TWO DAUGHTERS
DB86 #1
Thanks Vandemonium1 for inspiring me to write
Edited by Pat
CHAPTER 1
My daughter, Elise parked her brand new car in the parking lot, entered the restaurant and sat in front of me. I had to ruefully agree that she looked great in her new clothes.
She looked around, spotted me and walked to my table, kissed me in the cheek and sat in front of me.
“Hi, Dad,” she said, her hands fidgeting with her new iPhone.
I instantly knew that something was very wrong.
The waitress took our orders and I waited in silence to see what she had to say.
Things had been very awkward between us after my divorce. She had started to cut her visits short and didn’t want to stay overnight. Most of the time she was paying more attention to her phone than me.
The waitress brought our orders and I sipped my tea without saying a word.
She kept stirring her coffee till she finally found the courage she was looking for to say what was on her mind.
“Dad, this is not easy for me to say, but the thing is I don’t want to visit anymore. Not every other weekend as I am. I’m 16 and I can chose if I see you or not.”
I felt my heart breaking.
***
A year ago a wealthy surgeon asshole, doctor Richard Cavanaugh, had chased Louise, my ex-wife, relentlessly with gifts and lunches till she fell in love with him and left. The whore had dated him all through high-school till he went away to college putting an end to their relationship.
My parents couldn’t pay for my education so I went to community college and worked part time jobs. Louise and I meet during a frat party and we were instantly attracted to each other. If I had known what had transpired between her and Richard, I would have figured that I was her rebound man. However, after dating her for months, I thought Louise was sincerely in love with me. Louise’s family didn’t come from money either. However, Louise was a beautiful girl who could open doors with nothing but a smile. We dated casually for a few months, even when her family strongly disapproved of me. Her mother was always saying that a gorgeous girl like her could do better.
The last semester had started, when Louise dropped the bomb on me, telling me she was pregnant. It was too shocked to be happy but I did the right thing. We both dropped out of college during the last months of her pregnancy and I switched from college to a welding training program. Eight months later I had a welding diploma and I got a job as a welder that allowed me to earn enough money to support my family. It wasn’t the best paid job around but they had a good health plan.
I never got back to college because I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep up the pace of that, work and family. There just wasn’t enough money or hours in the day to do it.
Three years later, my wife finished college and became a nurse.
She went to work part time when our daughter Elise was in Junior-High, and full time when she started high-school.
Money was tight and I worked long hours to make ends meet, but we were managing.
I was happy. I loved her and I adored my daughter. Sex was good. We didn’t have a lot of things but we were managing.
I was unaware that our relationship had soured. In fact, I thought life was good. We had each other and I supposed we were a happy family.
Then I discovered that Louise’s long lost high-school sweetheart was back in town. He was a surgeon and had started to work at the same hospital as Louise. She never said a word about him to me.
My wife also failed to tell me about the long lunches they shared together. She never shared her doubts with me when she started to develop feelings for him again.
Of course, I wasn’t informed that my wife was having sex with doctor Dick three or four times a week.
One night I came home from work and found her waiting for me dressed to kill and wearing an expensive matching set of diamond necklace and earrings.
“Louise, are we going out? Where did you get this dress and the jewelry?”
She looked me straight in the eye and said, “Paul, I’m leaving you. You are not earning enough money and you never will. We are not making sufficient progress. I’m tired of being poor and not being able to enjoy what life has to offer. I’m tired of not having money to go out to fancy places, have dinner at a nice restaurant or go dancing. This is not the life I want. I’m tired of driving an old car and not having any jewelry or classy dresses to wear. I deserve better. I want out.”
I was stunned.
“What?”
Not a brilliant comeback, but my brain was still processing the news.
“I’m divorcing you. I left the papers on the kitchen counter. I’m not asking for anything except child support. I took only a 30% of our savings. I already cancelled our credits cards. You can keep the house. I never liked it. I’m not asking for alimony or going after your 401k. None of them are worth fighting for. You can waste money on a lawyer if you want, but you’ll find out it’s a good deal. I’m sorry our relationship didn’t work.”
Her voice didn’t match her last words. She sounded cold, distant, emotionless. Sorry my ass. She could barely hide a smile.
“Where is Elise?” I asked looking around.
“She’s staying with my folks. I’m asking for full custody and giving you liberal visitation rights.”
I still couldn’t believe this was happening. Louise gave me absolutely no hint that our marriage was in trouble. I felt my heart was being ripped out of my chest. This morning I had a wife and daughter. Now apparently I had none.
“Does Elise know about this?”
“Yes, she does and she expressed that she wanted to live with me. If you have more questions you can contact my lawyer. I left his card with the divorce papers. Goodbye, Paul. I wish you well.”
“Eat shit and die, bitch.”
She strutted out of the house shutting the door behind her.
I sat there unable to move.
I thought, “What the fuck just happened here?”
I called my daughter and asked her if she knew about her mother wanting to divorce me.
“Yes, Dad, I am aware of the situation. Mom and I had been talking about her feelings for weeks.”
“You knew about it and didn’t say anything to me?”
“I’m sorry, Dad. Mom asked me not to say anything”
Elise did sound sad. However I felt her silence was a betrayal.
“I’m going to find a lawyer and fight for shared custody, Eli.”
“Dad… Next year I’ll be 16 and I can choose with which parent I want to live. You’ll be wasting your time.”
My heart stopped.
“Dad? Dad? Are you still there?”
“Yes, Eli, I’m still here I just can’t believe my ears. Are you saying that you don’t want to live with me?”
“I’m sorry, Dad. It doesn’t mean I don’t love you. I’ll see you every other weekend.”
Wow! Here I was, dying, and she was happily informing me that she was okay seeing me only every other weekend. I hung up without saying anything else.
During the next days I did my best to put the pieces of my life back together. I took the necessary steps to protect myself even when apparently I had no need. I read the divorce papers and confirmed that Louise wasn’t asking for anything except child support. A quick check up online told me that she hadn’t taken anything from our meager savings except what she’d informed me of. I moved the remaining money to an account on my name only and asked for a new credit card.
I cried myself to sleep at night. All my dreams had been shattered.
The whole situation didn’t make sense to me unless Louise had someone who was supporting her and my daughter.
I started to make some calls to some of Louise’s co-workers that I knew she wasn’t on good terms with. Piece by piece, I uncovered the truth about her and her lost love Richard “Dick” Cavanaugh. It wasn’t a pretty picture. Louise had been cheating on me for months. A lot of small details I had ignored started coming to the surface. I felt like a sucker.
I tried to contact my soon to be ex-wife, but she told me that all contact should be addressed to her lawyer and hung up on me. Elise talked with me for a while, but she always had some excuse to end the call.
I informed my mom and my sister (my father had died of cancer years ago and mom was living with my sis) about what had happened. They were both as shocked at the news as I was. They offered all their support and even money for a lawyer, which I refused.
I didn’t bother to call her parents. They never liked me. I was pretty sure they were celebrating the news.
I also put the house in the market. It was way too big and costly for me alone. I cancelled all non essential services such as the landline and cable to save money.
I paid a cheap lawyer to check the divorce papers and he confirmed that it was a good deal. He also advised me against fighting for my daughter’s custody.
“If your daughter doesn’t want to live with you it will be a waste of time and money.”
Did I try to get revenge on the asshole?
You bet I did. I followed him with my truck for days but never had a chance to kick his ass and not end in jail. He lived in a gated community with private security. The parking lot at the hospital had security personnel and cameras. My internet search didn’t show anything bad about him. doctor Dick was divorced. No kids. I located his ex-wife and called her. She told me she caught him cheating and kicked his ass to the curb. I thought about sharing this information with the whore, but since she was a cheater herself, I was sure it wasn’t going to change anything. You know what they say ‘birds of a feather…’
During my search I found pictures of doctor Dick, my ex-wife and my daughter. They looked happy. Almost like a real family. It hurt so much that I closed all my social media accounts.
I talked with a lawyer about suing the hospital but he told me the employment laws were in place to protect employees only. “A non-employee doesn’t have a legal claim against an employer in this type of situation. In some states you could bring an alienation of affection case against your wife’s lover, but not in Ohio.”
