“It’s actually a long weekend,” Sir rumbled in that low, gravelly voice of his that she loved so much. “Each of us gets a day with you and on Sunday we’ll spend the whole day together. Sound okay?”
That sounded a thousand million trillion times better than okay. But—
“But what about the club? Weekends are busy. Don’t you—”
“Ah,” Papa said with a gentle smack on her diapered butt. “That is not something for little girls to worry about ever, but especially not this weekend. I promise we’ve got it covered and everything is fine. Also, only one of us is going to be with you all the time those days so we’ve still got two of us who can deal with the club. Are you saying that’s not enough, miss sassy pants?”
“No, Papa,” she said, and giggled when he gave her a few more teasing spanks. “And I don’t have any pants on, so they can’t possibly be sassy.”
He narrowed his bright green eyes at her and her heart sped, muscles tensed in anticipation.
“Why I oughta—”
Then he was tickling her, fingers darting to her waist and armpits, making her squeal with stops at her neck and tummy, backs of her knees. Papa didn’t stop until she was breathless and no doubt pink in the face.
When she’d finally managed to catch her breath and Papa handed her over to Daddy so he could get them some water, she cuddled up on Daddy’s broad lap and fingered her paci that was clipped to her collar. She almost always had one with her if not tucked in her mouth. She still didn’t totally understand why but it was calming to be able to suck on them, and it was hard to be places where she had to be big and leave her pacis in the car or at home.
Papa came back with a tall glass for him and a bottle for her. But before Daddy could settle her back to give her the bottle, she asked, “So who gets me first?”
Then she let Daddy arrange her with her head in the crook of his elbow and curled around him before he drew the nipple of the bottle across her bottom lip so she’d open up.
“That’s a good girl, taking your bottle. Drink it all up while we tell you what’s going to happen.”
“I get you first,” Papa said, rubbing his free hand up and down her calf, over the pink cable-knit thigh-highs he’d put her in this morning. “I had to fight these two chuckleheads for it, but I won. So it’s you and me on Thursday. Do you want to know my plans or do you want it to be a surprise?”
Hmm, tough choice. She didn’t really like surprises but Papa loved to surprise her and she loved her papa.
She paused downing her bottle and popped off to say, “Half surprise, Papa?”
Ian grinned and gave her leg a squeeze. “You got it, princess. There’s a carnival up in Springfield I thought I’d take you to during the day and then nighttime will be a surprise.”
Oh, that sounded like so much fun. Even though it was a little scary. Carnivals had lots of people, didn’t they? She’d gone to the zoo with Daddy and Papa, and to the Aquarium with all three of her daddies. While it had been super fun and made her feel very accomplished, it had also been exhausting. Made her really stressed and nervous, wound really tight. She hadn’t been able to leave the house for days afterward.
“Hey,” Papa said with another squeeze to her leg, and looked at her with those serious Papa eyes he didn’t use very often. Mostly he was goofy and silly and loved to make her laugh. She loved that about him. But she also loved when he was serious because he knew when something was really important to her. “We’re going to go when it opens first thing which is before school gets out, and it’ll be Thursday, not the weekend so it won’t be very crowded. I asked Raven to go check and she said that was the best time to go. And when it starts to be overwhelming, we’ll come back here and have your surprise. Sound like a plan?”
“Yes, Papa. Thank you.”
“Anything for you, Coco,” he told her and held out his hand so they could do their thumbs-up fist bump and then blow it up.
Daddy pushed the nipple of the bottle back against her lips and she took it, looking up at him. Her teddybear Daddy.
“I get you next, sweet girl.”
Oh, yes. It wasn’t like she loved one of her daddies any more than she loved the others—that would be impossible. But she couldn’t deny there was something special about her bond with Hudson.
As much as she trusted Sir and Papa, she did sometimes worry she could be too much for them. Too needy, too clingy, too little. She didn’t worry about that with Daddy. Maybe because he’d claimed her from the very start when she was half-dead, and she could always rely on him for hugs or cuddles or tender words. Not that he liked it when she was upset or in pain but he did like being able to help and soothe her, always.
She suckled and kept eye contact as he brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face.
“Half surprise?”
Cosima nodded. Yes, half-surprise was good.
“I thought it would be fun to go see some of our friends if you’re up for it after the carnival. And then we’ll take a nap.”
That sounded so nice. She could probably manage seeing friends after the carnival, and even if she couldn’t, Daddy wouldn’t be mad. They’d just do it some other time when she was ready. Plus she loved taking naps with her giant teddybear. It was fine to take naps and go to bed at night in the crib in her playroom but even when she was having trouble falling asleep, being wrapped up in Daddy’s big body never failed to have her off to dreamland in no time.
“I can’t wait to have my teapot all to myself,” Daddy told her, and planted a kiss on her forehead. So sweet, so warm, she could practically fall asleep right now. But there was one thing keeping her awake.