I nodded again.

“Why are you so upset, baby?” Papa asked me, still holding my hand.

“I don’t want to meet Tifton wearing a baby dress.”

I didn’t. I adored being Daddy and Papa’s baby, but that didn’t mean I wanted to meet Papa’s stepbrother dressed like one. We’d been getting ready for bath time, but when Daddy laid out the pink princess dress on the bed, I’d panicked and thrown a fit. Daddy had set me in a chair to have some calm down time.

“I know, Teenie. New things are hard sometimes, but you are our baby and I want Tifton to get to meet you genuinely. You pretending to be a big girl would be hard on you and it would be dishonest. Plus, Tifton is well aware of our arrangement,” Papa said.

I knew that, but there was a big difference between TiftonhearingI was a Little and TiftonseeingI was a Little.

“You can always use your safeword if this is something you absolutely do not want to do and you know we won’t be upset with you, not even a tiny bit, but I want to make sure you understand why you’re not doing it,” Daddy said, kneeling beside Papa.

“If you want to meet Tifton as an adult because you’re not ready to introduce that side of yourself to him because it’s special, that’s okay,” Papa said.

“Or if you want to meet Tifton as an adult right now and meet him as our Little girl once you get to know him better, that’s okay too,” Daddy added.

“But if you want to meet him as an adult because you’re scared he will judge you or won’t like you, then that’s not okay. That’s fear and we don’t let fear control us, do we?” Papa asked.

“No, Papa,” I answered.

“And do you believe Papa and I would let anyone be judgy or mean around our special girl?” Daddy asked.

I shook my head. No, they wouldn’t ever expose me to someone like that.

“So the choice is yours, Teenie, but search your heart and make sure you’re making the right choice for the right reasons, okay?” Daddy asked.

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