Page 16 of Ted's Temerity

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I’m a little surprised when he sits beside me and picks up one of the dolls, joining me in my play. Together, we take our toys on a journey through the home. They dine in the large, formal dining room and we pretend that we’re part of their very fancy dinner party, and then the dolls dance in the ballroom. Finally, they bathe in the large bathtub before we send them to bed.

As the dolls sleep, I muse on how enjoyable this has been. It’s a new experience for me to spend time with a Daddy who engages in the story with me rather than sitting back to watch me entertain myself. And it didn’t seem to be a half-assed attempt on his part, either. He made conversation with the dolls, he offered ideas to extend their activities within their home, and he even spoke with silly, high-pitched character voices, making me giggle raucously. It was like he actually enjoyed playing with me, andthatthought makes my heart race.

“Can we play something different?” I ask, deciding that the dolls probably need to rest after such an eventful day. Then I remember the rules. “We can pack this up first.”

“Good boy,” he praises, and the words light me up from the inside. I start to carefully pack away the furniture and the dolls, and he helps me to make the task go faster. Then we put the dollhouse back up on the shelf, once again closed and latched, before he turns to me and asks, “What would you like to play next?”

I’ve dropped far enough into little space that I’m honestly excited at the prospect of anything. My eyes land on the tub of blocks on the bottom shelf and I know exactly what I want to do. “Can we build a castle?”

Ted smiles widely and nods, helping me pull the plastic tub out, carrying it to where we’d been playing with the dollhouse. He upends the entire thing and I gasp at the mess it makes, delighting in the familiar click-clack racket of the little wooden pieces tumbling about, muted by the carpet as they fall.

“Are we building a tall castle?” he asks, watching me with obvious amusement as I start to meticulously sort the pieces into colored piles.

“Yep.” I pop the ‘p’. “Super tall.”

“Here,” he slides the lid of the tub down between us and then settles himself into a cross-legged position. “It’ll be sturdier than trying to build on the carpet.”

“Clever Daddy.” I tell him, barely aware that I’ve gotten comfortable enough to let the word slip out. It’s only the hastily smothered sharp inhalation from across the small, carpeted space that has me realizing what I’ve done.

I look up from my stash of brightly colored blocks to catch a sweet smile on his face, but he doesn’t bring it up. He just points down at the large, rectangular piece of firm plastic that separates us and asks, “So, where do we start?”

* * *

“Daddy,stop,” I giggle, squirming away from fingers determined to tickle me into submission, “that’s cheating!”

I have no idea how long we’ve been playing for at this stage. Tonight has well and truly surpassed how I’d hoped the evening might go. I managed to sink so deeply into little space that, once I started coming back out, I was surprised that it had happened so easily.

Right now, Ted is easing me back into my adult head space with an old-fashioned game of ‘Go Fish’, only we’ve moved onto the twin bed in the playroom because Ted’s declared his back wasn’t made for sitting on the floor for extended periods of time. As with all the other games we’ve played, he seems just as engaged and genuinely into playing this with me as I’ve felt all night.

Except he started blatantly cheating and, when I lunged for his cards, it earned me a tickle attack.

“Excuse me, but who tried to take all my cards away?” he argues back, all lawyerly and devastatingly handsome with those twinkling eyes and smug smile of his.

“Because I caught you picking cards out of the pile when you thought I wasn’t looking.”

Ted is unrepentant. “Daddy’s rules say I can.”

“Daddy’s full of…uh…” I manage to censor myself just in time, smiling sheepishly when one of his eyebrows wings upwards. “Poop?”

Snorting, Ted waggles his index finger at me. “You can get away with that this one time, princess.”

That works for me. I smile as innocently as possible and bat my lashes. “Yes, Daddy.” I surprise even myself with the sexual undertone in my voice.

I’m back out of little space and the air between us suddenly feels charged.

“Should we pack the cards away?” Ted asks me after a short span of silence.

I nod.

He gathers them up silently, slipping them into the pack with practiced ease. He tosses the pack onto the little bedside table and then extends his arms. “Come cuddle and talk?”

I take in the vision of him, his shoulders loose and his back propped up with a pillow against the wall behind him. There’s still no expectation in his expression or in the way he holds himself. He seems content and relaxed, and maybe a little hopeful, but I can tell that his request doesn’t have any underlying agenda. He really does just want to cuddle and talk.

I crawl over the comforter and into his embrace and we maneuver until we’re both comfortable, with his chest pressed against my back and his arms, toned and strong, casually draped over my shoulders and coming to rest over my abdomen, crossed lightly at his wrists.

“So, tiny dancer,” he says quietly, his voice a low purr, “have you had fun tonight?”

My lips lift upwards at the memories we’ve just made. “I have.” I sigh happily and snuggle in closer, enjoying the feeling of being held. “I didn’t think it would be so easy.”