“No, Daddy,” she agreed, and he smiled to himself, noting that she was getting Littler by the minute. She was still fighting it of course, but his plan was working.
Moving his attention to the bib, he looked down and shook his head with a frown. “Look at all this chocolate and sticky syrup that would have gotten on your dress. Aren’t you glad Daddy made you wear a bib to protect your pretty outfit?”
Without waiting for an answer, he stood and moved behind her, unfastening the bib in a flash and discarding it onto the table.
“Clean as a whistle and pretty as a princess,” he declared, taking her hand and standing her up. “Okay, princess. Go potty, and then we will go.”
Again, he knew she wanted to argue, but common sense got the better of her and she stopped short, instead crossing the room to obey, and shutting the bathroom door behind her.
When she emerged a few minutes later, he was waiting at the door, with a unicorn backpack packed for the day’s outing.
Her eyes lit up when she saw it, but she didn’t say a word. She also didn’t fight him when he helped her slide it over her arms and onto her back.
“Okay, little one,” he said, pulling the door open. “We are going to the Nursery now.”
Izzy was silent on the long walk down to the Nursery, but she kept her hand tucked tightly in his, and her body language was that of a shy little girl.
She wasn’t going to like the Nursery, he knew that, but that was kind of the point. Tension knotted his gut as they entered the corridor that housed the Nursery and other classrooms. He hoped she would stay in her Little space, and be pliant to the lesson he was trying to teach her. When they reached the brightly decorated room, they were greeted by a matronly woman who introduced herself as Nanny Victoria, proclaimed that the nursery was a fun place for good Little boys and girls, and took Izzy’s hand, leading her away.
The Nursery was overwhelming, a mixture of Izzy’s deepest fantasies and her biggest fears. There were large, adult-size cribs with adult babies tucked inside, wearing diapers and sucking on pacifiers. There were workers rocking babies in rocking chairs, and others feeding them in oversized high chairs. She was glad Max hadn’t squired one of those for the stunt he had pulled this morning.
Their kink is not my kink and that’s okay, she repeated to herself as she scanned the room wide-eyed, searching for a familiar face. She didn’t find any, but she did spy a table full of Little boys and girls coloring in a corner, and another group sitting cross-legged on a mat, being read to.
Nanny Victoria still had hold of her hand, and she was too overwhelmed to speak, so she pointed at the coloring group.
Nanny looked down at her and smiled encouragingly. “Those little boys and girls are having fun coloring and I bet they would love to make a new friend! But if you want to join them, you’re going to have to use your words, and ask like a big girl. In here, babies are the only ones allowed to cry and point, and you’re not a baby, are you? If you are, then we will have to take you back over there, and get you a binky or a bottle.”
Izzy didn’t want that at all. Forcing herself to speak over the lump in her throat, she looked up at the woman holding her hand and voiced her request in a thick whisper. “Please, can I go color?”
“That’s better!” Nanny exclaimed. “What a big girl you are! Come on, I’ll introduce you and you can choose a coloring book. We have lots to choose from.”
Izzy felt lighter as they all but skipped over to the group. A thin girl with red braids and freckles wearing an Alice in Wonderland style dress smiled up at her when she approached. “Hi. I’m Kasey! This is my brother Cody.” She jutted a thumb toward a redhead in overalls and a striped shirt at the end of the table. “And that is Lissy. We like to color. I’m coloring a unicorn. We have all kinds of coloring books,” she announced, waving her hand over a pile on the table. “Pick one.”
Izzy looked at the pile of coloring books, thinking about her students and how much they loved to color. This could be fun if she let herself enjoy it. She found a book full of Disney characters. Flipping through the pages, she found what she was looking for. The Little Mermaid , with her beautiful red hair and all of her underwater friends, had always been her favorite. After finding the colors she wanted, she started her masterpiece, no longer hearing the noise around her.