After the whore left, I didn’t have a life outside work. I didn’t date. I didn’t even go looking for sex. The only moments I longed for were my daughter’s visits. The divorce papers Louise gave me granted me a weekend every two weeks.
The first visit was awkward. I was bitter toward her mother and doctor Dick.
“All that Mom wanted was to experience a life that you couldn’t give to her, Dad. You can’t blame her.”
“Then she should have talked with me and said that she wanted out of our marriage. It would have hurt, but I would have understood her reasons. Then, as a divorced woman she would have been free to pursue any man she wanted. But your mother didn’t do that, did she? She cheated repeatedly on me, lied to me and pursued a romantic relationship with another guy while she was still married to me. I taught you to call things by their name, Eli, and that’s called adultery.”
My daughter looked at me, fighting with herself. I knew she could see my point. I raised her and we’d had long talks about family values, being honest and doing the right thing.
However, I knew that nothing we were doing during our visits could be as exciting as the life she was leading with doctor Dick and the whore. She was caught in the excitement of her new life and it was obvious to me that she didn’t want to give up all the things she got, to side with a man who could barely buy her a bicycle. I could also see my ex-wife messing with her mind. Elise couldn’t stop talking about her new house, her new room and the things doctor Dick was buying her.
After years of living together I was used to having Elise around. Seeing her only every other weekend was like having a wound that never healed. Like a band-aid being ripped off over and over. The pain never really went away.
Our visits never really took off. Elise was distant, bored, not interested in doing anything I proposed. I could see that my daughter was caught up with her new lifestyle. Our old house couldn’t compete with her new home and my budget was limited to a movie or dinner at a cheap restaurant.
“Eli, I know I can’t give you the things that the doctor Dick… I mean, your mother’s new love interest is giving you, but I want us to have a good time when you visit. Just tell me what you want to do.”
We tried going to the cinema and cooking together. There were some fun, bonding moments, but I could see that Elise was bored most of the time, texting and looking distracted.
It was heartbreaking seeing my beloved daughter slip away from me a bit more with each visit, despite my best efforts.
Two weeks after the divorce was final, the doctor Dick and the whore got married. My daughter was her bridesmaid. I wasn’t invited.
On one occasion I got two tickets for a boy’s band concert that she loved. The tickets weren’t in the best seats, but even so I paid a small fortune for them. I texted her with a pic of the tickets trying to give her something to look forward to on our next visit. She answered, excited about going to the concert. However, two days before the show, she texted me saying that doctor Dick had gotten better tickets and that she was going to go to the concert with them.
The last thing I wanted was another rift with my daughter, but I was hurt and disappointed. So I called her and let her have it.
“I thought I had raised you better than this. I know I can’t compete with a surgeon, but it wasn’t about the concert or having the best seats. It was about us having a good time together as father and daughter. Do you have any idea the sacrifices I had to make to buy these tickets you just rejected? You know I love you, but I feel I’m fighting alone to keep our relationship alive. You’re drifting apart from me and I don’t know what to do. This situation doesn’t work for me at all.”
“I thought you would be happy to know I’m enjoying my life. Richard loves me as much you do.”
I clenched my teeth to keep from screaming. When I spoke I did it in a very low and dark tone of voice. “No one loves you as much as I do.”
“Yes, Daddy,” she said softly. “He does. He’s not a bad man.”
“I’m hardly going to compete with your mother’s husband for my daughter’s love.” I said disdainfully.
“It’s not a competition. I have more than enough love for both of you, but you’re putting me in the awful position of having to choose between you. I won’t do that.”
“If you have enough love for both of us, how come you always seem bored when you spend time with me and you can’t run fast enough to go back to your beloved doctor Dick? How come you’re talking about him all the time and I have to pull the words out of your mouth when you’re with me. Is money so important to you? I’m starting to realize I didn’t do such a good job raising you after all.”
“Dad, you’re overreacting. I’m sorry about the concert. I didn’t think. I was excited because we’re going backstage to meet the band. Richard knows people…”
“Save it, Eli. I don’t want to hear it. Enjoy the show.” I ended the call and fought not to smash the phone against the wall.
***
My daughter’s voice brought me back to reality.
“Dad, did you hear what I said?”
“Yeah, I heard you loud and clear, Kiddo. You don’t want to see me anymore. What do you want me to say? Are you expecting me to beg? Would it change your mind if I do?”
Elise shook her head.
“I thought so. I still have some pride and self-respect left. Does it hurt to hear you saying that you don’t want to be part of my life anymore? Yes, it does. It hurts a lot, but you’re a big girl now and capable of making your own decisions and facing the consequences of your choices.”
“Dad, you’re being a bit dramatic, it’s not that I don’t want to see you anymore. This is not about hurting you. I just want some time for myself…”
I raised my hand to stop her.
“Your mother said the same thing to me about her cheating, but it hurt anyway. Her time for herself didn’t include me either but it included the asshole she cheated on me with.”
“Dad! Richard is not a bad guy! If you give him a chance and you get to know him, I’m sure you two could become friends. He could even help you with your job.”
I snorted.
“Not going to happen. Please don’t compare me with him. Your new hero is a cheater. He cheated on his first wife and then, when he found your mother, he used his money to chase and seduce her, knowing she was married. He had sex with your mother for months behind my back while she lied to my face. In my book that makes your beloved good doctor a scumbag of the worse kind and your mother a whore that went along with it.”
She opened her mouth to say something but I interrupted her.
“This meeting isn’t about them, but about you and me. Let me ask you this: was I such a bad father? I worked lots of hours trying to provide for you and your mom, and even so I was there for you any time you needed me. I drove you to school every day in my truck. I never missed a school function. You never missed a present on Christmas Day. I took care of you every time you were sick. We used to go on a bike ride at the park on Saturdays, or we visited the zoo. Remember the couch fort we used to build together on rainy days? Maybe I wasn’t a great provider but I did the best I could to be a good father and you and your mother never lacked anything essential.”
For a moment, my daughter’s expression softened and brief smile came to her lips.
“You ARE a great father. My decision has nothing to do with you. I still love you, Dad. This is about me. You need to understand, I’m going to a new school; I have a new group of friends and a busy social life. On weekends Mom, Richard and I go to the club. I play tennis, swim at the pool and hang with my friends. Sometimes we go sailing on his sail boat. Honestly, being with you is not as exciting as being with them. No offense.”
I watched her in silence. A lump rose in my throat. I swallowed hard, fighting back the tears.
When I finally got enough control of my emotions to talk, my voice was hoarse.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t give you all those things. I worked hard to provide for you and your mother the best I could. I thought those things didn’t really matter as long as we loved each other. It seems I was wrong. I’m poor, I’m boring and being with me is not as exciting as being with your mom, her sugar daddy and your new snob friends, so you’re kicking me to the curb like your mother did.”
She took my hand and squeezed it gently.
“Please, Dad. I love you.”
“Actions speak louder than words, Kiddo. Another lesson I did my best to teach you.”
Elise was crying now. I knew I wasn’t making it easy for her, but I was hurting inside.
“Dad, please understand that I have to look to my future. A future you can’t give me, but Richard can. He is going to take care of my college expenses at a major university. You could have never given me anything like that.”
I could clearly see the whore’s hand behind my daughter’s words and reasoning. I was pretty sure that my daughter had been tutored on what to say to me.
“What you are telling me is that doctor Dick bought your love pretty much like he did with your mother.”
“No, Dad, please… Don’t ever think that. I am and always will be your daughter.”
I could see how much she was suffering with this decision so I decided to back off. She’d made up her mind and there was nothing I could say or do to change her decision.
“I’m not trying to give you a hard time, Eli. I’m just trying to let you see my side of the situation. If you don’t want to see me every other weekend, fine. I have to accept your decision, no matter how much it hurts.”
My daughter didn’t say anything. She just looked me at me with tears in her eyes.
“Allow your poor father to teach you one last lesson and then I’ll be out of your life for good and let you enjoy your time with your new family and your new friends.”
Elise looked at me.
“One day you’re going to meet a boy that will rock your world. You’ll be head over heels in love with him, and you won’t be able to wait for him to propose so you can be together all the time.”
My daughter nodded.
