Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 182075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
“Oh, this is a conspiracy!” she said. “It’s not fair! I don’t want to be ganged up on. Hmm, maybe I need a Little friend here with me.”
“We’re not adding anyone else to our relationship,” Slade said, glaring at her.
“What? No. I didn’t mean that.” Although she could see why he thought that. What exactly did she mean?
Idiot.
“No one else,” she said fiercely. “Just me. And you guys.”
And Quaid.
But it felt sad to think about him and she didn’t really want to feel sad. So she took the mouthful of food that Slade fed her and hummed happily.
“Yummy scrummy.”
“Yummy scrummy?” Slade grinned at her.
“Hey! Is this a party? How come I wasn’t invited?” Spencer bounced into the room and sat on the floor next to Rock with a plop. “And why are we sitting on the floor? Ooh, picnic?”
He was in a white-and-yellow-striped shirt that had images of strawberries stitched on it.
It was crazy and fun and so Spencer that she had to smile.
“Dada! You’re here!”
Spencer grinned, then leaned over to kiss her briefly. “Hello, my Princess. What mischief have you been getting up to while I’ve been gone?”
“I don’t get up to mischief, Dada,” she said haughtily as Slade fed her some more sandwich.
Actually, now that she was eating she was discovering that she was quite hungry.
“Are you sure about that? I think your middle name is mischief.” He reached for some fruit and Slade quickly whacked his hand with the fork he was holding.
“Hey! No stabbing me! My princess needs me in fine working form. Don’t you, Princess?” Spencer winked at her and she blushed.
Was all of him in fine working form?
How would she know?
No. Nope. No thoughts like that right now.
She wasn’t worrying. She wasn’t in charge so she didn’t have to concern herself about anything.
While she wasn’t completely carefree, she was as close as she’d gotten in years. This was game changing.
“That’s your middle name, Dada,” she told him. “What mischief have you been getting up to today? I thought you were going to work?”
He was home early.
“Me?” He put his hand on his chest with a gasp. “Moi? Are you saying that I get into mischief? How dare you!”
“You’re protesting a bit much,” Slade told him dryly.
“Rude. I didn’t get up to much mischief, unfortunately. Boring paperwork. Yawn. But I’m all caught up so I can spend tomorrow playing with my girl. We could spend the day in our Christmas pajamas, close all the curtains and snuggle under blankets to watch Christmas movies!”
It might not be December yet, but she thought that was an excellent plan.
“Uh-huh! Yay! And eat ice cream sundaes with maraschino cherries on top. They count as fruit, Dada.”
“Not sure about that one,” Spencer told her.
Slade tried to feed her some more but she shook her head. “No more! I’m full.”
Slade frowned. “You’re not eating enough.”
“Stop worrying so much, Daddy. You’ll give yourself wrinkles. Or an ulcer. Or the runs.”
Spencer snorted but he also looked at her plate with a frown. “Agreed.”
“Pregnancy book,” Rock said.
The guys looked at him.
“Food guidance.”
“That’s right!” Spencer clapped. “I’ll have another read. Now that you’re moving around more you should be eating more.”
She sighed. They were all nuts. She was fine.
“Eat a few more bites,” Slade urged.
Uh-uh.
She shook her head, pressing her lips together.
No way. Not happening.
“Actually, I think I saw in Rock’s book that sardines are really good for pregnant women,” Spencer mused. “How about I get you some sardines? That’s likely what you want, right?”
“I don’t think so!” she cried.
“Then eat some more,” Slade urged.
Fine. Urgh.
Sardines. Surely, Spencer wasn’t telling the truth.
Was he?
“Bottle?” Rock asked.
“True,” Slade said, eyeing her. “Not as good as fresh food but maybe as a supplement.”
“Ever thought about using a baby bottle, Princess?” Spencer asked.
Uh-uh.
No way. Not happening.
She shook her head.
“You wouldn’t want to try?” Slade said. “You could have one before your nap. We’d sit in the rocking chair and I’d feed it to you. You could just close your eyes and relax and let me take care of you.”
Bollocks.
Why did that sound so good? It shouldn’t, right? She shouldn’t want that.
But she did.
“I’m not a baby.”
“You don’t have to be a baby to enjoy a bottle or a pacifier,” Slade told her.
“I like my thumb.”
“You can still use your thumb,” Slade said. “But try the bottle?”
It did sound nice, just lying on his lap while he rocked her to sleep.
“Okay. I’ll try it.”
She felt Rock shift under her. “Oh, I’m sorry. Am I too heavy for you?”
They all stiffened and Spencer and Slade frowned at her.
“What?” she asked.
“Too heavy?” Rock asked.
Slade shook his head. “Before she was saying she was crap at being a Little and a girlfriend. And now she’s saying she’s too heavy?”
“I am six months pregnant! I wasn’t putting myself down.”
“Sounded like it to me,” Spencer said with a frown. “I’ll go get the naughty notebook I bought.”