Page 27 of Butch

“Honestly?” she asked, and Daddy nodded. “Honestly, I want to take it out. I don’t want to listen to anything right now. It’s so overwhelming, and I’m already exhausted from everything he had me listen to at the office.”

It wasn’t going to work at all.

Daddy grabbed her hands in his. “I know you’re overwhelmed right now and exhausted from it, but he mentioned you needed to keep it on, so your brain gets used to it. You’ll take it off at night, but he said you really need to wear it during the day so that it won’t hurt as much later.”

Tears pooled in her eyes as she looked up at Daddy. “But I don’t want to wear it right now. I don’t want to make my brain work when it’s already exhausted. All I want to do is sleep without hearing.”

True to Daddy’s words, he had taken her to a different house for the week. He didn’t want her to get overwhelmed with everybody talking at the clubhouse. Which was very thoughtful of Daddy, and she wouldn’t have thought of it if she were on her own.

“I know, Little Fairy, but you have a couple more hours in today, and then we’re going to go to bed earlier tonight. We don’t have to talk much for the rest of the day, but we need to sum so that your brain can get used to the sounds,” Daddy explained. “Now, do you want anything for dinner, or do you want Daddy to decide for you?”

“You can decide,” she mumbled.

“Why don’t you sit in this chair while Daddy cooks, and you can watch me?” He led her over to a chair at the opening of the kitchen. “Daddy is going to be cooking, and you get to watch me so that you won’t feel alone.”

Even though she wanted it to be silent so that her brain could stop working, she didn’t want to be alone, and Daddy knew that.

He knew everything.

Rae sat in the chair and zoned out as Daddy started to cook dinner. The first words he had said to her that she understood were “Little Fairy.” Raelynn had cried right then, making the doctor panic a little. But she couldn’t help it. It had been so many years since she had heard him call her that so tenderly… affectionately.

And now she got to listen to it for the rest of her life, or as long as she was with Daddy. They still hadn’t gotten closer to figuring out who Edmund was, and she wasn’t going to give away any hints. It was better if they just forgot about it and she left, but Daddy wasn’t going to allow her to do that, and she knew Levi and Reaper wouldn’t, either.

They had become friends with her since she arrived. She didn’t know how they had managed to, but they had. They were like another set of big brothers she never had.

Protective.

Caring.

Loving.

Worrying.

And so many more things.

It was weird to have something like that in her life when she hadn’t had anything like that in a very long time. It was so weird that Rae talked to Daddy about it and told him to tell them to stop. That didn’t work out, and they were still the same as before. Now she was starting to get used to it.

“What are you thinking about?” Daddy asked.

She shrugged as she rested her head against the wall.

“Ah, Little Fairy. We aren’t doing that.” Daddy gave her a pointed look.

Sighing, she blinked and stared at Daddy. He really wanted her to use her brain today, like the doctor had told her to. Why did he have to be a stickler for rules and regulations?

“Just about the clubhouse and Levi and Reaper,” she finally said. “I was thinking about finally getting to hear you call me Little Fairy again.”

She could die right now, and she wouldn’t have any regrets. Rae got to hear him call her that nickname several times today, and she was living for it.

“You might get sick of me calling you Little Fairy now.” He chuckled. “What are you thinking about them for?”

She shook her head. “There is no way that I’m going to get tired of hearing you call me that. It makes me feel all tingly inside, and like I’m close to you again.”

“Because you are. We are together, and nothing can separate us now,” Daddy said as he knelt in front of her. “My feelings for you are never going to change. You are it for me.”

“And you’re it for me as well,” she whispered.

For as long as she’d be able to have him. For as long as Edmund couldn’t find her. Rae was going to cherish every minute she had with Daddy because she didn’t know if it was ever going to end.