The sound of the front door slamming shut woke Jenni from her dreams. She smiled as she wriggled deeper into her warm comforter, softly sighing with contentment, still half asleep. She felt so relaxed it was as though she was floating on a cloud. And, in many ways, she was. She was so happy that her Daddy loved her as much as she loved him. She cuddled closer into his side, the heat of his body so comforting. The weight of his arm, slung over her body as they slept, so reassuring. Right at this moment Jenni felt happier and safer than she ever had in her life. This was what she wanted, to be in her Daddy's arms as they slept together, sated from their lovemaking.
Jenni was startled to full wakefulness as she heard the sound of cupboard doors in the kitchen downstairs being slammed closed. Jumping to a sitting position she leant down over her sleeping father. "Daddy! Daddy!" Her whispered words frantic as she tried to rouse him. "Daddy! You have to get up!"
Slowly her father's eyes fluttered open and he reached up to hook her neck with his hand and started to pull his daughter's lips to his, "Daddy! She is home!"
His dark eyes widening her father leapt from her bed and scrabbled for his clothes. Jenni smiled as she watched, seeing her handsome Daddy scrabble in the dim lamplight for his clothes. Grabbing his jeans, and foregoing his shorts, he pulled them on. "Jenni, I am so sorry! This should never have happened!"
Sitting in her bed, the comforter around her waist, Jenni smiled as she heard him speak. "Daddy, it was perfect. I love you so much." His eyes lingered for a long moment on her naked breasts, her nipples already peaking under his gaze.
"It was perfect baby. And I love you too."
They looked into each other's eyes, smiling as they shared a moment of intimate recognition of each other.
There was a creak from the bottom step of the staircase and the magic of the moment was broken. Jenni jumped from her bed and grabbed her father's shorts, shoving them under her pillow as he pulled his shirt over his head. He turned from Jenni and walked towards the door, paused and turning back put his hand on the back of her head and pulled her to him.
"Later baby, later." He kissed her deeply, his tongue probing her mouth as he slid a hand down to cup one of her ass cheeks.
Then he was gone. Jenni stood, naked, in the middle of her bedroom floor. So much had happened in just a few hours. And she had loved every moment of it. She had become a woman. And she had become her Daddy's.
Trying to ignore the muted, angry voices coming from her parent's bedroom Jenni reached for her pyjamas. She tossed them into the wicker laundry basket in the bottom of her closet and walked across the floor to her drawers. She opened the drawers and took out a clean pair of pyjamas and put on the top, leaving the shorts in the drawer.
Climbing back into bed, she heard the voices grow louder as the argument escalated. She pursed her lips and nestled under the comforter. The dent in her pillow, made by her father's head, caused her heart to clench. She wriggled trying to get comfortable, using the pillow and comforter to cover her ears. Trying to block out the sounds of her parent's fight. Resisting her urge to run to her father.
In her attempts to get comfortable one of her hands slid under the pillow. Her fingers felt the material of her father's shorts. She pulled them out and held them to her face, her hot tears of frustration at the now blazing row in the room next door soaking the fabric. A door slamming made her jump and she heard her father shouting, "No! This time I am leaving!"
Jenni's heart stopped as she heard his words. 'Leaving'? Surely he wasn't leaving. How could her Daddy leave? She lay rigid in her bed, listening to her parents, the hated filled words of their argument shaking her to her core but second to the fear that her father was, indeed, leaving. Surely he wouldn't leave her. She couldn't bear it if her Daddy left.
A deep sob wracked her body, her emotions raw from all that had taken place that evening. She clutched her father's shorts to her breasts and felt the burn of her tears as they streamed down the sides of her face as she lay on her side. The fighting continued, the words unheard by Jenni as she felt the pain of her fear claw at her. Then silence as the door to her parent's bedroom was slammed shut with such force the house rattled.
Complete silence.
The sobs subsiding, Jenni turned to face the door, straining to hear any movements. But there were none. There was nothing but silence.
Jenni couldn't understand what was happening. There had been a fight, a door slammed, but no one had gone down the stairs. What was going on? And more importantly, was her Daddy alright? She lay for five agonising minutes, watching the hands on her old fashioned alarm clock ticking away each second. Finally, she couldn't bear it anymore and quietly got out of bed. She grabbed her robe from the hook on the door and put it on, tying the sash with a loose knot.
Pressing her ear to the door Jenni listened for any sounds, but there were none. Slowly she turned the door handle and eased the door open. Peering out she could see nothing in the gloom of the night. The lights downstairs were off and the only illumination was that cast through the crack of her door from the dim lamp.
"Jenni, you should be in bed." Her father's hushed tones were enough to startle Jenni and she let out a small yelp of surprise. Opening the door wider she was able to make out the figure of her father sitting on the top step of the staircase.
Looking quickly to the door of her parent's bedroom and seeing that there was no light shining from under it she moved quietly across the hall to sit by her father. She leant against his side and rested her head on his shoulder, "I am sorry she treats you that way, Daddy." Her whispers only just reaching his ear.
"It isn't all her fault, baby. It really isn't." Jenni lifted her head to look at her father's face as she heard the tones of exhaustion and resignation in his voice.
"But Daddy..." Jenni was cut off by her father placing a finger over her lips.
"Jenni, despite everything, despite what has happened tonight between us, she is still your mother and I can't let you think it is all her fault. It just happened..." His voice trailed off and Jenni pressed a kiss to the finger he still held over her lips.
"Are you really leaving Daddy?" Jenni's voice was small and she held her breath as she waited for his answer.
"No. I really should, but how can I leave now?" His eyes burned into hers as they sat closely together on the step. "How can I ever leave you, Jenni?" His daughter had brought him back from the brink of despair. For months he had been in a place he had struggled to keep control of. Now, with Jenni's love, he could see a point in life, a future.