“I do too, but first there’s a different sound I need to hear first.”
She narrows her eyes, trying to decipher my cryptic message. “I don’t get it.”
“One word that means everything.”
“Daddy?”
“Oh, that word certainly qualifies in the right time and place, but I’m thinking of another one,” I say, gently lifting her off me and pivoting so I’m down on one knee, facing her.
“Logan!” she says, her hands coming up to her face as I pull a tiny robin egg colored box from my pocket.
“Another great word I like to hear, but still not the one I’m looking for.”
She slaps my arm playfully and before this can go any further I’m determined to get the one single word I want to hear to slide off her lips.
“Baby girl, you’ve been mine for over a month now, but in reality, you’ve always been mine. I just didn’t know it. But now that I do it’s time to make up for lost time. I want you by my side, tucked into my hip, forever. I don’t want another day apart. I want you close so you’re the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see at night before I fall asleep to dream of you. I want to explore the world with you, spoil you, and protect you, and the family we’re building together, always. And always starts right now. Make me the happiest man on the planet. Make me your husband, your man for eternity, your everything. And yes…your Daddy for life.”
“Yes!” she yells. “Yes, yes, yes!”
It’s the word I’ve been waiting to hear. I slide the Tiffany ring I purchased just yesterday on her finger, a perfect fit, and a princess cut of course.
Scooping her up in my arms I spin her around the room, just like the little girl she is, before kissing her square on the lips. My lips, because she’s mine now.
“I love you, precious.”
“I love you, Daddy.”
Epilogue
Layla
One year later
“Is it playtime again, Daddy?” I whisper into Logan’s ear from behind, or at least as best I can standing on my tippy toes.
He turns, his meaty hand finding my bottom and he squeezes hard, his hand molding to my flesh. “It’s always playtime when we’re alone, little girl,” he replies with a sideways smile.
With baby Lucas over at my father’s place for a couple of hours, it gives us a chance to be as crazy and loud as we want, not that we ever tone it down anyway.
Logan looks at the cas
t iron skillet he was just washing and says to it, as if it can hear him, “I’ll get back with you. Right now there are more…pressing matters to take care of.”
And that’s exactly what he does, pressing a finger against the hole between my backside cheeks and I gasp.
“Baby girl, you know you’re supposed to be quiet when Daddy puts his finger there. This is our little secret.”
He hasn’t even entered me yet and I’m already ready to explode. Then again, I can’t seem to ever quite finish without Daddy’s permission first. It’s just something inside me I need, just like the need to be a good girl for my Daddy and do as he says.
It’s a unique thing, this Daddy and little girl thing Logan and I have going on. It’s hard to explain and I’d never even try to, especially to our friends. I guess in a way we’re just pretending, but yet it feels so real, and more importantly it completes a part of me that needs completing. There’s just something inside me so deep, this need, that playing with Logan this way fills. From time to time we even pretend like we’re going to get caught, which is one of my favorite games. It’s an easy game today because technically dad could come back at any time.
My father loves to show up unexpectedly to play with our three-month-old Lucas. As much as he was upset with Logan when he first figured us out, I think my dad has figured out that being a grandfather is the biggest joy life could have ever given him.
“I promise to be quiet for you, Daddy,” I whisper, looking over my shoulder to make sure no one’s there.
Logan smirks and takes in a deep breath. “Good girl.”
I suppress a giggle and then ask quietly, “Are we gonna play now?”