Free Learning to Be Little Again by Meredith O'Reilly

their menu online. We can look at it on my iPad.”
    “I’ll go get it,” she said, starting to pull away from me, but I snaked my arm around her stomach and wouldn’t let her move.
    “You can get it after I finish brushing your hair, missy.”
    “Okay,” she sighed. “But please hurry.”
    I took my time finishing brushing out her thick curls. I didn’t want my little girl to have one single tangle in her hair. Once I was done, I let her go run to my bag and grab my tablet. When she found it, she jumped back up on the bed, sat in between my legs again, and held it as I pulled up the restaurant’s website.
    “Look at the kid’s menu, sweetie. They have chicken tenders with pasta, pasta with meatballs, macaroni and cheese, or a small pizza. What sounds good to you?” I said, pointing to each picture on the tablet for her to see.
    “Ummmm… pasta with meatballs sounds tasty,” she said, hesitantly.
    “Okay then. One order of pasta with meatballs for my little girl and I think that I’ll have a juicy beef sandwich,” I said, reaching for the phone on the nightstand. I called the restaurant, placed my order, and then hung up.
    I wrapped my hands around Juliana and gave her a squeeze. “The delivery man should be here in half an hour to forty-five minutes. What would you like to do to fill that time?” I was giving Juliana a lot more freedom than I normally would when we were role playing. I just didn’t want to scare her off by being too bossy since this was her first time back in the lifestyle. Also, I didn’t know what her safe word was yet or what age she wanted to be. So, I thought tonight would just be laid back and we could go with the flow.
    I just hoped that tonight would be a pleasurable experience for her. I wanted her to know that I could be the perfect daddy for her.

Chapter Nine
     
     
    I couldn’t believe that Robert was actually asking me what I wanted to do when we were role playing. When Boyle and I would role play, he made all the decisions. If I even hinted at what I wanted, he would make sure to do the exact opposite. That was why I’d hesitated when Robert asked me what I wanted from the menu. I was afraid that he’d order the thing I didn’t want. Now he’d asked me what I wanted to spend my time doing, so I just shrugged my shoulders, not wanting to push my luck.
    “Come on, Juliana. There has to be something that you want to do. We could watch TV, color pictures, bake something. We could even play with dolls if you wanted to.”
    I just shrugged my shoulders again. I felt him move behind me and all of a sudden my teddy bear was in front of me.
    “Hi, Juliana. Can you please tell me what you want to play? I would love to play whatever you want to and so would your daddy,” Robert said, but he deepened his voice so it sounded like a teddy bear’s.
    I giggled at his teddy bear voice. “Can we watch TV?”
    “That sounds perfect. Daddy and I have a great way for you to get to the family room. Stay on the bed,” my teddy bear said.
    Robert gently pushed me forward a little so he could get off the bed. Then he squatted down next to the bed and said, “Hop on Juliana. Bring your teddy bear too.”
    “What?” I was confused. Why did he want me jumping onto his back? Is he crazy? I could break his back if I got on it , I thought as I continued to stare at him.
    “I’ll give you a piggy back ride to your couch. Come on.”
    “O-okay,” I said, standing on the bed. I grabbed my teddy bear, then I wrapped my arms and legs around Robert. He grabbed onto my legs and started to gallop into the family room. He did a lap around the couch, which had me giggling, and then he sat down on the edge of the couch.
    “Where’s my baby girl? I’ve lost her!” he said, sounding frantic as he looked around my family room.
    “I’m right here,” I laughed.
    “Right here? I can hear you, but I still can’t find you, baby girl,” he said, twisting and turning to find me.
    “Behind