by Rachel Burns
No one talked to the pretty blond who I thought of as my friend. I smiled at her, and she smiled back.
“Why aren’t the girls going outside?” the headmistress asked.
“I had to punish the whole class. None of them did their homework. Not a one of them. I asked questions and no one knew the answers until Amelia saved the day. She knew all the answers and in every subject.” She looked at me and smiled. “It’s so much easier to teach when the students are prepared. It moves things along at a steady flow.”
“But if the girls are afraid of being punished for a wrong answer, then they won’t speak unless spoken to.” Did I just say that out loud? I did. Everyone was staring at me.
Daddy was even smirking. Nanny turned a little red.
The teacher smiled at me very patiently. “You were sitting in front of her. You didn’t see what she was doing while Clara was reading. There was a good reason that she couldn’t answer the question that I’m sure everyone else saw as being very easy. She was writing and passing notes. No one is punished for being slow or for giving wrong answers. The girl knew perfectly well why she was punished. Please don’t fear a punishment for a wrong answer, Amelia. Having a child like you in the class who is so awake and interested is a balm for a teacher’s heart.”
I smiled back at her. I was really relieved.
Daddy was smirking at me.
“Did you know that was why she got punished?” I asked him in a whisper.
“Yes. I even got to read the note. Nanny intercepted it. I want you to stay away from her in September when school starts,” he whispered back.
I nodded.
“Will her husband be informed?” Daddy asked the teacher. “If my little girl pulled something like that, then I’d want to know about it?”
“Of course. I’ve already written him a note. She can pass it on to him. She’s good at that sort of thing,” she laughed. “But I expect it back on Monday signed by him. I wouldn’t put it past her to try to forge his name, but her Nanny will also be informed.”
Daddy liked that. He nodded in approval.
They talked about this and that, and I looked at the girls. We found out that the girls who were here for summer school were here by their Daddy’s wishes.
The best girl was even present. The best girl was the girl that had the best grades.
Daddy piped right in, saying that I had been the best at my old school.
“Which one is the best girl now?” I asked.
Daddy stopped them before they could answer. “Why do you want to know?”
I blushed, “I just figured that she’d be an obvious choice for a friend.”
Daddy looked at the headmistress. “Can we call her over?”
“Certainly. Rosalyn, please come here.”
The pretty blond girl came forward. She didn’t smile at anyone.
“Rosalyn is our best girl. She excels in all areas except music.”
Rosalyn gave the headmistress a mean look.
“My name is Amelia. I don’t excel in penmanship and drawing. Basically, anything were you have to hold a pencil or brush in your hand.” I smiled at her, and she tried not to laugh.
Daddy was shaking because he was trying so hard not to laugh. Nanny looked mortified.
The headmistress introduced us to her again using our name and calling us Dr. and Mrs. . . .
Rosalyn’s eyes widen at that. Daddy had been right about that. I wondered if she’d go spill the beans to the other girls, but she didn’t. She went back to her spot where she’d been leaning against the wall.
Daddy asked right off why she didn’t talk with the others.
The headmistress answered that she felt she was above the others who acted like little girls. The headmistress got a kick out of that. She talked lovingly about the girls.
A girl approached the table. She was the one who had been eating yet. She had a cut on her left thumb.
The nurse jumped up.
“Should I help?” Daddy was already on his feet.
“By all means, then you can check out our medical facilities.” The headmistress explained that my Daddy was a Doctor, and that he’d be looking at her thumb.
She used our last name loud enough that all the girls looked at us. They were whispering among themselves. They all looked like they wanted to be my friend now.
I was still just interested in the pretty blond girl. I was starting to like the idea of not having to be a little girl all the time. With her, I could get the break that I longed for. That is, if she’d like me.
“Well, Amelia, tell me, what did you think of the school?” Daddy asked in the limousine on the way home. He had his arm around me, and he pulled me close to him. I knew what he wanted to hear, but the idea if getting whipped in front of the whole class scared me, immensely.
“I don’t know.” I answered, honestly. It was Daddy’s decision to make anyway.
“Amelia, if you’re worrying about getting punished there, you really don’t have to. If you do your homework and behave yourself, nothing can happen to you.”
“Really?” I found that hard to believe.
“Yes, really.” She smiled at me. “This would be a good chance for you to make a friend. I know you’d like that.”
I thought about that for a bit. A friend would be so nice. “Daddy, it’s your decision.” I looked up at him.
I’d made his day by saying that. He smiled from ear to ear. “I already decided. I enrolled you after I fixed up the girl’s thumb. The nurse was very capable. The whole school made a very good impression on me. I’m sure you’ll be happy there.”
His mood was fantastic. He probably felt truly normal for once. The school validated his feelings.
I had to wonder if my life would be better or worse because of school.
Daddy dropped us off at home, and then he went to work for a couple more hours.
Nanny let me read on my own in my room until it was time for supper.
