Daisy looked at Charlie to Ellie to Abby then up at Jed who have her a small nod.
She reached out and slipped her hand into Charlie’s, letting the other woman pull her along. Daisy had hung out with them all before. She’d played with them. But Ellie got that this was another step entirely, staying with them all over night.
Charlie led her over to the four beds that were laid out in circle. Each bed had different colored bedding and a little gift at the end.
“A little birdy,” Charlie looked over at Jed, “actually, a really large birdy, told me that pale green was your favorite color, so this is your bed.”
Daisy looked at her with wide eyes. “That’s. . .that’s really kind.”
“Obviously the pink one is for Ellie. Abby, you have the yellow. I’ve got blue.”
“Awesome,” Abby said.
“Open your gifts,” Charlie demanded.
Ellie watched as Daisy knelt next to the bed and picked up the small but perfectly wrapped gift.
Abby already had hers open, the paper flying everywhere. Ellie smiled wide and looked over at Charlie who was grinning at Abby’s enthusiasm. None of them had really had much growing up and in different ways they’d had to grow up fast, not getting much of a childhood.
Now, they had a second chance at that childhood. And they were richer than they’d ever imagined. But not in money. Ellie looked over at Bear to find him watching them all, a small smile on his face.
Lord, she couldn’t believe she got to marry that man.
Dream. Come. True.
5
Jed and Daisy
Daisy slowly unwrapped the gift. She smiled at the pretty necklace made up of linked daisies. That was super cute. And really nice of Charlie to buy her a gift. After all, this was Ellie’s party, not hers.
The next thing she pulled out was one of those jewelry sets that was made up of candy. A bracelet, necklace and a giant ring. Her grin widened. Perfect.
She drew out something else and it made her frown. A sick feeling developed in her tummy.
Were they making fun of her? She didn’t think they would do that. Each girl was a Little. They each had a man who was also their daddy, even though every relationship was different. They all had special things they slept with. She knew Ellie had a teddy bear and Charlie had a stuffed octopus. Abby had this cute hedgehog that had been Kent’s from when he was a kid.
So surely this wasn’t them being mean?
“This is awesome!” Ellie yelled.
Daisy glanced her way and just like that, the knot in her stomach unraveled. Because Ellie was popping into her mouth the same thing that Daisy held in her hand. A binky sucker. The nipple part was the sucker and on the other end was a plastic set of lips and a ring.
“Yum strawberry!” Abby added as she slid hers out of her mouth then popped it back in.
Daisy looked up as Charlie sat next to her.
“You knew?” she asked the other woman.
Charlie smiled. “Your man knows you well. He mentioned something to Clint and I figured you shouldn’t be the only one having something to suck on. I’ve got a whole bowl of these things.”
“Thank you,” Daisy whispered.
“Hey, no need to thank me. You’re one of us.” Charlie reached over and squeezed her hand and something warm developed in Daisy’s tummy.
She glanced over at Jed, tears welling in her eyes. He gave her a concerned look and started walking towards her. Her man, always there for her.
She shook her head and smiled big to show him she was okay. More than okay, she was happy. And she felt like she belonged. Then she unwrapped the pacifier lollipop and popped it in her mouth as Charlie wandered off to Ellie who was bouncing up and down in excitement over the PJs she’d been given.