Don't Baby Me (Age-Regression)

Sixteen

Lyle

Ayla sits on my lap, nursing her thumb as she watches the movie playing on the television in front of us. She's slipped firmly back into headspace and it looks like she's going to stay there for the rest of the night.

"Did you get enough to eat, little lady?" I ask, eyeing the half eaten slice of pizza on the coffee table.

That's all she ate from dinner tonight. I'm not sure if it's because she had a big lunch or the movie is distracting her, but I want her to at least finish one slice.

Ayla nods at my question, not once tearing her eyes away from the screen. Sighing, I pause the movie. She pops her thumb out of her mouth and turns to look at me.

"Why you do dat, Lyle?" She whimpers.

"Because you need to eat. You can finish your pizza or have a baba. Which one do you want?" I already know she's going to want the bottle. It's just nice to give her the choice.

"Baba." She mumbles around the thumb that's already found it's way back into her mouth.

Mae stands from the armchair she's sitting in and heads to the kitchen, returning with the bottle a few minutes later. Once shaken, she passes it over to me.

I press play on the movie and hand the item to Ayla. She holds it with one hand and nurses it, eyes already focused back onto the movie.

Ayla's Dad, Owen, sighs from the dining room. Due to the small, open layout of their house, I can see him from my spot on the couch. He's looking at his phone and rubbing his eyebrows.

The man is clearly stressed. He's been trying to reach Ayla's mom for the past hour. She said she was going to be late, but not this late. It's nearly nine in the evening, way past Alya's bedtime.

We did tell her she could stay up until her mom got home. I just never thought it would be this late.

Forty-five minutes pass before I hear the key being put into the lock in the front door. It swings open and there stands the missing woman. She waves at us and walks into the room, her heels clicking loudly on the hardwood floor.

"Sorry I'm late. We were super busy at the office tonight." She apologizes, leaning over me to kiss Alya's head.

A hint of male cologne wafting from her skin catches my attention. Furrowing my brows, I look at her blouse where a button is missing. She also has a purplish bruise starting to bloom on the side of her neck.

"Hi, Mama." My baby girl mumbles around the nipple of her bottle.

"Hey, princess. Where's Daddy?" Ayla's Mom, Iris, questions.

I point towards the dining room and try to calm my racing thoughts. Is iris having an affair? I'm trying not to skip to conclusions. It's odd that she came in smelling like another man with a messed up blouse and a hickey blooming on her skin.

If I notice it, then Owen's most definitely going to. I hold my breath as Iris walks into the dining room and leans in to kiss her husband. That's when all hell breaks loose.

Owen leans in to hug her and I see the exact moment when he sees the hickey. He steps back and points to Iris' neck asking in a stiff voice, "What the hell is that?"