It was raining terribly outside with thunder and lightening. I looked out of the window in the dining room while we waited for Daddy to come home. Nanny sat at the table reading one of the books that Daddy had brought for her to read.
Daddy would get terribly wet. The rain was coming down hard, pelting against the glass in the windows. It was the kind that hurt when it landed on you. I wanted Daddy home and safe now.
My father wouldn’t have batted an eye about sending me out in all of this.
I wondered where I’d be now if Daddy hadn’t taken me in.
I supposed I should be thankful. He was honestly doing his best by me. This is just how he was. He probably couldn’t help it.
Time dragged on and on, and he still wasn’t here yet. I listened for the front door to open, but it didn’t.
The butler came in and announced that Daddy had called and said that we shouldn’t wait for him. The butler said he’d bring in our food right away. He bowed and left.
I was relieved to hear that Daddy was all right, but I was still sad. I missed him.
I ate very slowly. I kept Nanny talking about school. I was really curious about it too. Nanny did want me to have friends there. She sincerely believed that it was the best thing for me.
It was getting harder to think of questions for her. I wanted to still be at the table when Daddy came home so he could join us.
It didn’t feel right to eat without him. I longed for him to come in and kiss me and then sit down with us. I imagined that he would. I also imagined us walking up the stairs to go to bed for the evening. I wanted to hold him close.
I was starting to realize that he was better to me than I knew. He took care of things so well that I didn’t even noticed that they needed taking care of.
I wanted my Daddy. No matter which way you look at it the plain truth remained that I wanted my Daddy. I wanted him so badly that I was fighting back tears already. I loved him.
Nanny finished up and pulled me up to my room. I kept looking at the door. I
wanted to be able to see him the second that he came in.
Nanny wasn’t up for any nonsense. She said I could read anything that I wanted. She went to her room leaving the door open.
I sighed and looked through my books. I pulled one out and read the back cover about what the book was about, and put it back then pulled out the next. After I’d looked at them all, I finally chose one, but I didn’t feel like reading. I wanted to cuddle and talk to my Daddy. It was Friday night.
This didn’t make sense.
There must have been an emergency of some sort.
Chapter 17 – Knowing What You Have
“Thank you so much for seeing us, right away like this. I didn’t think that I’d need to come in so soon. Jenny just brought home the note from school today. The timing is actually amazing. I wouldn’t have known what to do otherwise.” Jenny’s Daddy was extremely nervous. He stood next to his little girl holding her hand while the doctor looked her over.
Brian asked questions. He was pretty sure he knew what the problem was. “I need a word with you in private.” Brian stepped aside and waved the man over to him.
Jenny’s Daddy reluctantly let go of her hand and went to the doctor. “Yes?”
“I think she’s having a miscarriage. I’m so sorry. I need to check her out with ultrasound to make sure. Do I have your permission?”
“Yes, of course do whatever you can to make her feel better.” There were deep lines on his forehead. His worry and concern were real.
The doctor got everything ready while Jenny cried, and her Daddy whispered to her how much he loved her. He told her that the doctor would take care of everything. He’d make it all better.
Brian called him to his side again. “It’s as I expected. I need to clean her out. I have to put her to sleep to do it. This is risky. I think you should take her to the hospital. She needs and anesthetist and a gynecologist working on her.”
“Can’t you do it? I don’t want her to know. You understand. I don’t want her in the hospital either. She could get away. The risk is too great.” He shook his head. “Please, just tell her it’s a tummy ache and take care of it yourself,” he pleaded with the young doctor. “Name the amount. I trust you as one father to another.”
Brian nodded and got everything ready that he needed. “I’ll need your help.”
***
I was sitting in my window seat reading. The book wasn’t that bad, but I just couldn’t concentrate on it. It was already past my bedtime. I was getting tired, but I was just so worried about my Daddy.
Was this normal? Would it happen often?
It probably would. A doctor had a great responsibility. I even thought that it was very noble of him to help those who needed him so much.
“Amelia?” Daddy called to me.
He was finally home. “Daddy.” I flew into his arms. He lifted me up off the floor and twirled me around. “I was so worried about you in that terrible storm.” I hugged him to me tightly.
He sighed and smiled at me. He looked especially glad to see me too.
“I missed you, Daddy.” I laid my head down on his chest.
“I missed you so much too. So much more than you’ll ever know.” Daddy pulled me into his bedroom. He kissed me and hugged me in a way he never had before. I felt so loved. He laid us down on the bed while he continued to hold me tightly.
Daddy talked about the school and this and that. He didn’t make a move to initiate lovemaking. He just wanted to hold me tightly, like I’d been the one out in the pouring rain.
We fell asleep that way. Locked in each other’s arms.
I loved my Daddy so much, just the way he was.
Daddy's Sweetheart
Part 2
The Honeymoon
Chapter 1 – Hair Ribbons
“Is everything in order, sir?” Nanny wasn’t too surprised when her boss knocked at her door. She could see that something had been bothering him lately.