“The day he proposes you, take a good look at the ring in your finger. Think what accepting his ring means. Accepting an engagement ring means that your heart, body and soul belong exclusively to your man. It means that you’re now putting all your efforts into building a life that involves the two of you. Only the two of you. From that moment on, you’re a team. You trust each other with your lives.”
I paused to let my words sink in.
“But if you feel that you are only accepting the ring till a better man comes along. If you want to be with your man only till a wealthier man comes along, then he deserves to know what he’s getting into. Tell him ‘I’ll be with you and I’ll be faithful to you as long as you earn enough money to provide for the life I deserve’. Don’t make promises like ‘forsake all others” or to stay at his side ‘for richer, for poorer’ if you are not willing to keep your word. The choices you make show your morals and standards. When you say you will do something and don’t do it, you teach others, and yourself, that you can’t be trusted. And love can’t survive without trust. I pray and hope you’ll remember my words and do the right thing on the day of your engagement.”
My daughter was listening to me carefully, tears now rolling down her cheeks.
“May I have one last hug?”
Elise nodded through her tears. My own eyes were shining, tears finally running down my cheeks.
“I’ll see you on Christmas, Dad,” my daughter said between sobs.
I nodded.
When the hug was over I spun around and walked away without looking back.
I was expecting to hear Elise voice calling me, saying that she still wanted me to be part of her life, but it never happened.
I climbed in my truck and cried my heart out. I cried a lot, the sort of agonizing tears where you feel paralyzed and helpless.
The moon was shining in the sky when I finally started the engine and drove back to my apartment.
CHAPTER 2
In the month leading up to Christmas, I went through every emotion possible. Hurt, sadness, anger, grief. I texted my daughter and she texted back, but I could feel her heart wasn’t in it.
I spent the whole of December with an iron pit in my stomach, feeling a lump rise in my throat each time I thought of celebrating Christmas without my daughter.
I didn’t get a Christmas tree because I knew every time I saw the fir smugly sparkling at me I’d remember and feel bereft once more.
On Christmas Eve, I waited in vain for a call, a text from my daughter. I never got any. I called but my calls went straight to voicemail. I went to their house, but the guard at the gate told me that they had left on a trip. I went to the pub and necked beer like I was twenty again. I went to my apartment tipsy, ready to wake up alone on Christmas day for the first time in my life.
Spending Christmas alone forced me to realize I had lost my daughter for good.
The only thing keeping me in town was Elise, and now she’d turned her back on me too. Maybe one day she’d change her mind. Or maybe she’d embrace harder her new way of life and she’d forget completely about me. One thing was sure; I was not going to die every day waiting for her call.
My sense of self was destroyed. I had been completely emasculated. I felt like I’d been taken out with the trash. After the Christmas fiasco I didn’t bother to call my daughter anymore. She had my number if she wanted to reach me.
I needed a change of scenery and I needed it now! Things weren’t the same and I didn’t want to stay in town anymore.
Then, as a sign from Heaven, I got a call from the realtor saying the house had finally been sold. Since it was just my name on the deed and Ohio is not a community property state, I didn’t need the whore’s signature to sell it. She didn’t ask for anything in the divorce, except the 30% she took from our savings, so I didn’t feel the need to inform her about it.
As soon as I got the money from the house, I quit my job and cashed my 401k. Even after paying the penalty and taxes I got a nice sum of money.
I sat down and calculated how much money could I leave my daughter to help her with her college. I didn’t care that doctor Dick was paying for it. She was still my daughter.
I made the check and paid a cheap lawyer to give it to my daughter only after she read the letter that I enclosed with it.
Dear Elise:
There is too much to say and I have mixed feelings about what I even want to say.
I never thought that making good money meant so much to you. I never thought that your mother cared about it either. I was obviously really clueless about you two. I always taught you that greatness is in the heart, not in the wallet.
Be careful how you live your life, because life is about learning to put principles into practice.
I want to thank you for telling me in my face when you decided that your life was better without me in it. It took guts to look me in the eyes while you were breaking my heart. I respect you for that.
I want you to know that I love you very, very much. That’s why your decision ripped my heart out of my chest. You have no idea how much you hurt me. Spending Christmas alone without even a text from you just killed me. Maybe one day our relationship can be healed, but right now I need to move away from here and do my best to put my life back on track.
I’m happy you found a new exciting life and a future full of opportunities. I’m sad I no longer have a place in it.
Money can buy lots of things. I never thought your love was one of them.
Have a good life.
Dad
I sold everything I had except my tools and bought a second hand camper. I paid in cash.
Before leaving town I took my delayed revenge on doctor Dick and the slut.
I sat on the computer and designed a flyer. It looked like one of those old WANTED signs.
doctor Dick Cavanaugh. Surgeon at Ohio Health Mansfield Hospital.
He cheated on his first wife and she divorced him.
He went after my wife and seduced her with gifts and presents. They cheated on me for months before she asked for a divorce.
He also used his money to buy my daughter away from me.
You can congratulate him for his new bought family at this number.
I added the asshole’s phone numbers in big characters.
You can also call the good doctor at the hospital. The receptionists are waiting for your call.
Just be careful, if he likes your family he might want an upgrade and buy it away from you.
In the lower half of the poster I added a photo of the whore that I knew she hated and wrote:
WIFE FOR SALE.
Louise Olson aka Louise Cavanaugh. She cheated on me and had sex with doctor Dick Cavanaugh for months.
If you make more money than a surgeon you might be able to buy her. Ask for a test drive before buying. She comes with a daughter.
You can congratulate Louise for trading up at this number.
I added the whore’s number in big black characters.
Louise was in such a hurry to get rid of me that she only took doctor Dick’s presents into her new life. One of the things she left behind was the family computer. It was a pleasant surprise to realize that I was able to access my ex-wife’s and my daughter’s email accounts.
I sent a digital version of the poster to all their contacts and every other person I could think of. I also printed 5000 copies of the poster and for an extra fee they added them to Sunday’s edition of the Columbus Dispatch.
I also got access to the email exchanges between the whore and doctor Dick. I copied them into a flash drive. They might be useful if they decided to sue me.
In order to prevail in a civil lawsuit for defamation, you must prove to the court that the defamatory statement made against them was false. Any good lawyer would tell them that a trial would only attract more attention to them and their actions.
When I finished my tasks, the sun was rising. I was exhausted but satisfied.
On the way out, I bought a new phone with a new number.
I climbed in my camper and drove away from my past life.
CHAPTER 3
The camper became my home during the next weeks. The first miles of the drive were quiet with me in deep thought and I didn’t register a thing in my mind. There were a lot of things I had missed because I had to work hard to provide for my family. Now that I was free I was determined to check all the squares on my wish list. I had never been more than a hundred miles from home since I got married. My last years had been devoted to work and being a husband and a father.
My plan was to drive from Ohio to Wyoming and find a steady job there. But once I got there I decided to keep travelling west. I drove on back roads discovering the small towns of America.
Wherever I found an opportunity to weld something for cash I stayed a few days. I never stuck around in one place more than a few weeks unless I found a nice view or a nice community.
Over the next months I worked my way through America, driving at the speed of life.
I didn’t try to pretend all was well. The grief and the anger were still there. Some days I was moody and cried myself to sleep. The future I had envisioned had been shattered. The people I had loved and devoted myself to had deeply hurt me then deserted me. Even when the loss was devastating, I still believed that I could have a good future, even though my path had taken a twist.
I had been three months on the road when I got a call from my mom. She and my sister were the only ones who had my new number. I’d asked them not to share it with anyone.
She had been getting some really angry calls and threats from the whore because of the WANTED poster. She had dropped words such as libel and defamation. However no one had come looking for me at her home.
My daughter had also called wanting to get in touch with me. I suppose she was angry with me too.
“How are you holding up, Paul?”
“Some days are better than others, but I’m okay, mom. I made the right choice leaving town. I feel much better being on the road. I still can’t stop seeing myself as a loser and keep asking myself what I did wrong.”
“Don’t do this to yourself, son. Why are you seeing the world through your ex-wife’s and Dr. Douchebag’s value system? You wanted a loving wife; she wanted a stepping stone to something better. You were never compatible. It could well be she was your stepping stone to something much better, a future partner who values you. By my standards, you’re a much better person than any of them.”
