I whined as I rolled to my other side, the emptiness in my arms bothering me. I opened my eyes, unsettled by the darkness that surrounded me. I see I was still in the room, but it was dark, and Dantalion wasn't with me this time. But I didn't want to bother him if he was busy, so I didn't.

Sitting up, I leaned forward, only to bang my head on the wooden bars of the crib. Frowning, rubbed my forehead. It hurt, but not enough to make me cry. I stood up, disappointed when I found that the bars were too tall to climb. And the mattress was too soft; I kept wobbling as if I was going to fall. I grabbed onto the top railing to keep my balance.

Even with the support, it was no use. I couldn't stay up. I fell back, onto my bum. Frustrated, I crawled around the crib, searching for the soft thing. It had to have been discarded while I slept. Sure enough, I found it. It was too dark to see what it was, but it was just as soft as I remembered.

I hugged it to my chest and as I sat in the corner of the crib. I was bored, and just a little bit scared.

The lamp next to the crib turned on, emitting an orange glow above me. I stared up at it with awe. Being distracted by the light, I didn't notice the hands coming down to me. So I gasped when someone lifted me from my spot in the crib.

"Why're you up baby?" Dantalion's voice asked. But it was filled with less energy and huskier than it had been before. He must've been asleep before I woke him up. I clutched the soft thing closer to my chest. He shifted me around so I was being held to his hip with one arm.

With a sigh, Dantalion carried me from the room.

"S-sorry... for waking y-you up," I murmured as I rested my head on his shoulder. He was quite warm, and I was still in nothing but a diaper. It was then I realized he was shirtless.

Dantalion stroked the back of my head soothingly. "Don't worry about it."

We arrived back in his room. He laid on his bed, me being on top of his. He moved me so my head was over his heart. It was faint, but I could hear his heartbeat. I liked that it wasn't loud, and was like white noise for me to fall asleep to.

I felt my tail wagging lazily as he ran his hand through my hair. The repetitive actions lulled me back to sleep.

~

I was woken up by light hitting my face. It got annoying, so I opened my eyes.

There was a crack in the curtains, allowing morning light to seep in. Dantalion was still sleeping peacefully, his arms wrapped around me. I looked up to his face, taking in his features. His face didn't have a trace of softness. His eyebrows were sharp and neatly place on his face, above his closed eyes. His nose was straight, and he had downward-turned lips, giving him a naturally harsh look.

In comparison, I didn't feel manly at all. My eyes were too big, my face was too round, my cheeks never lost their blush, and my hair was too wavy. I still had all of my childish features despite being 17.

I lost track of how long I stared at his face, but I felt my heartrate pick-up when his eyebrows twitched. I hid my face in his chest, scared he would get angry at me for waking up before him. I flinched when I felt a hand on my back. The last time I had woken up before I was supposed to, I got a harsh slap to the face.

"Morning baby. Seems your an early riser," Dantalion chuckled as he sat up, bracing me against him as he did so I didn't fall. I peeked up from my hiding spot in his chest, and saw him grinning down at me. My cheeks involuntarily heated up as he scratched behind my left ear. My tail beat against the bed rapidly in delight, and I leaned further into his touch. It's hard to describe how it felt... it was like when you finally scratch an itch that you could never get rid of.

He lifted me up as he got off the bed. He didn't seem to care that he was shirtless, and I was only in a diaper. That was a bit wet. Not sagging, but enough that I could feel it. I whined in discomfort as he carried me back to the nursery room.

The diaper was taken off of me, and I was taken to a new room. A bathroom. It was very large and glamourous. And surprisingly modern. The tub was very large and circular. The cube glass shower next to it looked complicated. Dantalion set me onto the sets that led up to the tub. There were only two, and they were very cold granite. My bum was freezing.

Dantalion filled the tub halfway with warm water, with bubble bath suds covering the water. But I hated taking baths. Whenever I had to do anything related to water, I ended up being suffocated. Swirlies were the absolute worse.

When Dantlion lifted me by my armpits and tried to lower me into the water, I curled my legs up, grasping onto him desperately. My tails touched the water, and it immediately jerked up, between my legs.

I whined.

"What's wrong baby? Why don't you want a bath?" He asked.

"N-no water! Please!" I whimpered out.

He cocked his head. "But you want to be clean don't you?"

I shook my head frantically. "No h-hurt..."

Dantlion's features softened. "Of course not love. I would never hurt you."

"P-promise?" I asked as I eyed him doubtfully.

