Read Pets: Bach's Story for Free Online Page B

with the utmost stiff-legged reluctance.
    He lifted her up to straddle his lap, cradling her so close that her head lay upon his chest just above his heart. She was stiff and unresponsive for all of five seconds. He hugged her, patted her back and kissed her cheek as he rocked her from side to side. But when he began to sing to her, a light nonsensical nursery rhyme, suddenly she just melted in his embrace. She let go of her bottom and grabbed his shirt instead, sobbing into him as though her heart were broken.
    “All you have to do is be a good girl for Papa, and we won’t have to do this,” he said.
    He continued to rock and sing to her until there was nothing left of her sniffles but, baby soft gasps and the occasional miserable hiccup.
    He felt like a daddy again. And for the first time in two years, he felt just a little less empty.

    Pani lay slightly sideways on his lap, a comfortable armful, her head pillowed in the crook of his elbow, reluctantly sucking from the bottle. From the look on her face, it was obvious that even with the honey she hated the taste. She’d take a few shallow pulls from the nipple, which was made to suit an infant of his species and which was a tad too long for her mouth, then she’d make a face and try to turn her head away. But he was persistent, pressing the bottle against her lips to seat the nipple well into her mouth and made her take every last nutritious drop.
    With only a few ounces left to go, she tried to push his hand back and twist her head away. All Bach had to do was switch the bottle to his other hand, tip her hips towards him to make her still bare bottom an easier target and flatten his hand where she could take heed of the ominous warning.
    “Does Pani need another spanking?” he asked, both his expression and tone quite stern.
    She lunged her mouth towards the bottle, capturing it in both hands and sucking vigorously to get it all down. When his hand returned to a less threatening posture, only then did she relax somewhat and ease back into a more natural (for Pani anyway) and sulky suckling.
    “You brought this on yourself,” he told her, trying not to smile. “Maybe after a week or two of bottle feedings, you’ll be ready to eat like a big girl.”
    Afterwards, he took her back to the bathroom and washed her face. He held the top of her head with one hand while he brushed her teeth. Twice she tried to reach up and take hold of the toothbrush, and twice he made her put her hands back down to her sides with no more than a firm, “No!”
    Once she’d rinsed her mouth, he pulled her dress up and her panties down. He picked her up and set her down on the toilet. No time like the present to get started on the housebreaking.
    “Go potty,” he told her.
    She looked down at the seat she was perched on, then back up at him.
    He folded his arms across his chest and waited.
    Her face went bright, bright red. She fidgeted her fingers in the hem of her skirt. She pointed to the bathroom door, and Bach shook his head. “We’re not going anywhere until you go potty. I’m not going to clean up any messes off the floor.”
    She made shooing motions at him with both hands.
    Bach’s jaw dropped and he stared at her. She was telling him to get out? He looked back at the door. How was it possible to embarrass a human when they weren’t supposed to have dignity to begin with? His eyes narrowed sharply, then he turned his gaze to the bathroom window. Unless, of course, this was yet another escape attempt.
    Propping his hip against the sink, he folded his arms again. “Nice try. I’m not going anywhere, either. Now, go potty.”
    Pani sighed. Her face flushed even brighter and she turned her head to face the wall an instant before he heard the light tinkling sound of her obedience. She closed her eyes and didn’t look at him until she was done.
    He knew she was done when she began to fidget on the toilet, looking from right to left before reaching for the box of cleaning