Neighbors

by oyster50

Copyright© 2011 by oyster50

Description: Bill's a nice guy, just a working man getting along. Life has left him battered, but he's found stability. One day his neighbor, young Haley, shows up to help wash a car. And be a friend.

Tags: Romantic, Heterosexual, Slow

Published: 2011-12-10

Updated: 2012-02-06

Size: ≈ 47400 Words

Chapter 1

So I bought a house. Late thirties, divorced, wanted a little place of my own and I found this house in one of those little enclaves that dot the countryside a few miles outside of many towns. You know, five or six houses in a little clump, just off a main road. It was a nice house. I had neighbors who pretty much kept to themselves, mostly older retired couples, somebody to wave at when I was driving in from work, or to pass a few words of conversation with when I went for a walk.

And then there were the people next door. It was almost like their life was configured from redneck jokes. The yard was unkempt, irregularly mowed. They had two kids, a girl, twelvish, and a toddler, three or four. His toys were strewn about the yard. The grass was bare under one tree in their front yard, victim to one too many automotive projects. Another tree sheltered a clapped-out motor home with NASCAR logos prominently displayed in the rear windows.

I'd met wife and husband, both pretty decent people at one level, just not exactly ready for high society. She was thirty-something, chunky, ratty brown hair frizzed from over-chemicalled colors and perms. He was chunky also. Beer-bellied, a beard, seldom without a cap on his head, and seldom in the front yard without a beer and a cigarette.

Maybe that explained the reduced price on the house I bought. Still, I wasn't there for status. I could keep to myself and nobody bothered me, but if I was off on the road for a few days, working, I knew they'd watch over the place for me. Life was pretty good.

So there I was on a June Saturday afternoon. I decided that my company mini-van needed a washing, so I was out in the driveway with a water-hose in one hand and a brush in the other, not paying attention to much at all. Washing cars doesn't exactly call for full concentration.

That's why I was startled when I heard a voice.

"Watcha doin'?"

I jumped a little and turned. There was next door neighbor girl, Haley, all five feet or so of her, thinnish, wearing an oversized white T-shirt that hung down to just about cover her shorts. Her hair was short and brown and had enough curl to do a little flip at her neck. Brown eyes. This wasn't going to be a supermodel. This was going to be a very standard brown-eyed girl. Plenty cute in a ' little girl' kind of way, but maybe not destined to be on a swimsuit calendar.

"Uh," I smiled, "Lessee ... Water hose. Brush. Wet car. Oh, I know ... I'm building a fence."

Her face looked amused. "Okay, so I'm not good at starting a conversation," she laughed.

"Don't mind me. I'm just washing my car."

"Want some help?"

"You'll get all wet and messy."

"'s okay. I can go home an' change when it's over."

"Then I'd appreciate the help." She grabbed the hose and wetted and rinsed as I washed off the road dirt with the brush. We worked all the way around the car and she did indeed get wet. In a white T-shirt. Which became transparent. But she was twelve, and I could see through the wet shirt that she had nipples and the beginnings of bulges that presaged titties, but nothing to get excited over.

"Squirt some water on the top," I said, "and I'll wash it."

She complied and I tried reaching across the roof, stretching tip-toed.

"Yah know," she said, "if you pick me up, I can get the roof better."

"That's a good idea," I said. "Here. Hold this." I handed her the brush. I put my hands around her waist and hoisted her up. She was now at roof level and supported herself by leaning across it. Her little butt was at eye level for me. Okay. I peeked. Just a little bit.

"Move me down so I can get some more," she said.

I lifted her back up and sat her ass on my shoulder and moved her. She kept working. Thoroughly wet. Completely oblivious to anything. Just washing a car. We worked our way around the car and finished. I walked to the shed to put away the hose and brush and she followed.

Turning around, I viewed her, wet from head to toe, brown smudges on her white T-shirt doing little to obscure little pink nipples that were pointing outward. "You're a mess," I said. Your mom's gonna kill you."

"Nah," she said. "She won't even know. They left me by myself this afternoon an' won't be home till six or seven."

I guess I showed a questioning expression.

"Oh, they do it all the time. Gone to visit step-dad's brother. I can take care of myself."

"Oh," I said, "well, you know if you need anything while they're gone, you can come ask me."

"Thanks, Mr. Bill," she said. "I'm gonna go change. See ya!"

"Thank you, Haley," I said. I'd no more entered the house than I heard a knock on the door. I opened it. Brown eyes looked up at me.

"Sorry, Mr. Bill, but I locked myself out of the house. I can't get in, an' I need to use the bathroom."

"Well, come in. You know where the bathroom's at." She had previously visited when my ten-year-old daughter was over for the "It's your weekend with your dad" weekends. She went up the hall.

I heard the toilet flush, then Haley reappeared. I looked at her. "You know, if you're not going to get back in your house, we need to do something about those wet clothes. I can put them in the dryer."

"Yeah, but what do I wear while they're in the dryer?" Brown eyes questioned me.

"I can give you one of my old T-shirts. It'll fit you like a nightgown. Would that be okay?"

"Yeah. I suppose so."

"Okay," I said, "go in the bathroom and get out of those wet clothes and I'll pass you a shirt through the door."

I went up the hall to my bedroom and grabbed a T-shirt out of my dresser, then returned to wait at the bathroom door. It cracked open and I stuck the T-shirt in the small hand that presented itself. She took the T-shirt and handed me a pile of wet clothes.

"If you want, you can bop under the shower real quick to get the mud off your face, too," I said, ever helpful.

From behind the closed door came "That's a good idea!"

"Okay," I said. "I'm gonna put these in the washer and do a quick shower myself."

"'Kay"

Walking to the laundry room, I noticed that the stack of clothes included a set of sky blue cotton panties. Oh, well. I was used to doing laundry. Single guy, nobody was going to do it for me. And of course on the weekends when I had my daughter over, I added hers to the stack.

Back up the hall I went to the second bathroom and showered. When I got out I donned my own T-shirt and a pair of gym shorts that I tended to wear around the house, temporarily forgetting that there was a twelve year old girl in the house.

When I walked into the living room, there was Haley surveying my collection of DVD's. She picked one and turned. "Can we watch this?" she asked, presenting a Disney movie.

"Sure," I said. I started the DVD player with her choice and sat back and kicked up the footrest on my recliner and sighed.

"Feels good, don't it?" she commented. She flopped on her belly on the adjacent sofa and wiggled and when she did, the hem of the T-shirt rode up to the top of her thighs. I got a view of closed little girl thighs and her butt cheeks. Nice view. Looked longer than I should have.

The movie started and she started getting fidgety. The T-shirt revealed more. Then she pulled one knee up toward her chest and rolled back to looking at me.

Then she jumped up. "Mr. Bill," she said, looking directly at my face, "can I sit in your lap to watch TV?"

I was a bit taken aback. "Uh, Haley, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why?" And a little bottom lip out.

"Because you're a little girl and little girls aren't supposed to sit in strange men's laps."

"I'm TWELVE. Almost thirteen! And you're not a strange man. I've known you for a year."

"Yeah, but if people found out about it they'd put me in jail for child molestation."

"Oh. THAT! Mom told me all about that. Even if I didn't sit in your lap, if I told people you'd done stuff to me they'd believe me and you'd be in trouble."

I wondered exactly what her mom had said all that for. "That's right," I said, "so let's not invite trouble."

She looked sad. "Okay. I just wanted to be cuddled. That's all."

"Haley," I said, "it's just not appropriate. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad I can help. But I don't think snuggling is something we should be doing."

"I was cold after the shower. You keep it cold in here."

"Yeah, that's why I work so hard, just so I can keep my house cold."

"You're funny!"

"And you're a cute little girl."

"I'm NOT a little girl!"

"You weigh what, like ninety pounds? You're five feet tall? Twelve? Oops, excuse me, ALMOST thirteen ... Little. Female. Girl

"Almost thirteen, you know. And I'm becoming a woman."

"In due time, no doubt," I teased.

"No, really!"

"In what way are YOU a woman?"

She looked into my face and smiled. "I got my period already."

"Oh. That makes a difference."

"An' I know lots of stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"I know what men and women do, you know husbands and wives stuff." She was still working towards a goal, and I didn't know what it was. But if I was reading it right, it was trouble.

I was curious now. "Okay, how do you know this stuff?"

"Seen it." She had a smug expression.

"Okay," I said, "what did you see and where did you see it?"

"I saw mom and my stepdad doing things. They didn't know I was looking." She continued. "An' that's how I know stuff."

"So, exactly what kind of stuff do you know?" I asked.

"What a husband and wife do together."

"How'd you learn all this?"

"Peekin' through the crack in the door."

"Ooooh," I mused, "you peeked? Into their bedroom?"

"No," she said, "Mom an' step-dad do stuff in the den sometimes, an' one night I was in bed an' wanted to get something from the den an' I got up, and the door to the den was almost closed and I could hear them talking, so I peeked. They didn't know I was lookin' an' they were playin' an' stuff."

I looked at her. She was obviously enjoying being able to share this tale. "So what did you see?"

"Well," she said, "they were laughin, so I know they were havin' fun. Step-dad was over Mom on the couch, wearin' his baggy PJ's and they kissed and he got up an' she reached in his PJ's and pulled out his thing and played with it. At first I thought she hurt him because of the sound he made, but she kept doing it and he put his hand on the back of her head and she started sucking on it. He acted like he REALLY liked that." She looked at me to gauge my reaction.

"Yeah. Lots of guys like that."

She continued, "When she stopped, he kissed her. Like, I thought, "GROSS" 'cause his thing was just in her mouth, but they kissed a long time an' his hands were under her night gown an' she was makin' noises like she was havin' fun. Then he did something I couldn't believe."

I had a pretty good idea of possibilities, but I didn't want to spoil Haley's telling. "What'd he do?" I asked.

"He pulled her panties off an' spread her legs and licked her right on her pussy."

Little Haley knew what a 'pussy' was. Interesting information, that.

"An' she REALLY liked that. She was holdin' his head an' pushing his face in her pussy, an' she started shaking an' all of a sudden just stopped. And he went up to her face an' I could see his face was messy, an' they kissed, then he took his PJ's off an' I could see his whole thing, hair an' balls an' stuff. An' Mom climbed on top of him an' put his thing in her pussy and they moved up an' down an' back an' forth an' then he kind of screamed an' just stopped moving. Then Mom got off him an' his thing was floppy an' she licked it an' sucked it. An' they started to get up so I ran back to my bedroom."

"Well, Haley, you saw them having sex. Sounds like they have fun doing it, too."

She looked at me, her eyes a little incredulous. "All that stuff is normal, huh?"

"Yep. Sure is. People can bring pleasure to each other in a lot of ways. You saw them doing oral sex to each other, and then having intercourse."

Her eyes twinkled. "Intercourse is a nice way of saying fucking, huh?"

"Yes, it's a nice way. I think "fucking" is a sort of coarse word. "Intercourse" is too formal, though."

"So what do YOU call it?"

"I call it 'making love' or 'having sex' or just 'doing it'. And I shouldn't be talking with YOU about it. You should learn this from your mother."

"Oh, she told me some stuff. We've had The Talk. I know that when guys get excited, their things get hard, and if a guy sticks his thing in me and stuff comes out, I could get pregnant. An' stuff like that."

"That's mostly true, Haley," I said. "So then you should know why you shouldn't be sitting on my lap."

"But, Mister Bill, snuggling doesn't have to be about sex. Sometimes it's about being warm." She smiled shyly.

She really did have an innocent look on her face. I found myself giving in. "Okay, Haley," I heard myself say. "You can sit on my lap and cuddle. But it's just keeping warm and being friendly. No sex stuff."

She squealed and launched herself into my lap. She nestled down in my arms, turned her face to mine, and said "Okay, Mister Bill, just friends. You know in this neighborhood it's hard for me to have friends.

I noted the silence from the laundry room that told me the washing machine had finished its cycle. Haley climbed off my lap so I could go put the clothes in the dryer. When I came back, I thought perhaps she was finished with her snuggle phase. I sat in my recliner. She stood by my side, looking at me.

"Can I still snuggle?" She asked.

I looked at her face. Those brown eyes. They look so soft and sweet and innocent. "Okay, Haley. But just like before, okay? Just friends. I mean, like you sit on your uncle's lap."

