This is a longer story than I've written in this genre before. So if you're looking for a quickie, you can probably find something more to your taste. For anyone wanting more of a story than just erotica, I sincerely hope you enjoy my efforts. And just to make sure anyone reading this is aware, this story will contain incest. It's just going to take awhile to get there. So if incest isn't your thing, you might want to move along. If it is, have patience.
All characters in this work of fiction engaged in any sort of sexual activity are 18 years of age or older
Chapter One: A Shock to the System
"Here's your Angry Orchard, Daddy. And one for me, of course." My daughter dropped onto the couch next to me, splashing a bit of the cider out of the top of her bottle. She giggled and licked her hand. She looked over at me, smirking. "Can't let alcohol go to waste, right?"
I just smiled, put my arm around her, kissed her cheek, and took a sip of my drink.
My little girl - not so little anymore, honestly. She's 22, smart, caring, kind, adorable, and just an amazing person. I could never understand how I raised such an incredible human being. Of course, much of the credit goes to my late wife, gone these last 8 years, a victim of cancer. I was only 32 when she was diagnosed; my wonderful Nikki was just 14. I tried hard, every day, to let her know that Mom and I loved her very much, and that even though Mom was sick, it didn't change the fact that we were both with her, always.
My wife, my partner, my best friend, my high school sweetheart, Meg, passed away a mere two years later after putting up a hell of a fight. The
only
thing that kept me from blowing my brains out was Nikki. Not just because I couldn't put her through the loss of both parents, but because she gave me something to live
for
. Meg came from a comfortably well-off family; the behest from her parents, the house we lived in, was Meg's childhood home and completely paid off, plus what her insurance policy provided us, allowed me to quit my job and get part-time work, leaving me free to spend all my free time with Nikki, whenever she wanted to spend time with her old dad.
When Meg got sick, Nikki quit all her extracurricular activities. We both tried to get her to stay involved, to build her activities and college resume. We wanted her to keep planning for, and building, her future. She wouldn't hear of it. Nikki's always been very strong-willed. Very focused. When she made up her mind about something, neither Heaven nor Hell could compel her to change it.
So from the time she was 14 until Meg died, the three of us spent every waking moment together. Nikki dropped out of school, instead choosing to be homeschooled so we could spend more time together as a family. She kept up with her closest friends, invited them over frequently, and had as active a social life as possible, under the circumstances. I'd occasionally have to put my foot down to force her to leave the house and hang out with friends while Mom napped. The little brat must have hidden a camera in our bedroom, though, because - without fail - whenever Mom woke up from her nap, Nikki would come waltzing through the door no more than 20 minutes later.
We buried Meg in late May. That first week I couldn't bear the thought of even stepping into the bedroom I'd shared with my wife. I slept on the couch and just wore the clothes that'd been in the dryer the night my wife passed away. After a long day of just sitting quietly together, grieving, when I noticed Nikki starting to yawn, I'd take her up to her room and tuck her in. She'd hold my hand and wouldn't let me leave the room until she was asleep.
Occasionally, while sitting on the couch, trying to desperately fall asleep myself, drinking a bit too much, I'd hear her crying, or calling out. I'd rush to her room, tuck the covers around her, lay down next to her and stroke her arms softly until she went back to sleep. Then back to the couch, another drink, and I'd finally pass out.
Invariably, I'd wake up to the smell of breakfast being prepared, the sounds of Nikki moving around in the kitchen, humming to whatever music was piping through her ear buds. She'd dance into the den, kiss me on the cheek with a, "Morning, Daddy," and bounce back into the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, "Breakfast in 20. Get your butt moving!"
About a week and a half past my wife's burial, when I was insisting Nikki go to bed, she pulled me by the hand up to her room, crawled under the covers and asked that I just stay and talk with her for awhile. We talked until dawn, about everything. We hadn't really talked to each other about Meg's death, and grieving, or anything, really. We'd had two years to prepare for my wife to die, and in the end it was partially a relief, to see her suffering finally end.
We talked about it all, and began healing. We'd both be healing for the rest of our lives, but at least it started. We drifted off sometime after sunup, and when I woke, she was snuggled up to me like when she was really little and a bad dream had scared her.
After that, she insisted that I snuggle with her every night. So I'd snuggle her and run my fingertips lightly over her back until she drifted off, then I'd head down to the couch if I didn't drift off to sleep first. When July rolled around, I decided I'd avoided my bed long enough. I tucked Nikki in, held her until she drifted off, and went to my lonely bedroom. I didn't sleep much that night. I think I sobbed for most of it.
The next day I told Nikki that she was going back to school. She needed to get back into the world outside, getting used to people again, and schedules imposed from the rules rather than by an illness.
That did
not
go over well. It was the first real fight we ever had. She knew I was devastated, and lost, and hopeless. She was unwilling to leave me alone just to go to school. She argued that even with Mom's illness, she had advanced in her studies to college freshman level, and that finishing High School was a waste of time.
Round and round and round, for 2 days we screamed, plead, reasoned, yelled, begged, argued, and fussed. I finally got my way. I told her she had two choices - she could go back to school, or she could run away. Oh, was she
pissed
! But back to school she went.
Gods, it hurt! The first couple of days I was basically Forrest Gump. I'd walk her to the door, kiss her on the cheek, and wave her goodbye for her half mile walk to school in our small Texas town. Then I'd sit on the couch and stare out the window, watching for her to walk back home.
The third morning, after she'd left and I watched her out of sight, I turned to sit on the couch and noticed she'd left a bra on its arm. I did the laundry for our little family, so I'd seen her bras before, but usually we were fairly neat and didn't leave clothes just strewn around. Then I looked around the room, actually
seeing
it for the first time in a while. My gods, the place was a mess! There wasn't half-eaten food sitting around, or nasty dishes, just clothes, and newspapers and...detritus. I looked around the rest of the house, disgusted with how I'd let the house fall apart, and spent the rest of the morning cleaning. I also resolved to stop drinking so much. It wasn't really a problem, but I definitely didn't want it to become one.
When Nikki got home from school, I had a really nice lunch ready for her. We spent an hour or two just talking about everything. My daughter quickly became my entire world.
I got a succession of part-time jobs, just to have something to do while she was in school, and basically saved everything I made so I wouldn't have to work during the summer. That's what I still do, even though she's just graduated college and obviously won't have summer breaks anymore.
Our lives had a regularity to them that would probably bore a lot of people. The same routine day-in and day-out, but it worked for us. Especially since we both enjoyed a
bit
of spontaneity. I'd occasionally go get her out of school an hour or two after she'd gotten there, and take her for a day of shopping. Or she'd suggest we take the weekend and drive to some little town in the middle of nowhere and just go exploring.