Page 13 of Ace

“There are so many things to do here,” Ace responded. “I think there’s an indoor playground, mini golf, and an aquarium of course, and—”

“Oooh yes!” she cried, cutting him off. “I wanna see where you work!” As soon as she said it, she clapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. She could not believe how Little she sounded and she instantly got self-conscious about it. Tears welled up in her eyes and Ace was quickly pulling her close to his side.

“You found your Little just now, didn’t you? She came out and surprised you, didn’t she?”

Breathlessly, Lizzie nodded. The change had been coming on for a while, she’d known that, but the intensity with which it had hit her was shocking.

“Is that the first time?” Ace whispered gently.

Lizzie bobbed her head up and down, too stunned to speak.

“Do you still want to go to the aquarium, or do you want to go somewhere private? Do you feel okay to be in public?”

She didn’t understand why he was asking until she felt the tears running down her cheeks. With a pout, she wiped her face with the backs of her hands and considered the question. She wanted to go to the aquarium badly. She wanted to see the fishies, and the sharks and the stingrays and see the place where her Daddy worked, but as she looked around the bustling hallways, all she saw everywhere were people. Littles and Daddies specifically, and she instantly compared herself to them. She wasn’t cutesy enough, or loud enough or carefree enough. She felt like she was wearing a giant newbie sign on her forehead.

Her nose dripped and she sniffed. Ace reached in his pocket and handed her a bandana. “Blow.” She did, wadding it up in her hand when she finished. Ace looked at her like he was waiting for an answer but she was too overwhelmed to give him one. She’d come to Utopia to enjoy it. She wanted to play, explore and join in all the fun and antics. But she was terrified.

Taking her by the hand, Ace led her back down the hallway and into the casino where he walked to a slot machine, sat down and lifted her into his lap. “The cool thing about Utopia is that I live here, little one. We can always come back. Heck, we can go to the aquarium when it’s closed if you want. Or,” he continued, “we can go now. I know it’s scary, but you have nothing to worry about. Daddy is right here, and if anyone so much as looks at you sideways, I’ll spank ‘em!”

He wouldn’t, of course, but his declaration got a smile out of her. “What if a Daddy looks at me sideways?” she asked with a giggle.

“Then I’ll spank him too!” Ace exclaimed.

“You’re silly.”

“And you’re perfect. If you want to go explore, we will. But if you want to try on being Little in private, we can do that too.”

Lizzie tapped her chin, unable to decide. “What if I wanna do both and I don’t know?”

“Do you trust Daddy to make the choice for you?”

Trust was a scary word. She liked Ace, thought he was a great guy, had to admit that he was doing a wonderful job as a Daddy so far, but did she trust him? Her gut said she should, so she drew a deep breath and nodded her consent.

“Good girl. I’m so proud of you. I know trust can be hard sometimes.” His sweet understanding answer had her beaming as he set her on her feet in front of him and stood, taking her hand once again.

Lizzie followed him through the casino to a small shop tucked into a corner near the dining hall. The sign on the awning read Lovely Littles Inc.

“Hello,” an older gentleman in an old-fashioned suit greeted them softly when they entered.

Lizzie looked around the small shop that was crammed to the gills with Little clothing, stuffed animals and other treasures. Tugging her hand from Ace’s, she pulled away. “I don’t need nuthin’” she argued.

Instead of putting up with her protests and giving in, he grabbed her and pulled her close. “Daddy says you do, and you don’t want to disobey Daddy, now do you? I’d have to spank you right here and now, and I don’t think you would like that much.”

Lizzie chewed her lip nervously as she glanced around again. The shop had a half dozen browsing customers as well as the owner. She kind of wanted to see what being spanked would be like, but not in front of people.

“Just a few things. Just to help you feel more comfortable with your Little side,” Ace coaxed.

It made her chest hurt, but she conceded, and even felt a tiny bit excited at the prospect.

Ace pulled her to a huge rack of soft squishy stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes and colors.

“Pick one. Every Little girl needs a special stuffy.”

Choosing would be impossible. Lizzie looked up and down the rack, her eyes bouncing between bears, puppies, unicorns and every other animal imaginable.

“Touch them,” Ace urged. “Pick em up. Squish ‘em. Try ‘em out until one calls to you.”

She took a step closer and brushed the fur of a soft purple kitty, then a pink bear, and a lemon-yellow doggie with big mopey eyes. She named them in her head. The kitty was Eleanor, the bear Petunia, and the puppy Lemon Drop. They were all so cute, but none of them were hers. Daddy gave the rack a spin and her eyes landed on a purple unicorn she immediately named Twilight, and a spotted Owl she called Hooey, but neither of them were hers either. Nothing felt right. She was about to get frustrated and give up when she saw him on a shelf behind the main stuffy racks. A pastel, rainbow-colored stingray with big eyes and plush fur. She immediately named him Bert, short for Sherbert, and floated across the floor to the shelf. As soon as she grabbed him off the shelf and clutched him to her chest, he became her favorite thing in the world and she just knew he was hers. Plus, it was a sea animal, so even though she hadn’t yet seen Ace in action at his new aquarium job, Bert reminded her of her Daddy.