"Yuck!" She spat. "I wouldn't sit on his lap if he asked me to. First, he always smells bad. He smokes, and he doesn't do a very good job of bathing. An', you know, I really don't think he'd care how I snuggled if I got in his lap. He's kinda creepy."

I took this information into consideration. "See," I said, "that's what I mean. Some adults would take advantage of sweet young girls."

"Yeah," Haley sighed. "Mama told me about that. She said that guys will tell you what they think you want to hear." She looked at me with those soft brown eyes. "'Cuz they want to have sex."

"Yes, sweetie," I said, "that's one way to take advantage. There are other ways. Like you were saying about your uncle. Some guys would try new things even if you didn't say it was okay."

"But if I said it was okay?" Those eyes again. In the corners of her mouth turned up a tiny little bit, the beginnings of a questioning smile.

"They didn't tell you about that in that class at school?" I asked.

"Tell me about what?" She asked.

"Baby," I sighed, "you're twelve. According to the law, you're not old enough to give somebody permission, even if you wanted to. To tell somebody that it's okay to do things with you."

"That's, like, sixteen, ain't it?" She asked.

"That's right," I said.

She leaned back against me, took one of my hands in each of hers, and wrapped them around her. "Feels good to just be held. I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm twelve now, or it might be 'cuz Mama has our little brother, but I don't get held. An', you know, sometimes I miss it."

We continued watching the movie. There were long periods of silence between us. I savored the neat package that was in my arms, fighting, willing myself not to be aroused. As the movie ended, thankfully, the buzzer went off on the clothes dryer.

"Okay, sweetie," I said. "I need to go get the clothes out of the dryer." Somewhat reluctantly she got out of my lap and let me go take care of the task. She was still in the living room when I walked in and handed a stack of clothes to her. "Now you can go to the bathroom to change back into your regular clothes."

She looked at me. "Thanks, Mister Bill," she said. "I'll be right back." She was, in just a matter of minutes. She looked at me. "Why don't you sit back down? We can find something on TV, an' we'll hear when my mom and Steve get back."

"Okay," I said, relinquishing a bit of control. I sat down in my chair, got comfortable, and motioned with my open arms that I was ready for her to sit in my lap. I handed her the remote control for the TV set. She flipped through channels until she found something that was interesting and then settled back to watch.

About twenty minutes into the program, we did hear her mom and stepdad drive up. "They're home," she said. "I guess I'll go home now." She looked at me with those brown eyes. "Uh, Mister Bill, thank you."

"No, thank you, Haley," I said. "I appreciate you helping me wash the car."

She got a little exasperated look on her face. "You know that's not what I'm talking about," she said. "I was talking about you letting me snuggle. You know ... Oh, never mind." In a flash she threw her arms around my neck, gave me a quick little peck on the cheek, and was walking to the door.

"Bye, Haley," I said. "See you around."

Her eyes flashed. She smiled broadly. "I'd like that, you know, if you don't mind putting up with me."

"Well, baby, that's fine with me if you don't mind hanging around an old guy, but make sure that your mom knows where you're at. Last thing I need is for her to think that you're sneaking over here to be with me. Even if we aren't doing anything, I could end up in jail."

"That's just so stupid." She paused a second. "I'm gonna tell mom that I locked myself out of the house and that I was over here watching TV. She'll understand that."

"Okay, sweetie," I said. Inwardly, I was hoping that her mom didn't read anything more into the situation than what really took place. Haley left, closing the door behind herself. I returned to my recliner, flipped through the channels again, this time picking something that I really wanted to see, and thought. The question that was floating through my mind was, what really just happened?

And that was it. Little Haley, little brown haired next-door neighbor had just picked up our friendship to a new level. I mean, before, I don't think it was a friendship, I think it was more of an acquaintance. I mean, it was two human beings in physical proximity to one another, cordial, and that was about all of it. After today, I think there was some kind of connection. Friendship.

And that's the way it was for the remainder of summer. If I was outdoors and Haley was outdoors, she made a point of coming over to say hi and to talk a little while. Sometimes in the late afternoon, I'd sit under the tree in my front yard, sipping a drink and reading. Several times, Haley would come sit in the other chair. That didn't put her sitting beside me. She was on the other side of the patio table from me but we were close enough together to talk.

We talked about a little bit of everything. We talked about her family, the relationship that she had with her step dad, how she felt about her baby brother, things of that sort. She asked about my work. She noted that when my car was gone overnight.

It was the afternoon after one of those overnight trips that I was sitting under the tree, enjoying the breeze, and the shade, and the sound of the birds. I thought I heard footsteps.

"Hi, Mister Bill." Haley's voice. "You weren't home last night. Work?"

I parsed the idea that she was tracking my comings and goings. "Uh-huh," I said. "I had a little out-of-town job, and I didn't get finished till late, so I got a hotel room. This morning I drove back to the office and now I'm home."

"Mister Bill, "she said, "I don't see you datin' or anything."

That comment sort went with the idea of her watching my comings and goings. "No, baby," I admitted. "I sorta pulled out of the 'dating' business."

"Why?" She looked at me. I could tell she was paying attention.

"It's just not something I wanna mess with right now."

She looked at me. "You're not, like, tryin' to find a wife?"

"Not right now, I'm not." I looked at Haley, asking myself why this child was asking me these questions.

"You didn't like being married?" she asked. "I mean, I talked with Deena about it. So I know about your divorce. At least what Deena knows."

"It's not that I didn't like being married, Haley," I sighed. "Deena's mom decided that the grass was greener someplace else. She decided that she wanted to be with an old high school boyfriend. Wasn't my idea to get a divorce, but I didn't have a whole lot of choice." This was an awfully serious discussion to be having with the twelve-year-old neighbor. I guess she read that in my face.

"I'm sorry, Mister Bill, I don't mean to be nosy. I'm just trying to figure out how these things work. You know, Mom's not really divorced."

This was news to me. Haley quickly read that expression on my face too.

"Mom was never married to my dad," she said. Her expression was sad.

"I don't think I ever met your dad," I said.

A little sigh escaped her lips. "Nobody knows where he is," she said. "Mom said he hung around for, like, a month, maybe, after I was born. An' then he hauled butt. That's her words." She looked at me, her face serious. "So I kinda don't know how that divorce thing works."

"Divorce just IS. It doesn't necessarily work. It's just a mechanism to end the marriage. Some of 'em, I guess, are easier than others. I guess if two people are married and they recognize that they don't have an investment in it and they want to be going their separate directions, a divorce can be painless. I imagine, though, most of them aren't painless."

Haley was leaning on the arm of the chair, her arms folded, her chin resting on them. I kept getting lost in those eyes. They were staring back at me now. She raised her head slightly. "I guess yours was the second kind, huh?"

I nodded. "Yeah," I admitted. "I guess I was silly enough to think that marriage was supposed to be forever. I mean, two people that are married are gonna go through some rough spots but part of being in love and being serious and being grown up is that you put effort into getting past the rough spots. You don't look up an old boyfriend."

"I'm sorry, Mister Bill," Haley said. "I should'nt've brought that up."

"No, baby, you didn't know. And I'm over it, mostly."

"But you don't date? Go out 'n' stuff?"

"I tried that for a while, baby, but it just wasn't working. I guess burned is burned. I mean, I have a few female friends, but nobody that I want to get serious with. Just not the right prospects. Besides, I hate thinking of people as 'prospects'. Somehow that seems, I don't know, just wrong." This was a serious conversation to be having with a twelve-year-old girl, I thought. I really don't know why I was doing it. I guess the truth was, I really hadn't had a chance to verbalize some of these feelings.

"I kind of understand that," she said. "People have feelings. I mean, EVERYBODY does. It's just that sometimes other people are so wrapped up in their thing that they forget you got feelings."

I pondered the depth of that statement, seeing as how it came from a twelve-year-old. Apparently, Haley spent some time thinking about things that most people didn't expect a twelve-year-old to be concerned with. "Yeah, sweetie, I guess that's it. I think, for the most part, people don't go out of their way to actually be mean..."

"But they're just oblivious," Haley said.

I noted the use of the word 'oblivious' by Haley. Since we started having regular conversations I had noticed that in addition to the maturity of some of her subject matter, it was obvious that she was quite bright. Vocabulary was just one angle. She sometimes had a wry viewpoint on the subjects of social and interpersonal relationships.

"Want me to get you another Coke?" she asked.

"You don't mind, sweetie?"

A little giggle. "No, cause I'm gonna get me one, too." She had an adorable smile.

"Sure. The door's open." She bounced off into the house. I watched her depart, dressed in baggy cotton shorts and a T-shirt. I assessed what I saw: your standard brown-haired twelve-year-old girl. The countryside was full of them. This one, though, was fast becoming special to me.

She returned with two Cokes, handed me one, then stretched out on the empty lounge chair beside me. She leaned back, the balmy breeze wafting over the two of us. "This just feels nice," she said. "We don't have anything to worry about." She turned her head slightly, looking at me. "An' I'm sitting here enjoying a quiet drink with my best friend."

That was a little shock. This was the first time she'd said anything definitive about what I saw as a growing relationship. I looked back at her. "Yeah. You know, you're right. You ARE my best friend. 'S kinda weird though, with you being twelve and me being thirty-eight."

It wasn't a big smile. Haley didn't do 'big smile' very often but it was a smile nonetheless.

"Age shouldn't have anything to do with it," Haley said. "Hanging around with you gives me something that I need."

I was getting ready to answer that when I saw Haley's mom coming across the yard, beer in one hand, Marlboro in the other, a pretty characteristic look for her.

"Haley," she said, "are you bothering Mister Bill?"

"No, Marie," I said. "She's just hanging out here, and we're talking. No bother."

Marie said, "You know, Bill, if she's a bother you can just run her off."

"Yeah, I know, Marie," I said. "But really, she's no bother. Uh, you don't mind her being over here, do you?"

"Oh, hell no," Marie said. "I just don't want her bothering people." She looked at Haley. "You do that sometimes, you know?"

"Mommmm, I don't MEAN to bother people. It's just that I don't have very many people to talk to."

"Yeah," Marie snorted, "but you don't have to make up for it on Mister Bill.

"Marie," I said, "seriously, she's not a problem. Sometimes I just like to have somebody to talk to that's not work-related. Otherwise I'd be set'n in the house by myself. Haley's always welcome."

"Okay, Bill," Marie said. "I just didn't want her bothering you."

And that pretty much framed the summer with me and Haley. Every other weekend, my daughter Deena came over. Many times when Deena and I were headed out, I'd invite Haley along. I couldn't do it every time because I risked running afoul of the ex-wife. But I tried to include Haley is much as I could. After all, I was her escape from the neighborhood much of the time. When her stepdad wasn't working, money was often tight for them. Taking Haley to a movie or out to eat was no burden to me.

Besides, that had the added advantage of normalizing the idea of Haley hanging out at my house. Quite often when Deena came over, she brought the latest DVD. It took a little prodding on my part but I got Deena used to the idea that if she was going to sit there and watch a DVD, she could ask Haley over. And that was it. Perfectly innocent. Just trying to make things a little bit better for Haley.

Chapter 2

As the summer heated up, many days were too hot to enjoy sitting under the tree in the shade. If there was no breeze, it was miserable. Still though, Haley would come knock on my door, I would open it, she'd look at me with those big brown eyes, and I'd invite her in.

It was almost a ritual, a regular litany. I'd look at her and ask, "Did you tell your mom?"

"Yes, I did," she'd say, smiling sweetly.

And then she'd come in, and we watched TV together. Occasionally, we would play a board game. In July, she came in, looked at me, looked back at the chessboard on my bookcase, and said, "Mister Bill, d'ya think you can teach me chess?"

"I can teach you the basics," I said. "Like, where are you headed with learning chess?"

She gave me one of her little smiles. "Well," she said, "sometimes when mom asked me what I do over here, I can tell 'er you're teaching me how to play chess."

"Well, sweetie," I said, "you could tell her that even though you weren't learning how to play chess."

Her next statement told me a little bit more about how she thought about things. "Well, first, I don't want to lie. Second, suppose they asked me questions about chess. And third, I like it when you teach me things." Sweet smile. But exactly HOW innocent?

So that particular evening, I showed her the basics of chess. She's a quick study. She learned how to set the board up, the basic moves, and then we started playing, just so she could fix the ideas in her mind.

