Page 20 of Deciding for Little Dallas
Pike was beginning to learn that Little boys only had one speed—fast.
“Who called you?”
“Miss Phoebe. She is one of your teachers in the nursery and wanted to make sure they had a non-dairy ice cream for you for a party closer to Halloween.”
“Oh!”? Her face lit up in the happiest smile. “I like Rawhide Ranch.” She pulled Teefs to her chest and rubbed the zombie's?cotton foot over her nose. “I think our friends would too.”
He thought about their friends and smiled. “They would like it, sweet girl. Maybe we can plan another vacation and bring them next time.”
“Yeah, next time, but this time is just for me and you,” she said.
He nodded. “Just me and you, Bitty.” Reaching up, he tickled her tummy and she slapped her hands over it.
“Will you watch me slide down the big slide?” she asked, pointing to the biggest slide on the play structure.
“I will. That’s a very tall slide so make sure to take your time getting to the top, okay?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
Pike walked over to the edge of the ballpit and waited for his Little girl to reach the top. His Daddy heart beat rapidly in his chest as he waited for her to slide down. Was it too high for her? Should he have told her to stay closer to the bottom? Just as he was about to climb the structure, she came shooting out of the slide and into the ball pit. Her loud giggles were the only thing that kept him from jumping in to get her out.
She crawled to him and he helped her out of the pit. “Did you see me and Teefs, Daddy? We was so super-fast.”
Pike laughed when he saw?the zombie sticking out of the front of her dress. She’d tucked her lovie into the neck of her clothing. Clever girl.
“I did see, you were so fast, Daddy almost didn’t see you, that's how fast you were going,” he praised.
“Can I go down it again, Daddy?”
Even though every bit of him wanted to tell her no, he bit his cheek and nodded his head, smiling as she hurried off to slide down again. He hadn’t expected to be so protective of Baby Dallas—he was already ridiculously overprotective as it was, but there was something about her new headspace that made him want to tuck her into his pocket and never let anything hurt her again.
Dallas was a fit of giggles as she sat in Pike’s lap steering a car in the arcade. “Watch out for the chicken.” He laughed, helping her turn the wheel to miss the animal on the screen. “You almost made nuggets out of him, Bitty!” The silly farm game had been her favorite in the arcade, even though she’d crashed into the barn four times already.
Suddenly Dallas froze and Pike paused the game. “Bitty?”
It was then that he felt the warmth through her diaper. “Oh, babygirl. What a good job,” he praised.
She turned to look up at him with her tear-filled eyes. “I didn’t mean to, I was just giggling so hard.”
“You did exactly what Daddy wanted you to do, Bitty. That was such a good girl,” he said, standing with her in his arms. He grabbed her bag and tossed it over his shoulder. “Let’s go change you, yeah?”
She pulled Teefs to cover her face, and Pike patted her soggy bottom. “You’re being so brave, babygirl.”
Pike made his way to the nearest bathroom where he knew they’d find a changing table. He set her on the thin mat and quickly pulled off her diaper cover and wet diaper. Wiping her clean took no time and he applied her cream and fresh diaper like a pro. “Daddy’s getting pretty good at this, Dallas,” he teased, winking at her. She watched him from behind one of Teefs’ legs. She gave him a timid smile. He set her on her feet and cleaned the area before washing his hands. “Alright, Bitty. What do you say we have some lunch, a nap, and then maybe we can go swim?”
“Swim?” she asked, perking up.
Once he had her in his arms again, he walked her back in the direction of their room.
He smiled at Hadley, the Little girl from the Caterpillar?room, as she walked by holding the hand of a man Pike hadn’t met yet.
“Hi,” the Little girl called by pressing a different button on her tablet.
“Hi, Hadley,” Dallas greeted with a small wave. “Swim?” she asked once they entered the elevator.
“Yes, they have a large indoor pool that will be so fun for you,” he explained.
“Cold?” she asked.
