Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 53807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 269(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 269(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
“I should have given you a choice, little girl. Here, try one of these,” Jerico reopened the kitchen cabinet drawer by the table and pulled out a book of different types of games. “If you don’t like that, check out the other things here. Anything in here is for you.”
She opened the book and flipped through the pages. There were dot-to-dots, crosswords, sudoku, logic puzzles, and more. Stopping at one page with a word search, Aspen dived in. This was fun. She’d always been good at these.
Still aware that Jerico was working while she played, Aspen asked, “Are you always going to do everything?”
“Yes. It’s not a chore, Aspen. I enjoy taking care of you.”
He walked over to kiss the top of her head before reaching for her cup. “You haven’t finished your milk, little one. Drink the last sip and I’ll put the cute puppies in the dishwasher to get clean.”
“I need to give Rexy a bath,” Aspen said, looking at the time before tilting up the cup to enjoy the last of her chocolate milk.
“Not tonight. We’ll do that soon.” Jerico took the cute sippy cup when she handed it to him. “Good job.”
“Do you always get to decide what we do and when?”
Jerico took a minute to rinse out the cup before grabbing a pen and pad of paper from the counter. “That’s a great transition to our conversation. Let’s start with responsibilities. I’ll list mine first: provide food and a home, take care of his little girl emotionally and physically, keep Aspen safe and healthy, spend time together, and love his little girl.”
“You can’t love me. We haven’t known each other for long enough,” she protested.
“What’s the amount of time it takes?” he asked with a smile.
“I don’t know, but more than just a few days.”
“Sometimes a daddy knows. But you get to choose your own timeline. Now, what are your responsibilities?”
“Be lazy?” she asked.
“No definition of the word lazy describes you,” he decreed before adding, “How about… Allow Daddy to take away life’s chores?”
“I have to do something. I can’t just be a leech.”
“You could never be a leech. What do you imagine I just thought about as I did the dishes?”
“That bitch should help me?” Aspen suggested, trying to be funny.
“First off, no. And that goes on the rules section.” Jerico divided the paper in half and wrote, No cursing.
When she opened her mouth to protest, he shook his head. “That’s not negotiable. Now what I really thought was how happy I was to have found you and what an incredibly lucky man I was.”
“Really?”
“I’m never going to lie to you. Let’s add that to both our rules.”
“You’re serious about this, aren’t you? There has to be something else I’m supposed to be responsible for…” she protested, allowing her voice to trail off at the end.
“I would like to know where you are.”
A flashback of sitting in the dark car, lost and scared, burst into her mind. Thank goodness he’d found her. “I could text you I’m going somewhere other than work or here.”
“Thank you, little girl.”
“Could I ask you to talk to me? I can’t tell what’s going on in your mind. You know, if I’m doing something wrong. I’ve never been a little girl before,” she confessed.
“I will try my best. You can ask me almost anything.”
“Almost anything?”
“I can’t tell you some information about my missions or my teammates. That’s for everyone’s safety.”
She nodded. That made total sense. When he made a new section and labeled consequences, Aspen sat up straighter. “I don’t think I’m going to like this section.”
“All Littles need consequences to help them make good decisions.”
“So, all I need to do is not cuss and let you know where I am?” she asked, pointing at the section that listed her rules.
“Let’s add a few more rules.”
Picking up a pen, he added: Follow Daddy’s instructions. Allow Daddy’s care. Stay away from dangerous situations.
“I always have to do what you say?” she asked hesitantly.
“If something doesn’t make sense to you, we can discuss it. But my decision will be final.”
“Like my bedtime?” she asked, glancing over at the clock.
“Exactly.”
“Can I renegotiate later if something changes, and I can’t follow those?” she asked.
“Yes, and no. We can discuss these any time. Unless you’ve already earned a consequence. Then it’s too late.”
“So, if I stub my toe and cuss, you won’t listen to me? You’ll just spank my bottom?” she said, not liking how this was going.
“I would check first to see how your toe was. Then I would spank your bottom. Think of something else to have pop out of your mouth if you need something to say. You don’t ever have to cuss.”
“It’s not like you don’t.”
“I don’t. My mother was a first-grade teacher. If I’d yelled or whispered something off-color where she could hear it, I would have lost one of my privileges for a week. I use ‘zoot’ as my swearword. It’s not really one, but I can use it in the place of something that would have gotten me into trouble as a kid.”