After that, on the occasional evening when we were outside under the tree it wasn't unusual to see the chessboard on the little table between us. It was just another thing that solidified the picture of Haley hanging around with me. Still, it was all perfectly innocent. As far as I was concerned, anyway.

Since that first little episode when she and I talked about sex and what she knew and what was gonna be proper and improper, she had avoided the subject. I think that after our original discussion, she realized that sex was gonna drive a wedge in our relationship. It was apparent to me that Haley wanted the relationship.

It was always a bunch of little things, you know. On the weekend, if she was in the yard and I was getting ready to go somewhere, for instance, the hardware store, to buy groceries, whatever, I'd invite her along for the ride. Just about every Saturday was yard cutting day. I had a riding lawnmower that I used for most of the yard. After I mowed the majority of the yard, then I had to resort to other tools to do the trimming. It became the norm for Haley to take over the riding lawnmower, leaving me to do the trimming, and between the two of us a three-hour job was cut to less than half.

One of the upsides to that was that it gave me an excuse to slip her a little bit of money so she'd have a little spending money on her own. I got a better excuse one weekend late in July. I saw her outside Saturday morning, and I said, "Haley, you wanna help me paint?"

"Sure!"

"Then go put on some old clothes," I said. "You're liable to get paint on the ones you're wearing."

She grinned and took off into her house. She came back wearing an old oversize T-shirt and a pair of jeans that were maybe just a little bit too tight. She looked at me. "Will this work?"

I looked at her and I smiled. She had that 'adorable ragamuffin' thing down pat. We really did paint a bedroom. At the end of the day, she went home with dabs of paint on her arms, on the T-shirt, on the jeans, and on the do-rag we'd tied over her shiny, short brown hair. Not visible was the forty dollars in her back pocket.

The end of August brought the beginning of the school year. I remember when I was Haley's age, how I used to look at the end of the summer with a mix of dread and anticipation. Naturally Haley and I talked about it at some length.

"So, this'll be your first year of middle school, won't it?" I asked.

"No," Haley said. "That was last year. This year I'm in the seventh grade."

"Oh, okay," I said. "Don't know why I thought you were in the sixth grade. I guess it's because you're twelve."

"My birthday is the first week of September," she said.

"So what you want for your birthday?" I asked.

When she thought about this, her face saddened. "What I want and what I get are two different things. Steve hasn't been working a lot of hours. Money is tight. So I don't expect much."

"Do you think Mom and Steve would be upset if I got you a little something?"

The sadness left her face, replaced by a smile. "I don't think they would," she said. "You'd do that for me? I mean, I'm not your kid."

"Haley," I said, "friends can do that. I mean, who's going to complain? Deena's not. She gets plenty of things. I don't have another girlfriend to buy things for."

You know, I didn't realize what I'd said. I was just talking. Haley, though, must've been paying more attention.

"Uh, Mister Bill, d'ya know you just called me your girlfriend?" The expression on her face was a satisfied combination of a smile and a smirk.

"You know what I mean," I said. I was thinking, though, that once you say words, you can't take 'em back.

My statement didn't change her expression. "Yes, I know what you mean." And she kept smiling.

Three days into the beginning of her school year, Haley came over, carrying her backpack. "Mister Bill," she said, "you're an engineer. I know, you know all about numbers an' calculations an' stuff like that. Mom an' Steve can't help me with math. You wanna help me?"

"You know I will, baby," I said. "D'you mind if we talk to your mom first?"

She looked at me quizzically. "Do ya think we really need to talk about this to her? I mean, it's just like any other visit."

"No, baby," I said. "All those other visits, they're just for fun. Or like when you help me paint. This is for your school. I want to make sure that your mom and Steve know that I'm helping you with your school work. That makes it a little bit different."

She took a few seconds to think about it, and then said, "Then come on, let's go talk to 'em." She stood up, leaving her books on the table.

"Okay, let's go." We walked out of my house, across the yards, and I stood outside the door when Haley walked into her house. I heard her call from inside the house, "Come on in, Mister Bill!"

Steve and Marie were sitting on the sofa in the den watching TV. Steve stood up to shake my hand. "Hey, buddy, how's things going?"

"Working myself to an early grave," I laughed. "How about yourself?"

"Well, looks like work gettin' ready to pick up. I hope so. We could sure use the money." He paused. "Haley says you need to talk to us?"

"Yeah," I said. "She asked me if I'd help her out with her school work. Math mostly. I told her that I didn't mind doing that but I wanted to make sure that you and Marie knew what was going on."

"Bill," Marie said, "she showed us some of the things she had to work on, an' I KNOW I'M not going to be able to help her. Steve looked at it and he said it's gonna be tough for him. So if you want to help, we cain't tell you how much we appreciate it."

"Then that's what we'll do," I said. "We'll either be sitting at the table in my dining room, in my office, or in the middle of the living room floor with our legs crossed. You guys are free to come over anytime. The door won't be locked."

Marie laughed. "Gee, Bill, you act like we're checking up on you. That's just plumb silly. Now, Haley, do you have work you need help with tonight?" Marie asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Haley said. "I left my books over at Mister Bill's house. I told 'im that y'all wouldn't have a problem with him helping me."

"Yeah," I laughed. "But the last thing I wanted was irate parents busting into my house thinking I was molesting their daughter."

Marie and Steve both laughed. "Y'all go do her schoolwork."

"Okay, Mom," Haley said. And she grabbed my hand and tugged me towards the door. She didn't realize until we got outside that she was holding me by the hand. Her eyes flashed at me above a grin. "Oops!" She said with a giggle. "Kinda lost my head, didn't I?"

"Uh-huh," I said. "That's the kind of thing that's gonna get me shot."

More giggles.

"Yeah, you giggle now. Let's see how you giggle we get into this math!" We were in the house. I looked at her. "So where? Dining room, or my office?"

"Dining room," she said. She took her math book out, and a notebook, and a couple printed pages. "You can look at this stuff. I'm gonna fix us something to drink."

"Okay," I said, "nothing with caffeine. It's a little late in the day and I don't wanna mess with our sleep. Especially yours."

She set our drinks in front of us, sat down, and we got into the lesson. It was pretty basic stuff for a degreed engineer, but I remember being terrorized by the same thing when I was in the seventh grade. I worked with her. I explained principles. I showed her equivalent problems, much simplified so that she understood the reasons why things were done instead of just taking a cookbook approach. "Baby," I said, "it's a whole lot better to understand the principles than it is to learn just the steps to solve one particular type of problem. That way if the problem you're working on is not exactly the same as the previous problems that you learned, you'll be able to figure it out."

She nodded enthusiastically. "You know," she said, "none of my teachers ever explained it like that."

"Yes, little one," I answered. "You have to understand that your teacher is teaching a whole classroom full of kids, and some of them are very smart, and some of them may have trouble getting these things. I just have one student. You. And I know how smart you are. So we can take time to do it right."

"Mister Bill," Haley questioned, "D'you think I'm smart?"

I knew the answer to that. I've been talking with his little girl all summer. I knew that she was a good reader. I knew she had a vocabulary way above the normal twelve-year-old. I knew that she took a logical approach to problem solving. She thought about things. "Yes, Miss Haley, as a matter of fact I DO think you're smart."

She looked at me and smiled.

"Now, let me ask you something," I said. "What kind of grades did you make in school last year?"

She looked at me. I could tell she was thinking. Not only that, I can tell she knew the answer to the question. The little thing was trying to figure out how best to frame it. "Uh, ... Mostly C's, but I had some B's, an' I had an A in spelling." She looked at my eyes to see how I was taking that news.

"Now, be honest, Haley," I said. "Did you really try very hard? Or did you figure out that you didn't have to try real hard because Mom and Steve were happy enough to see you making C's and B's?"

She cast her eyes downward.

"Uh-huh, I caught you, didn't I?!?"

She looked at me with a mischievous smile. "How'd you know that, Mister Bill?"

"Because I've been talking with you all summer, and the little brown-haired girl I talked to does NOT have a 'B and C' mind. Now," I said, "what you need to figure out is if YOU are gonna be satisfied with B's and C's."

"Mister Bill, I did sort of try in math. The teacher didn't do a very good job of explaining it. Not like you just did. But Mom and Steve, they was happy enough with my report card like it was."

"I can believe that," I said. "Parents of normal kids would be tickled to see that kind of report card. And if you kept going like that, you're sure to graduate from high school right in the middle of the thundering herd. Just another face in the crowd. Me, I think that's kinda like putting a racing engine in the car you drive back and forth to the grocery store. A lot of potential, but it never gets used. You have to decide, do you want to be the floor manager at Walmart, or you do set your goals a little higher than that?"

She didn't exactly look dejected, but I knew I was pressing on her a bit. "I know, Mister Bill. You're right." She fixed me with those bright brown eyes. "There's never been anybody around that I really wanted to impress. I guess it's easy enough just to get by. I can stay in the middle of the class. I didn't have to work very hard. And nobody gave me a hard time."

Now I was walking a narrow line. I mean, if I pushed too hard and she didn't want to be pushed, all she had to do was pull back and just stay away. I couldn't force her into something that she didn't want to do. All I could do was hope that she wanted to stretch out a little bit and use what she had.

"Well, Haley," I said, "this is all up to you. I mean, you can come over here for help when you get in a bind, and I'll help you. But if you want, we can do it a little bit harder, not just math, and we can watch my Haley shine."

I was happy to see when she turned her face up at me that she was smiling that little half smile. "YOUR Haley?" Her smile broadened. "Uh, first you call me a girlfriend," she giggled. "And now you call me YOUR Haley."

Okay, I got a little flustered. "Uh, I meant you were MY student."

"Okay. If you say so." Her eyes didn't look real convinced.

I watched her work the remainder of her math homework and saw that once she embraced the principles, the problems were purely mechanical. She opened up her other books and showed me where she was in the other subjects.

I told her, "Language is almost like math, with rules and structure. I can show you the principles in science. But it's not the same as math, it's a matter of what the teacher wants out of class. But literature is different. And in social studies, we'll just have to read over what you're studying and talk about it and make sure that you can keep it in your head. A lot of that's just gonna be a memory exercise. You've got a sharp mind so all you have to do is discipline yourself. And I think we'll see the difference."

I looked. The clock said seven-thirty. I sighed and said, "I guess it's time for you to go home."

She started picking up her books.

"So," I asked, "do I get the job as your tutor?", as we were walking to the front door.

I started to open the front door to let her out.

"Wait!" She said. And then she surprised me, tiptoeing up to kiss me on the cheek. "You get the job," she smiled. As I watched her walk across the yard to her old house, a million thoughts were going through my head.

So that was another step in the journey. In addition to the previous somewhat random encounters that Haley and I enjoyed, now we were together doing homework several nights a week. That is, the nights that I didn't have to work late or I wasn't out of town. Previous to acquiring my new status as Haley's tutor, I answered to no one as far as my comings and goings, like when I was working late.

Now, if I found out I was going to work late, I had to make a phone call. Haley needed to know. Otherwise, it wasn't uncommon for me to pull into my driveway and by the time I got out of my car, to see Haley headed across the lawn, backpack purposely slung over her shoulder, and usually smiling.

We fixed that into a routine too. Some days when I came in, I was a little bit sweaty, kind of rank, that being a fact of life. A lot of my work was indoors, in air-conditioned surroundings, but there was a goodly portion that wasn't. My white collar had a definite bluish tinge to it.

I remember the first time that became an issue. I'd had one of those days. Yes, it was early autumn, but along the Gulf Coast that meant that the afternoon temperatures were only in the low nineties. I'd been outside most of the day. I had sweated, and dried off under my air-conditioning. That meant I was dry, not that I smelled good. So when I sat down beside Haley to look at her work, she looked at me.

Her nose wrinkled.

I caught the expression. "I can't tell, Haley. Do I smell THAT bad?"

"I tried not to say anything," she said. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"You're not hurting my feelings, baby," I said. "You wanna go home and come back in about forty-five minutes? I'll have a shower."

She fixed me with her eyes. "Why don't you go take your shower. I'll start working on some of this stuff, and save the stuff that I need help on until you get back."

"Okay," I said, "I'll use the bathroom off the master bedroom."

Giggle. "What?!? D'you think I'm gonna go sneak a peek?" Giggle.

I stood up, laughing. "I'm horrified that the thought even crossed your mind, little girl."

