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Sir was still perched on the edge of the coffee table, looking at her intently. She didn’t think it was possible for him to look at her any other way.
“I get you Saturday, little one. And you are in for a world of hurt.”
She shivered in Daddy’s embrace but not because she was cold. No, they kept it pretty warm in here so she could flounce around in her dresses and onesies, sometimes even just a cute diaper cover and t-shirt. That particular frisson was all delicious anticipation, heightened by the perfect amount of fear. Sir would never harm her, but he would push her limits. Cosima couldn’t wait. Was actually kind of disappointed and feeling restless as she downed the last of the bottle.
Daddy took it out of her mouth so she wouldn’t keep sucking and get too much air in her tummy, and when he did, she looked at each of her daddies in turn and asked, “Can it be Thursday now?”
Chapter Two
Ian
His thighs were on fire, but he didn’t care. Ian would let someone put him on a grill like barbecue chicken if it would make Coco laugh maniacally the way she was right now.
“You can do it, Papa! Six more steps!”
He didn’t know what on earth had possessed him to give his princess a piggyback all the way up to the loft from the small below-ground parking space but he had and dammit, he would keep his promises, especially to the little girl who was cheering him on. But holy hell did he need to do more work on his quads because they felt like flaming jelly.
Finally he staggered up the last step and Coco erupted into cheers. Made his head so big it might explode, and his heart too.
It was hard to believe she was the same girl he’d scraped off their front stoop a little over a year ago. His heart clenched at the memory—how thin she’d been, how many injuries that fucking creep had inflicted on her, the terror in her eyes—but he tried to wave it off because she was almost a completely different person now. Definitely heavier. Still scarred but the only recent marks were ones she’d consented to—even begged for—and those would fade. And if all the hugs and kisses and softly whispered words from today were any indication, she was so, so happy. And they’d done that. What a feeling.
Were they perfect? Definitely not. But Coco didn’t want or need them to be perfect, she just needed to be loved, and boy, was she ever.
They reeled down the hall until they reached the bed three of them shared most nights, with Ry joining them sometimes—more and more often, he thought, probably because the little one would turn those big baby eyes on Sir, and ask him, please, to sleep with them, and how could even that stone cold sadist say no to that? He couldn’t. None of them could. Especially because except to ask for affection, Coco rarely broke out the high beams.
Ian collapsed on the bed, turning so they’d land side-by-side and his princess was still a pile of giggles. Silly little girl. Probably had nothing to do with all the sugar he’d allowed her, although he was sure Huds would glare at him for that later. Well, it was one fucking day and she could go back to her regularly scheduled program of snack snails and protein smoothies and other healthy stuff tomorrow. Today had been all about cotton candy, popcorn, and fried dough. She probably still had powdered sugar on her dress.
“You’re the strongest papa in the whole world!” she exclaimed as he rolled over to face her. Pink cheeked and her hair in two little cinnamon rolls she called space buns because they reminded her of Princess Leia’s hairdo, she was too cute. “No wonder you won me so many stuffies.”
His little sweetheart held up a giant stuffed snake he’d won her in one hand, and the other three stuffies they’d acquired in the other.
“You’re going to have a big job, naming all of those,” he told her. “You’ll have to make them name tags for school.”
Coco had earned her GED just a couple weeks ago, and she was already studying for her SAT. Devaney helped a lot, sometimes at the loft, sometimes over at her and Eric’s house, and Twyla was a study buddy too since she’d taken her own SATs so recently. Of course the three of them helped too. But when Coco studied by herself, she liked to set up her stuffies to play school.
Ian knew he shouldn’t spy on her—everyone should have privacy if they wanted it—but sometimes he’d wait outside the door to listen to her coaching her stuffed animals in geometry or vocab words or whatever she was working on that day. It was a struggle to not collapse in the hallway because she was so fucking adorable.
“I will, Papa.”
Sweet, earnest little thing.
“Maybe that’s a good Monday activity, because I think you’re going to be pretty busy until then.”
If it was possible, her honey-gold eyes got even wider and she bit her lip. Oh, yes, they were going to have so much fun with her. Starting very, very soon, but only if she was ready for it. Not that the day at the carnival hand’t been fun—it had been a goddamn delight—but there was something special about the way they could play with Coco and how she was like an octopus, changing colors and shifting shapes to become whatever they needed while still staying true to herself. That wasn’t a very cute nickname though. Too bad.
Coco shifted restlessly and scooted closer until she was pressed up against him, nose to nose.
“Is it time for my surprise yet?”
“Oh, was someone getting a surprise?”
Her mouth dropped open in faux-indignation, and she smacked his chest. “Papa, you said!”
Ian had to laugh, and then peppered her face with kisses until she was squirming and giggling again. To think she hadn’t even smiled when she first came to them…
“I did say, and yes, you’re getting a surprise, if you’re up for it. I wanted to see how you were feeling after the carnival. I didn’t think it was too crazy, but I’ll let you be the judge of that.”
“Your crazy scale is kind of out of whack,” she teased, and he tickled her some more. Sassy pants.
