"Daddy, we're home!"
I smiled as I turned off the TV and walked out of the family room toward the front door. I never get tired of hearing those words, first because I'm always happy to see my daughter, and second because I find it touching that my 21-year-old daughter still sometimes calls me Daddy, just like when she was a little girl. Of course, she's called me lots of other names over the years, some of which didn't make me happy - and those are just the one she said to my face. I can only imagine some of the things she called me during her teenage years when she was talking to her friends.
But, like most parents, we survived those rough years, and now we have a wonderful relationship. Of course, I think my wife and I did all the right things when raising Morgan, and any conflicts were due to her being a classic, rebellious teenager. But who knows? Were we too strict at times? All I know is she grew up to be a wonderful young adult.
The one thing we DIDN'T do right was split up when Morgan was 15. But we never fought in front of her. In fact, we never really fought at all. My wife nonchalantly told me I was boring and she didn't love me anymore, and she wanted a divorce. I can't say that I was surprised. Except for discussions about Morgan, we started talking less and less. We lived together, but we were hardly a couple. The divorce wasn't even painful. I bought a house not far from the one we lived in so we could share custody and Morgan would still be near her friends and her school.
"Hi, sweetheart," I said as I walked up to her and embraced her in a tight hug. I kissed her head before releasing her.
"Hi, Chloe," I said to Morgan's roommate.
"Hi, Mr. Evers," she replied.
"How about we go with Jeremy, okay?" I said with a smile.
"Okay," Chloe said, returning the smile. "Then, thank you, JEREMY, for inviting me to join you on the cruise. It's very kind of you."
"Nonsense," I replied. "You're actually doing me a favor. Morgan never would have gone on the cruise at all if she was just going to be stuck with me."
"Yeah, I don't think so," she said, still smiling.
"Why don't you girls get settled, and then we can go get something to eat."
"Sounds good, Dad. C'mon, Chloe, I'll show you your room."
Whenever I had Morgan during school breaks, I tried to go on a nice trip with her. I suppose we spoiled her - particularly after the divorce - but she remained a down-to-earth person. She knew she lived a good life and never looked down on someone because they didn't have the same financial resources that she did.
This Christmas vacation, we were going on a cruise. I was happy she was still willing to spend a week with me "stranded" in the ocean, and I realized this might be the last chance we had to do this. As an added incentive, I told her she could invite a friend. I made sure their cabin was on a different deck so she didn't feel like I was watching her every minute.
As they walked past me and went up the stairs, I couldn't help but notice Chloe's ass. She was wearing yoga pants, which hugged her body, and her butt looked really nice. Not huge and not small - just nice. And it didn't jiggle at all, which wasn't surprising since I knew she taught spin classes on campus. I love the way yoga pants often show the exact outline of two separate cheeks rather than one large butt.
I realized I shouldn't be looking at Chloe's ass, and, for a second, I felt bad. But this was different than when Morgan was in high school and her friends came over. I was careful to never look at those girls that way. Although it was obvious some of them had very nice figures, I NEVER stared at them or thought about them in a sexual manner. Not only did I know many of those girls from the time they were in grade school, but they were young kids. Only a pervert would have looked at them that way.
With Chloe, it was different. I only knew her as an adult. Sure, she was my daughter's roommate, and she was obviously much younger than I, but she was an adult. Was there really anything wrong with enjoying the way an attractive woman looked? Yeah, I suppose it was a little creepy.
After the girls got settled, we went to one of our favorite hangouts for dinner. Since both girls recently turned 21, I asked if they wanted a drink.
"Oh my GOD!" Morgan yelled, with mock shock. "Is my father - Mr. "Play by the rules" who wouldn't even let me drink alcohol at home - offering his innocent daughter a drink?"
Chloe joined Morgan in laughter.
"Yes, you're legal now. You can have a drink if you'd like. ONE drink," I said to more laughter.
"Oh, my, this is so exciting," Morgan said. "I've never had alcohol before. Will I get drunk and do stupid stuff?"
Now all three of us were laughing.
I just shook my head as she continued making fun of me.
"Gee, I don't even know what to order. I mean I've never done this before," she continued, again with incredible sarcasm.
The waitress walked up and both girls immediately ordered Cosmopolitans.
"Wow," I said. "For a girl who's NEVER had a drink before, you seemed to know exactly what you wanted."
The waitress smiled but then said, "May I see IDs, please?"