She worried that he’d change his mind about sending Amelia to school. The child just needed to have some friends. Of course, she’d see to it, that her Amelia socialized with the right kind of girls.
This was something Nanny excelled at. If Amelia had the right friends, young girls who were being raised similarly, then she wouldn’t be as quick to question her own life. She’d see it as being normal.
It certainly wasn’t Amelia’s fault that so many husbands nowadays placed impossible demands on their wives and worked them to the bone. A young lady of Amelia’s standing needed to be nurtured.
“The other night, when I came home late, it was because of a patient, one who attends Amelia’s school. Her daddy brought her in because she was having a terrible tummy ache. It turned out that she was having a miscarriage.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that, sir.” Nanny didn’t understand what he was trying to get at.
“I just – it can never go that far.”
“Would you like me to start Amelia on the pill, sir? I can tell her they are vitamins.”
“No, that won’t be necessary. I was sick as a child. I can’t father children. But that doesn’t matter. I have my Amelia.” He looked over his shoulder to his bedroom door. His precious sweetheart was sleeping in his bed. She meant the world to him. He longed to look into her mind. Was she playing with him, or was this real?
“I’m sorry to hear that, sir.”
Brian shook his head. He hadn’t been perfectly honest. The truth was that he had a low sperm count. He could father children, but it wasn’t very probable. Brian longed to have children with his Amelia. He wished that they could have a big family.
He wondered for a moment how Amelia would react if he told her that he wanted to adopt?
Would she think it was too weird?
Would she draw a line at that point and walk away from him?
He wouldn’t do anything to risk losing her.
“The girl’s daddy insisted that I take care of her, instead of taking her to the hospital to specialists. I just want you to promise me that it never goes that far.” He made a motion with his head in Amelia’s direction.
“I understand completely, sir. I also have Amelia’s best interest at heart. I ensure you, sir, that I’ll not allow her to be abused.”
Brian nodded at her. He was turning to leave when he thought of something else he wanted to ask. “She hasn’t said anything about her room, has she? About not being able to leave?” he clarified.
“No, sir. She’s still clinging to us. I don’t think she’s noticed yet. We’re just giving her the security that she needs at the moment. Being rejected by her own father, like she was, must have been very hard on her and her feelings of self worth. We’re doing everything just right with her. You’re a very good father, I might add. Amelia lights up when you come home.”
“She does?” Brian couldn’t hide his smile.
“Oh yes, sir. She certainly doesn’t smile at me like that when we work on her penmanship. That smile is just for you. You two make such a nice couple.” Nanny gave him a bright smile, showing him that she meant it.
She could see that her boss also suffered from insecurities. He needed to hear that he was perfectly normal.
The school would be good for him too. He’d meet other men who were just like him. They’d give him the reassurance he needed. He had no idea how many powerful men insisted that their wives behave according to their wishes.
Nanny felt that these were old-fashioned men who preferred a traditional family picture with the man as the head of the family, and where the woman concentrated on their marriage.
Certainly, there was nothing wrong with that.
“Good night, Nanny.” Brian went back to his Amelia. He was careful not to wake her as he climbed back in under the covers close to her. He covered up her shoulder again and then laid his arm around her. This was working out better than planned.
Nanny softly closed her bedroom door.
She worried that Amelia would rebel against them o
ne day. Something like that was never pretty when it happened.
Usually, the women put their foot down after the first child was born.
That had been the reason that she’d had to leave her last family. She missed the girl so much, and it hadn’t been hard for her to send Nanny away.
Would her precious Amelia one day send her packing, too? Nanny looked back over her time with Amelia. She was so good, and she rarely fought her.
This could work out. Nanny wanted to have a family that she could grow old with. She wanted to see her charges’s babies as they grew up, too.
Sadly, she’d only gotten a glimpse of the twins before she’d had to leave. She didn’t think that she could survive something like that again.
Nanny folded her hands and prayed that Amelia would be the child who she’d get to keep. Maybe this would work out, because he was infertile.
Amelia would stay a little girl that way.
***
I looked out of my window. I was sitting in my comfy window seat that Daddy had carpenters build extra for me, because I’d told him that I liked to read.
I was behind the curtain, and no one would have noticed me if they stepped into my room.
Well, Daddy and Nanny would have known to look for me here, but otherwise, I was hidden out of plain sight.
I had my knees drawn up to my chest. I had a terrible stomachache, and I couldn’t concentrate on the book that I was reading.
I’d confessed that I wasn’t feeling well at breakfast. Daddy had given Nanny a worried look. My Daddy was a pediatrician, a children’s doctor.
He loves children so much that he wanted to have one all for himself. That’s how I came to live with him and Nanny.
My own father kicked me out after I’d finished high school.
Daddy took me in as his wife, but he kept me as his daughter. I had only been eighteen for five months, but my role in this house was very clear.
I wasn’t allowed to call my husband by his real name, which was Brian. He’d threatened to punish me terribly if I ever did. I believed him, and I didn’t need to test him on that point.