I enjoyed the shower. I always did after one of those outside days. After I showered, I took the time to shave, and after that I splashed on a little aftershave. I dressed in baggy shorts and a T-shirt, appropriate for the remainder of the day. It felt so much better to be clean. I walked back into the dining room, and Haley turned to look at me.

"Mmmmm," she said, "I always did like that smell on you."

"You're supposed to be keeping your nose to yourself, little girl," I laughed.

That got me a giggle. "Uh, you weren't keeping your SMELL to yourself while ago, so why are you being all freaky about it now?" Her giggle matched her eyes. She pointed to her homework. "I got a handle on this math stuff," she said, "and now it's kinda like going through the motions. I look at the problem, an' I think about those principles, and the solution is easy."

"What about your other subjects?"

She smiled. "After SOMEBODY got on to me about paying attention, I'm not having any problems. I don't think A's are going to be a problem at all."

"That's great," I said. A thought crossed my mind. "Why don't you call your mom and see if it's okay if I take you out to eat."

Squeal! "I'd LOVE that," she said.

I tossed her my cell phone. She punched up her mom's phone number, and put the phone to her ear.

"Hi, Mom!" Pause. "Yeah, I just finished my homework. Mister Bill wants to know if I can go out to eat with him," Haley chirped. She paused. "Yeah, Mom. I'm sure it'll be someplace close." Pause. "No, Mom. I won't order the most expensive thing on the menu." Pause. "Yes, Mom. I will mind my manners. Thanks, Mom!" Haley looked at me, her eyes twinkling. "So where you taking me?"

I named a little chain restaurant up the road, not too far, and a decent step above fast food. She squealed in agreement "I've eaten there one time," she said.

"Okay, then," I said. "This'll make twice. Let's go." I followed her out to the car. Twelve years old, okay, a week shy of thirteen now, and when she was happy, she couldn't resist a skip. I clicked my keyfob to unlock the doors. She slid into the passenger seat and buckled up. By the time I got buckled in and got the car started, she was turned toward me, a big smile on her face. This was the first time that I'd taken her to a restaurant that didn't have a cartoon character as a mascot. Up to this point it was strictly fast food.

We went inside, had a good meal, and then I brought her home. We went back in the house so she could retrieve her books to go home. She called me at the door again. Another little kiss, this one a little farther forward on my cheek. She was getting dangerously close to kissing me on the lips. I watched her going across the yard to her house again, shaking my head.

A week later was her birthday. It wasn't much of a party. I was invited, as were an aunt, an uncle, a handful of cousins who showed up. I was surprised to see nobody from school. She had a birthday cake and a few presents. They sang 'Happy Birthday' and that was pretty much the party. Haley was thirteen.

I pulled Marie off to the side. "Marie, Haley helped me around the house and around the yard all summer. I slipped her a few dollars, but it's worth more than that to me. Would you mind if I took her to the mall and let her get a couple of outfits or something?"

"Oh, no, Bill," she said. "Steve an' me are just get'n caught up on bills again since he started working more hours. Money's tight, or we'd have bought her more stuff. I know she'll appreciate it."

"Tomorrow after school okay?" I asked.

"Sure, any time you feel like it," Marie said, smiling. "You gotta know how much Steve an' I appreciate your help'n with her school. She sure acts more comfortable about it. It really shows."

"Uh, Marie, she's an easy kid to work with. I wouldn't do it, except she is smart and she's really caring about her work."

We walked back into the living room. When I got a chance, I whispered in Haley's ear, "after school tomorrow, I'm taking you to the mall to get some things."

She looked at me and smiled.

"We can call that my birthday present to you."

I shook hands with the adults and left to go to my own house. I had just kicked my shoes off and was sitting in my recliner, wiggling my toes when I heard a knock on the door. I got up reluctantly and went to the door. I looked through the peep hole and saw Haley's face. I unlocked the door and let her in.

"Mister Bill," she said, "you told Mom that you wanted to take me to the mall and buy stuff?"

"Yeah, Haley," I admitted. "Did I do something wrong?"

Her face was soft, her eyes sparkling happily. "Oh, no," she sighed. "You know, you're always so nice to me. I got to go home now." She hooked a hand behind my head, tugging me downward. This time, the kiss was on the corner of my mouth. She smiled as she was leaving. I stood on the porch watching her cross back to her house.

The next day she heard me pull into the driveway. She was there beside me as I got out of the car. "Haley, I really need to take a shower and change clothes. It's been another one of those days."

I assumed she would receive this information and go back to her home and wait. She didn't. She followed me into the house.

"I'll just sit here watch TV if you don't mind, Mister Bill." The way she looked at me, I could tell that she didn't expect me to say no.

So I didn't say 'no'. I simply went into the bedroom, closed the door, and went through the ritual of bathing, shaving, and then dressing informally. I went back out into the living room, carrying a clean pair of socks and a pair of athletic shoes. She watched as I put my socks and shoes on.

"Anxious, are we?" I smiled.

"Yes sir. Sort of. You know, I like going places with you. I mean, I love my mom, and my little brother, an' even Steve. I really do. But when we all go places together, it's pure turmoil. I mean, Stevie Junior's just a little bit spoiled. Not that we go to restaurants very often, but he makes it miserable. So I'm looking forward to going to the mall with you."

I finished putting my shoes on and stood up. "Okay. Let's go."

In a couple of minutes we were headed down the road. I glanced away from the road for a moment, looking at Haley. She was sitting there, a smile on her face in anticipation. I'm not usually a mall type. Like many guys, malls are not my thing. I used to dread trips to the mall when I went with my wife and daughter. I can't say I was really looking forward to going with Haley. I had no idea how she was going to act. I had a vague idea that I was gonna let her choose a couple of stores and buy her a few things she wanted. Of course, I hoped that what she wanted was something that made sense. I wasn't particularly worried about the cost.

Being the middle of the week, the mall wasn't as crowded as it could've been. Of course, it was after school and still somewhat unpleasantly hot outside, so there were a lot of young people there knowing it was a place to see and be seen. I found a parking spot reasonably close, and Haley and I walked into the mall.

I guess we look exactly like a dad and daughter at the mall. She looked at me. "So where are you taking me?" She asked.

"Haley, that's not the way this is supposed to work. You tell me where you wanna go." I smiled at her.

"Mister Bill, about the only place we ever shop is Walmart. I hear some of the girls in school talkin' about Penney's. Can we go there and at least look?" She asked.

"Let's go, little one." I thought she made one of the better choices. We walked in, headed to the girls department, and a fifty-ish saleswoman took us under her wing. I explained that I wanted to get a few outfits for Haley. Haley looked back and forth between the sales lady and me. "Haley, I don't know enough about girl's clothing to do any good here. I'm gonna go sit over there and you can come get me when you're ready."

"But, Mister Bill, how much?" She asked.

I looked at the sales lady, then at Haley, and held up three fingers. Haley's eyes got big. I whispered to the sales lady, "and maybe four. Don't kill me." I turned on my heel and walked off to sit on a bench nearby. I spent my time waiting by watching the wildlife, the mall rats, young people walking back and forth without purpose, all trying to look sophisticated and casual at the same time. It was amusing.

After some period of time, I noticed Haley walking towards me. I turned in her direction and she crooked her finger, beckoning me over. I got up and walked over; she took my hand and led me to the checkout counter.

The sales lady smiled. "We have four informal outfits, you know, for school and after school functions. And we got her one nice dress that will work very well if she needs to go someplace special. An inexpensive pair of shoes to match the dress of course."

"And exactly how much does this exercise in good taste cost me?" I said, smiling.

"Three hundred and forty-two dollars and seventy cents," the sales lady said. "But sir, these are really nice."

I retrieved my wallet and pulled out a credit card, giving it to the sales clerk. In a couple minutes I signed the ticket, took my copy, and we started to walk out of the store. We got about half way out the door before Haley retrieved my hand, holding it in hers. I looked at her.

The look on her face told me that she expected me to pull my hand back. I didn't. I asked, "Wanna do the food court for supper?"

I got an enthusiastic head bobbed in the affirmative. We walked the length of the mall, hand-in-hand. In one hand I had colorful plastic bags, and in the other hand I had a happy little brown haired girl.

Sitting at a table of the food court, eating food of questionable quality, we talked about the people walking around us. There were a couple of episodes of Haley waving at kids she recognized. Of course at thirteen, she was still a few years shy of prime 'mall rat' age. We finished our meal, I followed her to a couple of stores she was interested in, making note of things she might like to have. Finally it was time to go home. We walked out of the mall. She grabbed my hand as we walked through the parking lot. When I turned to look at her she looked at me smiling, brown eyes twinkling, the little spatter of freckles across her nose and cheeks emphasized in the light of early evening.

"Well, Haley," I asked, "are these clothes that you really like?"

"These are the nicest clothes I've ever had. Seriously!" She thought for a second. "Mister Bill, you spent over three hundred dollars."

"So what? Is it something you need?" I asked.

"That's just it, Mister Bill," she said. "I just never had anything this nice. I mean, Walmart's always been good enough."

"Baby," I said, "I wanted you to have something nice. You're my best friend. I wanted to give you something. That's all."

"It's just that nobody's ever spent that kind of money for me. I mean, why?"

"Can we say 'just because'?" I answered, "Don't you think I mean it when I say you're my best friend?"

We were getting near the car. She let my hand go as I unlocked the car. I put the bags in the back seat. We both buckled in and headed home.

"Do you think your mom will be excited?" I asked.

"Oh, I know she will be," Haley said. "'Course she's gonna crap when she finds out how much you spent."

"Well," I said, "One of these days I'm like to see you model these for me."

"Oh, you won't have to wait long," she said. "I'm wearing one outfit to school tomorrow. You'll see me in it when you get home."

"What about the dress and shoes?"

"I'll have to put them on, just to show you. I looked in the mirror before I bought them. It looks real nice. I've never had a dress like that. It makes me look more mature."

I pondered what a 'more mature' Haley would possibly be like. It wasn't an unpleasant thought. "Well," I said, "don't make a special effort, but I really would like to see you in it."

Giggle. "Uh, Mister Bill, you made a special effort, buying me this stuff. The least I can do is take the time to put it on an' show you." She reached across the console and grabbed my hand. The next thing I knew, she was leaned against my arm. I turned and saw her little brown head against my arm. I said nothing.

"You don't mind, do you, Mister Bill?"

"Mind what?"

"Me kinda hugging you like this."

"No, Haley. It feels just right." I thought I detected a purr.

A few minutes later we pulled into my driveway. We got out of the car and I followed Haley to her house. She walked right in the door then called me inside.

She was standing next to her mom with the bags in her hands. She told her mom, "Look at what I got for my birthday from Mister Bill!"

Marie looked at the bags. "Bill, you took her to Penney's?"

I nodded. "We went to the mall. Penney's is about the most reasonable place in the whole thing. I let her choose. A nice saleslady helped her. I think she did pretty good, don't you?"

Haley was fishing the dress out of one of the bags. Excitedly she said "Mom! Look at this dress! Don't you think it's nice?"

Marine nodded. "Haley, you pick that dress out yourself?"

Haley nodded affirmatively. "The saleslady showed me three or four of them that she thought would look good on me. She said this color went good with my hair, an' the way it's made kind of fits my body."

"I can see that, baby." She turned to me. "Bill, I don't think I wanna know how much you paid."

"Marie," I said, "don't even worry about it. Haley helped me out all summer and now we can call it even." I looked around. "By the way, where is Steve?"

"He's working maintenance at one of the plants," she smiled. "He's gonna be there about six weeks. It's all evening shift, and six ten hour days a week. That oughtta get us back on our feet and put a little money in the bank."

"Great!," I said. "I'm glad to hear it."

"Yeah," said Marie, "I think he's about to get in good with that company. If he stays on top of the list, he'll work real steady. That's just what we need."

I left Haley excitedly showing her purchases to her mom and went home. Once in the door, I turned on the TV just to catch the latest news. I set my recliner and kicked back, and wasn't totally surprised to hear a knock at the door. I went to the door and looked out the peephole. Haley! I opened the door.

She stepped in. "Give me a book. Any old book."

"What?"

"I told mom I forgot a book over here. That was my excuse to come over, and do this." She pulled my face down and gave me a kiss on the lips.

"Haley! You shouldn't!"

"I suppose not, but too late! I did it. Just like you did it when you bought me that stuff. You're not the only one that has a best friend, you know. Or a boyfriend." She spotted a book on the shelf, 'Something for Dummies', grabbed it, and with a smile she disappeared out the door.