“I think you might be a bit biased when it comes to me, but thanks for saying it, mom.”
“I really mean it, Paul. You’re a great father and an amazing husband. You worked lots of hours to give your family the best life you could. You sacrificed college for them. You were always there for your daughter. You also stayed faithful to your marriage. This makes you a good person. You can keep your head high, you did nothing wrong. What about them? Two shallow people caring only about material things. Louise was a really awful woman who cheated on the person who loved her deeply and stabbed him in the back. Your ex-wife and that doctor are not, and never will be, better than you. It doesn’t matter how good they look on Facebook, or how much money they make. Your flyer forced them to look at themselves in the mirror. And they didn’t like the reflection. Once the fantasy and sparkles fade, they’ll cheat on each other as well. I bet Elise is wondering if she made the right choice siding with them. Elise is smart girl. She’ll figure it out sooner or later.”
“Too bad I won’t be there to see it.”
“Never say never, Paul.”
“I don’t think so. Last time we spoke Eli was thrilled by the excitement of the new lifestyle doctor Dick was providing her.”
“Well, son, not all that glitters is gold. I heard their membership at the club was cancelled. Their circle of friends is not as big as it used to be. Most of people don’t like cheaters. People at the hospital are not happy with them.”
“I love you, mom, tell sis I said hi.”
“I love you too, Paul. Thanks for calling.”
****
I called my daughter using a public phone and she started lashing me out as I suspected.
“I’m mad at you, Dad. That horrible poster ruined our lives. Why couldn’t you leave us alone?”
“I didn’t ruin your life. Your mother’s cheating did. Goodbye Elise.”
I hung up on her.
I was driving through a nice city called Middletown when I saw a mini-complex which included a food court and a multi-purpose center that accommodated passenger vehicles, trucks and vans. After a couple of months on the road, my camper deserved a bath. When my wheeled home disappeared through the various stages of high tech computerized assembly line, I walked around and I stood at a nearby school playground to watch the kids playing.
The school grounds seemed to be open to the community. I saw some people walking their dogs.
A child walked fast in front of me. She was short, skinny, scraped knees, and her clothes were old, used, ragged.
A bunch of loud girls were coming after her.
“Hey, Sabrina! Where is your dad?” a fat blonde shouted.
Laughter broke out on the playground.
I had been in her situation when I was a kid. I never had new sneakers and my clothes were always clean but they weren’t new. There was something in the girl’s black eyes I recognized. It was a mix of shame and fear, but also pride. This mouse could roar if they pushed her enough.
“I have a dad,” she said in a small voice. “Everybody has one.”
“Is his name on your birth certificate, dim bulb?” the blonde sneered.
Sabrina winced and tried to walk away, but the bully wasn’t the kind of girl you turn your back on
“Only losers don’t have dads.” The fat blonde grinned and grabbed Sabrina’s arm and spun her around.
“Do you even have a birth certificate? I hear you and your mother eat garbage. They say that your dad hated you and your mom so much he dumped you both in an alley and took off.”
It never ceases to amaze me how cruel some kids can be. My mind was now flooded with old unpleasant memories of my own childhood. Growing up in a family where money was tight had placed a bull’s-eye on my back too.
Sabrina tightened her lips along with her fists.
I stood up and approached the group ready to put a stop to things if they got out of control.
The group of girls continued bothering her, calling her names and so on, while Sabrina was doing her best to ignore them. Then the blonde tossed one final taunt, “Everyone says your mother is a whore. I bet right now she is having sex with someone to buy your lunch.”
The group erupted in laughter.
“What did you say?”
The group went silent.
The blonde stood an inch away from Sabrina’s face, wearing a nasty grin that said she’d been waiting for this. “I said your mom is a whore. The only job she could get is letting other men fuck her.”
Sabrina socked the blonde as hard as she could in the soft belly.
While the blonde writhed on the ground, Sabrina said quietly, “Don’t ever talk about my mom again.”
The blonde jumped at her and hit her in the face giving her a bloody nose. I thought it was time to stop being just a spectator.
“Enough!” I shouted. I lifted my gaze and the group of mean girls shrank back. I’m 6’2″ so from the perspective of a group of sixth-grade girls, I was a towering monster.
The bunch of girls looked at me and ran away carrying the fat blonde with them. The blonde was grabbing her stomach and cussing.
As I approached Sabrina, she stared at me with a resigned look in her eyes. I tried to calm her.
“I know how it feels to be bullied. I was bullied myself when I was around your age,” I confessed. I stood a few inches away from her to show her I had no intention of hurting her.
“I’d be scared, if I were you. Here have this.” I offered her a tissue to clean her nose.
Sabrina took a seat on a bench and dabbed at her nose with the tissue.
“Someone is going to come and take me to the Principal’s office. They always do.” She informed me.
“I’d like to go with you and tell them what happened here,” I offered sitting at her side.
She didn’t nod, but something changed behind her eyes, as if she were reassessing me. She watched me, her eyes taking in everything from the unflinching gray of me eyes to the tips of my dusty sneakers.
As Sabrina predicted, someone came looking for her. She introduced herself as the Principal’s secretary and asked me who I was. I informed her that I was passing by and I had witnessed the whole scene.
She guided us through some hallways and finally stood at the closed door that read Principal and knocked.
“Come in,” a female voice invited from the inside.
“There’s been a fight on the playground.” The Secretary said.
The principal of Middletown Elementary looked as if Fräulein Rottenmeier and Lord Voldemort had produced a child.
“What happened?”
“We’ve got one in the nurse’s office with a bellyache the size of the Sears Tower.” She pointed at me and said, “This man says he saw what happened.”
“Call the parents,” The Principal ordered.
“Already done.”
Sabrina winced.
“Want to tell me what happened out there, Mr…?” The Principal asked. She glanced at my wrinkled shirt and worn out jeans which I hadn’t had time to change.
“Paul Olson.” I extended my hand she shook it. She had a tight grip. Her eyes never left mine.
She offered me a seat and I told her everything that had transpired in the playground, adding a few personal comments about bullies.
At that moment, a woman entered the Principal’s office. She was in her thirties and wearing a waitress uniform.
“What happened?” asked the woman, whom I supposed was Sabrina’s mother.
“I messed up.” Sabrina said.
“What the hell?” her mother’s mouth tightened.
Sabrina held out her hand. Without missing a beat, her mother reached into the pocket of her uniform and pulled out a quarter.
Noticing the curious expression on our faces, the mother shrugged sheepishly. “I’m not supposed to swear.”
The Principal nodded. “Go with Mrs. Taylor, Sabrina, while I talk to your mother.”
Sabrina stood up and left the office. Nobody asked me to leave so I sat there, curious about the whole situation.
“According to his man, some girls were teasing Sabrina.”
“About what?” the mother asked, but it was obvious she already knew.
“Being dumb, not having a father, about being poor…” I offered.
The mother cursed again.
“She took offense.” The Principal went on.
“Why shouldn’t she?” the mother snapped.
“She hit Nelly Welch so hard the girl is now in the nurse’s office. Fighting isn’t allowed in school,” the Principal snapped.
“From the looks of my daughter, she wasn’t the only kid throwing punches. And if I remember the Welch girl, she’s a fat, tall creature who shouldn’t be allowed out of her cage.”
I fought hard not to laugh.
“Be that as it may, they’re both suspended.”
“Fine by me.” Sabrina’s mother stood. “When can she come back to school?”
“In two days.” The Principal tilted her head. “Will she be upset?”
“She’ll be thrilled. I’ve never understood why you people think it’s a punishment to send kids home. The only ones who’d be worried about missing class are the ones who’d never get sent home in the first place. My problem is who’s going to babysit her while I’m at work.”
The Principal grimaced as if she’d swallowed a lemon. She stood up and followed us to the door.
CHAPTER 4
Sabrina was waiting for her mother outside.
“You’re suspended for two days,” her mother informed her. Then she turned to me and said, “I think we haven’t been properly introduced Mr…”
“Paul.” I said extending my hand.
She shook it. “I’m Mary. Sabrina’s mother as I’m sure you already figured. You stood up for my daughter, thank you. She really needs someone in her corner. I’m afraid I can’t be there for her as much as she deserves.”