He smiled. "Promise."

He then proceeded to lower me into the water slowly. He first let it touch my ankles. When I tensed, he lifted me back up. After a few moments, he tried again. This process repeated until I was able to sit in the water. It felt nice, and the bubbles tickled my skin. But the fear of my head getting dunked caused me to sit rigid, ready and prepared to dart from the tub.

My tail felt weightless in the water, and just drifted in the water. Dantalion waited for a bit, letting me get used to the water, before bringing a washcloth into the tub. He dunked it below the surface, wrung it out, then moved it to my skin. I flinched when it came into contact. But he only dragged it across my skin, wetting the upper portion of my body that was still dry. I watched his movements closely, making sure he wasn't going to try to hurt me. Once he was done, he grabbed a soap bar, lathered up the washcloth, and started to gently wash my body. With light scrubs, he cleaned me.

He even cleaned my giblets, but not inappropriately. He was fast, clinically cleaning them before moving on.

"I'm going to wash your hair now, alright?" He said softly. I gave him a jerky nod in response. He held a hand to my eyes as he poured warm water over my head. I flattened my ears, trying to prevent water from getting into them. I kept my eye shut even after he removed his hand. I soon smelt peaches, and then his hands were in my hair. His fingers carded through my hair, soothingly massaging my scalp. I became putty, my tail swishing in the water. He rinsed my hair out, covering my eyes once again.

By the time he had lifted me out, I was in love with baths. He wrapped me up into a fluffy towel, wiping my wet face so I could open my eyes. I opened them just in time to see him open the drain to the tub, letting all the water out. Before we left the bathroom, he sat me on the counter, and brushed my teeth for me. I enjoyed the minty fresh feeling I got after he was done.

I was carried back to the nursery and set onto the changing table. Another diaper was strapped onto me, a hole for my tail already prepared. He took out a black snap onesie, which he promptly slipped onto me. Then he pulled a pair of white ankle socks onto my feet. He sat me up, and dried my hair with the towel. My head shook with the movements of the towel, making me giggle. He also dried my tail best he could.

Once he was done, I was carried back to his room. There was a kiddie area that wasn't there before. There was a playpen, and a gated crawl play area. He set me into the playpen, which was filled with stuffed animals and other toys.

"I'll be right back, after I shower. Play in here for now, okay baby?" He ruffled my hair before leaving out one of the doors. He shut it behind him, leaving me alone.

I looked around, searching for something to occupy myself with. Bored, I picked up two stuffed animals. One was a large bunny, and the other was a grey elephant. I made them dance together, date each other, and then break up. The elephant beat up the bunny and left it it alone. Then the elephant moved on to the doll that was in the playpen too. The ragdoll had red hair and rosy cheeks. She wore a frilly blue dress. I liked her. But the elephant didn't. It beat her up. I made the other stuffed animals gang up on it. But the elephant had secret superpowers and flew up into the air. I flopped onto my back as it flew, giggling as I made 'swooshing' noises.

I lost track of time, but soon, Dantalion was lifting me out of the playpen. "Ready for breakfast?" He asked.

I nodded as I leaned my head onto his shoulder. He carried me through the halls, down a flight of stairs, and through more stairs before we arrived in a grand dining room. Such a large space made me uncomfortable. Luckily, he walked straight through the room and into a smaller, homier kitchen/dining room.

It wasn't long before there was a bowl of fruit in front of me. And a kiddie fork. I happily ate, almost moaning at how deliciously sweet the fruits were. Mango, peach, pineapple, honeydew, apple, and sweetened star fruit.

Juice dribbled down my chin multiple times, but Daddy stopped and wiped it off for me.

Done with breakfast, Daddy carried me to another room. This one looked very similar to a theatre, except a smaller screen, and only one long couch. He sat me on his lap on the couch, and turned on some cartoon about animals with wheels in the jungle.

I was so engrossed in the cartoon that when something was pushed against my lips, I accepted it. Warm milk flowed into my mouths, calming me enough to slump into Daddy.

The bottle finished quickly, and I mumbled out, "Th-thank you, Daddy."

Daddy stiffened, then turned me around to face him. A huge grin was on his face. "What did you just call me?"

"D-Daddy?" I repeated, scared I would get into trouble.

Instead, I was engulfed in a warm hug.

"That's right, I am your daddy," he hummed happily.

It took me a moment, but I returned the hug, gripping him close. He was the first to ever care so much about me.

My daddy. I liked it.

~