Author's Note: I've been writing this story on and off for a little while now, and thought I'd share it with the Literotica community. I've mapped it out to be an 8 chapter story, so stay tuned for more!
Chapter 1: The First Step Into Paradise
I still remember the first time I met Lucia. It was during my master's year in University. I had just started performing guitar at some local venues in my free time. It was a great period in my life, it was a real turnaround and departure from where my life had been. After one gig I was sat alone with a beer enjoying the rest of the performers for the night, and some guy came over, complimented me on my performance, and invited me to join him and his friends. I said hello to everyone, and then I saw her. The first thing I noticed was her eyes. They were absolutely beautiful, I could have stared into them for an eternity. We quickly got to talking and before long we'd tuned everyone else out. By the end of the night it was just the two of us, and my heart was skipping and thumping as I realised just how special she was. We started dating, and I fell for her harder than I have ever fell for anyone in my life. She was intelligent, bold and exciting. Every minute with her felt like an adventure, and yet somehow also felt like the warmth of going home. I adored her endlessly, and devoted myself and my life to her.
Then, almost as quickly as she entered my life, she left it.
When she passed away I was devastated. I felt like a piece of me had been torn from within, leaving a wound that would never, ever heal. The days following her passing were so difficult that all I wanted to do was to throw myself off a building. The only thing that kept me going was our wonderful daughter - Bella. I gave myself completely to Luce. And Luce gave herself to me. From our love, Bella was born. She is the greatest gift I could have ever received. Lucia and I had both been broken people from broken homes, but with Bella we created something new. Something beautiful. When I lost Luce I felt like that had all slipped away, but Bella wouldn't allow it. Though she was only 15 at the time, she was fiercely strong. She held it to together, and with her strength I held it together as well.
I feel like being a single father is something that should have been extremely difficult - but in truth it never was. They say people are reflections of their parents, and I couldn't have believed that to be true - because somehow, even without my Luce, Bella grew up to be a wonderful person. I'd love to be able to take credit for it, but she really did it all on her own. I never had to yell at her to do her homework, or not to stay up late. I never had to force her to practice her piano lessons. I didn't have to pry to get her to tell me about her life - she was always honest and open with me. She had grown up to be so much more than I ever could have expected. She was smart, funny, charming, creative, and she had grown up to be a reflection of her mother's beauty. When I looked at her I saw Lucia - her beautiful eyes that I could get lost in. Her smile that could light a fire in the coldest of hearts. And of course the body of a woman who was born to be a champion athlete. Though she was only 18 I was so proud of her already. I knew she had the potential to achieve great things, and I knew she was the kind of person who could literally do anything she wanted.
When she left for university, I was miserable. I felt so lonely and missed her so much. Whilst I did tell her once or twice that I missed her, I never laboured the point, because I never wanted her to feel guilty. University was an amazing time in my life, and I wanted the same experience for her. Even though she was only going to University on the other side of London, I encouraged her to stay in student housing - knowing how seminal of an experience those University years can be. Of course, being the wonderful daughter she is, she visited often, and we still texted everyday, so I never truly felt like she had left.
As it was coming to the end of her first year, her birthday was also approaching, and I suggested we go on holiday to celebrate. I booked us a resort in the Dominican Republic for 10 days, and we looked forward to spending some good time together, just relaxing in the Caribbean sun. The logistics were a little awkward because of her exams and my work, so we ended up taking separate flights out there.
At this point it had now been three months since I had seen her, so I was admittedly overjoyed when I finally did. I had gotten to the resort first, so I checked into our villa and was just having a little wander about the place when I got a text from her saying she was on the shuttle from the airport.
I waited at the reception and greeted her with a great big hug when she arrived.
"Angel!" I said, as I wrapped my arms around her.
"Daddy! I've missed you so much!" she replied, squeezing me back.
"How have you been?" I asked, as I grabbed her bags and lead her to our villa.
"I've been really good. My last exams were actually the easiest ones, I finished the last one yesterday! I pretty much just got home, and collapsed on the bed I was so tired!"
"Well hey, now they're over, and we're here - you can just kick back and really relax. Great way to start off the summer holiday right?"
"Definitely, and of course I get to spend it with my favourite person" She said, nudging me with her elbow.
