“I thought that this might be the kind of mucky play that you might enjoy. And because we’re in my room, the shower is right there if you get overwhelmed and need to wash your hands or feet.”
Her Little bounced from one foot to another, clearly excited.
“I’ve also got some buckets and spades; would you like to build a sandcastle?”
“Would I?!”Tay jumped up and impetuously kissed her. “I love it, Daddy. Thank you!”
Pressing her fingers to her lips, Guilia felt something fall into place. This. This was what she’d been needing. Someone to look after, to cherish; someone who needed joy.
Who needed her.
CHAPTER 17
Tay
Building a sandcastle was serious work.
From the moment they’d woken up, Tay had sunk easily into Littlespace. That wasn’t usual for them. Usually it took far longer, or the planning of a prank for them to slip into their regressed headspace. That came with working so much; they weren’t able to be Little all the time and didn’t want to be Little all the time.
Getting to be Little with Guilia, though? That waseverything.
They’d switched out of their jeans and borrowed some shorts from the other woman so that they could kneel in the sandpit and not get their clothes dirty. And now Tay was able to focus fully on sculpting the most epic sandcastle the world had ever seen.
For a Daddy, Guilia was quite relaxed, only laughing when Tay made a mess. “That’s what vacuums are for,” she’d said with a dismissive wave when Tay dug a little too vigorously and got sand everywhere. “More importantly, how many turrets are we going for?”
“Two. No, four. No,seven!”
Seven turrets seemed ambitious, but when Tay set their mind to something, nothing could stand in their way. Life before their ADHD diagnosis had left them floundering, flitting from special interest to special interest, but now with their meds, they were able to dedicate some focus to getting things done.
They didn’t take their meds every day—ADHD meds weren’t cumulative which meant that Tay only took meds on the days when they knew that they needed to really focus on something. They’d taken a dose that morning so that they wouldn’t get distracted and forget an important step of the cream-making, and that meant that they were slightly less frenetic when building the sandcastle.
The turrets were accompanied by a main castle structure, a bridge, and then Tay even managed to persuade Guilia that they should build a moat and fill it with water. That briefly endangered the core structure of the castle, but with some sandy intervention, they managed to save a turret from disappearing into the water.
When they were done, the two of them stepped back to examine it.
It was a masterpiece.
Tay tapped their feet and did a happy little wiggle. “I love it,” they said. “Can I take some photos? I want to show some of the others!”
“Why don’t you invite them over to have a look at it? I’m sure that Sadie, Mandi, and Holly would love to see it in person.”
The casual way in which Guilia invited their friends into her space moved Tay. They knew that their Daddy was quite a private person, and having lots of people in their space wasn’t something that they particularly enjoyed. So having four excitable Littles in their space… “Are you sure, Daddy? We can all get quite…” Tay wasn’t sure about what word to use.
Guilia laughed. “I’ve lived at Rawhide Ranch for five years, Tay, I know what Littles are like. Invite them over!”
So when classes finished for the afternoon, and Mandi was done with her shift in the Littles’ Library, the three of them descended on Guilia’s suite.
Holly and Sadie were decidedly subdued, and it wasn’t until they shot guilty looks at Guilia that Tay remembered that it had only been yesterday that they’d fed all of Guilia’s ice cream to the occupants of the Littles’ Wing for breakfast.
“Chef Guilia,” said Holly. “I’m really sorry.”
“We really really are,” said Sadie. “My Daddy was really disappointed in me.”
Guilia ruffled their hair and smiled. “I believe you. Thank you for apologizing, and just remember that my kitchen is off-limits for future pranks, please.”
They both nodded vigorously.
“Why didn’t you ask me to be a part of it?” asked Mandi.
