And a surprise? That was a nice treat after a week from hell. Of course, it had all been a nice treat. Like coming in from the cold and being wrapped in a warm blanket and handed a mug of hot cocoa and then snuggled in front of a fire. Why hadn’t she allowed herself this sooner? Except she knew.
She’d been in a different kind of comfy place with Maddie and it hadn’t seemed as though she could have both. To be totally honest, she still wasn’t sure she could but that was a problem for Future Tamsyn. Present Tamsyn was practically being dragged up the stairs and down the hall toward the room she’d been sharing with her daddies.
Was the surprise his dick? That would be fine but didn’t seem like something Hux would get so worked up about. Yes, the sex and the kink were phenomenal and she didn’t take that for granted but it wasn’t extraordinary. It was how things were now which she supposed was extraordinary in and of itself.
But Hux didn’t tow her into the master bedroom. No, he kept going to the next door. Why was he bringing her to a guest bedroom? She’d seen it briefly, and it was well-appointed like everything else in the luxe house but—
Oh!
Hux had swung open the door and Tamsyn stopped in her tracks before crossing the threshold. It wasn’t a guest bedroom anymore.
“Go on, kitten. Take a look,” he urged. “It’s all for you.”
She wanted to, but she also didn’t want to let go of his hand. So she didn’t. Instead, it became her turn to pull her daddy behind her.
The last time she’d seen it, this room had been all earth tones and dark wood. Not so different from Hux’s bedroom. Now though, everything was turquoise and purple and pink, and above all,shiny.
There were sequins and glitter everywhere. It looked like a sparkle bomb had gone off in the little mermaid’s bedroom and she was here for it.
“It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” she whispered, her head and her heart overflowing with happiness.
Putting this room together—in a week, and in secret no less!—had to have taken a ton of money, which Hux could afford, but also so much time and effort which meant the world to her.
“Lo helped too,” Hux told her, squeezing her hand.
If she was a happy crier, she would’ve cried.
“How did you…”
Her daddy shrugged. “If you have the right connections and enough money, you can make pretty much anything happen. I’m glad you like it.”
She did, so much, and couldn’t stop looking at everything. There was a daybed, a rocking chair, a bureau, and what she thought must be a changing table all painted pearlescent white.
There was also a bookshelf filled with books and art supplies and games and puzzles, a toybox, and a rocking seahorse that were all a soft, shiny aqua, and a lamp that projected turtles and mermaids and whales and sea stars on the ceiling. Piles of blankets and pillows filled a corner with a big fluffy rug in it, and over the daybed, there was a big pink jellyfish who was lit from the inside with fairy lights and whose ruffly tentacles formed a kind of canopy.
She had obviously died and gone to little heaven. And then she saw what was perched at the edge of the mattress. A giant purple octopus who had the cutest smiley face, and tentacles that tumbled over the edge of the bed. The tops of the eight legs were purple like the rest of the octopus—who was obviously a girl—and the undersides were a silver iridescent that shimmered.
Of all the things in the room, she wanted to touch that octopus the most. She took a step and looked over her shoulder. This felt too good to be true, and if it was a dream, she wanted to wake up now. Maybe she’d fallen asleep at her desk.
But her daddy was smiling at her indulgently and let go of her hand to pat her bottom.
“Go ahead. You can touch whatever you want, play with whatever you want. Everything in here is for you, little girl.”
That was the last bit of encouragement she needed. She felt kind of silly still wearing her clothes from the office but she suspected Daddy would make quick work of those when she could calm down long enough to have her clothes changed. For now, she grabbed the octopus and hugged her hard, buried her face in the stuffie’s plush fur. Yes, she knew damn well that octopuses weren’t fuzzy and she didn’t give a single shit. She loved her new friend. Couldn’t wait to cuddle her all the time when she was being little.
It had been a very, very long time since she’d had a stuffed animal even though Maddie had several, including her favorite, a manatee named Cleopatra. Oh, her octopus needed a name! Just like how Tamsyn had known her octopus was a girl, she knew her name instantly too.
She twirled to face her daddy, and turned the octopus to face him too before holding out a tentacle.
“Daddy, this is Octavia.”
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Octavia,” he replied, giving the plush’s arm an earnest shake.
“Why aren’t they called octacles?” she mused.
“That’s a really good question. I bet we could look it up and find out. They didn’t cover that in congressman school.”
She laughed at his joke and gave Octavia another squeeze before flinging herself and her new friend into his arms.