BONNIE
Several days had passed and it had been amazing. Daddy and Daddy Ray had been trying to make up for what they had done to her. Even though she told them several times they didn’t need to anymore, they
wouldn’t take that as an answer.
They’d taken her out to get ice cream twice in a day, took her out on dates to the zoo, and more. They were spoiling her and she liked it. It was nice to feel loved and cared for. Had she gotten into trouble? Sure, but it was only for minor things like not eating her lunch or not wanting to take a nap.
That was a big one. Daddy insisted she needed a nap every day and she totally disagreed. There was no need for her to take a nap, but both of them had ganged up on her.
Bonnie cuddled into Daddy Ray even more. It was one of her favorite parts of her day. Having time to cuddle with either one of them or both. It depended on who was busy, but it felt amazing. She knew both of them secretly loved it as well, even if they didn’t tell her. Both of them would walk in and ask her if she needed her cuddle time.
She thought they needed it but went along with her being the one who needed it.
“You okay, baby?” Daddy Ray asked.
“Yes,” she replied with a contented sigh. “I’m so happy.”
“I’m glad you’re happy.”
Daddy walked into the living room, a smile on his face.
“Are you guys ready to go?” he asked.
She scrunched up her nose. “Go where?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Daddy.”
“Yes, Bon?”
She sighed and pushed herself away from Daddy Ray. She’d told Daddy this several times, but part of her didn’t believe he forgave himself or believed her.
“What is it?” Daddy asked.
“I forgive you,” she said. “I forgive both of you. You don’t have to continue to do things to make up for it. You’ve spent so much money on me already. I’m okay. I just want all the cuddles and love you can give me.”
“And the discipline,” Daddy Ray added. “You can’t forget that.”
She glared at Daddy Ray. “No spankings. Those are icky.”
“While I do agree spankings are icky on myself, they are very important.”
“Daddy Ray is right. If you never got a spanking or any discipline, then you would be a spoiled brat and we don’t want that. Do we?” Daddy asked.
She sighed. “No, we don’t.”
Though, sometimes, she thought it would be cool. They didn’t though.
“Now, I know you forgive me, and I accept it. This was actually for a different reason, but if you don’t want to go, then we don’t have to,” Daddy said.
Her eyes went wide and she stood up so fast she got dizzy, but that didn’t stop her.
“You can’t!” She raised her voice.
“Wow, Bon,” Daddy gently said. “You’re okay. Take a couple seconds and breathe for Daddy.”
She could feel their hands on her, keeping her from falling over. If they hadn’t been there, she probably would have. Who knows if she would have hit her head or not. A shudder made its way through her body. Bonnie had heard horror stories of people passing out and hitting their heads which resulted in them bleeding to death. She didn’t want that. It sounded slow and painful.
“I don’t want you to take the surprise away.”
“Push that away for a couple of seconds. Take some deep breaths and relax. You’re still wobbly,” Daddy Ray said. “We don’t need you passing out on us.”
Bonnie took several deep breaths and tried to relax. It was so hard when she still knew Daddy could take away the surprise. She didn’t say what she said for him to do that. She just wanted him to know.
“Are you feeling better now?” Daddy asked. “How’s the dizziness?”
“Better.” She sighed. “You really can’t take it away. I didn’t mean for it to sound like I didn’t want it.”
“Calm down. We don’t want you overworking yourself,” Daddy Ray said. “You can calmly tell us and we’ll listen.”
Tears of frustration filled her eyes. She’d been so good at not crying the past couple of days and now she was.
“I’m sorry,” she whimpered.
“For what, baby?” Daddy Ray asked.
“I don’t mean to cry. I just didn’t want Daddy or Daddy Ray to feel guilty about what you guys did to me. I’ve already forgiven you both. Several times over. I didn’t want you two to still think you owed me something. You don’t.”
Daddy ran his hands through her hair before pulling her into his embrace.
“Let it all out,” he encouraged her. “You’re okay.”