“Am I in trouble?” Sabrina asked once we were outside.
“Who started it?”
“Not me.”
Sabrina’s mother looked at me looking for reassurance and I nodded.
“I tried to walk away,” Sabrina added.
I nodded again.
“That’s when I got this.”
She held up his right arm, where new finger-size bruises had begun to form.
Her mother rubbed her forehead.
“How about talking to them?”
Sabrina pointed to her skinned knees, then to her bloody nose.
“The girl gave you a bloody nose, then you slugged her?”
Sabrina squirmed, looked at me, and I gave her a look that I hoped it meant ‘you’re on your own’.
“Not exactly.” She finally said.
So she gave her mother a short but accurate version of the events.
“Was she calling you names?”
“Some.”
“Sticks and stones, Sabrina.”
I knew as well as anyone that names could hurt.
“What else?” her mother asked.
“She said you…”
Her mother waited.
“I what?”
“Never mind.”
“Sabrina…”
“She said you were a whore,” Sabrina blurted.
I watched Mary’s face and confirmed that names could still hurt.
“Not like I haven’t heard that before,” she said. “You’re not in trouble but I am. Social Services is already after us. I can’t risk us losing you because I left you alone without supervision. You know quite well I can’t pay a nanny. How am I supposed to work if you’re not at school?”
I cleared my throat to draw their attention and offered. “Maybe I can offer you a temporary solution.”
Mary looked at me with a puzzled look on her face, then she looked at Sabrina and she moved her head up and down with a small smile.
“I just got to town and I need someone to show me around. I heard there is a lake not far from here. What I mean is that I would be thrilled to babysit your daughter in exchange for a guide. I know no good mother would trust her daughter to a stranger so, if you need references I can give you my mother’s number. She’s living with my sister.”
I could see the gears working inside Mary’s head, so I punched my mother’s number, talked with her for a few seconds to explain the situation, and handed the phone to Mary.
She moved away to be able to talk in private and returned to us some minutes later.
“Your mother seems to be a very nice person. She speaks highly of you. She assured me that you would take excellent care of Sabrina.”
“She’s my mother.”
“She said something about you raising a daughter, Paul. I don’t mean to pry but what happened between you two?”
“I didn’t have lunch yet. If you don’t mind I’d like to invite the two of you to join me and I can tell you about my situation.”
We went to a McDonald’s and while Sabrina played in the playground I gave Mary the Reader’s Digest version of what had happened. It was the first time I had told someone the whole story and it surprised me that I didn’t get as emotional as I thought I would.
Mary was a good listener and I felt relieved at the end.
“I can’t blame you for leaving. I can see how much she hurt you.”
“Which one? My ex-wife or my daughter?”
“Well, I suppose your ex-wife cheating on you and leaving you for another man wasn’t easy, but I was talking about your daughter, Elise.”
“Elise decided that Louise’s new man could give her a better life than me. What could I do? Beg her to love me? Our relationship has been nonexistent since then. Her choice, not mine.”
She reached out to grab my hand. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I’d be happy to take care of Sabrina if that would help you. She’s a very special girl.”
“I can’t pay you, Paul.”
I chuckled. “I appreciate the offer, Mary, but I’m not really in need of any extra cash. However I understand if you don’t feel comfortable leaving your daughter with a stranger.”
“I feel I can trust you. Besides, your mother vouched for you satisfactorily.”
She smiled at me and I smiled back at her.
“I’m running out of options, Paul. I don’t want my daughter taken from me by the state. Even when a kid is neglected as the result of poverty, the state gets to set its own specific definitions for neglect, they typically center on deprivation of things like a proper house, clothing, or medical treatment, which are problems almost totally exclusive to poor people.”
“If I take my daughter to the playground, her dress looks dingy and stained next to the kids running around in clothes so absurdly bright they looked like something out of a cartoon. The wrong social worker might call her clothes deplorable or filthy even if it was just messy or cluttered, and that increases the likelihood that it leads to a court petition for the child’s removal.”
I nodded and squeezed her hand.
“My fear isn’t just based on embarrassment; it’s also couched in the visceral fear that people would assume I’m a bad mom because of something as simple as the clothing my daughter wears. As you witnessed, Sabrina also has problems at school. Also, my house needs lots of repairs and maintenance. I’m at my rope’s end, Paul.”
I looked at her and told her, “Things will get better, trust me, Mary.”
I wrote down my number on a paper napkin, handed it to Mary and said, “If you need someone to babysit Sabrina, call me.”
She called me later that night and asked me to come to her house early in the morning.
CHAPTER 5
Mary and Sabrina’s house was old and needed a lot of work. The yard too. The lawn was full of crab grass. The shrubs were overgrown, in need of a good trimming. Inside and outside, the house needed paint and repairs. No wonder Social Services were on Mary’s back.
A quick inspection told me that the electric service was inadequate and the kitchen was dreadful, with old fashioned linoleum counter tops, cheap cabinets, a gas range that was an antique, a portable dishwasher, and a small refrigerator with no ice maker.
We started with the yard. Sabrina and I spent hours upon hours in that yard, planting new flowers, trimming all the bushes, mowing the lawn methodically, and yanking out weeds at the root. We managed to get the garden into a shape where we could put in flowers and some yard games I bought for her. Sabrina began to dance in the grass, and my chest tightened.
During the next two days we became inseparable. I helped Sabrina with her homework, just as I had helped Elise. She was a smart kid. She just needed guidance and stability, two things she wasn’t getting in her present situation. Her grades started to be adequate and they kept improving, as time went by.
My job as a pro-bono babysitter, handyman and tutor became permanent. I was having dinner at Mary’s house every day. Of course, I was still sleeping in my camper.
I also got some part time jobs with a contractor. My new boss and his wife were the owners of the only bed and breakfast in town. His name was Percy and he was a good man.
“If you are as good as you said you are you’ll have lot of work with us,” he assured me.
On weekends Mary and Sabrina showed me around. A picnic by the lake. Bicycle rides in the woods. Hiking some easy trails to the mountains.
We looked over the interior of the house to start working on what needed to be done. I fixed a few things. I asked for help when I needed it. My boss was glad to help. That is the good thing about a small community: you know you can count on each other in hard times. I got a new fridge and dishwasher.
“We need to work on painting the interior, starting in the kitchen.”
“That sounds perfect,” Mary said. “I can’t thank you enough for what you’re doing.”
I actually blushed at the compliment. I sat there admiring Mary and noting her physical attributes. She was a beautiful petite brunette with milky white skin. Her long curly hair flowed halfway down her back. Her eyes were black and full of light. I was vaguely aware that she was doing the same in return.
We smiled to each other.
“I like working with my hands. I also enjoy spending time with you two. So it’s a win-win. ”
“Thanks again for doing this, Paul, you’re a life saver.”
I made a habit of picking up Sabrina at school and drove her in my truck to her home.
The first days her classmates looked intently at me with their eyes wide open.
“Paul!” Sabrina shouted and jumped into my truck’s cabin.
I focused again on being a dad even if I didn’t have the title. Lots of happy memories came to my mind.
I was fascinated with everything Sabrina liked. We read stories together. We watched Pixar movies. We cooked meals together. We keep doing repairs in the house.
*****
“Paul, what kind of lady do you like?” Sabrina asked me one day out the blue.
I immediately thought of Mary’s dark cap of hair.
We were painting Sabrina’s bedroom walls with a beautiful salmon paint with accents in a bright shade of sunny yellow. She had chosen the colors herself. She had paint on the tip of her nose, her cheeks, her hands and arms.
“I don’t care much about looks, but personality.”
However the image of Mary’s long legs and small round breasts came to my mind. I hadn’t been sexually active in a long time. It was good to know I could still lust after a woman.
“Just a plain hometown girl,” I added.
“There are lot of the women like this in Middleton. How come you don’t’ date?”
“I’m not what you’d call a great catch.”
“But you’ll never get married this way. Even I know you have to date before you can hit a home run.”
“Where did you hear that?” I narrowed his eyes.
“I overheard some older girls at my school talking about it.”
“What do you think a home run is?”
“Getting married.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. “No, it’s not that.”
“Then it must be sex. I wasn’t sure. But you guys kind of need that, too, right?”