That kiss was an anomaly on the graph of the relationship between Haley and me over the next few months. We kept up the tutor-student thing. A couple of weeks after her birthday it was time for the first report card of the school year. When I pulled into the driveway that afternoon, I didn't see a Haley with a backpack, I saw a Haley happily waving a sheet of paper. She didn't wait for me to get out of the car.

When I opened the door, before I could get out she was smashed up against me, waving the paper. "Report card! Mister Bill! All A's!" Her words ran together. "Canyoubelieveit? NOBODY else believes it! The school counselor stopped me in the hallway today. He knew about it. My name's gonna be on the 'Banner Roll'!"

I responded to the joy and enthusiasm by wrapping her in my arms and giving her a hug. "I'm so proud of you, baby! What's your momma say?"

"She can't believe it! It's never happened before."

She backed away from me and let me get out of the car. I closed the door and walked with her to the house. Inside, I sat down and remove my shoes. "Haley, why don't you see if your mom will be okay with me taking you to the movies Friday?"

"Isn't this your weekend to have Deena?" She asked.

"Yeah, you're right. Me and you and her can go to the movie. But that's not quite the same. Tell you what, why don't you see if your mom'll let you go out to eat with me tonight? Just tell her that it's a celebration for your report card. That I'm rewarding you for your hard work."

That first report card set a new pattern for Haley.

Steve was off on Sunday. I was doing something in the yard, just piddling around, and I saw him walking over, cigarette in one hand, beer in the other. "Hey there, Bill," he said. "How's things goin'?"

"Going just fine for me, Steve" I said, "Marie says you're working six tens. Those get tiring after a while."

"Yeah, they sure do, but man, it's nice to get that check. What I wanted to talk to you about was Haley. I was surprised to see her report card. That's the first time she's ever done that. I guess you bein' her tutor really helped. You gotta know I appreciate it. Makes her momma happy, and a happy momma is exactly what I'm looking for." He grinned. "Know what I mean?"

The guy was really nice, just, you know, a little rough around the edges. I just shrugged. "Yeah, Haley's a smart kid. I just tried givin' her a little bit of shove in the right direction."

"Well, buddy, I just want you to know how much I appreciate it. If there's anything I can do, let me know." He turned and headed back to his house.

Like I said, the kiss was a spike on a pretty level graph. There was another little blip at Christmas time. I knew Haley had wanted a computer. It just didn't fit in Steve and Marie's budget. Haley talked to me about it. I talked to Steve and Marie and told them that I can probably come up with a good used one and give it to her. I told them I didn't mind whose name was on the box under the Christmas tree. That's why when Haley opened a present on Christmas morning, it said it was from her mom and her stepdad and her next-door neighbor.

Couldn't fool her, though. She came over to show me her Christmas present, and cornered me.

"Uh, Mister Bill," she said, staring at me. She looked like she didn't know whether to be pissed or to be happy. "I'm not stupid," she said petulantly, "I asked Mom and Steve about a laptop for Christmas. They said there was no way they could afford one. Then they pop this one up and try and tell me that you got it used. Mister Bill, this is NOT a used computer."

"So what?" I said. "It's a computer, ain't it?"

"So you bought me a computer? And weren't gonna take credit for it?"

"I don't need the credit, Haley. You're a good student. A computer may help you."

"Uh, Mister Bill, we don't have Internet."

"Dear, dear, dear little Haley. Throw me a hard one, okay? I'm an electrical engineer. I do stuff like this for a living. I just added a little homebrew antenna to my wireless. You should be able to get a signal in your house. If you need help setting it up, I can do that, but if you open up your wireless, you'll see a connection called 'GalacticaOne' and the password is 'Haley'."

This got her to smiling again. "I think I wanna play stupid. I'll tell Mom and Steve that I need your help setting it up. That way I can come over here and we can play with it." Her eyes twinkled.

I set her up an account with my service provider and cautioned her about some of the dangers and pitfalls on the Internet. She acted like she was paying attention. The next thing I know, I'm getting 'Haley' e-mail.

That whole computer/Internet thing got me another peck on the lips. I was beginning to wonder about the significance of these little kisses. I mean, something happened every couple or three weeks and I got one. I don't know what they did for her, but they left thoughts ricocheting around my head for days.

And so the rest of the year went, the school year that is. With the end of May came the end of the school year. The last week in May was a school program where various students and groups were presented with awards for the previous year. I was sitting in the auditorium when Haley walked on the stage to receive an award for a perfect 4.0 record for the year. Yes, she was wearing the dress I bought her. For once in my life I wished I had one of those loud little Freon horns.

And we were into summer. I know that when I was a kid, the beginning of summer vacation was like walking into the gates of heaven. However, I wasn't a kid anymore. And with the end of school, there went part of my daily routine, the part of pulling up into my driveway at the end of the day. Now, there wasn't gonna be a smiling brown-haired Haley waiting to come over.

Brown-haired. Brown eyed. Her height, an even five feet at the beginning of the school year, was now maybe five feet and an inch. Not that I was supposed to notice or anything, but there was a decided swelling on her chest, too. Haley was beginning to take on the shape of a young woman. I just took these changes in stride. I didn't notice any change in her personality.

Well, maybe just a little bit. Her success at school paid off in increased confidence. And I don't know about familiarity breeding contempt, but the familiarity between Haley and I meant that she was totally at ease around me.

Back to the summer thing. No, the routine of Haley waiting in the driveway when I came home, that was over. However, we went back to the routine we established the previous summer. I'd come home, change into shorts and a T-shirt, grab a drink, and go relax under the shade tree. I was almost certainly guaranteed that Haley would join me. Sometimes the chessboard was between us. Sometimes she brought her laptop. Sometimes it was paperback books, hers and mine.

The middle of the summer was punctuated by two weeks where Deena came to live with me. This was an annual event, part of the agreement between my ex-wife and me. I got Deena for two weeks each summer and either the Christmas or Thanksgiving holiday week, plus every other weekend during the year. Deena was completely familiar with the house and the surrounding neighborhood. She was two years younger than Haley, and when you're ten or eleven, two years is a gulf of difference. Deena, at age 11, was the closest thing in the little neighborhood to being a kid Haley's age. Haley tried developing a friendship but all she got from Deena was a little bit of tolerance. I mean, they played together but there was no bond.

Nonetheless, during the two weeks that Deena stayed with me, on many of the trips Haley came along, as much to be with Deena, as for the change of scenery. Plus, it was more time that she and I got to hang out together. I was sad to see Deena go back to her mom's at the end of the two weeks because she was, after all, my daughter. I don't think Haley regretted seeing Deena leave. After all, I killed two weeks of vacation time pandering to Deena's entertainment, although I don't know how my vacation time could've done much for the relationship than Haley and I had.

After all, at this stage, we were just friends. Yes, there was a big age difference, but I considered this thirteen-year-old to be my friend.

August came in hotter than I can ever remember. There were only a few days when the temperature was low enough and there was enough breeze to make sitting outside enjoyable. Most days, I'd come home and head straight into the shower, stripping off sweaty, crusty clothing, and then standing under the life-giving spray, washing away the funk.

On one of those days, I'd walked back into the living room, shorts-clad, but shirtless, and found Haley sitting on the sofa, her laptop cradled in her crossed legs, waiting for me. I was taken aback. I guess my expression showed some surprise.

"I hope you didn't mind me walking in," she smiled sweetly. "It's just too hot to stand outside," she said. "I mean, you DO trust me, don't you?"

"Of course I trust you, baby," I said. "You just surprised me, that's all." After that, I didn't give it a second thought. I just made sure that when I walked out of the bedroom I was fully dressed.

One day, we were sitting in the living room, playing chess. I reflected on the fact that she'd been over here every day since Deena left. "Baby," I said. (Yes, she was 'baby' to me, now) "Doesn't your mom ever say anything about the amount of time you spend here?"

"Nah, she never says anything. I think she's just glad to get me out from underfoot. This way I'm no trouble. She knows as long as I'm hanging out with you I'm as safe as I can be." She looked at me, eyes twinkling. "It's not like you're some kind of big child molester or something." Giggle.

"Yeah," I said. "But with each day that passes, you're less and less a child."

"What d'ya mean?" She tilted her head slightly, looking at me.

"Haley, you're growing up. I've noticed the difference in just the last year. You're little bit taller, and..."

She smiled, "Oh, yeah." She put her hands to her chest. "I'm starting to get boobies. Uh, Mister Bill, they're not very big. I didn't think you'd notice."

"I'm not supposed to notice, baby. You're way too young for me to be paying attention to."

Giggle. "It's okay for you to pay attention," she said. "Society just says you can't do anything about it." She paused. "But thanks for noticin'."

And that was our sexual encounter for the month of August.

A week before school was scheduled to start, she asked me if I wanted to review last year's mathematics. "That's the toughest part," she said. "I mean, if I was gonna forget anything, it'd be math. I don't get much chance to exercise that. And the other stuff, those other subjects, they don't really matter because what I learned last year isn't really going to be necessary for this year." She sighed. "Remembering the date for the Battle of Hastings isn't foundation for knowing the date for the Battle of Gettysburg."

I raised an eyebrow as I parsed that statement. This was a young girl who was doing some thinking. "Okay," I answered. "Why don't you dig up last year's notebooks and bring them over. We can go over them and give you a chance to exercise some of that stuff. That way you'll have your head in the game when school starts."

With that idea in mind, we added a few review sessions to our daily encounters. You know, looking back at it, there were a lot of days that we sat in the living room, just hanging out together, not even talking. We were just in the same room.

Yes, we still had the occasional snuggle session. But it was getting more difficult for me to keep sexual thoughts out of it. I mean, thirteen year old Haley, a month shy of turning fourteen, had lost a lot of that androgynous quality that many young girls exhibit at puberty.

School started. I returned home on Haley's first day of school. She was standing in the driveway with her backpack slung over one shoulder, smiling.

"Well, kiddo," I said, "how was the first day?"

She grinned. "A whole lot better than the first day last year," she said. "D'ya know that if you're a straight A student, you get a reputation, and teachers are actually happy to see you. I think that's cool."

I smiled. "I think that's cool, too, little girl. You got all your books?"

"Yes, I do. You wanna look at them?"

"Absolutely! Let's go inside."

And we went inside and spread the books on the dining room table. I was interested, as was she, in the scope of the math book. After looking through it, she looked at me. "Well," she said, "think I'm gonna have a problem with any of this?"

"Only if you try to start in the back and work forward," I laughed. "Baby, remember last year? Your first week of school? You were scared of this stuff. Were you scared of it at the end of the year?"

"Nuh-uh," she said, smiling. She surprised me by holding my arm with both her hands and resting her chin on my shoulder. "You got me started, an' kept me moving along. It really wasn't that hard."

"This won't be, either, baby," I said.

Chapter 3

We kicked back into the school routine. Ever pleasant was pulling into my driveway at the end of the day and seeing Haley coming across the lawn. As she'd indicated, she fell right into the classwork. Her visits were, for the most part, exactly that, our social time, with a few bumps of academic content.

First week: "Mister Bill, they're just reviewin' stuff from last year in math. I don't think this teacher even knows where we were last year. It's like we backed up half a year."

I knew there were holes in the education system. "Remember, baby," I said, "the teachers have to deal with a lot of kids, and a lot of 'em didn't do real well last year, and I can guarantee that they didn't crack the book a week before school to make sure they hadn't forgotten things.

"I know," she said, pouting slightly. "I just feel cheated."

Some of the time we did the 'homework' thing out under the shade tree, in full view of everybody. Occasionally her mom or her stepdad would wander over and sit with us, and when this happened, we made an added effort to be discussing history or science or math.

Other days, though, we put the books on the dining room table or in the middle of the living room floor. If they were on the floor, there was a good chance that we were watching something on TV, and yes, I succumbed to her requests to cuddle into my lap as I sat in my recliner. That was becoming a bit of a problem for me, though. I kept getting aroused. And why wouldn't I? She was cute, friendly, and affectionate.

If I wasn't in my recliner, we'd be on the sofa. Sometimes we lounged at opposite ends. Other times, though, I dunno, she just seemed to NEED physical contact, and she'd slide over against me, letting me drape an arm around her, or she'd lay her head in my thigh, sighing as I toyed with her hair. We'd watch TV, and when a commercial came on, she'd roll onto her back, smiling. I couldn't help but caress her face. Trouble was, I was getting to want to caress more and more of her. What manner of magic was this little girl working on me?

