Disciplining Little Abby (22 page)

“Caramel Flan Frappuccino. It’s really good!”

When they finally reached the cashier, Abby did her best to sound nonchalant as she placed her order. “I’ll have a Venti iced Double Chocolaty Chip Frappuccino. Please.” she added quickly.

Kali paid for both of them. When their drinks were finally ready, they took them and casually made their way to a corner table.

“Piece of cake,” Kali grinned. “They never suspected.”

Abby took a sip of her Frappuccino and closed her eyes in pure bliss.
Why have I never tried one of these things before?
The mixed flavors of chocolate, milk, and coffee were heaven on her tongue. Leaning back, she pushed her chair around to sit closer to Kali and watched as a trio of smartly dressed women came in and headed for the counter.

“Do you know what the difference between them and us is?”

Abby shook her head.

“They forgot playing dress up was supposed to be fun.”

Abby didn’t understand and said so.

“When we’re home or with people we love and trust, we’re ourselves. We’re exactly the way we want to be, the way we were when we were little girls. We have fun, we play, and we enjoy ourselves. If we want to put on our big girl clothes and go do big girl things, we have as much fun doing that as we do playing games at home.” Kali waited until Abby nodded before going on. “But those women? They forgot playing dress up was supposed to be fun. They got everything backwards. They thought they were supposed to play grownup all the time, and then it stopped being fun. You had it backwards too,” she added, grabbing Abby’s hand. “But I won’t ever let you do that again.”

Abby squeezed Kali’s hand and smiled gratefully. “Promise?”

“Pinky swear.”

* * *

Chris came home at lunch to find Kali and Abby sprawled on the floor in front of the TV.
Peas in a pod
, he thought. In the few days they’d been together at the house, Abby had blossomed. He’d never seen her so relaxed, or so happy. The angry, hostile Abby he’d encountered at the hospital was just a distant memory now. He wondered if she’d looked like that after Amanda had dropped her off that Saturday. When he’d gone by her apartment to pick up some of her clothes, he’d found her beloved stuffed blue dog propped up on the dresser with his arm carefully taped back into place. For her to have savaged Mr. Jingles like that, he knew she must have been in an uncontrollable rage.

“You two been watching TV all day?”

The two girls shared a look and tried to muffle their giggles.

Apparently not
. “What did you do besides watch TV?”

“Nothing,” Kali said sweetly.

“Abby?” he asked. “What did you two do?” The sound of Kali trying to quietly shush Abby destroyed his attempt to look stern, and he had to look down at the mail on the counter to hide his smile. “I can hear you, Kali.”

“We um… well, we went to get something to drink,” Abby finally admitted.

“I called a cab,” Kali spoke up. “I wanted a Frappuccino.”

“Ahh.”

“You didn’t say we had to stay home.”

“No,” he admitted. “I didn’t, and I’m not mad. I just wish you’d called to let me know where you were going, that’s all.”

The relieved look that passed between them was comical. It was too bad Kali would be going back to college in a few weeks. The influence she had on Abby was better than he could have ever hoped for. He only hoped that by the time Kali left, the destructive voices in Abby’s head would be long gone.

In the meantime, he had a surprise for her. All week she’d been pestering him about her car. He’d told her the guys at his shop were taking care of it, but the truth was her old Bug was beyond repair. Instead he’d done a little shopping around and located a replacement, a black convertible Beetle with less than a thousand miles on it. A call to his bank and some paperwork later, and the new Bug had been delivered to his shop, where his guys had spent the entire week giving it a more custom appearance to suit Abby’s personality.

* * *

Abby rolled over and sat up. “I’m sorry,” she said. She wanted to call him Daddy again but still felt a little weird doing it in front of Kali. “I’ll remember to next time.” She was relieved to see he didn’t look upset.

“By the way, I brought your car home.”

Squealing with surprised delight, she jumped up and ran to hug him. “You fixed it?”

“In a manner of speaking,” he said with a sly grin.

Abby ran outside and stared in shock at the gleaming black convertible in the driveway. The top was down and a huge silver ribbon had been wrapped around the middle and tied in a massive bow over the driver’s side door. All across the nose and down the sides were faint ghosts of purple and silver flames, and as she stepped closer, she could see the black leather seats had purple and silver stitching to match.

