“No,” I mumble. “I want to stay like this while you swing with me on your lap. Almost like a rocking chair.”
Oh, how I would love for him to hold me in a rocking chair. I would slowly fall asleep in his arms. I’d be completely comfortable and safe.
“Rocking chair?” he asks as he sits down and places my legs on either side of his body.
I hum.
“Why a rocking chair? Is there something significant about it?” He slowly starts to swing back and forth.
“It is soothing. The calm, repetitive motion while I have my head resting on your chest, eyes closed, feeling safe and comfortable. I’ve always wanted to fall asleep on one, but we didn’t have them on the space station. Even if we did, I would have no one to hold me. I wouldn’t want to sit in it alone. It would stop rocking when I fall asleep. That ruins the whole purpose of it,” I explain, relaxing further into his arms.
“Is that so?” he mutters.
“I’ve seen them on videos. Mothers rocked their babies to sleep while they held them, or old people sat on them and looked out at their land.” I chuckle to myself. “All for research purposes, so we knew what people did on Earth. I don’t think they realized how jealous it would make us, and how much longing we would feel. But it’s okay. I’ve come to terms with a lot of things not happening in my life.”
Just saying those words sounds depressing. But it’s reality when it comes to our lives on the space station.
“I can have a rocking chair made, so we can rock when I put you down for a nap,” Daddy offers.
I pull my head back and look at Daddy, who is already gazing down at me. “Really?” I whisper.
“Yes, Little Pet. You talk about it so fondly, even though you have never experienced it. I want to experience itwithyou. I will have one made so that we can use it together,” he tells me.
Tears threaten, but I quickly put my face in his chest and take a deep breath.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
And to think that I was so nervous and didn’t want to be anywhere near Daddy when we met. To think that I thought he wanted to kill me.
Daddy is making all my dreams come true without a fuss. Hewantsto do it, even if I tell him that we don’t need to.
“What else do you want to do that you never were able to?” Daddy asks.
“Ummm.” I hold onto his shirt as I try to think.
My mind is coming up blank. Panic flows through me as I can’t think of anything.
“Shh, you’re okay. You don’t need to decide right now. When we get home, I can give you a tablet so any time you think of anything, you can type it on the tablet. Then we can slowly do as many as we can. I don’t know if we will be able to do all of the, but we will try our best,” Daddy gently says.
“I want to color,” I blurt out. “We didn’t get to do a lot of that since there were many of us on the space station and only a little paper. I want to be able to color outside the lines and see my artwork .”
Daddy runs his hands through my hair before he starts to push and swing us again.
“How about you can color on the tablet? And I can also give you an e-reader so you can read and occupy your mind. ,” Daddy says proudly.
My heart warms at his words.
“Thank you,” I say and sigh.
Life is a lot better than I thought it would be on Venkoria. And to think I had this crazy idea that Daddy was going to send me back to the space station. How miserable my life would have been, and how much I would have missed out on.
“Any time, Little Pet.” Daddy kisses the top of my head.
SEVENTEEN
“Daddy?” I call out, looking around the living room.
I still have my harness on. It’s been several days since Daddy put it on me, and I haven’t had him take it off yet. Unless it was to take a bath, but that was very quick. Daddy was always touching me, so I didn’t mind.
