But Betsy just stood there, frozen, her gaze on…Angelique.
Angelique was rushing over. Ink stood, ready to intervene.
“Oh, baby girl, are you all right? That must have hurt,” Angelique cooed, kneeling in front of her to examine Betsy’s bare foot.
Yep. The sternness was really just a façade, hiding her gooey inside.
“I’m s-so sorry,” Betsy managed to get out. “I didn’t m-mean to drop it. S-sorry.”
Ink stood and moved to her as Angelique froze where she was. “It’s okay, darling, I know you didn’t. I didn’t come over to scold you.”
Angelique raised her gaze to Ink. He held out his hand. The older woman slipped her hand into his and he helped her stand. Then he took her place, kneeling in front of Betsy.
“Let’s have a look, button.”
“B-button?” That got her attention. She stared down at him.
Ink gently pressed down on the top of her foot. She winced slightly but otherwise didn’t move.
Her gaze was stuck on Angelique.
“Are you okay?” Lara moved up to Betsy, her hands moving around as though she longed to touch Betsy but wasn’t sure she should. “Did you get a boo-boo? Do you need a Band-Aid? They have Disney Princess ones here. And Minion ones. Do you like those? When I hurt myself, Daddy kisses it better. Do you want my Daddy to kiss it better?”
It was exactly what was needed to break the tension. Betsy turned to Lara then looked over her shoulder at Zac who was looking down at Lara, his face filled with exasperated humor.
“Umm…” Betsy said, but there was a grin twitching at her mouth. “Did you just offer to have your Daddy kiss my foot?”
“Oh shit.” Lara’s face grew red.
“Lara!” Zac said sharply. “Language.”
“Sorry, Daddy. Can I go gets Betsy a bandage?”
“Ink can take care of Betsy, Little one. You and I need to have a little chat about you listening to me, I think. Over to the timeout corner.”
Lara dropped her lower lip then she turned to Betsy. “Bye, Betsy. Hope your boo-boo feels better. Maybe Ink can kiss it better. He looks like he’d be a good kisser.”
“Lara!” Zac barked.
Her eyes sparkled and she winked at Betsy before turning and walking over to the timeout area. She sat in a big chair, facing the corner.
“Sorry about that, man,” Zac said. “Lara loves playing with other Littles but a lot of the Littles who hang out in here just want to do their own thing. Hope she didn’t make you uncomfortable, Betsy.”
Betsy shook her head. Ink ran his thumb gently over the red mark on the top of her foot. It had to have hurt, why hadn’t she reacted?
Ink looked back up at Betsy, noting her face had grown red, although amusement still danced in her eyes.
“Let’s get some ice on your boo-boo, unless you want to test the magic of my kisses?” he teased her.
She blushed bright red and shook her head.
“Can you walk okay?” he asked as he stood.
“Umm, it’s just a bit sore. It’s probably barely going to bruise. I don’t need any ice. Or a Band-Aid.”
“Most of the Littles in here make up boo-boos just to get a Band-Aid. Don’t knock them until you’ve seen them. And I’ll be the one to decide what care you need. Not you, Little one.”
Taking hold of her hand, he slowly led her towards the other room. When he saw that she wasn’t limping, something inside him eased. He didn’t like the idea of her hurting. The other room was empty and he led her over to the medical corner.