And then there was the day she wanted to talk about relationships. "I guess I don't quite understand, Mister Bill," she admitted. "I think a lot of kids my age are screwed up."

"How so, baby?" I asked.

"That whole 'I'm in LOVE' thing ... Mostly GIRLS ... I mean, where are ya goin' with claimin' you're in LOVE an' you're thirteen an' you were IN LOVE last week with somebody else and prob'ly gonna be IN LOVE with somebody else in another two weeks?"

"That's how young people learn about relationships, Haley."

"What're they tryin' to learn? Friend says 'I'm goin' steady with Jason.' An' a week later, Jason is history ... Goin' steady means, you know, more than a WEEK!"

"What do YOU think 'goin' steady' means?"

"Like almost engaged..."

I snickered. "People ARE FUNNY. But at thirteen, kids ain't ready to be committing for life, I don't think. All that 'goin' steady' stuff is just practice, you know, how to meet people and see how your personality an' their personality fits, that kind of stuff."

"You think somebody my age is too young to be committing for life?"

"Yeah." And then I looked at those brown eyes. I saw a strange look.

She continued. "An' we got a pregnant girl in one a'my classes. My age. Pregnant. What'd'ya thnk of that?"

"I wish I was surprised. I guess I should be, but I'm not."

"It's crazy. I listened to some a'the other girls talkin'. She was all in love with this boy over the summer. Now she's gonna have a baby."

"How old was he?"

"Fourteen."

"That's disastrous," I said.

"Talk about," she said. "I know all about that 'sexually active', just from sittin' in the cafeteria."

"In middle school," I muttered, almost to myself.

"Crazy," Haley repeated. "I mean, if a girl starts when she's THIRTEEN, an' she does ever' boy she falls in love with, an' that's like eight or nine a year..." She looked at me. "Mister Bill, that's not GOOD is it?"

I shook my head. "Not from my point of view. Maybe things are different now, but girls that were doin' that many guys were called 'sluts'. I'd hate to think that MY girl had been with that many guys..."

"That's what Grandma says. I don't think she was happy about my mom when she was young. Said Mom was wild. An' you know what I said about not havin' a dad, huh..."

I maneuvered the conversation around to something else. Haley was trying to think her way through a minefield at her age.

We landed on a discussion of her social studies. She was supposed to give a talk on 'current events', so we looked at some news stories on the internet. That put us sitting side by side on the sofa.

Pleasant times, these were. And I walked by my calendar every day and saw a date circled. With the scrawled legend: Haley's birthday.

To be sure, for her fourteenth iteration, Haley was getting a bit old for the party thing, but just as last year, her mom baked and decorated (pretty nice, actually. She'd done time in a bakery somewhere.) a cake. Same attendance. Same presents, well, a little more. Steve, step-dad, was working regularly. Bills were paid. Haley's school clothes were nicer.

The week before her birthday, I got a phone call. Call ID said Haley's house. Haley NEVER called. She'd email or SMS. I picked up the phone. "Hello. This is Bill..."

"Bill, this is Marie. Haley's mom." Like I didn't know who Haley's mom was...

"Hi, Marie," I said. "What's up?"

"Haley's birthday is comin' up. Last year you took her to the mall. Were you..."

"I was gonna talk with you about that," I said. "Make sure you didn't mind."

"We don't mind ... she says you're her best friend. But if you're takin' 'er to the mall, then I know what I can get 'er."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Well, we're gonna have a little somethin' for her party, but we were gonna do one a'those gift cards so she'll have 'er own money to spend."

"That'll work great. I'm glad you called."

"I wanted to call, Bill. Like I said, me, an' Steve appreciate what you do with 'er. For school an' ever'thing."

"She's a great kid, Marie. I wouldn't waste the time on one that didn't try like she does."

So I was standing there on the Saturday afternoon for her 'birthday party'. Me, her mom and step-dad. Little brother. Aunt and uncle and a cousin the same age and configuration as little brother. We sang the song. Blew out the candle. Her eyes twinkled when somebody mentioned her wish. "My wish. If I tell somebody, it won't come true," she said.

She unwrapped her presents. Was appropriately complimentary about them. Then Steve handed her an envelope. Inside was a birthday card and a fifty-dollar gift card. She squealed and hugged her mom and Steve. Then she looked at me. I had a similar envelope. She opened it. Another birthday greeting. Her eyes widened. Another gift card. For three hundred dollars.

Squeal! And a leap. And I got kissed full on the mouth in front of everybody. She realized what she'd done and pulled back, looking somewhat embarrassed.

I tried to backpedal on the amount. "You helped me paint three rooms and the trim on the house this summer. I didn't pay you enough then."

She looked at me, then her mom. "Can we go to the mall today?"

"Marie?" I asked.

"If you wanna take 'er," Marie answered. She indicated her sister and brother-in-law. "We was goin' to Janette's. You sure you wouldn't rather do that?"

Haley smiled at her aunt. "I REALLY wanna go to the mall. Is that okay, Aunt Janette?"

Janette was almost a carbon copy of her sister, same height, same fifty extra pounds, same hair, burnt by too many 'treatments' and perms and dye jobs. Same cigarettes. Same voice beginning to rasp from smoking. "Oh, don't worry about it, hon! I'd rather go to the mall too, if I had all that money." She looked at me, somewhat amused.

Squeal! Haley came and stood by me. We finished our cake. She looked at me. "Are ya ready, Mister Bill?"

I stood up. "I guess..."

Steve snickered. "I ain't NEVER ready ta go ta dat mall."

We left. Got in the little SUV that was my personal car, and off we went. Now, I'd perceived that one advantage of giving Haley pre-paid gift cards was that I'd sit on a bench and let 'er shop. When we got to the mall, I revealed that plan. Got a hurt look from Haley.

"Mister Bill," she said, "I want you to come with me. I want you to tell me if what I'm gonna buy looks nice. For you."

For me? I parsed that. Came up with no reason that made any real impact, so I walked with her. Three hours and a Food Court later, we were walking out of the mall, me carrying several colorful plastic bags, Haley carrying one, and almost skipping. When we exited into the parking lot, her hand went inside me arm. I looked down. She was smiling.

"Happy birthday, Haley," I said.

"Has been," she smiled. "Like last year. Maybe even better."

We got home and I noted that her parents' car was missing.

"They're at Aunt Janette's, 'member?"

"Oh, yeah," I said. "You wanna come to the house 'til they get back?"

Haley smiled. "Uh-huh..."

I handed her my cell phone. "Call 'er and tell her where you're gonna be. I don't want 'er callin' your house an' not knowin' where you are..."

"It's okay. She won't mind," Haley said.

"Call 'er anyway..."

"Okay." She punched up her mom's number. "Hi, Mom! It's me!" Pause. "Yes, ma'am. I'm on Mister Bill's phone. We just got back from shoppin'. Is it okay if I go over there 'til ya'll get home?" Pause. She looked at me. "Mister Bill, am I keepin' you from something?"

I shook my head.

"He says 'No." Pause. "Okay! I'll listen for ya. If I miss ya, call this number." Pause. "'Kay, Mom! Love ya! Bye." She turned to me, dimpled grin and all.

"You sure you don't mind?" she asked.

"Certainly not. I'd worry if you were home by yourself after dark."

"I've been home by myself a lot. Travellin' with Little Steve is a pain in the butt..."

"Young girls shouldn't use words like that," I chided.

"Sorry. But he IS. Mom an' Steve spoil 'im. I think it's because Mom really wants ta keep Steve. He's pretty good to us, really. 'Cept for that."

We were in the driveway. We got out and hauled her purchases inside. I assumed they'd stay in the bags and we'd do a movie on TV and maybe a game of chess.

Wrong!

"I can model these new clothes for you. Want me to?" Another cute smile.

"If you want to," I said. "You don't HAVE to."

"You bought 'em for me," she said demurely. "I wanna show you what you bought!"

"Okay, then," I answered. "You can change in Deena's room."

She grabbed some bags and disappeared up the hall, smiling as she went. In a bit, she came back, dressed in a pair of new jeans and a blouse. She waltzed in front of me and struck a pose. "Well?"

"Delightful," I said. "That's cute on you!"

She smiled sweetly. "You're not just sayin' that?"

"Of course not. You're definitely cute!"

She was giggling as she skipped up the hall with the remainder of her bags. She modeled several blouses and sweatshirts with her jeans. Then she came in wearing her new 'I need a nice one' dress. And matching pumps.

I was, in a word, stunned. I saw her looking at dresses, but I left the selection to her and a saleslady. Brown. Dark, walnut brown, like her short, sassy tresses. She stood in front of me, then turned, almost shyly, looking so completely innocent, and oh, so delectable.

"You're not sayin' anything? Is it bad?"

"Oh, gosh, no!" I exclaimed. "It's almost too pretty. I was having trouble finding the words. You look stunning! I can't think of a more perfect look for you."

She blushed. "Oh, Mister Bill, you make me feel so good when you say things like that."

"Baby, back up a little bit so I can see all of you again."

She backed up, watching my eyes. I was enraptured. "Now turn around slowly."

She completed a lazy pirouette.

"Yes, baby," I admitted. "That dress really does it for you."

She grinned. "Thank you, Mister Bill! I got one more to show you!" She giggled as she went up the hall.

Presently, she returned.

Make that twice for the 'stunned' thing. Little darlin' had bought a nightshirt. Loosefitting cotton. It came down to mid thigh.

"I needed a new one, in case I needed to spend the night somewhere," she smiled. "I have an old one, but it's getting kinda small and it's kinda worn out."

And I was thinking 'why in the world is she showing me this?' I had to say something. "That's a very appropriate thing for you sleep in."

"It feels like it's made for snuggling," she said. She smiled at me, questioning.

"Yeah, I can see where that would be perfect for snuggling."

"D'ya think we could, like, cuddle for a little while?"

I must be crazy. I know I shouldn't have. But I did. "Yeah, c'mere. I get to be the first one that cuddles you in it."

Little squeal. She bounced up and onto my lap. Settled in sideways, her arms around my neck. I put my arms around her. Cuddled. Smelled the sweet fragrance of her hair. Relished the feel of a hundred pounds of fourteen year old girl in my arms.

"Mister Bill, thank you so much for doing this for my birthday."

"I'm glad to do it, Haley," I said. "You're kinda special to me."

She turned her face towards mine. Her eyes were soft, questioning. I could tell she was thinking a lot of things. She had that look. I could feel the tension in the air, like something was about to happen.

"Baby," I said softly, "I'd cuddle with you all night, but when your mom and Steve get back, I don't think you should be in your nightshirt here in my living room. Why don't you go change back into your regular clothes?"

She looked a little sad, reluctant even. "Okay, Mister Bill. I know. But it felt real good, I mean, it ALWAYS feels real good when I cuddle with you."

"Go change, silly!" I said, trying to lighten up the atmosphere. "When you come back in here with all your clothes on, THEN we can cuddle. And let's have all your bags ready to go when they get back, okay?"

That seemed to work. Still, she seemed a bit reluctant as she got off of my lap. She disappeared back up the hall and in a few minutes returned, wearing the outfit that she had on when we left for our shopping spree. She giggled as she climbed back into my lap. "Now, where were we?" And she returned her arms around my neck.

I had to say something. This was getting to be too much for me. Reluctantly, I said, "Haley, you're get a little bit too old to be in my lap like this."

She changed from her 'happy Haley' face to a sad one. "Why, Mister Bill? Am I gettin' too heavy?"

"Certainly not, baby," I said. "You're getting too pretty. And a little too old."

"But I'm not! I just wanna be held." She looked at me sadly.

I guess I should've stood firm. Not me, though! I folded like a cheap lawn chair. "Okay, Haley," I said, "we'll try."

The smile returned to her lips and she buried herself in my arms. The enjoyable feelings returned. I might have 'difficulties' later this evening, but I wasn't gonna disappoint Haley on her birthday. So that's where we were at when we saw the headlights from her mom and dad's car turning in to their driveway.

Haley looked disappointed. "Well, I guess I need to go home now," she sighed. "I wish I could've stayed longer." She got out of my lap.

Part of me, no, make that MOST of me wanted her to stay, too. "Lemme help you carry your bags over to your house," I said.

