Page 2 of Gentle Love
I tried not to show my disappointment. I had been trying to coax her to open up for several months and so far, I hadn’t made any progress. I cared about her and I wanted her to live a life full of glee and giggles, not terror and tears.
“She will still love you, even if you say, ‘No, Dallas, I don't feel like being launched to the moon today.’”
At that, she gave a tiny, half-a-second smile, but I still saw it. It counted.
“Oh, what a pretty smile, Little one.”
Emily flushed scarlet and ducked her head.
I chuckled before calling Dallas to come to me too, relieving her from her timeout.
“Hi,” she said as she climbed up in my lap.
“Did you reflect on your actions while you were in the corner?”
“I’m sorry I was a sassy girl to you.” She kissed my cheek after her apology.
“I know you are, sweet girl, but what does your Daddy tell you Little girls with sassy mouths get?”
“Fucked,” she answered confidently.
I slapped my hand to my face. “Spanked, Dallas. They get spanked.”
“Oh. Yeah, spanked too.”
Shaking my head, I lifted her off my knee.
“Go play before you get in more trouble, baby.”
Giggling, she took Emily’s hand and pulled her out the back door. “Do you want a tattoo?” I heard her ask.
***
Emily
“Do you want a tattoo?” Dallas asked as she pulled me from the living room and out to the backyard where all of our friends were.
“No!” I yelped. She was full of naughty ideas today.
My phone chimed from my back pocket and the mood immediately shifted. I’d been trying to hide what was going on from my friends, but I must not have been doing a good job.
“You know you can tell me what’s bothering you,” Dallas offered, her usually smiling face fixed into a deep frown. “I won’t tell. I promise.”
“I know you wouldn’t tell, Dallas. You’re such a good friend, but I don’t want you to have to be involved. It’s not… it’s not your problem, okay?”
“You’re my best friend. If it hurts you, then it hurts me.”
“Maybe one day, okay?”
“I could…”
“Please, Dallas. Just… Maybe another day.”
She sighed, but dropped the subject. “You could also tell Daddy and Uncle Onyx that I don’t boss you around all the time,” she said as she continued pulling me toward the rest of our friends.
I looked down at her hand wrapped around my forearm. “You do boss me around.”
“Yeah, but not all the time. They think you’re sweet and shy. Daddy never did believe you were the one responsible for signing him up for those adult magazine subscriptions.”