She sniffled and clutched onto him. So much had changed since she met Daddy and Daddy Ray. All of them had grown in their own ways. Daddy was taking her crying better and better and Daddy Ray was taking better care of himself. They were all working as one unit and it felt great[SR1] .
“You’re okay,” Daddy Ray said as he rubbed her back.
“I just… I’m sorry. I’m really overreacting,” she whispered.
“That’s okay. I bet it’s been on your mind for a while.” Daddy pulled back.
She nodded her head and looked down. Bonnie had been trying to figure out a time to tell Daddy and Daddy Ray they could stop. But she didn’t want to ruin cuddle time today and she didn’t have time before.
“I’m glad you finally told us,” Daddy said. “Now, do you want to go to the surprise?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“ARE WE ALMOST THERE?” Bonnie asked.
They’d been driving for a while and Bonnie had no clue where they were going. She’d lived in New York her whole life, but hadn’t been around much. Growing up they didn’t have a ton of money to spend on things and after Mama died, she was grieving and then Ethan took over the underground.
“Yes, Bon. We are,” Daddy said.
“Stay still in your seat,” Daddy Ray said. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“How am I going to do that?” she asked. “I’m buckled in.”
“You can still hurt yourself. You’ll find a way.”
“Rude.”
“Just the truth.”
Before she could respond, a big building caught her eye. Was that where they were going? Just a big building? It looked so plain and boring.
“Look before you say it’s boring,” Daddy said.
She narrowed her eyes at Daddy. How did he know she was going to say that? Was he a mind reader?
Bonnie looked over at the building and saw a sign. Hart’s Little Haven.
A squeal left her mouth as she turned toward Daddy and Daddy Ray.
“No way!” she yelled. “Really?”
“Told you she would love it,” Daddy Ray said.
“I never doubted she would. And yes, Bon, we’re going in there.”
Bonnie started to bounce in her seat with excitement. Years ago, she’d heard about a Little store opening up but she’d never actually seen or knew what the name was. She honestly thought it wasn’t real and she’d just made it up.
“Wait for Daddy to come get you,” Rogan said as he parked.
She unbuckled herself and started to bounce up and down, waiting.
Could he take any slower? She wanted to go in there now and explore. “Bonnie,” Daddy said as he opened the door. “We’ve talked about this.” “Daddy,” she whined.
“No Daddying me. You know we’ve talked about this several times.
Wait for Daddy to unbuckle you.” “But I was so excited,” she whispered.
“I know you are, but still wait for Daddy. Anything could happen and Daddy wants you safe.”
“Maybe you should buy her an adult-sized car seat. I bet they make them here,” Daddy Ray said.
“I think that actually might be a good idea. She wouldn’t be able to unbuckle herself as easily.”
Bonnie stuck her lip out and pouted. “No fair. I don’t need one.”
“Then stop unbuckling yourself before I get to you. If you continue to do so, I will buy one.”
Bonnie started to pout even more. Did they not know it was so hard to sit still when she was excited? She just wanted to get out and run around in the store.
“I would put your lip away,” Daddy Ray said. “You know Daddy and I don’t like it when you pout. Especially for this. You knew the rules and you still broke them.”
“I think I’ll have you write lines when we get back,” Daddy said. “Then all will be forgiven for unbuckling yourself.”
Bonnie stopped pouting and whined instead. “I don’t like lines.” “And that is why you’ll be doing them,” Daddy Ray said.
“Are you ready to go inside?” Daddy asked.
She nodded her head and looked back at the building. It was so huge and she wanted to know what was inside.
“You are to stay in eyesight at all times,” Daddy said as he helped her out of the car. “I don’t want you turning corners and getting out of my line of vision. Understand me?”
“Yes, Daddy. Within eyesight,” she replied.
Bonnie could do that. She could definitely do that. Well, unless they were walking super slow, but they had big and long legs so she didn’t think it would be a problem.
“Hand,” Daddy Ray said.
She grabbed both of their hands as they walked across the parking lot. It was another one of her rules. She always had to hold one of their hands in a parking lot. They didn’t want her to get hit by a car, since she didn’t have the best track record of noticing her surroundings.
