Page 59 of Ace

“It helped,” she said honestly. “And it was really nice. But now, I want snuggly jammies, a juice box, some mac and cheese, cartoons and Bert. Can we do that?”

“It’s a tall order,” her Daddy said with a wry smile as he dried her, “but I’m pretty sure it can be arranged. Diaper or panties tonight?”

She loved that he gave her a choice, and never forced her to be Littler than she felt. “Panties. And my Narwhal jammies.”

He carried her to the bed, and laid her down, grabbed both of the requested clothing items and dressed her, called down to room service for the requested mac and cheese for her and a burger for himself, handed her a juice box from the mini fridge and grabbed her hairbrush from the nightstand.

“I’ve been trying to teach myself to braid,” he admitted. “Should I give it a try?”

“If you want to,” Lizzie replied doubtfully. Ace had tried to braid her hair before and it hadn’t gone well.

“I want to,” Ace assured her, scooting to sit behind her and turning on the TV to a channel that played cartoons around the clock. Tom and Jerry came on the screen, a scene where Tom was actually spanking Jerry, and she scowled. “Change the channel, Daddy?”

“What, why?” Daddy exclaimed innocently, even as he changed the channel to Disney, which was playing an old nineties movie she remembered fondly from childhood. “Oh wow,” Daddy said as he wove strands of hair together, “this is actually working. I mean, they are just regular braids, not the fancy ones you do, but hey, we’ve all got to start somewhere, right? Besides, we’ve got nobody to impress, and these will work just fine for bedtime.”

She tipped her head back to look up at him. “Thank you for learning to braid, Daddy. I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart. Now, let’s see if I can’t get these finished before dinner gets here. Unfortunately, along with not being too good, I’m also not too fast. A snail could probably braid faster than I can.”

“Daddy!” Lizzie squealed, the straw from her juice box still stuck between her lips, “That’s silly! Snails can’t braid!”

“How do you know?” Ace asked. “Have you ever asked one?”

“No!” Lizzie laughed gleefully, rolling her eyes. “Snails can’t talk!”

“How do you know? Have you ever tried to talk to one?”

Somewhere in the corner of her brain, Lizzie realized that she was now deep in Little space. Her whole body sagged with relief. Some days it took so, so long to get there, but when she did it was glorious. And tonight, with Daddy helping her, it may not have gone any faster, but it had been much more fun and a lot less stressful. Appreciation and positive reinforcement, even for Daddies, was important, so she decided to tell him so. As soon as he finished her second braid, she twisted all the way around until she was facing him. “Thank you, Daddy. For the bath, and the movie and the juice box and the braids, and just being… you. I know it might be hard because I have to switch between Big and Little, but thank you for putting up with it, and me.”

“Oh, little one.” Daddy wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “I actually love that about you. I love all your sides. You are not something to put up with. You are someone to love. And tonight was nice. I think this should be a thing, me helping you get back into Little space when you get home. A new routine. What do you think?”

“Yes, please.”

They stayed locked in each other’s arms, enjoying the breakthrough they shared, just being thankful for each other until dinner arrived.

“Mac and cheese again,” Daddy teased her as he set the tray down in front of her and got her a fresh juice box.

“Cheeseburger again,” she teased back, sticking her tongue out at him.

He responded by making a show out of taking a ginormous bite, sighing happily and rubbing his tummy while groaning in ecstasy.

She took a bite of her macaroni, and mirrored his actions until finally, they both settled in to enjoy their food.

“I should have asked this earlier,” Ace said after he took the last bite of his burger, “but, are you delivering to the Viper’s Den tomorrow?”

Lizzie swallowed quickly, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and pushed her plate away.

“I mean, I haven’t checked the route or anything, but it’s Friday so I assume so.”

“Okay.” He laid his forearms on the tabletop and leaned toward her, his eyes dark, his jaw hard and his expression intense, almost as if he was daring her to say no. “I’m coming with you.”

“You really don’t need to,” she countered. “I’m sure everything is going to be fine, and everyone is going to behave themselves and the day will be without incident.”

Daddy’s expression clearly conveyed he didn’t believe a word she said. “This isn’t up for discussion, little one. I’m not asking your permission. I’m telling you what is going to happen.”

Lizzie understood that when he put it that way, there wasn’t much else she could say and trying to convince him otherwise would not end well for her. Besides, they were having such a good night, and she didn’t want to ruin it. It surely wasn’t worth it. It would be best to let him come with her so he could see for himself that everything was fine, and he was worried for nothing.

“Okay, Daddy,” she agreed, standing to clear their plates and put them on the tray. He helped her, and when they were finished cleaning up dinner, and the cart was back in the hallway for housekeeping to pick up, she leaned against his chest, and grabbed his hand, weaving their fingers together. “Daddy, can you get your jammas on? I think it’s time for bed.”