Page 10 of Santa Daddy’s Accidental Little Helper

CHAPTER TEN

Henry

As Christmas morning finally came, things between Elaine and I finally settled down, and I was able to explain everything to Elaine about being my Little and what it meant. It took her a bit to grow accustomed to it, but, by the time Christmas had finally arrived, she was a regular Little, and she was mine. I no longer had to worry about having the conversation any longer. Instead, I just had to worry about whipping her into shape.

“Daddy!” Elaine squealed as she jumped into my arms, her childlike giggle echoing in my ears as I braced myself to keep the two of us from falling over as she continued. “I missed you today!” Knowing that it had only been a few hours, I couldn’t believe my ears.

It was Christmas Eve, and, since Santa’s Wonderland had closed at noon today, I had taken this opportunity to go back to my other office in order to set everything up for when I returned to my office the first Monday after Christmas. I had promised that I wouldn’t be gone for too long, but I had forgotten that, for a new Little who was still learning what was considered acceptable behavior, even a few hours could be considered too long. Now that I was back, I was able to see how she was adjusting to being my Little.

Of course, she still lived with her sister. She worked and paid her bills, and all her mail went to the two bedroom apartment that she shared with Jessica, but, outside of all that, she was always at my house, which she now called her second home. What made it even better was that she was already considering moving in once her sister’s lease was up.

“Take it easy, Little One,” I chuckled as I regained my balance. “You could knock me over and hurt us both. Give me a chance to get in the front door before we fall into the snow bank.” Immediately, Elaine let go and took a step back, a look of embarrassment on her face as she backed away.

“Sorry about that,” she apologized as she gave me a chance to enter the house before any more snow could get in through the front door. Once I was inside, she continued. “I was just so lonely without you.” I was about to ask her about what she had been doing when I swore I was smelling something burning.

Before I even had a chance to react to the strange smell in the air, I realized that something was burning in the kitchen right as soon as the smoke detector started to go off. The shrill noise of the smoke detector hurt my ears, and I saw Elaine cover her ears in order to block it all out. Hoping that it was just smoke, I hurried to the kitchen and winced.

As far as I could tell, nothing was on fire, but the air was thick and hazy from all the smoke in the air. In order to fix everything, I threw open the back door and the window in order to let out all of the smoke, then I made my way over to the oven to stop the source of the problem. Opening the oven door, I couldn’t help but smile as I looked over my shoulder at the terrified Elaine, who was still covering her ears.

“Cookies are done,” I said as I set the baking sheet of charcoal cookies on the stovetop before striding over to the smoke detector. As soon as I pressed the button, the noise died away, and I could finally hear everything as Elaine stared in horror at the cookies.

“I was wondering when they would be done,” she whimpered, looking scared that I was going to be angry. “I set the timer for ten minutes like the recipe told me to, but I never heard it go off. I was about to go see if something was wrong when I heard you in the driveway.” Lowering her gaze, she shook her head. “I’m so sorry. I made such a big mess.” Looking around at the rest of the mess in the kitchen, I took in the damage.

In all honesty, much to my surprise, the kitchen wasn’t a complete disaster. Elaine had asked if she could make cookies while I was gone, and I had agreed so long as she cleaned up her mess and made sure to follow the directions. Outside of the baking sheet of charcoal and the smoke that was slowly wafting into the snowy night air, she had been true to her word, and I realized that there wasn’t anything to be mad about.

Nothing was on in the house, so, as far as I could tell, she hadn’t been distracted. As far as I could tell, it was something to do with the timer she had set. Seeing the way the clock on the oven was flashing, I frowned in confusion.

“How did you set the timer?” I asked as I looked back at her, and she frowned in confusion as she walked over to the oven. Pressing a few buttons, she showed me exactly what she had done when she set the timer, and I winced. “That’s how you set the clock, not the timer.” Immediately, her gaze dropped, and she whimpered.

“I’m so sorry, Daddy,” she whimpered. “Please don’t have Santa put me on the naughty list. I didn’t know I had messed up so badly.” Unable to hold on any longer, I threw back my head and laughed at her.

“Why would I have you punished for something that was my fault?” I asked as I gasped for air. “I should have shown you everything before I took off. I’m sorry, Little One.” Pulling her in for a hug, I held her trembling body close and shook my head at her. “I’m just glad you weren’t hurt because of my mistake. I would never forgive myself.” As soon as we both had calmed down, I looked back at the mess. “Tell you what? I’ll fix dinner and finish the cookies. You should go ahead and call your sister, then you can watch TV until dinner. After that, we’ll have some alone time upstairs. Sound good?” A smile spread across her face as her eyes lit up.

“You got it!” she exclaimed before hugging me tight once again. “Thank you, Daddy. This is already the best Christmas ever.” Smiling back down at her, I hugged her back.

“You’re welcome, Little One,” I told her. “Merry Christmas.”

Happy reading!

I hope you enjoyed this ninth book of the Daddy’s Accidental Littles series, and thank you for reading. Didn’t you think Elaine and Henry were fated for each other? Their love is stronger than any force in the world!

Jessica is jealous of her friends and sister, all of whom have found love, but she doesn’t know about Littles and Daddies. Seeing the opportunity to find someone for herself, she decides to take a chance and try something new. To join Jessica on her quest of love, order the book in the series “Accidentally Finding His Little" by clicking HERE.

Accidentally Finding His Little book description:

No one ever plans on finding love. For most people, it just happens. When it does, it'll change lives.

JESSICA

No one ever looks forward to their twenty-fourth birthday.

Even as a taken Little, it can be incredibly stressful.

My worst fears came to life the day Ian left me for some fresh out of high school Little.

Now, I'm all on my own, and I'm embracing my work.

That is until I met him…