“What? No… Well, yes… but… You should talk with your mother about this.”
“I already know about the birds and the bees, silly.”
That started Sabrina on another fit of laughter that was so contagious I joined her.
“You were married before.”
“Yes, I was.”
“Why did she divorce you?”
“Do you know what cheating is?”
She nodded. “It’s when you copy your answers from someone else in a test.”
“That’s right. Cheating is when a person acts dishonestly on purpose. My ex-wife cheated on me.”
“She lied to you.”
“Yes, she did. She went looking for another husband while she was still married with me.”
Sabrina shook her head.
“Why did she do that? You’re good man. I like you.”
“Thank you Sabrina, I like you too. To answer your question, she was looking for someone who earned more money than me.”
“Mom and I don’t have a lot of money. People say we are poor. You were poor too?”
“We lived a bit better than your mom and you, but we weren’t rich. Our lifestyle wasn’t enough for her. I suppose she would say we were poor.”
“Why?”
“She wanted a better house, a better car, diamond jewelry, fancy dresses and so on. Some women are like that. They always want better.”
“Not all of them. Mom is not like that.”
“Your mom is a great person.”
“Do you like her?”
“I do.”
“Are you going to marry her and be my dad?” Sabrina’s eyes lit up.
I put my hand on Sabrina’s shoulder and said, “I’m not good husband material.”
“Why not?”
“I’m crabby. I have trust issues. I’ll never be rich.”
“You’re not crabby, you’re funny. You have lots and lots and lots of patience with me. Besides, who needs to be rich? We’re happy.”
Sabrina threw herself into my arms, and painted my back in sunny yellow.
“I’m happy too.”
****
The next day, when Mary came home from work, she pulled me aside and told me in a shushed voice, “Next weekend is Sabrina’s birthday.”
She looked sexier in her waitress outfit than I’d thought possible
“Great! Have you planned anything?”
“Nothing special. A small celebration just the three of us. Pizza and a cake. You know she doesn’t get along with her class mates. I don’t want to disappoint her when no one shows up.”
“Sounds good to me.” But it didn’t.
I thought this was the end of the conversation, but I could see Mary had something else in mind.
“I’m worried about her. She should have friends. She seems lonely.”
“I was a lot like Sabrina,” I said glancing at my hands, which were clenched between my knees. “I couldn’t sit still. I was a problem child. Did a lot of dumb-ass stuff. That’s how I got my ex-wife pregnant.”
“What happened with Sabrina’s father?”
“He abandoned us. You were not the only one who did stupid things. I was a rebellious teenager. I ran away from home and hung with the wrong crowd. Then I got pregnant. He stuck around for a while, but he didn’t have a regular job and drank a lot. The first time he beat me I went straight to the police. He ran away and I haven’t seen him ever since. I contacted my parents, but when they knew I was pregnant they didn’t want anything to do with me. They donated me this house that belonged to my grandparents to ease their conscience and gave me some pocket money.”
“That was cold.”
Mary shrugged. “I ran away from home for a reason.”
“Considering what you went through you’re doing pretty well.”
I became fascinated with the slight blush in her cheeks and the way the wind stirred her long hair. When the sun hit it just right, Mary’s hair shone more navy blue than black.
***
I felt bad knowing that no one would come to Sabrina’s birthday party. I decided to surprise her.
I talked with the firefighters and the police officers. I explained the situation to them and they understood perfectly. It wasn’t a real emergency, but both of them still came to the rescue.
Sabrina had blown the candles, and we ate chocolate cake while she opened her presents. I had talked with Mary about gifting her a laptop. She said it was too much, but she finally agreed. She had sewed Sabrina a new dress.
Then we saw flashing lights and heard sirens and horn-honking. Sabrina rushed outside and found a police car, and a fire truck with a big sign right across the side that said, ‘Happy Birthday Sabrina’.
Middletown Police officers in uniform arrived soon after, along with the firefighters. They brought a cake and presents.
“Wow, this is crazy!” exclaimed Sabrina. She was literally jumping up and down and it melted all our hearts. The look on her face was absolutely magical. They let her play with the equipment and she sat behind the wheel of the fire truck.
Everyone stayed for pizza and cake, and left Sabrina with perhaps the greatest gift of all: a lesson in kindness.
Sabrina hugged me and murmured: “Thank you, Daddy,” and my heart stuttered.
I never thought I could love again after my wife and my daughter left me. Then Sabrina showed up and everything had changed.
I wanted to be a dad again. I wanted to have a family, a home, a life. Loving Sabrina had started to make me wonder if I could love another woman too.
Mary smiled at me and mouthed, “Thank you.”
CHAPTER 6
The next Monday, Sabrina and I were doing her homework when a knock on the door made me frown. I looked at Sabrina and she shrugged.
A strange woman with a briefcase was at the door.
“Good morning, what can I do for you?”
“Megan Crapper, Social Services.”
For an instant I was paralyzed with uncertainty, then I forced myself to speak. “I don’t remember an appointment.”
“Surprise visit,” Ms. Crapper said. “We like those.”
I glanced at Sabrina. She wasn’t afraid of much, but she was afraid of Social Services.
I let the woman in.
“Thank you, Mr…”
“Olson, Paul Olson. I’m the nanny and handy man. Would you like to sit, Ms. Crapper?”
She took a chair as far away as she could, looked around and wrote some notes in a folder.
“This place looks much better than on my last visit.”
“Coffee?”
“No, thank you.”
I stared at the woman. She was probably in her late fifties, though you’d never know it from her bland suit and scraped-back hairstyle.
“How long have you been working here Mr. Olson?”
“Some months. I pick Sabrina up from school and help her with her homework” I showed her the books on the table. “Then we do some work in the house.”
She nodded and made a note inside the file.
“How are her grades doing?”
“Much better. I suppose you were already at her school. ”
She didn’t even look up. “It’s best if I ask you.”
“So you can see if I lie?”
Now she lifted her gaze to mine. “Do you?”
“Of course, not!”
“Do you have any previous experiences with children?”
“I raised a sixteen year old daughter, so yes, I do.”
“Where’s your daughter now?”
I took an educated guess and answered, “College.”
“And you wife?”
“Divorced.”
“How do you and Sabrina get along?” she asked.
“Extremely well.”
Sabrina smiled at me. I winked at her.
“Paul is already part of our family.” She said.
The social worker stared at her, then stood up.
“May I see the rest of the house?”
“Um, sure.”
I ushered the woman into the living room.
“Nice, you have recently painted it.”
“Yeah, we did. The carpet is new too.”
She looked at the bedrooms, probably to make sure her mother was sleeping alone.
“Sabrina’s room?”
“It’s the one…”
“With the Frozen sheets.” She made a check in her file, then glanced up. “And yours?”
“I prefer Star Trek.”
She didn’t smile; she didn’t even blink.
“I live in the camper parked in the back of the house.”
She tried to hold my gaze, but a staring contest? That wasn’t a contest.
“May I take a look?” Ms. Crapper indicated Sabrina’s room with a nod.
“Go ahead.”
I wandered into the kitchen and began cleaning up while she did whatever it was she had to do in Sabrina’s room.
Ms. Crapper came back still scribbling in her folder.
“So,” I said. “How did we do?”
“Better than expected.”
Since Ms. Crapper was listening, I kept talking. “Sabrina and her mother deserve a break”
The social worker nodded thoughtfully. “I think you’re right.”
CHAPTER 7
When Mary heard the news, she was beyond happy. She had heard the news from Sabrina, but she came to my camper to hear my version and thank me in person. It was late and Sabrina was already in bed.
“Thank you,” she said.
She hugged me really really tightly and gave me a soft kiss on the lips.
I stood there looking at her, unable to react.
“Sorry.”
“Are you sorry about the kiss? Because I’m not.”
She smiled at me, and my heart went ba-boom
“This all happened thanks of you. You saved Sabrina and I. We are so lucky to have you in our lives. I can’t even fathom how our lives would be without you in them. ”
Mary wrapped her arms around my neck and I felt something I haven’t since I was a teenager.
“Do you love me? Because I love you,” Mary whispered, her arms tightening around my neck?
I looked in her eyes, black as coal. “Yes. I love you Mary.”
