The Little Princess Cruise Page 16

  Jace had walked into Gabrielle’s CEO office and overheard her on the phone. Gabby had her stocking feet up on the window sill; obviously her feet were sore after a long day in high heels. Swiveling in her leather chair, she was talking on the phone to a client. Jace didn’t like what he had heard.

  “No, Sam, you listen to me. I have been about as patient as I can be with you at this point. You can kiss my ass! You’re not pushing that deadline out again.” Jace took a deep breath. Gabby knew that she wasn’t allowed to swear. They had discussed this before. He felt that people with low intelligence swore and that you couldn’t possibly negotiate with clients or potential clients and swear. Besides that point, he didn’t like his little girl swearing. As her Daddy, he had rules about her behavior and she knew what was and what wasn’t allowed.

  “No! I’m telling you this is bullshit. Complete and utter bullshit! I am hanging up now. Don’t call me back unless it’s to tell me that you’re meeting that deadline.” Gabby slammed the phone down and exhaled loudly, throwing her shoe across the room. Jace decided to clear his throat at that point alerting her to his presence.

  The chair swiveled quickly to face him, “Oh, hi, Jace.”

  Jace dropped his chin and gave her a stare, turning on his heel he closed the door to her office and slowly made his way back to her desk. He put his hands on the edge of the desk leaning in saying, “Do you want to explain to me why I heard my little girl saying those words?”

  Gabby tried keeping eye contact, but her eyes would flit to look out of the corner of her eye or focusing on his ear. She straightened her back, working up her courage, and abruptly stood. “Jace that was Sam on the phone and as you know he had a deadline for next Friday and now he’s hedging on it. I’m not going to stand for it. If he is late, then we become late with our deadline for the Thompson case.”

  “Sit. Now.” Jace pointed his finger at her chair.

  “Jace—”

  “Sit!” He pointed at the chair again. Gabby quickly sat in the chair and opened her mouth to say something. But closed it and dropped her head, looking at the desk.

  “Yeah, keeping your mouth shut right now would be appropriate. It’s apparently been too long since you had your mouth soaped. Looking forward to blowing some bubbles tonight, Gabby?”

  “No.” Gabby said in a very small, timid voice. “I’m sorry, Jace. I just got upset. Sam has been stringing us along for a couple weeks now and this was the final straw.”

  “I don’t care what the reason is, Gabby. There are ways to negotiate professionally without resorting to poor, undisciplined language. In addition, you have had your mouth soaped enough that I would think the minute those words pop into your head, you would be tasting Ivory or Dial.” He paused at that point and shook his head in disappointment. “I guess you get another go round with some soap tonight, but we will also add a paddling with it because apparently soap isn’t enough for you.”

  “Jace—”

  “Daddy. The door is shut and we are now discussing discipline, you’ll refer to me as Daddy.”

  Gabby cleared her throat and looked toward the door. “Daddy. I’m sorry.”

  “Save it for later, Gabby. Now, did you eat lunch today like I asked you to?”

  Gabby just stared at him.

  Jace looked at the ceiling and put his hands on his hips, “You defied that rule too? Are you lacking in discipline, Gabby?”

  “No, Daddy.” She was clasping her hands with her lip between her teeth.

  Jace was looking out the window, “Let me see, how long has it been since your last spankin’? I’m thinking three weeks? Apparently, my little girl needs regular discipline or she just loses her memory. We may have to start looking into a maintenance night, if you need discipline this regular, Gabby.”

  “Daddy, no! I’ve heard about that, I’m not sure I want that.”

  “Gabby, it isn’t punishment. It’s to make sure you get discipline regularly to prevent a pattern of misbehaving to get the discipline you desire. We won’t talk about that right now. Later.” He walked over to her putting his hands on both the arms of the chair, “Tonight I want you to take everything off and stand in your corner in our bedroom waiting for your soaping and paddling. Understand?”

  “What time are you going to be home? I don’t want to stand there forever, I have so much to do and it’s such a waste of time. And when did it become my corner, anyway?”

