Page 77 of Icebreaker
“Kiddo, you can’t move in,” Daddy B warned me.
That got him an instant pout, but a quick glance from him had me in line. The last thing I wanted was to write sentences—his go-to punishment when I messed up and my least favorite because I dreaded it so much.
“Well, we don’t encourage living here, but visiting is always welcome,” the librarian said with a laugh, coming up behind us. We hadn’t even noticed her approach. She was in her mid-forties, with several visible tattoos, wearing a retro muumuu, and sporting purple streaks in her hair. If I were straight, I’d already be head over heels.
“I guess I’ll have to be okay with that then,” I answered with my own smile.
“How can I help you all today?”
“I’m staying here for the summer. Would I be able to get a library card?”
“Are you a student?” I nodded, trying not to grab Daddy B’s hand in excitement and jump with giddy happiness. It wasn’t a big deal at home, but maybe it would be a problem here? “If so, no problem. Assuming it’s an in-state school, we can give you an auxiliary card and you’ll have access to all the services.”
“B, you’ll be able to find me here every day I can be,” I said without bothering to hide my giddiness at the prospect.
“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me,” he said dryly, complete with a little hip bump that was meant to be gentle, but sent me stumbling. “Oops, sorry about that, kiddo.”
“Are you two coming up here to work?” she asked, looking between us.
“I’ll be working at the sheriff’s office, and he’ll be knocking out a few credits online.”
“Oh, that sounds like a blast. What are you studying?”
“Information science. I’m on track to graduate next year and plan to work in a library while pursuing my master’s.”
“Count me in. We’re always on the lookout for volunteers, and if you’re interested, I’d be happy to help you focus on the hands-on aspects of library work.”
“Oh my gosh, are you serious? I’d love to apply. I’ll just need to sort out my schedule with my classes and his schedule since I don’t have a car, but if we can make it work, I’d be happy to volunteer.”
“Fantastic…let’s get you set up with a card.”
Melanie, but all her friends call her Mel—and I guess we were friends now—gave me the application packet, signed us up for cards, introduced us to the team working, and sent us on ourway after extracting a promise I’d get the paperwork back to her tomorrow.
Best. Detour. Ever.
Our next stop was the grocery store. Daddy pushed the cart, and I found the items he was calling off his list. Since we were now living there full-time and not just on weekends, we needed everything. Sadly, there wasn’t much junk food on the list.
We brought the coolers to put in the back of his SUV to store all the cold items. That was my idea, and Daddy said it was a good one. After seeing the traffic on the way to the cabin, I’d worried about everything spoiling and the money being wasted. I appreciated that Daddy recognized I was good at things, even if I was messy and disorganized.
Daddy wasn’t great with a budget. I might be poor and have none, but I was better at making money stretch. He was good at organizing chore charts for me, but I did better at managing a budget. His parents had told him he didn’t need to pay rent since they owned the cabin outright, but he felt that wasn’t fair because they wouldn’t be able to use it as often now that he would be living there.
They’d offered me the same deal since I was staying in the apartment, but I insisted on paying rent too. I didn’t like the idea of taking advantage of them. Mrs. Tate said it wasn’t taking advantage when it was being offered, but that didn’t make me feel better about it, so we compromised with me accepting a discount.
I planned to spend the whole summer up here with Daddy B, but I would have a new roommate at the apartment when I returned for my last year of school. Benji had agreed to take over the spare bedroom, so I didn’t have to worry about sharing with someone I didn’t know. I was a bit nervous about us living together since neither of us knew how to cook, but Daddy said he would make sure to give me lessons this summer, and Benjimentioned he was going to practice with Rafe, who was a super good cook.
Rafe told us we were being silly because he and Matty were going to live next door on the other side of the duplex, so if we got hungry, we could just eat with them. I decided that one of my goals for next year was to be more self-sufficient and not let not knowing how to do something stop me from trying it. Daddy B said that was a really good goal, and he added a line on my chore chart for me to try something new once a week.
“Want to stop anywhere else?” Daddy asked as we headed to check out.
“No, it’s been a long day and I need to be little for a while.”
“I love you, baby boy.” His hand found mine and squeezed my fingers. His brown eyes were intense.
“I love you too, Daddy B.”
The drive back to the cabin was short, but each minute in the truck brought me closer to little space. Daddy B was here, and he loved me. Beyond that, there wasn’t much else I needed because he’d take care of me.
“Kiddo, you want to play outside when we get home? We could have a picnic lunch.” Daddy helped me out of the SUV, and I bounced around him in anticipation. I loved picnics because it meant all my babies could join me.
