Page 44 of Margo

That lit a fire under them, and for a while they all worked in silence, making great progress.

Finally, Mariah piped up again, apparently unable to take the suspense. “What are the plans?” she asked impatiently. “You said new plans, but you didn’t tell us what they were! And why are you wearing jammies?”

Knox tossed the puzzle piece he was holding into the correct box and rocked back on his heels. “Get your pajamas on,” he told them without further explanation.

They stared at him but didn’t move. He clapped his hands. “Go on, git. Be good Little girls and do what you’re told.”

Margo giggled and they finally sprang into action.

When they were all in their rooms with the doors closed, Margo looked at him and shook her head.

“Are we gonna tell them?”

“Tell them what?”

“You know… about us… about the plans? About… celebrating?”

“Soon enough,” he answered, putting the lid on a finished puzzle. The pile of pieces to be sorted was now dwindled to almost nothing, a fact that filled him with pride. The girls had worked hard for days; they deserved a celebration, and though Margo had already committed to being his, he was eager to prove to her that he could be as good at spoiling as he was at spanking.

Margo, as impatient as her friends, scowled, but Knox just kept sorting.

“There!” he proclaimed as he put the last piece in the corresponding box and added the lids to both boxes before walking over to add them to the shelf. He’d just finished, when the girls filed out of their rooms, each of them dressed in their favorite jammies.

They gasped when they saw the clean floor, but they weren’t as excited as he’d expected them to be.

Mariah was instantly suspicious. “Why are we in our jammies? Before dinner even?” Her face fell. “Oh no! Are you sending us to bed early, without dinner?”

The girls all followed her lead, their faces falling as they stared at the floor with their lips puffed into adorable pouts.

“To bed without dinner?” he repeated, sounding mockingly aghast. They looked up at him, and he broke into a huge grin. “On New Year’s Eve? When we have so much to celebrate? Perish the thought.” He waited a beat then decided to put them out of their misery. “We are having a pajama party. The pizza is on its way. You all get your blankies and pillows and stuffies.”

“Yay!” Mariah cheered. “Can we get our binkies too?”

“I mean… you can, but how are you gonna eat pizza or ice cream if you’re busy sucking on a binkie?”

“Ice cream too?” Mariah gasped. “This is the best night ever!” She rushed from the room and came back with the required items in tow. Her friends quickly followed.

Knox looked at Margo. “Do you happen to know where Baze keeps extra sheets? And thumbtacks?”

“There’s extra sheets in the linen closet and thumbtacks… in his office maybe?” she answered, her expression quizzical. “Why?”

“Well, I’m going to need them to build a fort for us to eat our pizza and watch cartoons in, of course!”

“A fort!” Ellie pumped her fist in the air, dropped her stuffie and bedding on the couch and ran from the room, returning a few minutes later with a pile of clean sheets and a small box of pink thumbtacks. “Those are mine. For my posters,” she explained, popping her thumb in her mouth.

“That’s perfect, Ellie. Thank you.” Knox took them and went to work, constructing a three-sided fort between the couch and tv. When it was up, he encouraged the girls to pile in with their blankets, pillows and stuffies, and get settled.

While they did that, he grabbed napkins, paper plates and put juice into their sippy cups, passing everything out before he ran downstairs to meet the pizza delivery.

It was such a little thing, really, but their enthusiasm made it fun. He’d had so much chaos and angst to deal with in the beginning, he hadn’t gotten to focus on any of the fun parts of being a House Daddy—and he hadn’t gotten to show Margo that as strict as he was, he still knew how to have fun.

With the pizzas in hand, he rode up the elevator to the penthouse with a smile on his face. “Pizzazz Piesss,” he cried out as he entered, “get em while they’re hot!”

He carried the boxes to the fort where the girls were snuggled up with their comfort items, cuddled against each other, with Margo saving a space for him. Sitting on his butt beside her, he threw the boxes open and passed out pizza slices—pepperoni and cheese.

“Where’s the remote?” Jilly asked. “I thought we were gonna watch cartoons!”

“We will,” he promised. “But first, a toast.” Raising his slice of pizza in the air, he waited for them to do the same. There was a smattering of joyous giggles as they matched their actions to his.