  Jace slapped the outside of her thigh twice, hard. “First, you keep your tone right little girl or I swear I will put soap in your mouth here. Clear?”

  Her eyes widened and he saw her swallow, “Yes, Daddy.”

  He nodded back at her, liking her reaction “Two, it’s your corner because I say it is. And it certainly isn’t anyone else’s corner. You’re the only little girl I require to stand in it, see how lucky you are?” He smiled at her, leaning in to kiss her nose.

  Gabby rolled her eyes, “I don’t feel so lucky right about now.”

  “I know you don’t. But imagine how out of control and what a shrew you’d be without me. You need boundaries little girl, you like being fenced in just enough to keep you civil and calm. The discipline soothes your spirit baby.” He stroked her cheek, loving the softness of her skin.

  “Third, you let me worry about what time I am going to be home. Your job is to be naked with that cute little bare bottom in your corner.”

  He stood up, pulling her to stand with him. He patted her bottom and said, “Be a good girl and I’ll see you when I get home.”

  Gabby rolled over murmuring in her sleep, bringing Jace’s thoughts back to the present. He smiled as he gazed down at his sweet little girl. Their dynamic may be unusual, and some days it was very challenging, but Jace decided as he watched his wife quietly breathing with her chestnut brown hair glistening on the pillow, he wouldn’t have his life any other way.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Gabby awoke from her nap. Jace was dressed and ready for dinner trying to get her up and ready also. She was still in bed feeling all warm and cozy. “Okay, baby, let’s get you dressed for tonight. I have such a pretty pink dress for you. The captain picked these beautiful dresses for each of the bad babies for the dinner tonight.” He put his hand out to help her rise, but she didn’t take it and instead stared at him for a bit.

  “What does that mean Daddy?”

  “It means that you are all going to be wearing pretty little girl dresses for the Captain’s Dining Room tonight. Little dresses with frills and lace and matching ruffled panties to go over your diaper.”

  Dear God in heaven! Was she still sleeping? Maybe she had passed out instead and was in the hospital with some medication-induced delusions. Or maybe she had time travelled to another century. Could this be happening? No… there was no way Jace would allow this. Right?

  “Jason Emory Thomas! You cannot mean to make me go to the formal dinner with a toddler dress on!” Gabby threw her arms in the air in exasperation. “My God, my father would have your balls cut off and fed to hamsters! You must have lost your fucking mind!”

  Jace undid one of the tabs on the diaper and flipped her over so fast she was on her stomach and feeling the pain of his hand before she realized she had been moved. Swat! “First, you do not to call me Jason! We have discussed this.”

  “Ow!” Gabby was not ready for this, she was still half asleep.

  Jace continued swatting her bottom with a flurry of scalding swats. “Two, you’re being punished for your misbehavior, deplorable conduct, defiance, stealing, destruction of property and putting the health of passengers on this ship at risk.”

  By now, Gabby was one hundred percent convinced that this was not a dream and she wasn’t in a coma. Her bottom was on fire and the pain made her question her choice of phrasing.

  Jace continued paddling her without a pause or break. Gabby was finding it hard to even keep herself still. “Three! Let’s call your father and see how he feels about those behaviors and the damage incurre
d by his intelligent and business savvy daughter. Mmmmmm? You want to do that, Gabby Girl?”

  “No! Ow, Daddy! I’m sorry.” By this point Gabby was flutter kicking the bed and willing to agree to anything to make him stop.

  Jace paused, waiting for her to calm down a little and then continued. “Four! You do not swear. ‘Fucking’ isn’t a word a baby—even a bad baby—is supposed to say.”

  Gabby was starting to cry quietly, “I won’t say it again. I promise. Ohhhhhhhh!”

  Jace moved his swats to her sit spot and finished her spanking with the hardest swats of all. “Five! You’ll never talk about anyone, including your father, cutting my balls off and feeding them to anyone or anything ever again. Are we clear?”

  “Yes, Daddy!” Her bottom was so hot and sore. His hand was worse than her paddle, much worse.

