Chapter Fourteen
Hudson
Having Cosy snuggled up in his lap, all flushed and snuggly and goddamn adorable, was the best thing that had happened to him in weeks. Months. Maybe even years. He didn’t like how she’d gotten here, not at all because he’d never want her to suffer, but he did love having her here.
And having her call him Daddy? Made his heart sing.
He could sit like this with her all day, but he really had to get her fed. And take her temperature, and give her more pain meds. She had to be hurting and he didn’t trust her ability to report her pain accurately. She’d been through so much her scale was out of whack.
“I like it too,” he confirmed, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “And as your daddy, I need to get you fed. Can’t have my Cosy with an empty tummy. Can I leave you for a few minutes?”
Her amber eyes went wide and her lashes fluttered as she swallowed. “Yes, Daddy.”
“Teapot.”
Cosy blinked at his gently admonishing tone. She clearly did not like the idea of being left alone at all, not even for a couple of minutes.
“I want to respect your wishes and I want to give you what you need and what you want. But it’s hard for me to do that if you’re not honest with me. No lies, little girl. Ever. Daddy can’t take care of you properly if he doesn’t know the truth so you need to help by always being honest. When you’re better, you’ll be spanked for lying. Understand?”
“Yes, Daddy,” she replied, and rolled her lips between her teeth. “I…I don’t like the idea of being left alone but I know you have things to do and you can’t spend every second of every day with me. You said I was brave. I can be brave.”
The determined set of her mouth was precious. His little teapot was set on being a big, tough girl. If she weren’t so fragile, he would give it a shot.
“You’re already brave, you don’t have to prove that to me. Now is not the time to work on being independent. We’ll get to that. For now my most important job is to make you feel safe and loved, and to get you healthy.”
Hudson reached for his phone on the bedside table and tapped out a text for Ian and then set it back down to cuddle his little girl some more.
“Did you name your bunny yet?”
Cosy shook her head. “No. It feels like a big responsibility. What if I name her the wrong thing?”
“Then you could change it,” he suggested, picking up the soft brown rabbit and setting it in Cosy’s lap. “Bunnies are very smart. I’m sure she would learn her new name quickly.”
Cosy didn’t smile at his joke, but then Cosy didn’t smile. Not yet. But she would. He would make sure of it.
“And if you have a bunch of good ideas and you’re worried about only having one stuffie to name, I have a secret to share with you.”
“What, Daddy?”
The way she looked at him, no guile, no fear, after all she’d been through… There was that kick of his heart again, pounding at his ribcage.
“I bet you’ll get more stuffies. There might be a whole bunch of them upstairs just waiting for a little girl to play with them.”
“Really?” she breathed.
If he’d doubted she was a little after the way she’d taken to caslling him Daddy, her reaction to stuffies would’ve sealed the deal. Of course it wasn’t a sure thing, but he’d known a lot of littles and unless they were the legos and toy car types, they almost universally loved stuffed animals.
Not to mention that she was unfailingly grateful whenever they gave her even the smallest token—Ian had brought her sparkly lipgloss the other day and she’d almost cried—but she seemed especially fond of things that were soft or bright or glittery.
“Yes, really. There’s a whole playroom all ready for a little girl. When you’re better you can spend as much time there as you like. You can even sleep there if you want. But while you’re still recovering I think it’s best if you sleep on this floor where Daddy and Ian can be closer.”
“Okay,” she conceded, and he could see her resolve strengthen. She was going to get better so she could go to the land of stuffies.
He didn’t doubt it, and in fact made a note that presents were a good motivator. Mild punishments would probably be a good fit too—he would never hurt her, not really, not unless she was truly a masochist and he didn’t have a sense for that facet of her yet. But the way she’d reacted to the threat of being spanked made him feel as though physical discipline could work well.
They had a while until they got to any kind of punishment though. He’d been dead serious when he said his first responsibility was to make her feel safe, happy, and loved. And of course healthy.
Speaking of healthy, there was a soft knock at the door and there was Ian. He poked his head in first and Hudson waved him the rest of the way in.