From the joy that filled her eyes, you’d think no one else ever had.
We kissed again, deeply. She slid her tongue between his teeth and pressed her body against mine. I groaned, the sound vibrating against her lips and her chest, creating a whole new sensation. I ran my big, scarred hands up her thighs. Goosebumps chased across her skin and she shuddered.
“Mary…” I whispered her name, sliding my palms under her skirt, my thumbs beneath the high cut of her panties.
She lifted my shirt and ran her mouth over every dip and curve of my upper body. She smoothed her hands over my firm chest and stomach, then filled her palms with my biceps.
I guessed she wanted to wrap her legs around my waist and seemed pleasantly surprised when I lifted her, settling her knees over his hips as I pressed tiny kisses across her jaw, then down her neck.
My arms tensed; the muscles bulged as I supported her weight. I swung them around, settling her on the tiny counter. My fingers drifted down the inside of her bare thighs, stroking her knees, urging them wider. She gave herself over to my touch.
I managed to hike her skirt so high it was more of a belt, and I brushed my thumb over her just once. Gasping, she arched against me.
Leaning forward, she tasted the sensitive skin where my collarbone became my shoulder.
My breath stirred her hair as she trailed her tongue lower, licking one flat brown nipple, scoring the tip with her teeth. I muttered her name and tugged her head back, melding our mouths as I cupped her breasts, testing their weight, rolling her hardened nipples under my thumbs.
Desperate to be closer, she scooted to the edge of the counter and latched her heels around my thighs, urging me forward. I was hot and hard like never before. My hands ran down her rib cage and around to her back, pulling her to me, rocking together in a rhythm that was ours alone.
Her fingers tangled in my hair. I lowered my head, rubbed my stubble against the fullness of her breasts, took her in my mouth and suckled both the silk of her top and her.
“Paul,” she whispered with tears of joy on her cheeks.
“Shh,” I murmured, inching back. I reached between her legs, my thumb seeking the place that cried out for me, but she grabbed my wrist, held it away.
My gaze met hers and lucidity crept back in, until she popped the button on my jeans, drew on the zipper, inched them over my hips and freed me into her waiting hand.
She took a moment to stroke my hard cock, before wrapping her fingers around my length and driving me to a point from which neither of us wanted to return.
Every touch sent electric bolts of pleasure jumping across my semi conscious mind.
With a single tug and a few less-than-graceful movements, I managed to divest her of her last bit of clothing, and I positioned the head of my excited cock at the opening of Mary’s pussy.
My member entered her slowly, pressing her velvet tunnel open to take it.
That drove her over the edge. Mary was like molten fire, pouring over me, her mouth melting with mine, and her body plastering itself to mine like warm wax. My own hips were not still.
She was shifting and rotating on my groin, her small perky breasts pressing against and rubbing across my hairy chest as she did, the combination sending my excitement through the roof.
I had never experienced this kind of passion before. It felt like we were both burning up. I wanted to feel all of her against me. I thrust my pulsing manhood deeper into her wetness and buried it to the hilt into her moist heat. My wet cock stabbed her pussy fast, once and again, faster and faster. We were both grunting and moaning. Mary began to chant, “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” with every thrust of my pounding cock.
We both erupted and came. My cock swelled and pumped my warm seed into her slippery pussy. I was immediately hit by wave after wave of almost unbearable pleasure.
We locked together as my quivering cock emptied its last jet of cum and started to slowly get softer.
***
I awoke the next morning, with the strange sensation of feeling another person in my bed. It took me a moment to remember what had happened last night. Then I caught the scent of Mary on the pillow, and it all came rushing back.
It was Sunday and none of us had to work, but Sabrina was probably awake by now.
“Good morning, beautiful,” I whispered in her ear.
The words brought a smile to her lips.
We took a quick shower in the camper and went quickly into the house.
Sabrina was already having breakfast. She peered at her mom, judging her expression. She didn’t seem upset by this turn of events. Rather, there was an almost excited gleam in her eyes.
Then she looked and me and asked, “Did you hit a home run?”
“Sabrina!” we both yelled at the same time.
She stood up and came rushing to us and threw her arms around our bodies, crying on her mother’s chest.
“I knew it! I knew it!” she shouted.
When we released her, there was a tug on my pants.
“Can I finally call you Daddy?”
Sabrina’s face was so full of hope, I went down on my knees. “Only if I can tell everyone you are my daughter.”
“Yay!”
We all hugged her again. We were officially a family even when I hadn’t even proposed to Mary. She didn’t seem to care. Even so I needed to buy a ring for her ASAP.
We sat at the table to have breakfast.
“So,” Sabrina said, “how fast can I get a brother or sister?”
CHAPTER 8
We wanted a small private wedding. No such luck.
When I told my boss about the wedding he and my co-workers wanted to come. Of course, keeping a secret in a small place like Middletown was almost impossible. The news spread fast.
Mary’s boss offered the restaurant for the reception free of charge, and Tony, the chef of the place, told us to leave the catering in his expert hands.
The police department and the firefighters heard about it and offered their services, so we had to invite them too. Mary’s coworkers were as excited as she was.
I lost count of how many people were going to attend. I also invited my mother and my sister.
We started the paperwork to adopt Sabrina as my daughter. I took her to shop for a ring. She was going to be her mother’s bridesmaid. Percy, the owner of the bed and breakfast and my boss, was going to be my best man.
We were going to get married at the local church. The day of their wedding arrived nearly a month after the night we slept together.
The yard at the church was full of pickup trucks and cars in every color.
My mother, my sister and brother-in-law arrived the day of the ceremony.
Sabrina ran to greet my mother.
“Are you my grandma?”
My mom’s heart melted. She lifted Sabrina into her arms. “Yes, I am.”
“You look great in a tux, Paul.” My sister said.
We got married with almost everyone in town attending. The church was crowded. We couldn’t have imagined a lovelier wedding
That day was the first of many happy days we shared together.
“Thank God for small miracles.” I said.
My wife turned to me. “Speaking of miracles…”
She brushed her palm over her stomach.
CHAPTER 9
Six years later, the doorbell rang bringing a ghost from my past.
“Hello , Dad.”
“Elise? What are you doing here? Go away. I have nothing to say to you.”
I pushed the door to close it, but she stopped me, placing her hand on it.
“Dad, please.”
“I stopped being your dad the day you threw me away with no reason. It’s Paul to you.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Paul? Really?”
“What do you want Elise? If you need a kidney the answer is no.”
“Can we go inside and talk, please?”
“No we can’t. This is my family home and you’re not welcome here.”
“I was a confused teenager, Dad… I’m sorry but I’m not calling you, Paul. My parents had divorced. I started a new life, in a new house, with a new school and new friends. It was all too exciting for me. I was dazzled by the bright lights and forgot about you and how much you were suffering.”
“You chose doctor Dick and his money over me.”
Elise stood there, not knowing what to say.
“Don’t you love me anymore?” she pouted.
“I loved the little girl who adored me and loved me. Not the material girl who exchanged me for a wealthier life!”
I was fighting back the tears. I didn’t know I could get so emotional after all this time.
A sixteen years old Sabrina came running and hugged me tight. She had grown up into a gorgeous teenager who had half the Middletown boys drooling over her.
Her eyes shot daggers to my former daughter.
“He is MY Dad now! He’s the best Dad in the world. All my friends are jealous of me because of him. You can’t have him back. You abandoned him. He’s mine now. We are happy. Go away!”
“Are you going to introduce me, Dad?” my former daughter asked. I could see she was a bit pissed with Sabrina’s attitude.
“She is my older daughter Sabrina.”
Sabrina’s voice dropped to a hiss. “You broke him. Did you know that? You broke the man who loved you more than anything, he would have done anything for you! I can’t imagine a more heartless person than you except for your mother. What’s wrong with you?”
Elise was crying openly now.
“I know I deserve all this and more. You are both right about me. I turned into a selfish person.”
“Finally we can agree on something”
She cried some more.
“Two blocks north there is a restaurant called ‘The Jammed’. I don’t have anything to say to you, but I’ll hear what you have to say there.”
Ten minutes later Sabrina and I walked to the restaurant. I couldn’t convince her to stay at home. She was as stubborn as she was beautiful.