“I know how you like purple and black,” Chris said from behind her.

“This is mine?” Abby’s heart felt like it would burst through her chest with excitement. “You got this for me?”

“I want you to be safe, babygirl.” Chris took her hand and led her around the car. “No more broken noses on the steering wheel now. This has airbags. Plus, I had the guys upgrade your braking system.” He pointed to the purple brake caliper covers just visible behind the custom wheels.

“I can’t believe you did this for me,” she said softly as he opened the door and motioned for her to take a seat. The interior was black leather, with subtle touches of purple and silver throughout, and she ran her hand reverently across the smooth dash.

“Oh my God!”

Abby looked up to see Kali yank open the passenger door. “Did you know about this?” she demanded as Kali jumped into the seat.

“I kept it a secret from both of you,” Chris said, smiling indulgently as the two explored every inch of the new car. “I knew there was no way Kali could keep her mouth shut about something like this.”

Abby held her arms out, hugging Chris tightly when he leaned down. “Thank you, Daddy,” she whispered in his ear. “I love it so much.”

“I love you so much,” he whispered back, brushing his lips across her cheek in a gentle kiss before standing back up. “Now, I have to get back to work. In the meantime, how about you two go inside, get dressed, and then take this thing for a spin.”

“Can we have a party tonight?” Kali asked as she climbed out of the car. “Like a slumber party?”

Abby’s eyes lit up as she looked hopefully at Chris. “Please?” she added. “I can invite Amanda.”

Chris looked at the two girls’ pleading faces and raised both hands in defeat. “The things I do for my best girls,” he chuckled. “Okay, but keep the number of people down. I don’t know if I can handle a dozen pajama girls running wild in my house.”

As Abby ran back inside to get changed, she said a silent prayer of thanks to whatever guardian angel had helped her get back to Chris.

* * *

The slumber party was a complete success, and it was close to four in the morning before the girls finally went to sleep sprawled about the den. All except for Abby, anyway. She lay silently on the couch, staring at the ceiling as she relived the evening.

At first she hadn’t wanted to invite anyone, but eventually Kali convinced her to call Amanda and Julia. To Abby’s amazement, Julia not only agreed but sounded excited. When she suggested Julia might think it stupid to have a slumber party, her little sister scoffed. “Are you kidding?” she’d laughed. “I’m a Mary Kay consultant, remember? I’ll bring the nail polish and face cream!”

Of course she’d known Amanda would be up for it; Amanda lived for parties. She’d shown up in fuzzy bunny slippers and an oversized t-shirt, carrying a bag of games in one hand and a bottle of Vodka in the other.

They’d played games and drank screwdrivers and painted each other’s toes a dozen different colors. Kali ordered pizza, and all four of them had their faces covered in different colored face creams and mud masks when the delivery boy arrived. The look on his face when they opened the door sent them all into fits of giggles. Later, after the pizza was gone and the vodka was starting to wear off, they told each other stories about past boyfriends and future hopes until they could no longer keep their eyes open.

Abby had feared it would be awkward to have Amanda and Julia there, but Kali had been right, as usual. “Every girl loves a slumber party”, she’d insisted.

And throughout it all, Chris had been wonderful, peeking in only once to see if they needed anything. The rest of the time he stayed out of sight.

Thinking about him now, Abby suddenly felt bold. Quietly so as not to wake the others, she slipped off the couch and tiptoed down the hall to his room. Pressing her ear against the door, she could hear soft, rhythmic breathing and smiled slyly. Turning the knob as carefully as she could, she stepped into his room and eased the door shut behind her.

The only light came from the digital alarm clock on the nightstand, so she waited until her eyes adjusted to the dark. The clock’s faint blue light was just enough to allow her to see him lying on his side in the middle of the bed. Moving stealthily, she reached the bed and eased herself up onto it, then pulled the sheet aside and stretched out against him. As she slid one hand over his hip to caress his rippled abdomen, he shifted in surprise and tried to roll over.