"Okay," she said.

We gathered up her bags. I was getting ready to open the door when she said, "Wait!"

I stopped. She dropped her bags, threw her arms around my neck pulling me over lower, and planted a kiss full on my lips. Her bright eyes connected with mine.

"Haley!"

"Mister Bill, I've been needin' to do that. You're the one who's always nice to me."

She still had me bent over, and she landed another one. This one was a tiny bit longer, and I thought it was a little bit longer than a little girl's 'thank you' kiss. But she was smiling so broadly that I wasn't about to say anything. I opened the door and we walked across the lawn to bring her home.

When I got back to the house, there was no reason for me to do anything else, so I took a shower. As I was letting the hot water run over my body, a thousand thoughts were going through my head. Haley ... Fourteen year old Haley. She was entirely too young to be affecting me the way she was. And I was entirely too old to let myself get carried away like this.

I watched TV until almost eleven. Then I went to bed. I opened the book and read for a while, willing myself to go to sleep. Didn't happen. I knew something that used to work. That didn't take long. It was somewhat disturbing, though, because when I closed my eyes to pull up a fantasy, the picture of a fourteen-year-old girl in a stunning little brown dress kept floating in my mind. I slept fitfully. I got up the next morning, went out and picked up the Sunday paper, and read it by myself over breakfast. I considered getting in my car and driving off for the day to give myself more time to think.

Finally, I convinced myself that I was reading too much into it. Haley was a sweet kid. She truly appreciated what I did for her, things that I was quite happily and quite innocently doing for her. The kiss was just a way of showing it. That's it! I was being paranoid. She was just being Haley. Young, sweet, cute Haley. Haley, who looked to me as her friend.

After convincing myself that, that was the way it was, I went about enjoying my Sunday. I was working outside in my shop. Heard a soft knock at the door, and a little voice.

"Hi, Mister Bill. Whatcha doin'?"

I turned to see Haley. She was wearing shorts and a T-shirt and an old pair of tennis shoes, entirely perfect for the warm late summer day. "Building a shelf," I said. "Something to put up in the laundry room." I put the tools down and turned toward her. "And how are you doing this morning?"

"I'm doing okay," she said. "I had trouble going to sleep last night."

"Why?" I asked.

"Thinkin'," she said shyly.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Kissin' you." She almost looked frightened to say anything.

"Why? You kissed me before."

"I know. But it was ... I don't know, different. And when I went to bed, I kept thinking about it."

I considered what she was saying.

"This ain't a good place to talk about it, Mister Bill."

I guess if you want to call it a mistake, that's when I made it. "Where's a good place to talk?"

Those brown eyes looked at me, sort of frightened, sort of tentative, and she said, "In the house."

I turned off the shop light and shut the door behind me as I followed her to my house. We went inside. I sat in my recliner. "Okay, Haley, let's talk."

"Remember a couple weeks ago, we were talkin' about the kids in school an' how they was always fallin' in love an' goin' steady and stuff like that?" She still seemed almost scared.

I'm the one that should've been scared. At this point, I should've been running for the hills. But I didn't. "Yeah, sweetie," I said. "I remember us talking about that. I remember Haley saying that it was silly that thirteen year old kids were gettin' all serious about each other like that. I remember that conversation. And..."

"I think you're my boyfriend," she said shyly.

"Why do you think I'm your boyfriend?"

"'Cuz," she said, "you don't have a girlfriend. I'm, like, your BEST friend, right? And I'm a girl. And you're MY best friend, an' you're boy, so that makes you my boyfriend." She looked at me like she was almost fearful of the reply.

I had to reply. I know what I should've done but I couldn't figure out how to do it without hurting her. So I didn't do that. Not just yet, anyway. "Haley, you're fourteen. I'm thirty-eight. I'm six years older than your mom. Twenty-four years older than you. Those numbers just don't work for boyfriend and girlfriend. Really."

Her eyes were wetting up like she was going to cry. "But, Mister Bill, a bit different? I mean, you and me?" Her bottom lip started to quiver.

And that's what it took. I spread my arms apart, a sign she usually took to mean that it was snuggle time. Almost reluctantly, she crawled into my lap. I looked at her cute face. There really were tears, and they were starting to track down her cheeks. It was too late for me. With my fingers, I tilted her face up towards mine and kissed away her tears. "Don't cry, sweetie," I said. "I guess when it gets right down to it, I AM your boyfriend."

With a quiver in her voice she said, "You don't have to say that. If it's not true, I mean."

At this point in my life, I wished desperately that I could be fourteen, too. But then I remembered when I was fourteen and there's no way I would've been sensitive enough to handle this properly. As the philosopher says, 'What is, is.' "Haley, baby, it IS true. But this is crazy. I don't know what I can do about it. I don't know what WE can do about it."

Slowly, she inched her face towards mine. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. I knew what was going to happen. And there wasn't anything that I could do to stop it. No matter how much I wanted to. Or even worse, DIDN'T want to. Those young lips met mine. I've touched live wires. I didn't get the shock, the surge that went through me when her lips met mine. And heaven help me, my right hand came up and cradled the back of her head. If she would've pulled away, I would've let her. She didn't pull away.

Haley and I had been cuddling for over a year now. Up to this point, we had a kind of a chaste routine. I mean, as chaste as you can get with the young teen girl and the lap of an almost forty year old guy. I'd sit in my recliner and kick back, elevating my feet. Haley would back up to the arm of the chair and slide backwards into my lap, usually leaving her legs hanging over the arm of the chair, sometimes twisting slightly, but leaving her side in contact with my chest, and her firm preteen butt in my lap.

This was changing. Haley was twisting around, keeping our lips together, but pressing our chests together, also. She shifted her legs, placing one in between mine. This put her almost laying on top of me. And I was holding her with my arms, my right hand still cradling her head, gently stroking and caressing her.

I could tell that she wasn't experienced in this. Why should she be? After all, she was a young teen. A VERY young teen. I didn't expect her to know very much. She did seem to know, however, that a kiss involved more than just pressing two pairs of lips together. She varied the pressure, softly, more firm, then softly. Her head moved slightly. And then surprisingly, I felt her lips part and I felt the tiny delicate pressure as the tip of her tongue brushed my lips. I parted my lips and softly eased the tip of my tongue against hers. I didn't know if this was going to scare her, or gross her out. I got my answer almost immediately.

A tiny little purr escaped her lips and her tongue sought mine out. I could've gone like this forever. However, she pulled her face back from mine. I couldn't explain exactly what I saw her eyes. It wasn't clear. There was a little apprehension. And a little happiness.

"Bill," she said, "Uh ... Thank you?"

"No, baby," I said. "Don't thank me. That was too good. I should thank you."

The apprehension left her eyes and a smile appeared on her lips. Our lips met again. "Mmmmmmm," escaped her lips as we kissed again. This time, her tongue didn't hesitate. And I felt her body almost melt into mine.

We probably kissed for fifteen minutes, maybe more. "This is ONE of the things that a boyfriend and girlfriend do, huh?"

I still had a little bit of my sanity left. "Yes, cutie, it is one of the things that boyfriends and girlfriends do. They do a lot of other things. And we've been doing that for a year. Hangin' out together. Going out to eat. Going to movies. Working on things together. Talking together. Those are the other things that boyfriend and girlfriend do. And we can do that. Just like we've been doing. But Haley, you're too young for me to do anything else. For US to do anything else."

She looked at me coolly. "I know about all that stuff from school," she said. They had this lady from the Sheriff's Department come in and talk to all us girls about child molesters an' stuff like that. But you didn't molest me."

"I'm NOT going to molest you, Haley. You're my best friend. What kind of monster would molest his best friend?"

She pulled up to me and kissed me again. This time, she was even less tentative. And I was less able to resist. No, I wasn't resisting the kisses in the first place. Not by this stage of the game anyway. I was less able to resist the feel of her nubile young body stretched against mine. I tried to restrict the movement of my hands to simply caressing her back and her neck and her head. I don't think Haley was trying to restrict anything. I don't know if she was even thinking about it. She was holding onto me with her arms, having wedged one, her right arm, underneath mine, around my back. Her left hand was caressing my face as we kissed.

That wasn't the worst part. We're talking about an athletic young girl here. I watched her outdoors in the summer time. She runs. She rollerblades. We've ridden bicycles together. And I've watched her laying on the floor, doing homework or watching TV, and the little darlin' has trouble being still doing those mundane activities. You just have to know that she wasn't able to keep still now, laying atop me. At least she wasn't doing that little 'bouncy butt' thing that she did, sometimes. But she WAS moving. And I WAS reacting, not from any CONSCIOUS effort on my part. It was the all too natural reaction of too many overloaded senses.

I should've stopped. I mean, somebody should have some sense at a time like this. But, heaven help me, I couldn't. Every time that our lips came apart, Haley looked at me with eyes filled with happiness and adoration. I was lost. So DAMNED lost.

"Bill," she said. That was the second time she'd called me 'Bill', not 'Mister Bill'. "I don't want to change ANY of the other stuff just 'cuz I wanted somebody to kiss me. I wanted YOU to kiss me. But all that other stuff, I want to keep that, too."

"That part's never gonna change, sweetness," I answered. "You're still my best friend. I didn't start helping you because I thought one day you might want to kiss me."

"Kissin' part's good though," she said with a little giggle. "I had NO idea! An' it's not just my LIPS. When we kiss, I tingle all over the place. I think I understand some things now. I mean, I used to wonder why Mom an' Steve kiss so much. Like, you know, that time I told you about? When I saw 'em doin' things..." She looked at me again. This time, it was like she was getting ready to impart a secret. "Well, we kiss, I get all tingly. You know ... down there."

I knew exactly where 'down there' was. I had a 'down there' and it was way more than just tingly. Things were starting to get out of hand. The bad part was, I didn't have the power within myself to stop it. "Baby, that means it's time to stop this."

"Bill, let's not! I don't wanna." And she didn't argue with me. She did better than that. She kissed me again. My right hand was on the small of her back. I felt her hips move. Previously, I was willing to assume that her hips were moving just because she's an active young girl. She's always moving. This time, though, she wasn't moving until she said, 'I don't wanna'. A conscious effort was being made.

I REALLY should've stopped. But I could not. I look back at it now and it's all crystal-clear, but at the time, the world didn't exist outside of Haley and me.

Her head popped up between our kisses. Those brown eyes! "Uh, Bill ... I know what that is. I mean, what I'm feeling down there. On you."

"Baby, I'm sorry. I'm not supposed to be doing that, and you're not supposed to be feeling it."

Little giggle. "But you ARE. An' I DO feel it." Another little giggle. "I LIKE it." She emphasized how much she liked it by reaching down, shoving a hand in between the two of us, and touching the lump in my pants with her little hand.

I groaned. "Oh, God, no, baby ... We can't. It's wrong. I mean, I love you but we can't do that." And then I realized what had just come out of my mouth.

I wasn't sure that her eyes widened because of what she was feeling or because of what she just heard me say. Her words explained.

"You said you loved me. I heard it, Bill. You said you LOVE me."

Blood was rushing in my ears. You can't take words back. Once they're out there, you have to deal with them, and those who heard them have to deal with them. "Yes! There! I said it! But that's the reason, Haley. We can't ... I can't do this with you."

Her hand was still there. I felt her fingers tentatively exploring the outline of the bulge in my pants. I was aware that she knew exactly what that was and what two people did with it. Her eyes twinkled. She knew that I knew. "We could ... THIS part wants to." Little kiss. "Bill, I love you too. I would never do anything to hurt you. You and me. Nobody would ever know but us. I mean, if we DID."

"B ... but baby..."

"Love you, baby," she said. She punctuated her confession with another squeeze.

I gave in a little bit to my own desires. My right hand moved from the smallof her back to trace a path over the curve of her buttocks. I could feel the muscles tensing as she rubbed herself against me. At my touch, she increased her efforts. That's when it occurred to me that I wasn't the only one who was being stimulated by this activity. I reached further with my hand, passing her buttocks, my fingers pushing in between her thighs.

"Mmmmmm," she said. "Wait!"

For a brief second, I was scared that I had crossed some line with her. My fears were allayed when she twisted back on her side and raised one thigh, giving me access to something that she wanted to have rubbed. It also gave her a view of the lump she'd been rubbing herself. She looked at me, eyes playful, lustful.