“Izzy, your Daddy is here to pick you up,” Nanny’s voice said from beside her, and Izzy wondered where she had come from. She had been so engrossed in her coloring page, she had tuned out almost everything else.
But Daddy was another story. When she saw him standing near the entrance, she shoved the crayons in the box and grabbed her picture up off the table, taking it with her.
She ran toward him and wrapped her arms around his waist. To her surprise and horror, she stuck her thumb in her mouth and her face in the fabric of his shirt.
Daddy didn’t say anything, just scooped her into his arms and carried her into the hallway.
Once they got there, he kept up a steady stream of chatter, not seeming to care that she wasn’t answering.
He talked about errands he had run, and a party that was taking place that night, and running into Master Marshall.
Finally, he stopped talking and turned a corner, heading toward the cafeteria. “How was your first experience in the Nursery, little one? Did you have a good time?”
It was the use of the word ‘first’ that got her. Her breathing grew shallow and her chest got tight.
She tugged on his shirt and pointed to the floor. Stopping in his tracks, he paused to look at her quizzically, and set her down on both feet.
“What’s up, princess?”
“Red. Cheeseburger. Pickle!” she cried, frustrated because those were all the wrong words.
Daddy’s face got very serious and he stooped gently so that they were at eye level, grabbing both of her hands.
“Red. Cheeseburger, pickle? Your safeword is tomato, Izzy-doll. Are you trying to use it?”
Slowly, she shook her head back and forth.
“Okay.” Daddy nodded, seeming to breathe a little easier. “Are you trying to call for a pause? Do we need to talk about something?”
She nodded.
“Okay.” He guided her around another corner until they found a bench to sit on, then he pulled her close and gave her his undivided attention. “What’s up, buttercup?”
The silly expression made her smile, and the tightness in her chest eased.
“Is this about the Nursery?” Daddy prodded. “Did something happen?”
Izzy shook her head. “You asked if I enjoyed my first visit to the Nursery, and I don’t want to go back, so I panicked.”
“You don’t want to go back? Can you tell me why?”
She wrung her hands together and bit her lip, searching for words. It was hard to have a big girl conversation when she still felt so little.
“I am getting used to being that little for you,” she answered honestly. “And I can like it with you, even though that scares me. But I don’t want to be that little with anyone else. It’s too much.”
Daddy nodded sagely. “I understand what you are saying, little one, and I agree with you. I don’t want to miss out on any more time with my sweet little Izzy, either. You were only there for an hour, but to be honest, it felt like much longer.”
It had felt that way to her too.
“Can I be honest?” Daddy asked, and she nodded emphatically.
“I knew you weren’t going to like it there, and I took you anyway. And I don’t plan to take you back there, but unless you tell me tomato, or that it’s a hard limit, I can’t promise that I won’t, either. My plan for taking you to the Nursery was probably one Master Marshall wouldn’t approve of. It was a punishment of sorts. It was meant to show you the difference between that kind of environment and what I’ve created for you, so that you would appreciate and recognize everything I am trying to do for us. Now that you know that, maybe you can stop fighting Daddy quite so ha
rd today, hmm? Because I have to tell you, little one, if you keep trying to be in control like you were this morning, you’ll end up back in the Nursery again for a long time out, and you’ll go there with a hot bottom as well. Do you understand?”
Floating between Big and Little from minute to minute, she considered his words. If she really felt unsafe, she could say tomato and Daddy would respect that. But now that she understood the lesson he had intended to impart, she didn’t feel the need to do that. If she didn’t want to go back to the Nursery, she needed to let go and be little and trust her Daddy.
She could do that.
“Yes, Daddy, I understand. I’ll be good, and I won’t have to go back to that yucky Nursery.” She paused and stood up, turning in the direction of the banquet hall. “It’s too early for lunch. Can we go see the puppies instead?”