  He rolled her back over affixing the tab again saying, “Well, that was unanticipated. But I bet we’ll have you and your red bottom dressed in no time. And I bet I’ll have the most well-behaved, bad baby at dinner tonight.”

  She wanted to scowl. She decided it wasn’t in her best interest. Jace grabbed her hand helping her into a standing position pulling her tank top off. He turned and went to the closet and pulled out a hideous pink confection of a dress.

  “Isn’t it absolutely adorable, Gabby?”

  “It’s something…”

  He pulled it over her head and fastened the buttons at the neck in the back and had her step into pink ruffled panties that went over her diaper. She turned and looked in the mirror. Oh, Lord. It was baby pink satin with white organza overlay and smocking at the chest with a little white satin bow over her heart. The dress flared from her chest and the length ended at the middle of her bottom with frilly white lace. It had poufy short sleeves with little satin white bows on the cuff. When she turned to look at the back it had a scalloped hemline so her ruffled panties showed at all times. Good God!

  “Daddy—”

  “Don’t, baby. Wait. Let me talk first.” He put his hands up to stay her talking. “I know this is difficult and I know that this goes against everything you have been taught and trained. To be infantilized like this seems too much. I don’t want this to injure your spirit and if you feel that is happening, I want you to tell me and we will come up with something different for you to wear. I think it’s adorable and it isn’t my first choice of dresses for you—as a matter of fact—I can think of a dozen things I would rather see you in.” Gabby was nodding.

  “But this is to remind you that you acted as a child,” he held the dress up to stress his point. “That you were irresponsible, disrespectful, defiant, and impulsive—like a small child. Therefore, dressing and being treated as a small child for a couple days will reinforce the immaturity of your decision-making. But the benefit of you being in the role of a small child is I get to show you how much I adore you. I get to cuddle you, cradle you in my arms, and meet your every need and want. You have to rely on me for everything. And I have to tell you, I am loving your dependence. I have taken on the role of Daddy because I love nurturing and caring for you. I love when you look to me for answers, hugs, and even, correction.” He walked up to her and was rubbing his hands on her arms as he talked.

  “So if you don’t want this dress on tonight”—He paused look at her in her dress—“and it really hurts and offends you, just say the word and we will stop and dress you in something else. But if—after you’ve thought about it—you realize that deep down there is a part of you that likes being a little girl, Daddy Jace’s Bad Baby Gabby, then come out in this dress and we’ll go to dinner. I’m going to leave you alone and you can do some soul searching and see if this is for you. There’s no wrong decision. I love you and want you to be happy in this role and as we move to new areas, we’ll renegotiate until we come to a place where we’re both comfortable. I’ll be in the living room reading.” He pointed to the sitting area in their cabin where his Kindle was resting in a chair. “Come out wearing whatever you’re comfortable with. I love you Bad Baby Gabby.” He stroked her cheek, kissing her nose and walked away leaving her with her thoughts.

  * * *

  Gabby stood in the mirror looking at herself in her dress.

  Good grief. I look ridiculous.

  She looked like she was draped in cotton candy; the only thing missing was one of those huge lollipops in her hand. She was a CEO for God’s sake; she ran a family business and wore suits every day. People looked up to her, sought her advice, and relied on her expertise. What in the hell would they think if anyone ever saw her in this pretty little dress? She would lose any sense of credibility she had, possibly she would lose her business. But in all reality, she was on a ship and the only people on this ship were the ones that were in the Daddy/little girl community.

  She turned to look at the back of the dress again and when she turned it flared out. On a whim, she twirled and watched the skirt flounce up and it was so pretty. The lace at the bottom had little sequins on it and the light caught the little gems and made patterns on the walls and the mirror. With her little white socks on the hardwood floor, she was able to spin easily. After one of her spins she grabbed her princess wand off the dresser and started spinning with the wand making its music at the same time. She started to giggle at the freedom and silliness and yet she felt—adorable, sweet, and cute.

