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

tender, I thought, making a snap decision. I got up from the couch to grab something from my bag and came back less than two minutes later to find that Juliana now had a doll in each hand and was narrating a story.
    “Sweetie, can you please stop what you’re doing for just a second?” I asked, sitting down next to her again.
    She put the dolls down and looked up at me.
    “I want you to lie over my lap. I noticed that your bottom was still bothering you, so I have some baby oil that I’ll rub into it.”
    She looked at me in shock for a second, but then followed the instructions I’d given her. Once I had her over my lap, I unbuckled the drop seat of her jammies, pulled her underwear down, and poured a dollop of baby oil onto her still red, heated skin.
    “There you go, baby girl. This should make you feel all better,” I said, continuing to slowly massage the globes of her butt. It gave me no small amount of pride when I heard her release a contented sigh and her entire body sagged.
    When she first got on my lap, I felt how tense she was. But as I kept massaging her bottom, she relaxed. We stayed like this for about five minutes. I didn’t want to stop touching her because she was finally relaxing, but after another couple of minutes, I pulled her underwear back up, closed her drop seat, and helped her sit up.
    “Okay. Let’s play with those dolls now!” I said, as we both grabbed two of them.
    After an hour or so, the Barbies were put down on the coffee table and Juliana was snuggling up to me on the couch as we watched TV.
    It felt really nice. I could feel that she was comfortable and enjoying this, even though at first she didn’t want to admit it. I was glad she was also letting me pet her hair. Half the battle with winning her over was getting her used to my touch. I wanted her to associate my touch with something gentle, instead of something that would cause her pain. The fact that she’d let me massage that oil into her bottom without a fight told me that she was getting more used to me.
    I wanted her to know I would never ever strike her in anger and that my touch would always be gentle—unless I was giving her a spanking, in which case, it would hurt her bottom, but I would make sure that afterward, I comforted her so she knew she was forgiven and would never think I was going to leave her.
    Before I knew it, it was nine and I decided it was time to get her ready for bed.
    “Baby girl, it’s time to get ready for bed,” I said, petting her hair one last time for the night.
    “One more episode.”
    “No, Juliana. Come on, you can watch more Arthur tomorrow.”
    “Please.”
    “No, baby girl. Come on,” I said, helping her sit up. I could tell by her voice and how her eyes kept having a hard time staying open that she was exhausted. “I’ll carry you. Wrap your arms around my neck,” I said, leaning down.
    She did as she was told and soon I was carrying her like I would a toddler. Her head rested on my shoulder and her legs dangled down, barely reaching my knees. She really was a small person. My small person, I thought.
    As I was walking, she started to wake up more and more. By the time we reached the bathroom, I could feel her tense up in my arms.
    I put her down. “Time to brush your teeth.”
    She grabbed her toothbrush, put the toothpaste on it, and began to brush her teeth. I watched as she did it, making sure she got every spot. What kind of daddy would I be if I let my little girl get a mouth full of cavities?
    When she finished brushing her teeth, I said, “Time to go potty. Now I’ll let you go alone this time. You call me if you need help though, okay?”
    Her face was as bright red as a tomato as she nodded her head.
    I walked out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind me, and walked back into her family room. I went over to the couch and picked up her teddy bear, then brought it back into her bedroom so she could sleep with it. Then I pulled the covers back on her bed and