Elise had chosen a table in a corner.
Sabrina and I sat on the opposite side.
“This is your show, Elise. Say your piece and go back to your glamorous life.”
She sniffed. “I was hoping you’d have forgiven me after all this time. I was hoping we could move past what happened, but I can see I was being overly optimistic.”
“Why? You never apologized. To be honest I barely think about my past life. Lots of unhappy memories. I lost my home, my job, and, most of all, my wife and my daughter. What did I do to deserve that? Not a single thing. You knew about your mother cheating and never said a word! And then, you made my life miserable with every visit. You were bored… I was not exciting… I couldn’t compete with doctor Dick to get you better seats at a concert. And now, you just show up out of the blue and you think… what? That everything will be forgiven? Fucking incredible!”
Sabrina extended her hand and I put a quarter on it.
My whole body was shaking overwhelmed by the emotions that I had buried deep down in my soul and that were now resurfacing. Sabrina was holding me tight, still shooting daggers towards my former daughter.
Elise blotted the tears from her cheeks.
“You’re right again. I’m sorry, Dad. I’m really, really sorry. I hurt you for no reason except my selfishness. I tried to call you but your number wasn’t working anymore. I went to our old house but you’d moved away. I called grandma asking for you, but she didn’t know or she didn’t want to tell me your new number or where were you”
“How long did it take you to realize that? When you got the last check for my lawyer?”
She nodded.
“So you didn’t text me or call me in a month.”
“You’re right. I didn’t. I was angry with you for those posters you made. People were treating us like trash.”
“If the shoe fits…” Sabrina said under her breath.
I couldn’t help but smile.
“What are you doing here, Elise?”
“I met boy in college. His name is Roger. He is from a good family.”
“By ‘good’ you mean wealthy”
She nodded.
I looked at the girl who had once been my daughter; really looked at her. I still wasn’t sure what her intentions were but I was pretty sure there was a reason for her sudden reappearance in my life.
“I’m getting married and I wanted you to meet my fiancé and walk me down the aisle the day of the wedding.”
“Why?”
She looked confused.
“Because no matter what you say, you’re still my Dad.”
“What about doctor Dick…? Are your mother and him still together?”
“Yes, Dad. They are.”
“Why isn’t he walking you down the aisle then? I suppose he’s paying for everything.”
“Yes, he is.”
“I don’t get it.”
“What is there to get?” she was looking annoyed now. “You are my father and I want you there.”
“When did you graduate?”
“A couple of years ago. Why?”
“Because I wasn’t invited to your graduation.”
She opened her mouth.
“Well… I didn’t know your address or you phone number…”
I smelled a rat.
“Did you try to find me?”
“Erhhh…. No, I didn’t.”
“How did you find me now?”
“I… I hired a P.I.”
“So you didn’t care about me two years ago, but you care now. You chose doctor Dick over me over and over again, and now you suddenly want me to walk you down the aisle. What changed?”
She looked down.
“There is something you’re not telling me. The real reason why you’re here.”
“It’s about Roger …”
“Your fiancé.”
“Yes, I really love him. We’ve been dating for years but when he proposed to me we went to meet his family. They live in another State. After the wedding we are both going to live there.”
“Good for you. Now stop stalling and tell me where I enter into all this.”
“Well, of course he wants to meet my family too…”
“Your mother and doctor Dick.”
“Yes, well that’s the problem. Recently I discovered that Roger’s father, divorced his first wife because she cheated on him…”
“Go on.”
“…with Richard.”
I laughed out as loud as I could.
“Dad, it’s not funny!”
“I find it hilarious! Now everything made sense. The karma train had finally arrived to bite doctor Dick’s balls, and it seems, you and your mum’s as well, figuratively speaking.”
“Pay Dad.” I put another quarter in Sabrina’s hand even when she was laughing too.
“My last name is not Cavanaugh so they don’t suspect anything. Roger doesn’t know Richard is mom’s husband…” she shivered. “I found out by accident when Roger told me about his parents’ divorce and he mentioned she cheated with a surgeon called Richard. I knew Richard used to live in the same state as Roger’s family, so I asked him. Richard is the man who destroyed my fiance’s marriage… Roger might call the engagement off. I can’t lose him. I love him.”
“You don’t lie to the people you love, Elise this is crazy! You can’t start your marriage lying to your future husband. What did you tell him about me?”
“That you are away a lot because of your work.”
“Really? What do I work on? I’m pretty sure you didn’t tell him I’m a welder. What’s my new job? Did you bring me a script so I can learn my part?”
“Sarcasm isn’t helping, Dad.”
“Good, cause I’m not going to help you. I really feel you’re not my daughter. I’m seriously thinking about getting a DNA test to make sure you really are mine. You can’t be related to me and act like you’re doing. Did you forget everything I taught you? Geez, Eli! I barely recognize you!”
She put her hands together.
“Dad… please! Do this for me and I’ll never bother you again. We’re going to live in another State, closer to his parents. The chances that Roger’s family bump into mom and Richard are really small.”
“What about Thanksgiving or Christmas? Will I be working again on those days? What happens when your first child is born and I’m not there?”
“Well, I was thinking about telling Roger that mom and you drifted apart because or your job and divorced.”
“Once you tell a lie, you need ten more lies to cover the original. He won’t buy that. If you tell him your mother and I got divorced he will insist that she doesn’t spend the festivities alone. What about doctor Dick? Will you hide him in the closet or under the bed?”
“He’s not happy with the turn of the events, but he’s willing to make this sacrifice for me. He’s even willing to pay for my wedding and let you walk me down the aisle. In any case, I’m willing to cut mom and Richard out of my life after the wedding if things get too complicated.”
“Your mother made a good disciple out of you! You care about no one but yourself,” I said with my voice full of disappointment. “I’m sorry, Elise. I won’t be part of this charade. What you are doing is wrong. It shows you have no morals, no values, no scruples, no conscience.”
“Dad I love him, I can’t lose him!”
“Then confess everything to him. Tell him the truth. See if your love is strong enough to survive; don’t build your future on a lie. And regarding us, I don’t think our relationship can ever be mended, our values clash.”
“Daddy, please!” she was openly crying now.
“I’m not your Daddy anymore. Your Daddy died the day you exchanged him for a wealthier man with no morals. I won’t lie to your fiancé. If you want me to talk with him I will. But I’ll tell him the truth and nothing but the truth.”
I stood up, Sabrina did the same.
“One bit of free advice: You are delusional if you think lying to your fiancé will work in the loing run. Sooner than later he’ll discover that you lied to him.”
The expression on Elise face metamorphosed into an expression of pure rage.
“Fuck you, old man! Mom was right about you. You’re just a pathetic loser!”
Before I could react, Sabrina slapped Elise on the cheek hard enough to knock her down. By the time the stunned young woman regained her feet, she found Sabrina standing protectively between herself and me.
“Say one more bad thing about my Daddy and I’ll kick your ass back to the hole in the ground you crawled out,” she growled. “Get out of this town you lying stupid cunt.”
Elise turned around and rushed out of the restaurant.
I extended my hand.
“Pay.”
She gave me back one of my coins.
“I love you, Dad.”
EPILOGUE
Sometime later, I found out through my mother that Elise had gone ahead with the wedding. No idea who walked her down the aisle.
True to her word, Elise cut Louise and doctor Dick out of her new life after the wedding. I can only imagine how many new lies Elise had to tell to her new husband to justify her actions. When you are caught in a web of lies and deceit, it invariably affects other parts of your life.
You live under the stress of being discovered. That’s what probably made Elise’s marriage fail. Roger divorced her two years after the wedding.
Louise wasn’t happy to be cut out of her daughter’s life. She blamed doctor Dick for losing her daughter. I guess it isn’t funny when the shoe is on the other foot. The situation created a rift between Louise and doctor Dick and they ended up in divorce.
Doctor Dick was a cheater but he wasn’t stupid. Louise had signed a pre-nup before getting married, so when he dumped her she didn’t do well in the divorce.
Last thing I heard through the grapevine was that she was working as a nurse again and living in a small apartment.
To be honest, I don’t care.
Today I’m walking Sabrina down the aisle.
I couldn’t be happier.