Page 163 of Daddy's Pride
“It’s going to be amazing,” said Isla, who genuinely thought it would be. “You’ve done such an amazing job of working with everyone, that not even meanie TERFs will be able to derail it.”
Rachel looked thoughtful. “I really hope not. I just want everyone to feel like they belong, and it seems really unfair that they have to experience that on their way in. It doesn’t feel very fair.”
“It really doesn’t, but we’ll all work together, and hopefully they’ll have a really positive experience at the market.”
“Are you looking forward to it?”
Isla pondered her answer. “I’m really looking forward to seeing it all come to fruition, yes darling.”
Rachel frowned. “Your face doesn’t look like it agrees.”
“Well,” said Isla, suddenly forced out of her half-truth, “I am really looking forward to seeing it come to fruition, but I’m also really nervous about talking to so many people.”
“But you’re good at talking to the people,” said Rachel. “You do it at work, and you helped me with all the Big phone calls when I was moving.”
“That’s exactly it,” said Isla. “I’m really great at phone calls, but they can’t see me if I don’t know the answer to something and have to look it up. And they can’t see me panic if something goes slightly wrong.”
“That’s true.” Rachel sounded thoughtful. “Are you going to be okay? You don’t have to come to this just because of me.”
“I’m not—I’m not,” Isla insisted, when Rachel pulled a face. “It’s going to genuinely be a good event for the business, and I never know when I might make a connection. The problem is that most of the time I can’t talk about aspects of what we do, and this event allows me to do that. That’s really cool, not having to filter. And besides, it’s not like I’m on my own. Susie’s coming too and she’s the queen of socialing.”
Rachel nodded. “Yes, I believe that that is her formal title.” She opened her mouth to continue, but Isla interjected.
“I think it’s time you went to sleep though; it’s way past your curfew, and if you’re tired tomorrow, you’re only going to find it more stressful, and I really don’t want that for you. So time to sleep.”
“Story?” Rachel looked hopeful.
“You’ve already said no to stories twice! Come on, babygirl, you’ve got to get some sleep.”
“Fine,” grumped Rachel, but she snuck a cheeky grin at Isla, who returned it. “Night night, Daddy.” She leaned upward and kissed Isla with a gentleness that showed how much she cared. “Thank you for looking after me.”
“Oh sweet girl, I feel like it’s you who look after me.”
Rachel nestled deeper into Isla’s arms and Isla sighed happily. Sleep and her girl; what else could she want?
Chapter Seventeen
The morning of the inaugural Littles’ Market, Rachel woke super early, and was fully awake almost instantly. She looked over her shoulder at where Isla lay sleeping, and smiled. Her Daddy Isla was pretty cute when she slept, though she’d have denied the assertion vehemently. Head thrown back, mouth open, snuffles emanating from her mouth rather noisily. Rachel wasn’t entirely certain how she was so capable of sleeping through such a racket, but something about Isla’s presence meant that she got the best night’s sleep whenever her girlfriend stayed over.
She snuck out of bed, headed to the bathroom to perform her morning ablutions, and then slipped into the kitchen to turn the kettle on.
It was going to be a long day, so Rachel had planned on a fairly hearty breakfast, but considering how stressed she’d been the night before, a cooked breakfast felt like it might be a little too heavy.
Instead she opened the fridge and looked inside. What could she make that would be filling, but not too much so?
She grabbed some leftover avocado, a punnet of mushrooms, and a couple of slices of sourdough bread, and set about making some rather fancy smashed avocado on toast, with fried mushrooms.
Soon Isla came padding into the kitchen and sleepily dropped a kiss on her shoulder. “that smells good, babygirl; what you making?”
“Avocado on toast with mushrooms; will that be enough food for you today?”
“That sounds perfect,” answered Isla. “And I’ll take some food with me so I can snack if I need to.”
“Excellent plan,” said Rachel. “And remember that you can put in an order for lunch with the kitchen when you arrive, and they’ll deliver it straight to your booth around one.”
Isla murmured her agreement, still vaguely sleepy, and leant her head against Rachel’s. “You’re amazing, babygirl, and today’s going to go like clockwork.”
She wasn’t entirely right, because nothing ever went completely like clockwork, but set-up went as smoothly as Rachel could have hoped.