Page 73 of Tessa

Dax raised himself up and smiled sheepishly as a soft pink blush rose up his cheeks.

“Room in this hug for me?” he asked.

Tessa nodded, then threw herself backward onto the pillows, lying down smack in the center of her new bed. “Enough hugs! Let’s cuddle! Daddy sandwich time!”

Daddy sandwiches were her absolute favorite and as Beau and Dax snuggled in on either side of her, holding her tightly, she thought she might actually explode with happiness.

Her eyes actually started to droop, and she was seconds away from falling into a much-needed nap, when Daddy Beau popped up like a shot.

“I almost forgot!” he exclaimed. “Which problems did we just solve?”

“Ummm,” Dax hummed, waiting for Tessa to answer.

“I don’t wanna play!” she exclaimed with a pout. “I’m too tired.”

Beau looked taken aback. He clearly hadn’t anticipated that reaction and Tessa could tell that she had just spoiled whatever the next phase of his plan was supposed to be.

She looked at Dax for help.

With a shake of his head, he put Beau out of his misery, probably because he was too curious to see how this ended. “We solved the problem of Tessa feeling claustrophobic and not having a space for her Little side, and um, I think, by giving her a space and that pretty necklace, you kinda maybe also solved the problem of her feeling like she wasn’t important or like we weren’t making a commitment to her.”

“Kinda, maybe, huh?” Beau tapped his chin and frowned. “Well, ya know, a room isn’t a commitment, not fully, and neither is a necklace. And I’ve never been one for half-assed solutions.”

Tessa’s eyes popped open then, and she began to listen with interest, suddenly fully awake. “We still have a problem to solve!” she cried, bolting up like a rocket.

Beau smiled, and she could tell she was on the right track. “Oh yeah, little one? Is that right? What problem is that?

“Ummm… hmmm… lemme think…” She frowned. “We’ve solved all the problems I think… ‘cept maybe the last one.”

“Which one was that?” Beau prompted.

“The problem of… um… oh.” She couldn’t keep her face from falling as she remembered. “The problem where we felt guilty like we were forcing you to say something you weren’t ready to say by jumping the gun and proclaiming it in permanent ink on our bodies.” She frowned. “I don’t really think we can solve that problem.”

“Oh no? Are you sure about that? I’m a really good problem solver.”

Furrowing her brow, Tessa racked her brain to figure out how one could solve the problem of an unfortunate tattoo choice. “Are you gonna make us get them removed?” She gasped, looking fearful. “Daddy, I’m scared. I heard they use lasers and it really hurts!”

She was about to burst into tears. She was genuinely fearful and upset, but beside her Dax buried his face in his hands and groaned, and Beau just looked confused.

“What? No, baby, no. Just… no. I’m not making you get anything removed and apparently I’m bumbling this again.”

“But how do we solve it?” Tessa wailed.

“Like this.”

Beau shrugged out of his weird tourist hoodie, and turned his forearms toward her, exposing the wilted piece of saran wrap affixed to his wrist.

“Is that…? Daddy! Did you get a tattoo without telling us?”

Beau smiled widely. “I did, because I’m the Daddy, and turnabout is fair play.”

“Huh? I don’t know what that means. And I don’t know how you getting a tattoo solves the ones we got.”

“Well, then, let me show you.” With his gaze locked on hers, Beau slowly peeled back the saran wrap exposing the tattoo on his wrist. It read “Daddy” in a thick scrawly font. “I think,” he said with a smile, “that this makes us officially official and in case you still aren’t convinced…”

Tessa watched as Beau scooted off the bed and onto the floor, dropping to one knee in front of them.

“Holy crap,” Dax whispered.