Page 26 of Tiger's Little Waif
Shaw looked at their buggy and then at Papa. “I think we bought too much.”
“No, mate. We didn’t buy nearly enough. I want you to pick out three things you’d like to play with while we’re here in the city.”
Shaw looked over everything before pulling out the thick coloring book and box of crayons. Hugging them to her chest, she said, “Two is enough. I don’t need those other things.”
Marshall frowned at her, then pulled out the cloth doll with yarn hair she’d squealed over and handed it to her as well. It was just like the one she’d had as a child, and she could not believe the old standard was still available.
“That way Gio won’t be lonely when we leave him alone in the hotel room,” he explained.
Shaw nodded and used her other arm to hold the doll. “Okay, Papa. That makes sense. But I always take Gio with me. Especially tomorrow when we go to meet RBX.”
Marshall smiled down at her before brushing a kiss on her nose. “Okay, let’s go check out and headed back to the hotel before they lock us in.”
They were the last people to check out and the manager was happy to ship the rest of their purchases. After Marshall filled out the paperwork necessary to make that happen, the clerk quickly checked out the things Shaw held.
“Thank you, Papa,” Shaw said as they left the store hand in hand.
“You are very welcome, waif. How about stopping for a hot chocolate on the way home? Then it will be bedtime for my girl.”
Marshall planned to return to the toy store before they left town. They had only seen half the store, and even then his mate had kept her Little locked down, though he was not sure exactly why. They would have to talk about that before they returned. She needed to know that while he wasn’t billionaire rich, he had more than enough money in the bank to pay for nearly anything she wanted.
Back at the hotel, he guided her to the bar and ordered two virgin hot chocolates before leading her to an empty corner of the bar. After the bartender delivered their drinks and a plate of sugar cookies, he took Shaw’s hand and looked deep into her eyes.
“I’m sorry, my mate.”
Shaw blinked and stared at him as if he had begun speaking Romulan. “Why are you sorry, Papa?”
“I screwed up and broke the first rule of being a good Daddy.”
“What rule is that?”
“That communication between mates, as well as Daddies and Littles is the key to a successful relationship. Not only do I need to encourage you need to talk to me about everything, but I need to ask questions and get your opinions about things.”
By the time he finished explaining, Shaw was frowning at him, looking even more confused. “You do ask questions. And I do tell you everything. There are some things you don’t always tell me, but surprises are okay, too. At least to me. I like surprises. Well, good ones. A surprise dentist visit, or something like that not so much, but I’ve found that with you most surprises are good ones.”
She made it sound like everything between them was good, but he felt like something was still off. “You didn’t seem happy at the toy store. I figured you would fill up two or three shopping carts and you barely filled up half of one. Didn’t you like that store? We can try to fine another if you don’t want to go back to that one.”
Shaw took a tiny sip of her chocolate before nodding with a smile. “It’s cool enough. I don’t understand why they make hot drinks soooooo hot. You have to wait like an hour for it to be cool enough to drink, but then it gets cold before you finish drinking it.”
“That’s why they make it so hot. That way you’re not drinking a cold drink halfway through. Waif, the store?”
Shaw shrugged and dropped her gaze to the table. “I liked the store good enough, but I didn’t know how many toys you wanted me to choose. I’ve lived my whole adult life without any toys. I just played with Gio and watched movies and was happy. The ones we got tonight will keep me in Little space for a long time.”
“No, they won’t. Tomorrow, after we deal with RBX, we’re going back and you’re going to get everything your heart wants. I’ve talked to Lonergan about turning the spare pantry we don’t use into a playroom for you and your friends to use during the day, and we still have to furnish your playroom at the cabin as well. Or are toys not your Little’s desire? Would you rather get a horse to ride or a jungle gym to play on or a video game setup or something else the toy store didn’t carry?”
That suggestion earned him a shocked blinky stare. “Papa, we don’t have time for a horse, or to play videogames for hours on end. A jungle gym and playground area for the institute would be nice. Maybe we could build one for all the Littles to use?”
“That sounds like a very generous idea, my mate. We’ll have to talk to Lonergan and the others when we get back. I bet all the Littles would like to help plan it out.”
“Ooo, that sounds like fun,” Shaw said as she nibbled on a cookie. “And though I loved visiting the toy store, my mind wasn’t on buying toys. My mind was more focused on what my shopping list for the restaurant supply store when we go shopping there.”
Marshall nodded and made a mental note to rearrange the store visits so they would visit the restaurant supply store before returning to the toy store.
“All right, waif. Finish your hot chocolate and we’ll head upstairs for a snuggle and a movie before bedtime.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Papa, Gio and I have to be there. If I’m not there, Dan either won’t talk to you at all, or will tell you all sorts of lies about me.”