Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 151384 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151384 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
“Just let us take care of you, Immy,” Jenner said to her. “You’re the best part of us and none of us want you at risk.” His lips landed on her forehead and if she hadn’t been so unwell, then her body might have reacted more to the feel of his lips against her skin.
“Okie-dokie,” she said.
“Such a good girl for me,” Jenner whispered in her ear.
All right, no matter how ill she was, she still reacted to that. There was nothing that Immy loved more than being called a good girl.
Well, maybe there were one or two other things that she liked. Like being kissed. Carried around. Yeah, she liked those things too. Being held on a lap and fed.
Urgh, she had a problem.
She just wanted to be taken care of. Coddled and loved.
Stupid life meant that couldn’t happen all the time, though.
And, unfortunately, it seemed like she had to be really ill in order to get everything she wanted.
Kind of sucked.
Shit. Wait. She forgot that Jenner could read her mind today. Had he heard all of that.
“Did you hear that?” she asked him.
“Hear what?” Jenner asked.
“Me thinking about my favorite things.”
Jenner smiled down at her, brushing her hair back off her face. “You didn’t say anything about your favorite things. You want to tell me?”
She shook her head, then winced as it thumped. “Immy not feeling well.”
“I know, baby,” he soothed. “Let’s get this medicine into you and then I’ll take you back to bed.”
“You will?” she said. “Will you carry Immy?”
“Of course. Open wide.”
Immy opened wide. Because she was a good girl, after all. She always did what she was told.
When Immy was sick, it could be harder to get her to do what she was told. Thankfully, today, she seemed to be determined to be a good girl.
God, Jenner fucking hated when she was ill.
And he really hated how a simple cold or flu could turn into something really nasty with her if they weren’t careful.
After taking her medicine, he lifted her back onto his hip. She curled around him like a baby monkey clinging to its mama.
“That’s it, precious girl. Hold onto me.”
Hold on to Daddy.
Fuck.
When she was ill, she also seemed to regress. He wasn’t sure why Immy was always so insistent that she wasn’t a Little. Maybe she was still learning things about herself. Like he was. Because he thought he might be a Daddy. Were there classes he could take? Would he be able to sneak to the club without anyone finding out?
Jenner carried her into her bedroom. Her bed was a mess. Abe was behind him, carrying more medication, Gatorade, and dry toast.
Not that she’d likely eat.
“Sit down on the armchair with her and I’ll change the sheets on her bed,” Abe said, setting everything down on the bedside table.
“Noo,” she moaned. “They’re all gross.”
“You did it for me the other day,” Abe said to her as he stripped the bed.
Isaiah walked in silently and started to help.
“That’s different,” Immy grumbled.
“Why?” Jenner asked her, sitting on the chair and settling her sideways on his lap.
Sampson stuck his head in and saw what they were doing before disappearing. Hopefully to get clean sheets.
“Because Abe was ill.”
“I was fine,” Abe told her, coming over to crouch in front of her. “And Imms, you’re the one who is sick now.”
“Noo,” she groaned. “I don’t wanna be. I’m so tired of being sick all the time.”
Jenner didn’t like the defeated note in her voice. Immy was never defeated. She usually met life head-on with a smile and more enthusiasm than the rest of them could muster.
Now, she sounded far too tired.
“I know you are, Imms,” Abe said carefully. “But we’re here. We’ll take care of you. We’ll get through this like we do everything.”
“There’s so much to get through, though,” she said as Sampson walked back in with clean sheets. “It feels like there’s something all the time. We get through one thing and something else happens. When do we just get a chance to live in peace?”
Jenner hugged her tight, rocking her back and forth as he glanced at the others. It was a fair question. It did feel like life kept trying to knock them around with one thing after another. And, no doubt, it felt worse for Immy who had to be careful of her health or she could get very ill.
“I promise there will be a time when we don’t feel like we’re always fighting for our freedom, for our peace,” he told her.
Although he knew he shouldn’t really make such promises.
He just wanted that for her.
Jenner kissed the top of her head, breathing in her scent. Maybe there was a way for her to get some peace, though. When she was in Little headspace, she wouldn’t have to spend time concerning herself with adult worries.