Chapter Twenty-Seven
Tamsyn
She’d nodded off on their way back from Del Bosque's, and when she woke up, she wasn’t in her bed. She wasn’t in the bed she shared with her daddies either. This was what she’d thought at first was a daybed, but had turned out to be a crib with the side pulled down.
She reached out to slide a fingertip down one of the slats of the side. It made her feel safe to be contained in here, and small. The soft blanket she was tucked under and the purple octopus in her arms added to the dreamy feeling. Now if only she had a paci. She thought that would complete the cocktail of things that made her feel the most little.
A movement she tracked out of the corner of her eye startled her, had her scrambling to sit up, but it was only Daddy walking toward her, a soft smile on his face.
“Settle down, little girl. It’s just me. Why don’t you lie back down and we’ll have a little talk before we get you up?”
That sounded nice and she wasn’t quite ready to get out of the crib yet. If someone had suggested that she would enjoy this so much even a few months ago, she would’ve laughed at them. Her, Tamsyn Eleanor Yates, the spreadsheet and data obsessed corporate climber with the sharp wit and sharper tongue, enjoying playing babygirl complete with diapers and cribs? Pfft, never.
And yet here she was, happier and more relaxed than she could remember being. Except when she was acting as Maddie’s big sister anyway. And Maddie wasn’t here. Wouldn’t be, since she’d found a second soulmate, a new daddy who doted on her.
Tamsyn did as she’d been told and snuggled back down into the squishy mattress and hugged Octavia tight to her chest. Watched as her daddy dragged an ottoman over next to where she lay and then lowered the side of the crib. When he sat down, they were almost eye to eye.
Hux reached out a hand and stroked her hair. He knew just how to make her feel all soft and malleable. Like clay he could sculpt and knead and she would revel in being touched.
“Have a good nap, babygirl?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’m glad. The garden party really tired you out, huh?”
She nodded.
“But you seemed like you had a good time.”
“I did, Daddy. It was so fun. And I liked being around the other littles. They were so nice and…”
She could feel her brows crease and her mouth wrench to the side as she tried to articulate why she’d enjoyed it so much. What wasn’t fun about playing yard games and making a fairy garden, after all? But it had been more than that.
“I guess it felt like my little world got bigger. Like I know I can be little with you and Lolo and I don’t mind that it’s private. I like it being just the three of us and I didn’t feel like I was missing anything. But there’s something special about having other people understand and like this really squishy part of you too, you know?”
The tenderness on her daddy’s face made her cheeks heat but in a softly embarrassed way. It didn’t feel bad just vulnerable. And she knew Hux would cradle her in his palms and keep her safe instead of using that fragility against her.
He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead that melted her further, and murmured against her skin, “You are the sweetest, smartest little girl, you know that?”
Before she could completely dissolve into a puddle, Hux sat up again and continued to pet her hair.
“I know exactly what you mean. I’ve always had Lo but he’s almost part of me. And I had to hide all this for so long that being able to share this not only with you but with other people who are kind is like a dream come true. I had friends before obviously, but I almost felt as though I was lying to them because there was this huge part of me I couldn’t share.”
She knew what that was like. It also poked at the guilt that had been gathering, festering inside her. Yes, she told Maddie a lot about her daddies, but she was keeping back a lot too.
“What’s the trouble in the bubble?” Hux asked, his own features tightening into a concerned frown while he skimmed the pad of his thumb between her brows.
“Mmm,” she hummed, looking away from him as she made the noncommittal sound.
“Daddy can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s wrong, kitten.”
She blinked up at him, knowing that was true but feeling unsettled at the same time.
“Is this about Maddie?”
Tamsyn rolled her lips between her teeth and hugged Octavia closer. She hadn’t even told her best friend in the whole world about her new stuffie. Which was silly because Maddie had Cleopatra and loved that stuffed manatee more than almost anything else.
It’s not like she thought Maddie would be mean about her having a stuffed animal she loved to cuddle but she wasn’t quite ready to deal with the surprise she expected. Just imagining it she felt defensive.