  “Aren’t you just adorable?”

  She turned to see Jace leaning his shoulder against the doorway, arms crossed and his left leg crossed over the right just watching her. She smiled back and blushed.

  “Hi, Daddy.”

  “Hi, sweetie. I could watch you being this free all day. There is a comfort in being little that you didn’t get to feel as a child. I’m sorry that was taken from you, but this is your way to recapture your childhood if you want it back. Do you want to be Daddy Jace’s baby girl for a couple days?”

  “Yes, Daddy. I do.” She couldn’t contain the smile or the happiness that bubbled up in her. “I think I might like it. Just not all the time. But if we pick designated weekends to do this, I might really like it.”

  “I was hoping to hear you say that, sweetie.” He pushed off the doorway and walked up to her, pulling her into his embrace. “Let’s put your pretty shoes on and see all the other bad babies.”

  “Do you have to call us that?” Gabby rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation.

  Jace gave her a smile that warmed her heart. “Well, I don’t have to, but I like the sound of it and if the shoe fits…” He then took the little white Mary Jane shoe and tossed it in the air catching it and waving at her.

  “That is not funny.

  “It’s hysterical. You just don’t appreciate the humor. C’mon over baby.” Jace patted the bed so she could sit down. He put the little white shoes on her feet. She looked like a little girl with her little white ankle socks with a lace edging and pretty little Mary Jane shoes.

  All my friends better be dressed like this or I swear I am going to kill Daddy Jace.

  * * *

  Gabby and Jace walked into the dining room with Jace as confident as ever. He was never hesitant, worried, or concerned with what others were thinking, whereas Gabby was riddled with worry and concern over what others were thinking or saying behind their hands. She looked out of the corner of her eye to see who was looking or if they were whispering.

  “Gabby, sweetie, calm down. No one is saying anything. And even if they were, they would be concerned about having a bad baby weekend themselves or wishing that they could have a pretty dress and handsome Daddy like you do.” He winked at her “Especially the handsome Daddy part. That’s what they would be talking about the most.”

  “Of course. Silly me.” She rolled her eyes laughing.

  They went to their table and Meggie and Molly were already there. Gabby had to chuckle to herself, Molly was wearing purple of course and Meggie had a pretty green dress on that made her auburn hair so pretty. Both their dresses were gingham and they looked like
sisters with their matching dresses in different colors.

  Gabby walked up to them saying, “Let me see your dresses, Molly and Meggie!”

  They stood and like Gabby they had matching panties for their diapers also and they had little shoes like hers. While they were commenting on their dresses Lilly and Becca came in with their daddies and both were adorable.

  Lilly’s dress was white organza with little red embroidered roses at the neckline and at the hemline, which was scalloped all the way around. It was very feminine and the white and red made her hair look as black as coal. She had little red socks on with white Mary Jane shoes and she was holding her Daddy’s hand looking very embarrassed, which Gabby could totally relate to.

  Becca’s dress was red and white flowered also but hers was more playful, like a Hawaiian print. The feature that was uniquely adorable about her dress—and very appropriate—was the little pocket on the front that was made to hold her pacifier. Written in cross stitch above the pocket were the words, “Paci-Pocket”.

  “Becca I love your dress, what does that mean ‘Paci-Pocket?’”

  “Show the girls what that means Becca,” Daddy Bob said pointing to her pocket.

  Becca frowned, but reached into her pocket and pulled out a pacifier and held it up for everyone to see and then started to put it back in her pocket but was interrupted by her Daddy.

  “Uh-uh, put that in your mouth where it will be useful, please.” He turned to everyone present and said, “The captain picked this dress out for Becca and pointed out aptly that the pacifier would keep her from talking and saying things that were inappropriate. It would act as a gag for her. So tonight, unless I give her permission or she is eating, that paci will stay in her mouth. She has also been told that if she refuses to keep the paci in her mouth, she will be forced to wear a paci for her mouth and one for her bum. I have been assured by Bad Baby Becca that she will be cooperative tonight.”