Page 26 of Margo

Margo gave a soft gasp. “You heard that?”

“Some of it.” He scooted closer and patted the owl on the head. “I bet Mico’s a pretty good listener.”

“Sometimes.”

“You know, I’m also a pretty good listener.”

Margo looked at him so intently he felt like she was reading his innermost thoughts. Then she sighed, and flopped over on the bed, laying her head in his lap. “I know.”

“Do you want to talk to me about some of the things you were talking to Mico about?”

“Not really. You already heard.” Margo popped her thumb in her mouth, a tell that let Knox know she was feeling Little and insecure.

Knox ran his fingers through her soft, bouncy curls and rested his hand on her shoulder. “Well, is it okay if I talk? We promised we would go over rules and expectations tonight. Do you remember that?”

Margo nodded and looked up at him with eyes that were wide and full of questions.

“Can I tell you what rules I would like for us to have?”

She nodded again, so he continued.

“Well, the first and most important rule is that you talk to me, always. If something I do bothers you, or you have questions, or you feel insecure, you need to come to me so we can work through it together. If you get scared and feel like you want to push me away and run, that’s when you need to talk to me the most.”

She looked panicked at that, and reared up, popping her thumb out of her mouth. “I don’t… I don’t know if I can do that. That last part.”

“I know it will be hard. It goes against your very instincts, but it’s the most important thing.”

“But what if… what if you’re a bad Daddy? And you hurt me? How does it help me to come to you instead of running away?”

Knox recoiled, feeling like a jerk. He hadn’t thought about it like that. Of course he wouldn’t. He knew he wasn’t a bad Daddy, and he had no intentions of hurting her. But he answered anyway because this was important to Margo’s well-being. “Okay, well, that’s different. I think we both know that I’m not a bad Daddy, and I won’t hurt you aside from spanking you when you’re naughty, but if that should ever happen, then you tell Baze. Baze will take care of you, and probably kick my butt.”

Knox knew he could flatten the other man in a fight without even trying, but again it was irrelevant and didn’t matter because there would be no fight. He’d never hurt Margo and if he did, he’d happily let Baze pummel him.

Margo giggled at his answer, and he chucked her chin with his crooked fingers, holding her gaze. “Does that answer your question and make you feel better, little one?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

“Do you understand that aside from that, I need you to talk to me? If you’re upset at me or panicky or in your head?”

“I understand, Daddy, but it’s gonna be a hard rule to follow. And how will you even know if I break it?”

“I’ll know because you’ll tell me. That’s the second rule. Anytime you are naughty and break a rule, whether it’s one of mine, or one of Baze’s, and I don’t know about it, I expect you to come to me and tell me.”

Margo wrinkled her nose. “That’s hard too. It means I can’t get away with nuffin.” Her brows furrowed, and she cocked her head to one side. “But I guess it’s good. Although if I freak out or panic, you’ll probably already know.”

“Probably,” Knox agreed. “If it gets to that point.”

“Daddy? Do I get in trouble if I get scared and panic? For having feelings?”

“No, sweetie. You don’t get in trouble for having feelings. You might get in trouble for keeping them from me and pushing me away instead of coming to me so we can work through it together. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah. I guess.” Margo sighed. “If I panic and push you away and don’t talk to you, what kind of trouble will I be in? Is it big trouble?”

“Well, first, I’d sit you down and we’d talk about those feelings and why you were acting the way you were, and I’d try to help you work through it. And then depending on how you acted when you were having feelings, if you shut me out when coming to me would have solved the problem or if you were naughty or disrespectful, if we both agreed, then yes, there would have to be a punishment.”

“A spanking?”

“More than likely.”