A steady beep, beep, beep was the only noise in the room aside from the gentle drone of orchestral lullabies and the steady breathing of the two most perfect and precious things in my life. One of them was my only daughter, Darla, a beauty like no other who had a heart of gold. The other was my newborn son, or as everyone else would know him as, was my grandson. The labor had lasted a full forty-eight hours and it had a great deal of complications. At first the doctor had wanted to perform a caesarian section, but my daughter would have nothing of it. Somehow she knew that the baby would come out just fine on itâs own and she didnât care what danger it brought to herself.
Talus, my new son had arrived in the outside world as a perfectly healthy baby. He weighed seven pounds seven ounces and was twenty inches long. Yet, it wasnât Talus that I was worried about. Instead it was Darla. The labor had almost taken her very life away and the doctors had fought hard to keep her alive. Now here she was before me, asleep and under close and constant watch by the nurses and doctors. They said that she would live but that her life couldnât be as it had before. Her heart was weakened severely and it would be awhile before she got out of the hospital.
I walked over to the crib, if thatâs what you want to call it, where Talus lay sleeping. Lightly I touched his delicate, tiny little fingers, thinking back to how all of this had come to be. It was quite a story. Would you like to hear it? OK. I suppose I should start at the beginning.
Darla was born twenty years ago in much the same way as Talus was born today. The only difference being that Darlaâs mother had not lived more than a day after the event. I was left to care for my daughter alone. Both of my parents were dead and I had no siblings, so there was no one on my side of the family that could help me out. And my wifeâs family would have nothing to do with me or with Darla. They deemed me unfit for their precious daughter and considered their granddaughter a bastard child.
So there I was, totally alone with only a newborn and nowhere to go. I wouldnât be able to keep working, at least not until she was old enough that I could leave her at a day care. I had no choice but to seek out the help of social services and welfare. I hated to have to do it but I wanted to give my daughter everything I could.
The first seven years were rocky to say the least and there were several times when Darla had been placed in a foster home until I could get things secured at home. She hated those foster homes and that she had to be in them. Yet, amazingly she never blamed me. She knew that it wasnât my fault that we had to live as we did and she understood. It was as if she had been born with a mind and spirit of a very wise woman, yet was in the body of a child. That was one of the many reasons why Darla was and is so special to me.
By the time Darla was ten things were relatively normal. We had been able to get off of welfare and had a small place that we called home. I had a steady job working as a janitor in one of the nearby schools, and although it didnât give much money, it gave me enough to keep my daughter fed, clothed, and with a roof over her head. Although very poor compared to those around us, we were for the most part very happy. We had each other for love and support and to me; we were rich with happiness rather than wealth.
When Darla turned eighteen and graduated high school a few months after her birthday, I couldnât have been happier. She had plans to go to college and with the help of some scholarships she would be able to. It looked as if things were getting better. It was graduation night, though, when our father daughter relationship first changed. She had come home early from the celebration party claiming that all the other kids wanted to do was make out and drink when they werenât supposed to be drinking. Darla didnât want to have anything to do with that. I was very proud of her and knew that I had raised my baby right.
Later that same evening there was a terrible thunderstorm. High, howling winds, murderous hail, and a great deal of lighting and thunder. Darla had always been frightened of storms for a reason we could never truly figure out. That night was no exception. As she always did when there was a storm she came to my room and woke me up, asking if she could lie next to me until the storm was over. I pulled the covers aside and patted the bed. With a small smile she lay down and cuddled up against me. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight and hummed one of her favorite lullabies from when she was little. After awhile we had both fallen asleep again.
I donât recall what time it was but it had to have been at least nearing dawn but still a ways from it. The soft touch, of a hand caressing my arms, chest and stomach, woke me. Her melodic voice and warm breath whispered in my ear, âPapa. I love you papa. More than anything I love you.â I rolled over to face her, placing my hand on her side, a warm smile on my face. With a kiss to her forehead I replied, âI love you to Darla.â
Darlaâs gentle caress had never wavered, even when I had rolled to face her. Yet now it was becoming a little bolder with each passing moment. âPapa I love you. I need you to do something for me though. Something very important.â
Concerned and curious as to what she might need me to do I said, âYou know Iâd do anything for you my sweet. What is it you need?â
She licked her perfect pink lips and took a deep breath. It must be something very important for her to do that before saying what she needed. âI need you to make love to me papa. I want you to take my virginity.â Darla turned her eyes downward, obviously scared of what my reaction and answer would be. I was shocked to say the very least. First to know that she was still a virgin, and second to discover that she wanted, no, needed me to be her first. I knew that it wasnât right morally, it wasnât even right legally. But how could I deny someone so precious to me, something she wanted and needed?
âAre you certain this is what you want Darla? You donât want to wait for a nice man to come along, marry you and give you children?â