“Such a good girl,” Daddy praised her. “Today is going to be a fun day.”
Bonnie started to skip as they walked toward the front door. She was so excited. Were there going to be a lot of toys? Stuffies? Clothes?
She stopped right before the door and looked at Daddy. “Am I allowed to get one thing?” she asked.
“How about you get five things you really want. Daddy has to get some of the essentials like clothes, plugs, and all. But you get to pick out stuffies, toys, and anything else,” Daddy said.
A happy squeal left her lips and they started walking again. She got to pick five things. What if she couldn’t narrow it down to five things? Hopefully Daddy and Daddy Ray would give her grace and allow her to get more if she had that problem.
“Ray, you can also get five things,” Daddy said.
“Thank you, Daddy.”
“Yeah, thank you, Daddy,” Bonnie echoed as she kissed his arm.
Daddy stopped walking. “That won’t do. Kiss on the lips.”
Bonnie blushed and gripped Daddy Ray’s hand tighter. Getting on her tippy toes, she pressed her lips to Daddy’s before getting down.
“Such a good girl. Now give one to Daddy Ray.”
She shyly looked over at Daddy Ray before she quickly pecked him on the lips. Bonnie still wasn’t used to showing affection to two people out in the open. She wasn’t embarrassed, but it was different for her. What if people made rude comments toward them?
“For being such a good girl and boy, I think I’ll add one more thing you can buy. Six things each,” Daddy said.
“Thank you!” she cried. “Thank you! Thank you!” This was going to be the best day ever.
“Can we go in now?” she asked. “I wanna see!”
“I think our girl is getting impatient,” Daddy Ray said. “Should we make her wait a little longer?”
Bonnie wanted to pout, but she remembered Daddy Ray’s words. No pouting because she didn’t want to go home.
“I think she’s waited long enough,” Daddy replied. “Let’s go in.”
Her eyes were wide as they walked into the shop. It was so huge inside with thousands of rows of aisles. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but there were so many she couldn’t count all of them.
“Hello and welcome to Hart’s Little Haven.” A man walked around the counter to greet them. “I’m Sabastian Hart, one of the owners. I’m so glad you all decided to come by and check out the store. If you need anything, let me know.”
“Wow,” she whispered.
“I do have to let you know there is a play area in the back and upstairs. You can reserve it if you want to host parties, or just stop by and play in it. There are also changing areas in case you need them. If you can’t find anything, there are several buttons around the shop that will alert me or my employees that you need help. But there are also computers throughout the store that will help you search for whatever you need” Sabastian said. “Have fun!”
Bonnie’s mouth was hanging open as he walked away. There was a play area?
“Can we go to the play area?” Bonnie asked, jumping on her feet.
“Not today but soon,” Daddy said. “Right now, we have some things to get and then we need to go home.”
Her shoulders sagged but she nodded her head. Daddy said soon and she knew he meant it. She just had to practice her patience. She could do that, she thought.
“No going out of eyesight,” Daddy reminded her. “You can look around, but not go out anywhere we can’t see you. We don’t want you getting lost”
Bonnie nodded her head and both of them let go of her hands. Excitement bubbled inside of her and she dashed down the long hall and toward the first aisle. Stuffed animals.
“No running!” Daddy yelled.
But Bonnie didn’t pay any attention to that. She wanted to get to the stuffed animals and see who needed to be rescued. She stopped right in front of the first shelf and stared in awe. It was packed with all sorts of stuffed animals. There were far too many to be able to count them all.
She was in heaven.
But what caught her eyes were the different types of aquatic squamate reptiles. She squealed in happiness as she grabbed several of them. Mosey wasn’t going to be alone now. After grabbing four different stuffed animals, she turned around and jogged to Daddy and Daddy Ray.
“Lookie!” she yelled. “It’s a nothosaurs, pachypleurosaur, Kronosaurus, and a Mesosaurus!”
“No running,” Daddy Ray said.
“But look at them!” She continued to run toward them.