"Me too," I said, nudging her back - and this was harder to do given how much stuff I was now carrying.
"So, this place has all sorts of stuff to do - they've got water sports, a gym, 3 pools, a nightclub, a whole bunch of restaurants - the list goes on."
"That's awesome! Well, let's check out the villa first and I'll get unpacked - to be honest, I'm still kinda exhausted from the flight and everything, so how about we just hit the beach and chill out today?"
"Sounds perfect to me!" I agreed.
I showed her to the villa, which was actually really nice. It was more of an apartment than a villa really - it only had one bedroom but it had two large double beds in it, and because I'd paid a little extra, we got a small private pool attached via the balcony.
"We have our own pool?!" She shouted, upon seeing it.
"Yep! Can go for a dip any time we want!"
"Wow Dad, you really know how to treat a lady right, don't you?" She said, with a sly wink and smile.
"Oh Bell, what you are you like!?" I said, rolling at my eyes at her and laughing.
"Ok, so why don't I get changed quickly and then I'll go grab us a couple of loungers on the beach?"
"Sounds like a plan to me!"
I quickly got changed in the bathroom and headed out to the beach. Living in England it's not often that we get a chance to experience beaches like this, so this was a real treat. It was fantastically warm and sunny, and the ocean was a crystal blue that I thought only existed in photoshopped images. Staring out at the beach, I let out a deep relaxing sigh as I admired it.
But despite how beautiful that beach and ocean was - it wasn't the most beautiful thing I would see that day. 20 minutes after I had gotten our loungers, Bella came over and found me - and honestly, she was an astonishing sight to behold.
She was wearing a peach/orange coloured tankini top and a matching high waisted bikini bottom. She was my daughter, but I could not help but admire her. All those years of sports and hard work at the gym had given her an incredible figure - she was this perfect combination of muscular and curvy, and he skin was a beautiful shade of olive. I'm certain that there wasn't a man she walked past that didn't turn his head or lose his gaze to follow her. She wasn't just beautiful, she was quite literally perfect.
"Hey Daddy," She said, as she sat down on the lounger next to me.
"Hey angel, looking good!" I said, unable to stop myself from giving her a compliment.
"Not so bad yourself! How many abs have we got going on here now?" She said, reaching across to pat my stomach.
"Oh hush! You cheeky girl!" I said, batting her away and laughing.
We spent the rest of the day reading, lounging, and of course enjoying a few dips in the ocean whenever we got too hot. By the evening, we were completely relaxed - I'm sure the many cocktails we sipped during the day contributed to that as well.
As the sun began to set, in a glorious range of oranges and reds, we decided to shower up and head out to dinner. The resort had a whole bunch of different restaurants - enough for us to eat somewhere different everyday.
When she emerged from the bathroom after getting ready, I couldn't help by tease her over her outfit choice.
"Remind me something Bella, are you studying a joint honours in Computer Science and Law, or fancy French modelling?"
"What are you on about?" She said, starting to giggle
"Nothing! It's just that outfit - a matching blue tartan tank top and mini skirt, white tennis shoes...and an exposed mid-riff? So chic - c'est magnifique!"
"Oh screw you Dad! I look fabulous, and you know it!"
"Only kidding angel - I can't disagree, you do look fabulous! Do they make a men's tartan skirt and tank top to match?"
"I'm pretty sure you're just after a kilt, Dad" Bella said, with a wink and a playful tilt of her head.
I loved messing around with her. Despite all the sadness we'd had in our life, Bella had a wonderful, lively sense of humour. It was this amazing spark she brought into any room she entered.
Of course, I certainly couldn't disagree that she looked fabulous.
We walked to dinner, arm in arm. We used to walk like this all the time, and I always enjoyed the closeness. I loved being the perfect gentleman to my perfect lady.
Over dinner we talked about all sorts of things, from my job, to her studies, and even came to the history of the Dominican Republic itself.
"Y'know, this place used to have this really evil dictator - 'El Jefe' they called him" She said.
"Oh really? Did you read up on the Dominican Republic before you came out?" I asked.
"Well, not really, I read this book - 'The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao' and a lot of it's set in the Dominican Republic. It's really good, it's really dark, but it's also a beautiful story."
