Total pages in book: 156
Estimated words: 160192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
“All right then,” Jared said in a strangely hoarse tone. “We’ll call her Miss Melanie.”
Angie stared down at her with a smile. “I need to find somewhere safe to put her, though.”
“Why?” North asked.
“Because I don’t want to ruin her. Or get her damaged or anything. She might get dirty. If I put her on top of the drawers, do you think she’ll get dirty? Maybe I can get her a special container or something?
“Baby, you’re supposed to play with her,” Jared said.
“I can’t do that.” Miss Melanie was special.
Jared got down off the chair and sat on the floor. Then he reached over and picked Miss Melanie up. She tensed, hoping he didn’t hurt her or anything. But he was very careful.
“You’re not going to wreck her. She’s yours to play with. That’s what she’s here for.”
“If anything happens, we can get you a new one,” North offered.
She gasped, horrified at the idea. “You can’t replace Miss Melanie! She’s one of a kind.”
“She’s not, though. I saw more of them online for sale.”
“No, no, it wouldn’t be the same. She’s my very first doll. She’s special.”
“She’s your first doll?” Jared asked.
“I always wanted a doll. I asked every Christmas and every birthday but I never got one. And now I have one and I want to keep her safe. Plus, Northie bought her for me.”
“Northie?” North asked in a chocked sounding voice.
“Yes, Northie bought her, which I’m sure makes her extra special.” There was a funny note in Jared’s voice as well.
She hoped that the two of them weren’t coming down with the flu.
Gently, she brushed back Miss Melanie’s hair.
“I understand you want to keep her safe,” Jared said. “But don’t you think she also wants you to play with her? She might get lonely otherwise, locked away in a box.”
“Oh, I didn’t think about that.”
“And if anything happens. If she gets dirty or her clothes get wrecked, we can fix that, okay?” Jared said.
“Yeah, okay, Daddy. I guess it would be better to give her hugs. I don’t want her to not know what a hug feels like.”
“No, we don’t want that. And anytime that you need a hug, you know that you only have to tell Daddy, right? And I’ll be right there with the biggest hug.”
Setting Miss Melanie down, she threw her arms around him. “Thanks, Daddy.”
“I am not good at hugs,” North said suddenly.
She turned to look up at him. He held a blue and white striped onesie in his hand.
“That’s okay. I won’t hug you,” she said. “You don’t need to feel like you have to hug me.”
“But if Jared isn’t here and you need one, I shall give one to you.”
“Oh. Thank you, Northie.”
“But you cannot call me by that name,” he told her. “My name is North.”
Did that nickname annoy him? She smiled. For some reason, the idea of annoying North amused her. Maybe because it seemed like he never let much get to him.
“But I likes it. Don’t you likes it, Daddy?” she asked, letting more of her Little come out as she looked through the basket to see if there were any more clothes for Miss Melanie.
To her delight she found some more dresses and shoes and hats. Ooh, there were some pretty things here.
“Oh, yes,” Jared said. “I likes it.”
She grinned up at him, then over at North who was staring down at them both. This might be the most emotion she’d ever seen from him. He looked almost flummoxed.
“I will allow it. But only in private. Call me that in front of anyone else, and they’ll get a nice show of me spanking you.” He handed the onesie to Jared before leaving.
A pang of guilt hit her. “I didn’t upset him, did I?”
“No, if he was truly upset he’d say nothing at all. He’s fine. Although his threat was real. He really will spank you if you call him that in front of anyone else.”
Yeah, she didn’t think she should do that.
“Right, let’s get you dressed and then we can talk about these rules.”
She sighed and lay on her back on the rug, kicking her feet slightly. “I don’t want to talk about rules, Daddy! Rules are boring. I think that you should just let me do what I like.”
“Yeah, that’s not happening. You need rules so you know what you can and cannot do. Otherwise you might hurt yourself. Physically or emotionally. And I will not have you harmed in any way. You are mine to take care of. And that means I protect you. Even from yourself if necessary.”
Jeez.
How was she supposed to argue with that?
“All right, then maybe we should negotiate punishments,” she said as he started to draw off her pants. Hmm. She was just going to ignore him undressing her, she decided.
Except . . . would he see her scars?