Page 24 of Soothing Little Sylmen

I got comfy as he took care of me. I thought I might have to help him. Nope! I was Daddy’s doll. His plaything.

And I loved it.

He closed me in, then checked to make sure it wasn’t too tight. After that he pulled my shirt off. I stayed really still. Daddy hadn’t said I could move yet.

Once I was out of the big shirt, he pulled a small piece of fabric from the basket of blankies. I eyed it, wondering what he had. Before I could figure it out, Daddy pulled it over my head and eased my arms through too.

“That’s better,” he whispered.

I looked down to see I was in a baby blue crop top. On the front was a giant cartoon pacifier. I rubbed my finger over it.

Yeah. This was better.

Daddy lifted me up without a word. I grabbed at his neck so I wouldn’t fall. Did I just let him keep going? No one had ever picked me up before. I hadn’t thought anyone would.

Hadn’t I just been wishing this would happen? How did he know everything I wanted?

Daddy took me back into the big area, easing us down in front of the toys.

“You play here for a little bit, sweet boy. Daddy is going to get everything else ready in the other room.”

When I watched him crawl back into the space we had just left, it was just as funny to see as I thought it would be. I wondered how he had even managed to move while carrying me. It didn’t make sense. I shook off the questions though. Knowing Daddy had magical ways was part of the fun.

I looked around at the toys in front of me. The only thing that really looked like fun was one of those mats with things hanging down that you could hit. I crawled over to it, then shifted onto my back until I was underneath. I hit a fuzzy star. It bounced, jiggling the others too. I grinned, then tapped another one. This time, music began to play. It made me jump at first, but after blinking a few times, it made sense. I kept playing, and my legs wiggled, kicking out every now and then as excitement moved through me. It didn’t matter that there were only three toys or that it played the same song each time. I didn’t care.

Daddy came back into the room, sitting beside me. He didn’t say anything. Just watched me with a big smile.

I liked happy Daddy.

“Hey, sweet boy. We’re going to have a snack before I burrito you and lay you down.”

I wasn’t sure how much of our three hours was left, but getting the experience of being wrapped up and put in the bassinet was something I really, really wanted.

I was still as Daddy gently pulled me from underneath the toy and positioned me upright. He lifted me again, then turned until he was in front of what looked like a giant booster seat. He placed me in it, my hips fitting perfectly.

How did the Ranch have all of this stuff? And who was making it? I needed one of everything back home. But that could get strange for anyone who came in. Maybe it was time to see if Blaze would let me build a house on the land.

I shook my head to clear the Big thoughts.

Daddy paused, looking at me. “Baby, you have every right to let me know you don’t want something. If that’s the case, I want you to tap me twice. Okay?”

I nodded.

“If you want to keep going, you can tap me once. And if you’re unsure, I want you to pinch me.”

My eyes widened at that. He wanted me to pinch him? That wasn’t very nice. I must have made a face because Daddy laughed.

“Sweet boy, I promise you won’t hurt me. I only want you to be sure to get my attention. We need to differentiate things. The taps are a good way to do so, but the pinch will get me to stop right away so I can assess how you’re feeling.”

I tapped him once, letting him know he could keep going.

Daddy smiled, shifting me around a little more before grabbing something from the big bucket of food. When he turned back, there was a pudding cup in his hand and a small spoon. He opened wide for me as if to show me what to do, and I did the same. Daddy pushed the spoon past my lips. The vanilla flavor hit my tongue and I hummed. It was delicious and sweet, and the tiny bite helped me feel even more Little.

“That’s it, good boy.” Daddy chuckled.

He kept praising me with each bite. I was happy to do as he needed. Even if I still felt a little too Big, how could I explain to him that I wanted him to hold me and feed me a bottle as well? I didn’t have my phone on me because it wasn’t really necessary with Daddy in charge. Plus, if I did absolutely have to write something down, I’m sure there were things here, or we could use Daddy’s phone.

When he finished the pudding cup, Daddy took a wipe and cleaned off my face, even though there wasn’t anything there to begin with. Then he eased me from the chair and started toward the room with all of the baby things.