“Go on, princess,” he said quietly. “Have fun coloring and doing stickers with your friends. I’ll be right here if you need me.”
She blinked up at him, uncertainty lingering on her features.
“Can you color me a picture? I’d love to have a sparkly unicorn to put on the fridge. Or maybe in the library.”
Saoirse rolled her eyes and he squeezed her hand. “I saw that, princess. One more and you’ll be getting turned over my knee in front of the girls. And what, you don’t think sparkly rainbow unicorn goes with the decor in the library?”
“You’re silly, Daddy.”
“And you’re precious, princess. Now, go color me a picture, okay? I love you.”
Saoirse blushed but smiled, and then came up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek and whisper into his ear, “I love you too, Daddy,” before letting go of his hand to take a seat at the table and pick up a purple crayon.
Good girl, he thought,my good, sweet girl.
Chapter Four
Saoirse had been coloring with Posey and Twyla for almost an hour when Arthur went over and bent down to tell her, “I have one last surprise for you, princess. It’s time now. Can you say goodbye to the girls?”
“Bye, Posey. Bye, Twyla. Maybe I can come color with you again sometime?”
Posey and Twyla nodded and chirped their own goodbyes. He knew from chatting with Jethro and Gunnar that they were in for a surprise of their own but he kept that to himself and showed Saoirse out of the nursery and down the hall to where the private rooms were.
Before he entered the one he’d reserved for the next several hours, he set his hands on Saoirse’s shoulders. She was wearing a sweet little plaid jumper and a white shirt with a Peter Pan collar underneath and it killed him how cute she was.
“Do you remember a few months ago you said you’d like to do a school girl scene?”
Saoirse nodded. Mostly she liked being a very little little, but she had other things she was interested in too.
“And do you remember you said you’d like to try doing a scene with me and another top?”
Her eyes got wider but she nodded again.
“I will always try to make your dreams come true, princess.”
With that, he opened the door, revealing a small room with a few school desks, a big wooden desk at the head of the class with a worn leather sofa on one side and a padded bench on the other. He could tell when Saoirse had taken the entire scene in because she gasped and he had to keep her from tripping as he towed her toward the front of the room by her wrist.
Father Gideon was sitting behind the desk.
Saoirse was used to seeing the priest every Sunday but not like this. No, definitely not like this.
“And what do we have here, Mr. Tyndall?” Gideon asked, one of his black brows cocking up as he leaned forward over the desk.
“Miss Sullivan has been very disruptive in class today and I thought some corporal punishment might encourage her to settle down.”
Saoirse sucked in a breath and Arthur took a peek at her to make sure it was in a fun way and not in panic. She knew her safe word and said it on occasion but he’d never surprised her like this before.
“Well, we can’t have students being disruptive, not this close to exams. You’re not only interfering with your own learning but your classmates’. Do you think that’s acceptable, Miss Sullivan?”
“No,” Saoirse breathed.
“Then we’d best get you straightened out. We take discipline very seriously here at St. Therese’s School for Wayward Girls. Mr. Tyndall, would you put her over the desk, please?”
He and Gideon had planned this out and it was going even more smoothly than he’d thought it would. As much as he loved playing with Saoirse just the two of them, it was fun to have someone else there to toy with her. Plus, there were certain things you just couldn’t do with only two.
Arthur pushed Saoirse down over the desk and pulled up the skirt of her jumper.
“Oh, I think this kind of offense warrants a bare-bottom spanking, don’t you?” Gideon asked as he picked up a ruler from the desk and tapped it against his palm.