Daddy laughed. “It’s eleven, and I didn’t get time to eat my breakfast, so I am very hungry. You need to eat a little bit too, princess. Your body needs energy for all the plans I have for you today. So we are going to go to lunch, and after I eat, you are going to let me feed you, without a fuss this time. Remember what I said about those panties.”
Izzy nodded wide-eyed and yanked on his hand. “I remember!”
“Good. Lunch first. Then puppies.”
Chapter 7
T he afternoon had gone much more smoothly than the morning, and Max had only to cock an eyebrow at Izzy and point toward her dress in warning to pull her away from the puppies. They had played games with other Littles on the playground, and gone to a party, where he had indulged her with far too many goodies and sweet treats. After a quick stop at the gift shop for bubble bath and a large pink rubber duck, they were headed back to the room.
“Now remember, Izzy,” he warned with his hand on the doorknob. “The rules are different today. When we step through this door, you are still Daddy’s little Izzy. Right now, Daddy’s little Izzy is going to have a bubble bath and maybe a cartoon after, but that can easily be adjusted if you don’t cooperate.”
“I remember!” she whined. “Open the door. I want bubbles. Flicker slobbered all over me!”
Confident that she was deep in Little space and would stay there, Max opened the door and led her inside.
“Okay, into the bathroom we go,” he instructed, happy when she bounced in there ahead of him and sat on the toilet to watch him as he drew the water and added a generous amount of bubbles. When the tub was filling and the bubbles were rising, he turned his attention to Izzy.
Taking off her headband, he placed it on the counter and stood her up, facing away from him, while he worked the buttons on her dress and pulled it over her head. Then came the panties, shoes and stockings.
When she was naked, it took everything in him not to touch her, but she was Little now, and he had worked hard to get her there. He wasn’t going to jeopardize that just because he was weak.
“Okay, into the tub,” he announced, patting her bottom. “And be careful, it’s slippery.”
“Oh Daddy, you’re silly. I’m fine,” she answered gleefully as she slid down into the water with a splash. The bubbles covered her naughty bits and he breathed a little easier.
Shutting off the water, he handed her the duck and picked up a washcloth from a pile nearby. “Daddy needs to wash you, little one.”
“Play first!” she exclaimed, splashing the water. Droplets flew up and hit him in the face, and soaked the collar of his shirt.
“Oh you!” He pretended to scowl. “I’m going to need a wardrobe change after this too, huh?”
“Yup!” Gripping the duck by the top of its head, Izzy slammed the toy against the water, covering it in bubbles and creating a wave in the large tub.
“Be careful or you’re going to get water all over the floor and have a big mess to clean up.”
Izzy looked up at him, blinking innocently. Mischief sparkled on her face. “But Daddy,” she protested. “Splashing is the fun part, and I’m just a little girl. Little girls don’t hafta clean up big messes. That’s what Daddies are for.”
Oh, she had him there. For a minute, Max considered scolding her and telling her that she would indeed have to clean it up, but she was being so cute and little, he decided to let her have her fun. That was the whole point of this exercise, getting her to remember to rely on him. If that meant he had to clean up a big water mess, then so be it.
Matching her mischievous grin with one of his own, he reached into the tub, holding the washcloth, like he intended to start washing her, and instead, dropped it beneath the bubbles and flicked the water with his hand, splashing her neck and chest.
“Daddy!” Izzy exclaimed, her mouth open in shock. “That was naughty!”
Max laughed and flicked the water again. “Oh, so it’s fun when you do it, but naughty when I do it?”
“Yes, ‘zactly,” Izzy answered with a decisive nod. “Little girls are supposed to be silly and have fun, and Daddies are supposed to be boring and ’esponsible.” Her speech was getting littler and littler by the minute. Max couldn't be more pleased, and Izzy seemed to be enjoying herself as well.
Giving her a sad sigh, he shook his head. “Okay,” he agreed. “Back to being a boring and responsible Daddy, I guess. That means you get a few more minutes to play, and then it’s time for me to wash you up.”
