Page 17 of Tessa

“Are you kidding me? It’s pie for dinner! What could be better?”

Tessa saw what he was doing and rolled her eyes. “I guess. But it’s not like real pie. And pie is like… the lowest rung on the totem pole of desserts, anyway.”

Dax shook his head, looking exaggeratingly sad. “Oh, shhh, don’t let the pie hear you say that. It might get its feelings hurt.”

She couldn’t help but giggle. Dax was in a silly mood this evening, it seemed.

“Is there dessert after this much-too-adult-for-your-liking dinner?” he asked.

“I dunno.” Tessa shrugged.

“Well, I’ll tell you what. Eat your dinner like a good girl, and if there isn’t, we’ll take you out for dessert afterward.”

“All my dinner?” Tessa asked, hedging her bets.

“As much as I say.”

“Will the dessert be pie?”

Dax shook his head. “Why am I getting the third degree about dessert? Little girls are supposed to be happy about dessert, no matter what kind.”

“Yeah, but… there’s green beans involved. And salad. I gotta make sure it’s worth it.”

Dax sighed. “No, the dessert will not be pie. We can get ice cream or cake or cookies or whatever you’d like. One of these days though, I’m gonna take you to my favorite pie place and see if we can get pie to bump up a notch on that dessert ladder of yours.”

Negotiations finished, Tessa squealed. “Deal!”

They got to the front of the line, and Dax dished up her plate and his, giving her one spoonful of salad and one of green beans along with a healthy portion of the golden-crusted pie.

“Is this doable?” he asked, holding the plate out for her inspection.

She nodded and made a grab for it, but he jerked it away. “You carry your juice and use both hands. Daddy will carry your plate.”

Beau, who had been silent throughout the entire interaction, led them to their usual table. He pulled out Dax’s chair and Dax pulled out Tessa’s.

She plopped down and grabbed a fork, ready to dig in. She had overexaggerated her disdain for tonight’s menu and it had worked in her favor. Now she was ready to destroy her food, and after, she was going to make sure Daddy bought her the largest, most decadent, ice-cream sundae Las Vegas had to offer.

Beau sat across from her and did the same, his plate piled high with the nightly offerings as if he didn’t even care about saving room for desert.

Dax however, set his plate on the table and eyed his chair like it was a mountain he was getting ready to scale before carefully lowering himself onto it. The grimace of pain he gave when his bottom hit the plastic chair would have been alarming if Tessa hadn’t recognized it, and immediately realized where it had been coming from.

Pain shadowed his face as Tessa watched him, and for a moment a knot formed in her stomach. She couldn’t lie and say it wasn’t weird thinking of her Daddy as the one being spanked, even while he spoiled and scolded her. It was very weird. But she kind of liked that about her Daddies, or potential Daddies as the case may be.

Some Littles in her position may not be able to handle what Dax and Beau had between them; it might weird them out or make them jealous. Tessa, however, was mostly just thankful.

The fact that whatever had transpired between them, surely involved Dax being taken to task for some reason or another, could have transpired in the hours since she’d last seen them. That Dax could so easily put it aside and be the Daddy she needed him to be, filled her with a peace she couldn’t explain.

“Eat your dinner, little one,” Dax reminded her, pointing at her plate.

Smiling, she loaded up her fork and took a big bite. It was better than she’d expected, chicken and veggies smothered in a rich gravy, hidden beneath a perfectly flaky crust.

“Mmmm,” she said, rubbing her belly. “It’s good, Daddy. Eat yours.”

Dax took a bite, but his face was still etched with pain and discomfort. She wondered what he had done to get in that much trouble and decided to just ask.

“Daddy?” she asked, just as his mouth closed around the fork.

“Hmmm?” He put up a finger to indicate that she should wait for him to finish chewing.