Both girls started to open their purses.
"Now that you're legal, make sure you use your REAL ID, not your fake one," I said with as much sarcasm as possible.
"I would NEVER have a fake ID, Dad," Morgan said.
"Uh huh," was all I replied.
After checking the girls' IDs the waitress took my drink order.
We chatted about school, the cruise, summer internship plans and just about everything else under the sun. Morgan reminded me she had to see her mother before we left for the cruise, so she was having dinner with her Friday night. She asked Chloe if it was okay if she went by herself, as her mother always complained that she didn't have enough "alone time" with her. Chloe smiled and said it was not a problem.
"There are two rules I'd like to have on this cruise," I said.
"Uh oh," Morgan said. "Here it comes."
This caused Chloe to giggle.
"First, even though alcohol is included in the cost of the cruise, I'd like you to control yourself. Just don't get pass-out drunk, okay?"
"Seriously, Dad, we aren't the crazy girls you see on the news during spring break trips to Mexico. Believe it or not, you somehow managed to raise a responsible daughter."
I nodded in appreciation.
"But if I do get drunk," she continued, "I'll come throw up in your cabin. I don't want to mess up ours."
Chloe chuckled as I just shook my head.
"Good to know," I said. "Okay, rule number two. I'd like to have dinner with you every night. I won't make you do anything with me during the day - if you'd like, I'll even ignore you if I see you on deck during the day. But I'd like to have dinner together."
"Actually, Dad, this might surprise you, but I actually like you. I don't mind spending time with you even during the day. And we're happy to have a nice dinner with you every night."
I smiled. I loved Morgan more than anything, and I liked the person she had become. I was thankful she was willing to spend time with me.
"You sure I won't cramp your style?" I asked.
"Just stay out of the nightclubs after dinner, okay? THAT would cramp our style," she said, again laughing.
"Don't worry, Jeremy, I'm the responsible one. I'll keep an eye on her," Chloe said with a chuckle.
"YOU?! The RESPONSIBLE one?" Morgan screamed. "Do NOT believe her, Dad. She's a wild, crazy woman. I'm amazed she's never been arrested!"
Chloe whacked Moran on the shoulder, and I laughed.
"Okay, no more rules," I said. "Except..."
Morgan scrunched up her face waiting for me to drop a bomb.
"... have fun on the trip."
"Thanks, Dad. I'm sure we will. We're both really looking forward to it."
"Thank you, Jeremy. I'm very excited for the cruise. I've never been on one before, but Morgan assured me I'd love it."
We continued talking and laughing throughout dinner. Both girls had had steady boyfriends during different parts of their time at college, but neither was currently in a relationship. Eventually, the girls started talking about the immaturity of the guys at school.
"When do guys stop talking about sports and being jerks and thinking they're God's gift to women," Morgan asked, causing me to laugh out loud.
"Sometimes, never," I replied.
"Were you a jerk way back when?" Morgan asked, causing me to laugh again.
"No, I don't think so, but I was shy in college. I DEFINITELY didn't think I was God's gift to women," I said with a chuckle.
"Well, you turned into a pretty nice guy, Dad."
"Thank you, sweetheart."
I noticed Chloe was looking intently at me with a slight smile. I don't know why, but it sent a shiver through my body.
We finished up dinner and drove home.
I'm exhausted," Morgan said. "Let's get ready for bed. The drive today really knocked me out."
After a bit, the girls returned to the family room, where I was watching TV. Both were wearing T-shirts and running shorts. I couldn't help but notice Chloe appeared to have very nice breasts. Generally, I like very small breasts, and although Chloe's were larger, they really looked nice. They weren't giant Ds or anything - I suppose more like a small C - they really looked fantastic. I made sure she never saw me, but I was constantly stealing glances at her. Her long, muscular legs also looked very sexy.
We talked for a little bit, and I tried hard to keep my eyes focused only on Chloe's eyes when I talked to her. She was an attractive young woman - not someone you would call striking or beautiful, but attractive. She had straight, pitch-black hair that went a few inches below her shoulders. She had dense eyebrows which immediately drew your attention to her hazel eyes. Her small nose looked perfect on her long face. But I know my eyes occasionally drifted down to her chest and her legs, again, only when she wasn't looking at me.
Suddenly, Chloe stood up.
"I'm really tired, Morgan, I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Jeremy."
Almost before I could say goodnight, Chloe had turned and walked toward her room.