“Okay,” she agreed happily, barely looking at him as she bounced her duckie in and out of the bubbles, singing softly to herself.
While she played, Max retrieved his abandoned washcloth from the bottom of the tub, wrung it out, and lathered it with body wash.
“Time to wash off all that puppy slobber,” he announced, waving the washcloth in the air as he advanced toward her with it.
Izzy squealed and splashed as she tried to get away from him. “No washcloth monster! I like my puppy slobber! Lemme alone! I’m playing!”
“Washcloth monster!” he yelled, placing it on the crook of her neck and rubbing softly. “Do you know what washcloth monsters like to eat for lunch?” Max teased, playing along as he dragged the soft cloth around her neck and down her collarbone before plunging it into the soapy water to rinse.
“Little girls?” Izzy shrieked as she wiggled around the tub, dodging his hand.
“What?” He frowned and shot her a confused look. “No, silly! They eat dirt and grime.”
He reached for her once more and she shoved his hand away. “I’m not dirty. The bubbles washed it all off, see?” She arched her back, bringing her body half out of the water, and he bit back a moan. “I’m squeaky clean!” she announced.
“Okay, princess.” He gave in with a sigh and handed her the washcloth. “You have to wash your princess parts, and let Daddy wash your hair at least,” he told her, reaching for the shampoo.
She obeyed, splashing and singing all the while, while he dutifully washed, rinsed, and conditioned her hair.
“There you go, princess. Now you are squeaky clean and smell like peaches. Let’s get you out of here before you become a wrinkly little raisin girl.”
He helped her out of the tub and wrapped a fluffy towel around her, blow-dried her hair, and got her dressed in a frilly nightgown he had purchased from the gift shop.
“Now brush your teeth, and then Daddy will tuck you in.”
“I don’t want to go to bed!” She stomped her foot, and he could see she was getting ready to pitch a fit.
Before she had a chance, he lifted her nightgown and landed a half dozen swats on her bottom.
Turning her around to face him, he regarded her sternly. “It’s bedtime. Now, do you want a bedtime story? Or a bedtime spanking? Your choice.”
He saw the war play out on her delicate face and waited. Finally, she sighed and reached behind her to rub her bottom ruefully. “A story.”
“That’s what I thought. Go brush your teeth.”
This time, she obeyed. While he waited, Max undressed, pulled back the covers and climbed on top of the bed to wait for her.
The Izzy who came out of the bathroom was not the same Izzy who’d gone in. She was subdued, and sleepy and eager for her story as she climbed into bed.
Max tucked the covers around her, and leaned forward to kiss her forehead.
“You did so good today, little one.”
She smiled up at him. “It was a fun day, mostly. I like you taking care of me.” She paused and frowned. “But I’ve had enough of Little time, I think. Do I gotta be little again tomorrow?”
“No, sweet girl. Tomorrow is our last day at the Castle. We will have a nice relaxing morning in the room, and you can be whatever age you want.”
“Good. I think I’ll want to be Big tomorrow,” she decided. “But right now, I want my story.”
Max pulled her close, wrapped his arm around her shoulder and leaned back against the pillows.
“Once upon a time…”
Chapter 8
I sabella couldn’t believe she was awake before Max. In fact, she couldn’t remember ever waking up first. Then again, she couldn’t think of a time she had felt this relaxed. But what she truly needed was a large, steaming cup of coffee. Milk was wonderful, but the lack of caffeine these last few days was really starting to get to her. The solution was easy, though. There was a coffee and deli bar in the media room downstairs. Not only could she grab a cup of coffee before Daddy decided to stop her—again—but she could check her email, and maybe even figure out that stupid seating arrangement at the pre-wedding dinner.
Gathering her clothes from yesterday, she was just sneaking into the bathroom to change where she wouldn’t wake Daddy when she heard an unusual sound. It was soft, something caught between a whimper and a cry. Neither sound would have been unusual for this place, but it was coming from right outside their door.
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