chapter thirty seven

"hi, honey. where have you been?" the voice on the other side of the phone spoke.

lydia paused for a moment before sending a disappointed glance at tatum. why did her father seem so uninterested in speaking with her? they hadn't spoken in awhile, from what lydia could remember atleast. not to mention the holiday that was occurring, which was usually a big deal to him. meanwhile, tatums heart was racing from the adrenaline of how the phone call was going. he could not hear anything due to the phone being pressed so tightly against lydias ear, but he did his best to listen.

"i-i've been staying with my friend, tatum" she blankly responded, now staring at the ground.

"tatum, eh? have you told me about him before?" kreed spoke as he pretended to be the girls father.

"yes, remember the guy from the fair? from the exhibit?" she questioned, sending another glance to tatum.

"ah, yes. that's right. your mother and i miss you very much, lidie. however we have accepted that you would like to be an adult now, which comes with making your own choices." kreed explained. lydia took a second to respond, feeling relieved by the common nickname they had used for her.

"it's not always by choice, dad. i would love to come home and spend today together, but tatum doesn't always let me do what i wan-" she rambled.

before lydia could finish the rest of her rambling, the phone was abruptly ripped from her grip causing her to ever so slightly gasp. tatum sent an angry glare her way before quickly putting the phone to his ear.

"hello, chris. your daughter is very well taken care of, i assure you. she leaves when i leave, and today we have plans which is why she cannot come and see you. i hope you understand." tatum spoke into the phone, frustrated with his little.

"you're so full of shit tatum, how does she ever believe your acting skills?" kreed chuckled into the phone, causing tatum to take his eyes off of lydia.

"no, chris. she's been behaving very well, which shouldn't come as a surprise to you. however, now that we have spoken, i will be sending you a message if she ever decides she wants to act up again." he continued on. lydia questioned how he knew her fathers name, as she felt as though she had never mentioned it before.

"let me say goodbye to my daughter so this can be over, i have things to do." kreed jokingly replied, still chuckling at the acting skills his brother had possessed.

"okay, uh huh, great speaking with you too. we will have to plan a day to meet up with the three of us. but please, no raya." tatum laughed into the phone, handing it back to lydia.

"d-do i say goodbye now, tate?" she questioned, holding the phone in her hand. tatum lightly smiled, as he always thought it was so precious that his little asked him before doing small things. and with a nod of his head, lydia sighed and placed the phone to her ear.

"i love you, daddy. will you call me back soon?" she questioned lightly. kreed paused for a moment, deciding how to finish out the conversation. in kreeds mind, he was busy. he hadn't heard lydias voice before the call, as expected due to his lack of knowledge about her. however he just couldn't seem to figure out why he had gotten excited with lydias choice of wording for her closing of the call.

"i love you too, princess. i will call you as soon as i possibly can." he decided on. to be honest, kreed wanted to know more about lydia. she seemed sweet, and awfully soft spoken. kreed was never one with the ladies, which he had never cursed himself for before.

"bye dadd," she began, before tatum grabbed the phone from her grip once more before hanging up the line. tatum was jealous, truthfully. he didn't know what was going through his brothers mind when lydias innocence just didn't understand the entire daddy thing. he was jealous that his brother had heard it before him although it was unintentional on lydias end.

"let's go shower, little. our plans start in an hour." he pushed, lightly grabbing ahold of her hand as he began to lead her towards the bedroom. to be quite frank, tatum was proud of himself. he had gotten frustrated with his little twice while on the duration of the phone call, but he had not reacted in an aggressive way. he was learning, and for lydia, he would continue to learn.

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"why don't you ever let me shower by myself?" lydia quietly asked as tatum waited for her to get into the shower with him.

"because, baby. i just don't want you getting hurt." he shortly responded. "and so that you're comfortable with your body around me." he added.

lydia stared at the closed shower curtain, hoping that tatum would just disappear if she tried hard enough to make it happen. sometimes he made her feel very uncomfortable, just as often as he made her feel comfortable. it was an even balance, sure, but lydia much rather preferred feeling comfortable at all times rather than some. but of course, tatums large hand pulled the shower curtain back and reached his hand out for his little to join him. lydia nervously shook her head no, as she felt as though she never got her own privacy since being with tatum.

"little, please don't make this difficult. i want to have a good day with you today, but i'm not going to tell you again" he said with a hint of threat in his tone. and with that, lydia decided to take the easy route and listen to his commands.

as lydia stepped into the large shower it was not long before tatum had already started helping her do the things that she could definitely do on her own. he started with washing her hair, which he greatly enjoyed doing for her. and honestly, lydia wouldn't contest to that either. however, as lydia had her back facing towards the boy he took it as his chance to slightly lose control over himself.

"let me wash you, baby." he huskily spoke, pouring soap on his hands and beginning at lydias stomach area. tatum was very large compared to lydia, which in return meant that his hands covered a large portion of her body from behind. she didn't feel weird about tatum touching her, though. raya had never really taught her about good and bad touch, but even if she did, lydia didn't feel as though tatums touch was necessarily bad.

lydia quickly widened her eyes as she felt tatum press himself against her backside, feeling confused as she was unaware of the male body and how it worked. however, tatum was struggling for the life of him to control himself. it was just so hard to do so around his little. her sweet and angelic energy held such a high standards for his hormones that he felt like absolutely nothing in the world could turn him on like his little did.

when tatum had gotten to lydias breasts, it was an entirely different story. his hands cupped them perfectly, and he felt as though he was holding his entire world in his hands. yes of course, he was very busy with her body at the moment, but lydias presence alone was enough to make him feel like he had everything he had ever wanted.

"you mean so much to me, my sweet little" he groaned into her ear as he began to kiss her neck.

and suddenly, that's when he heard it. lydia let out the quietest, yet audible, delicate moan he could ever lay his hearing on. it was so soft, so sweet, and so fucking delightful to hear. tatums movements immediately came to a brief stop once he heard the noise, and he was instantly incapable of controlling himself. he had never heard anything that immediately stunned him, completely making him incapable of doing anything.

"goddamn it, little lydia." he groaned once more, sliding his hand down to her lower half.

lydia didn't quite know what was going on, but she knew that tatums touch felt good to her. he wasn't necessarily doing anything to pleasure her on purpose, but she was simply content with his energy in the moment and felt safe in his grasp. she didn't know what moaning even was, so she was unsure as to why she made that sound in the first place. she figured she was worn out from the morning already and let out a sigh that was a bit odd sounding.

however, when tatum attempted to slide his hand too close to lydias personal area, she quickly turned around to face him. she didn't know that some touches there were bad, but she didn't like the way tatum was making her feel anymore. she felt, excited? she felt as though she didn't know what emotions she was feeling. it all felt unfamiliar to her, and she needed time to digest how she was feeling.

"c- can we get out now, please?" she softly questioned, staring up at tatum. he held a different look in his eyes than usual, but lydia didn't think it looked angry or threatening.

"go ahead, love. i will be out in a moment." he responded, placing a gentle yet soothing kiss on her forehead.

he felt so different now, he felt like he would do anything that lydia asked of him. he felt like he never wanted to upset her, and he felt like he never wanted to make her uncomfortable again, either. he was grateful she didn't remember the things he had done to her in the past. so fucking grateful. he felt like he had the chance to start over with lydia, and he would do anything in his power to keep it safe and healthy for her. because that's what you do when you love someone, right?

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bro i have to work in like 15 mins and i literally haven't even left my house yet because i wanted to update again for u guys LOL i hope u guys know how much i love and appreciate all of u

i'll update when i get off!!