Free Learning to Be Little Again by Meredith O'Reilly Page A

you,” I got out before I was consumed with belly-aching laughs. I didn’t know why I thought it was so funny. I just did.
    He turned around and said, “There you are! I found my baby girl!” He gave me and my teddy bear a big hug. Then he moved so we were sitting side by side and he clicked the TV on.
    “What do you want to watch, baby girl?”
    “You pick,” I said, still afraid I was going to push my luck.
    “Okay. Let’s see what they have playing on the Disney channels,” he said, flipping to those stations. One had a regular Disney show playing, but the second one had the movie Cinderella playing.
    “Would you like to watch this?”
    I gave a hesitant nod.
    “Okay,” he said, placing the remote down. “Lay your head in my lap. I want you to relax.”
    I did as I was told, getting as comfortable as I could on his thigh. I just couldn’t help but feel tense. What does he want me to do?
    “Just relax, sweetie. Nothing bad is going to happen to you,” he quietly said, before he ran his fingers through my hair and on my neck. He was tracing random patterns on me. It felt really good and I began to feel myself lose the tension in my body as I continued to watch the movie.
    Exactly forty-five minutes later, there was a knock on my apartment door. I groaned as Robert gently helped me up into a sitting position.
    “I’ll bet that’s our dinner. I want you to go and sit down at the table and I’ll get the food.”
    “Okay,” I said, getting up and walking over to my kitchen table. I sat down and waited for him. He paid for the food and brought it over to the table, then placed the bag on the table and made quick work of setting it.
    I smiled as he placed a Barbie plate and utensils in front of me, along with a napkin. Once the table was set, he pulled the food out of the bag and said, “Okay. Here is your spaghetti and meatballs. I also got you a side of fresh asparagus.” He placed both containers on my plate.
    I was about to pick up my fork to eat when he said, “Wait! I forgot something!” He got up from the table and went into my bedroom. When he came back, I could see he was holding two things. He placed one down on the table. It was a clear cup with a punch of colorful polka dots and it had a crazy straw in it. I loved it!
    Then I felt him strap something around my neck. I looked down to see that it was a baby bib that read, Daddy’s Little Girl. I liked my baby bib, but I didn’t want him to know. He filled my cup and his with milk, put the milk in the refrigerator, and then sat back down.
    “We’re ready to eat now,” he said, picking up his beef sandwich and taking a bite.
    I picked up my fork and just looked at it. It was a little chunkier than any of my forks and it was made out of rubber. I inspected it for another minute and decided I could use it to eat with.
    The spaghetti and meatballs were very tasty. The asparagus… not so much.
    “Honey, why don’t you try eating some of your asparagus?” Robert said, noticing that I wasn’t touching it.
    “No! I don’t wanna,” I said, taking another bite of spaghetti.
    “Young lady, you need to eat your vegetables. They’ll make you big and strong.”
    “No. I’m already big and strong enough,” I said, putting my fork down and crossing my arms over my chest. I don’t know what possessed me to do this. I just did not want to eat that icky tasting asparagus.
    “Young lady, you are walking on thin ice. If you don’t eat your asparagus, I’ll have to punish you,” he said sternly.
    “No! You aren’t the boss of me!” I screamed and kicked his leg as hard as I could underneath the table.
    Robert didn’t even flinch as my foot hit his leg, but it had to have hurt him. The only reason I could tell he was angry was because there was a vein on the top of his head that looked like it was going to bust out of his head.
    “Alright, baby girl, the asparagus can wait, but that bottom of yours can’t. Come over here,” he said,