“Don’t,” she whispered, holding him in place with her body. When he relaxed, she went on. “You were right. You were right all along, and I should have listened to you.” Her fingertips explored the dips and swells of his taut body as she nuzzled his neck. “I always thought I was so different from my mother, but I nearly threw you away because I was thinking just like her, and I’m sorry.”

“You don’t owe me an apology,” he whispered as he turned over and faced her. “I’m just glad you’ve come back to me.” Moving closer, he kissed her, softly at first, then harder as Abby sank into him. “I missed you,” he murmured as his lips sought out her sensitive neck, causing Abby to let out a throaty giggle.

Her eyes glittered brightly in the clock’s dim blue light as she slid her upper foot along Chris’ muscular thigh, then draped her leg over his hip. Leaning slightly away from him, she let her slender fingers play with her nipples. From under her leg, she felt his cock begin to rise. “I missed you too,” she purred. “I went to sleep every night thinking about you touching me.”

In one smooth motion, he pulled her tightly to him, descending upon her lips like a drowning man. His tongue tasted her lips, gently at first, then plunged between to tease her tongue. Abby kissed him back eagerly, tasting him as she wrapped her arms around him. All she wanted was to be with him, to feel him inside her, touching her as he made love to her. The desire that had been building all week now threatened to consume them both.

Her hips thrust eagerly towards him as his fingers probed and found her drenched and waiting. Without hesitation he rolled to his back and pulled her onto him, filling her completely before she even realized what was happening. Abby moaned as she rode him, not caring if her friends down the hall heard her. Admiring his chiseled chest in the dim blue light, she grasped her nipples and lightly twisted them as he guided her along the length of his cock.

Reaching up, he ran his fingers across her lips, and she eagerly sucked them in one by one. Her hips took on a life of their own, arching and grinding against him. When he slipped his fingers between them to rub her clit, her head fell back. A low shudder began to roll through her, and she grabbed onto Chris’ forearms to keep her balance.

“Cum for me, Abby,” he whispered, and she didn’t wait to be told twice. Digging her nails into his arms, her entire body tensed and bucked as she cried out his name. From beneath her she felt Chris thrust quickly into her, twice, three times, and then his orgasm answered her own just as she collapsed on top of him.

Breathless, she gazed at him in wonder. “That was incredible,” she whispered. The naked desire and love she saw reflected back in his eyes made her heart wince as she recalled how just a few weeks before she’d been ready to forget he’d ever existed. Now she couldn’t imagine ever leaving him again.

“Who are you, Abby Willis?” he asked, his voice filled with awe and wonder.

“I’m your babygirl,” she replied, kissing his cheek. “And I know who I am now.”

“Tell me what you want,” he commanded softly, his eyes never leaving hers as his fingers resumed their exploration between her legs.

She answered without hesitation. “Do it again.”

Abby kept her eyes tightly closed while Chris worked the coconut scented shampoo through her hair. No matter how many times he bathed her or washed her hair, she never got tired of it. She never felt as loved or cared for as when he reminded her to keep her eyes shut tight so the soap wouldn’t get in them. Sitting in the bathtub surrounded by bubbles, with her loving Daddy gently working conditioner through her tangles, she felt all the little irritations slip away.

“You’re awfully quiet,” he observed as he took the handheld shower head and began to rinse the conditioner from her hair. “Did something happen today?”

Abby waited for him to finish rinsing before she answered. Something had happened, and yet nothing did.

Ever since Monday, she’d found herself looking at her job with new and increasingly frustrated eyes. Every day it was the same thing. For ten years she’d done the exact same thing every Monday through Friday, and even though she’d always viewed the monotony of her job as a sign of security, something had changed. Now she found herself viewing it with a sense of dread, wondering if she would be doing the exact same thing for the rest of her life.

Just thinking about it made her feel ill.

“I talked to my boss today,” she said when he turned the water off. “I asked him if there was anything else I could do, like maybe work in the advertising department, or even write.”

“What did he say?”

She shrugged and stared morosely at her toes where they peeked through the bubbles. “He said they couldn’t afford to lose a valued editor like me, and that they didn’t have any openings anyway. Which isn’t true, and we both know it.” She knew they’d been searching for someone in advertising for nearly a month. What her boss really meant was, she wasn’t what they were looking for. “They’re never going to let me move up.”