"Rub me there," she said. "I really need to be rubbed." She called the question in my eyes. "I do THAT by myself. Sometimes. Wait!" Her fingers fumbled with her snap, then she unzipped the front of her shorts. "In there." She gently took my wrist, guiding my hand towards her goal. My finger slipped inside the waistband of her daisy yellow cotton panties. Her lips met mine just as my fingertips pushed past the light fuzz on her pubic mound. When my finger reached the top of her cleft and dipped inside, she moaned into my mouth as we kissed. She WAS excited. Her pussy was slick with her juices. She pulled her mouth away from mine. "Uh-huh! That's it!"

I let my fingers satisfy their curiosity, tracing the entire length of her virginal pussy before dipping my fingertips inside to explore the treasures there. I was trying to be gentle. When the tip of my finger touched the tip of the bud of her clit, her hand clamped on my wrist. She tossed her head back and hissed, "Yes, Bill! That's it! There!"

I experimented a little bit trying to find out if she wanted hard or soft, direct or indirect, whatever. It was hard to tell. Everything I did, resulted in her hips bucking against my finger and breath hissing out between her teeth. When I slowed down, she clamped her mouth on mine. When I speeded up, she pulled away, sucking in a breath. It didn't seem to take too much of this before she was keening her way through her orgasm. I felt her reach her peak and slowed down. Her hand grasped my wrist again, pulling it away. I held my baby in my arms. Her eyelids fluttered.

"Oh, God, Bill ... That was fantastic. When I do it ... It's NEVER that good." She pulled my face toward hers and we kissed.

Somewhere in the back corner of my brain, there was a little thought: 'Bill, old boy, you are NOW guilty of a felony."

While I was being guilty of a felony, my lips were welded to Haley's. Haley's fingers, however, remembered that there was an interesting lump to play with. She pulled her lips away from mine. "Bill," she said, her eyes questioning, "can I?"

We could've been on the 50 yard line in the middle of the Super Bowl and I couldn't have stopped her. "I'm completely yours, baby," I said.

She started fumbling with my belt buckle. I unbuckled my belt and unsnapped my shorts. She was tugging at the zipper. She got it all the way down, but that didn't give her the freedom that she wanted. She looked at me. "Why don'tcha take 'em off?"

"You sure?" I looked at her.

Her head was nodding in the affirmative. "Uh-huh, I wanna get to it."

"Okay," I said, "I need to get up."

"Okay," I said, "here goes." I hooked my thumbs into the waistband of my shorts and slid them downward past my thighs. They slid to my feet. I kicked free of them and stood up. My dick was pointed upward at a happy angle.

"Woooow!" escaped her lips. Then, "I thought guys had, like, hair down there."

"Guys do," I said, "but I shave mine."

"Why?"

"Feels good. Clean. Cool."

"Can I touch it?"

"It's all yours, baby," I answered. "Lemme sit down. When you touch it, I'm gonna lose control."

She looked at me. "Lose control? Is it always like that?"

"Haley, it hasn't been like that in years."

A satisfied smile appeared on her lips. "Then this is because of me!"

"You bet it is, doll," I said.

She stood up. "Then sit down." I sat. She slid up in my lap and kissed me. "You need lotsa kisses, I think," she said, smiling. Then she looked thoughtful. She stood up again. I looked at her, wondering what was going on. I soon saw. Her shorts were still unbuttoned. She slid the fingertips of both hands inside the waistband of her panties and pushed them and her shorts down over her hips. "I think we should be like this." And she slid back onto my lap, this time straddling me. And we kissed.

I was hard as a rock. I don't know that Haley thought about what she was doing, but her still wet young pussy was rubbing against my dick. "Oh, Haley," I moaned. "Baby, we can't do that."

She smiled and kissed me again, whispering in my ear, "We're not gonna do THAT right now. I just wanted to, you know, FEEL things." She made a few movements. "And it feels SOOOOO good." And she slid off me. Positioned herself again, the two of us squeezed into that recliner where she could see what she was playing with. And she played with me. She was smiling and making little cooing noises as her fingers explored my shaft.

"Why don't you get in the bed so I can play with it," she said.

I scooped my little partner up in my arms and carried her into the bedroom, depositing her in the middle of my king-sized bed.

She giggled. "Wow! Now we have room to play!" She patted the middle of the bed beside her. "Now, lay down."

I laid down on my back. Ol' Dickie was pointed up, ready to cut diamonds.

Haley knelt beside my hips, sitting back. She reached her hands out and took me in a two-handed grip, lightly, then explored. "It's so hard, but it's so soft." She sighed. Her fingers explored the head. "That's the softest skin I've ever felt. Ever." She looked at me. "Does this feel good?"

I smiled. "You touching it feels good."

She put her fingertip on the end of my dick. "Where's it feel best?"

"That's the head. It's really sensitive. It likes to be gently rubbed." She gently rubbed. "Then that ridge on the underside, it likes to be rubbed, too. A little harder." Two fingertips pressed on the ridge and slid downward. I groaned.

"You're leaking. Is that pee?"

A drop of clear pre-cum was oozing out of the tip of my dick. "No, sweetie, that's a lubricant. It comes out to make it easier for a guy to get inside a girl. Girls make the same stuff when they're excited. Touch it."

Curiosity overcame her and she touched a finger to the drop, then pulled back. The pre-cum strung from her finger to my dick. She rubbed it. "It's pretty slick," she said. "Now, I gotta know..."

"What?" I asked.

"So when Mom was sucking on Steve's thing, was this stuff, like, coming out?"

"Probably."

"So she got this in her mouth?"

"Yeah. Probably."

"She sounded like she liked it."

"Some girls do."

"Is this the stuff that makes babies?

"No," I said, "that comes later. When a guy gets really stimulated, he releases semen. It's kind of white, milky looking stuff. Some people call it "cum", I guess because when it happens, a lot of guys say "I'm coming".

A realization crossed Haley's face. "You know," she said, "They BOTH said that." She giggled.

"And," I continued, and I'm not sure why I brought it up with Haley just now, "I had a vasectomy after my daughter was born. The doctor fixed me to where my cum doesn't have sperm in it to make babies."

"Really? So then you can do it with a girl an' she doesn't have to take those pills or use a condom or whatever?"

"Right! As far as getting pregnant anyway. Condoms help prevent diseases. If one of the partners has some kinds of diseases, the other partner can get it during sex."

"Yeah," she said, "they told about all that stuff in school." She looked at me seriously. "You don't have any of those diseases, do you?"

"No, baby," I said, "I am disease-free. But you have to trust your partner or you have to use condoms. And condoms don't always work. To stop diseases OR to stop pregnancy."

"Oooooh," she said, "they didn't tell us THAT in school."

"It's the truth, baby. Safest sex is with somebody you can trust not to have diseases from having sex with other people."

"Oh," she said simply, looking at me with those brown eyes. Then she looked down at my dick in her hand. The lesson continued as her fingers explored my sex. "Tell me about this," she said, touching my balls.

I explained about their function and their sensitivity to pressure and what felt good to me and she paid close attention, touching, probing, pinching, tugging, rolling them around in her hands.

"Okay, so I gotta know," she giggled, tugging on my dick. "What's the deal with sucking on it?

"Haley," I smiled, "Rubbing it makes it stimulated. If it gets stimulated enough, I come, and stuff squirts out. Just rubbing will do that. If it's a hand doing the rubbing, it's called a hand job, or jerking off or jacking off."

She stroked me and looked. "I've heard about some of that," she said.

I continued. "A guy can do that to himself. A lot of guys do it because it feels good and they don't need a partner to do it. A girl can do it to her guy." She smiled and stroked some more, getting the feel of just sliding her hand with the skin of my dick up and down.

"But there are things that feel MUCH better," I continued, "and one of them is the mouth. A girl can put a guy's thing in her mouth and then it's not only being rubbed very nicely, but it's hot and wet and there's suction, and that makes it feel much better. The crude name for that is a 'Blow job'".

"So what happens to it if the girl is sucking on it when it comes?"

"That's a good question. Some girls like the taste of it, and suck on their guys a lot to get them to come in their mouths. Some girls don't particularly like the taste, but they know their guy likes the feel of being sucked until they come, and the girl just swallows it. Or waits until he's finished and spits it out. And some girls just absolutely hate the idea and if they suck a guy, they stop before he comes in their mouth."

"Oh." Haley smiled. "I think Mom likes it. I've seen her do Steve more than once. They don't know I saw."

I reached and stroked her hair, then down her side. Her youthful skin was like velvet. She looked at me. "That's a good feeling. I like that."

"You feel good. You're a cute girl, Haley!"

"Thank you, Bill," she said. She released my dick and laid down in my arms on top of me and kissed me. As we kissed, I let my hands wander over her body, shoulders, hips, cupped her buttocks in my hands, then stroked her hair as we kissed.

When the last kiss broke, the pulled her face back from me and looked into my eyes, then giggled. "Bill, I think I want to try sucking you."

"Oh, Haley! I'd love that!" As she slid off me, I scooted back in the bed, propping up my back against a couple of pillows so I could see her better. She crawled up between my legs and took my dick in her right hand as she propped up on her left elbow.

Her eyes connected with mine. "Here goes!" she said. She planted an experimental kiss on the head of my dick. It pulsed. She was ready for that. The drop of pre-cum that oozed out, I was worried that it would put her off, but not my little Haley. Her pink tongue flicked out to gather the glistening liquid and she pulled it into her mouth and worked it a little bit. "Hmmm! Salty! I could really LIKE this!" Another kiss on the end of my dick, a little wetter, a little longer then those wonderful lips parted and the head of my dick slid into a little bit of heaven. Her lips sealed around the shaft of my dick right behind the head. "Mmmmmmm!" she said, and I felt every vibration throughout my being. She popped up.

"So," I asked, "what do you think?"

"I think it's, like, MADE for me to suck on." Her head went back down and she sucked hungrily, then decided that tongue should be part of this and worked me over with her tongue. I let her play. She tried to see how far down she could get. She turned her head and nibbled and sucked on me like a corn cob. "Do balls like sucking?" she asked.

"Yeah, just don't suck too hard on the balls themselves. They're very sensitive. But the skin of my sack likes being bitten and tugged, too."

New territory, she explored happily then went back to my dick and sucked. "Balls are fun," she said, "but THIS is made to suck."

I was happy she thought so.

Finally she looked at me. "So, what do I have to do to get it to come for me?"

"Baby," I said, "I'm so close to coming right now..."

"I want you to come," she said. "I want to see what it's like."

"Just keep sucking like you were doing. Maybe use your hand to stroke it when you suck, or play with my balls. And it'll come."

She couldn't answer a word with my dick in her mouth. Her hand jerked me in time with her sucks. I could feel the pleasure building. "Ohhhh, Haley! Oh, my pretty baby! Ohhhhh, Haley!" She reacted to positive reinforcement. And learned fast.

"Ahhhhhh. It's coming, Haley! It's coming!" Her head nodded in acknowledgment. "Ohhhhh, goddddddddd!" The first spurt surprised her. She jerked her head back, my dick leaving her mouth in time for the second spurt. It splashed her pretty face. She had her mouth back on me for the rest and I felt her swallowing. She kept sucking as I finished. Finally she released me from her mouth.

"Wowwww!" she giggled. "That was something! You surprised me. I didn't know I'd feel it squirt like that. She wiped the dribble of semen off her face with her fingers. I expected her to wipe her fingers on the sheets. I was pleasantly surprised to see her stick those semen-coated fingers into her mouth and suck them clean. Then she kissed me. I could taste my own come in her mouth and we kissed until all the taste was gone.

She curled up beside me. I saw a thoughtful look across her face. She giggled. "Bill? You know I'm in your bed? We're in bed together."

"Haley, baby, you have my life in your hands. If ANYBODY ever finds out what we just did, I go to jail for a long time. They'll accuse me of being a child molester, and child molesters don't last long in prison. You gotta promise..."

Haley rolled halfway on top of me, gazing into my eyes. "Bill, I said I loved you. I'll never tell anybody."

"Sweetie, it's not just a matter of telling somebody. If anybody suspects ... Finds out. That's all it takes."

She kissed me. "We'll be very careful. I mean, I've been coming over here almost every day for a year. I've even spent the night, you know, when Deena was here. An' we go places together all the time. Nobody will see any changes. It still gonna be Bill and Haley. Just like it always was." Her eyes sparkled lovingly. "And always will be."

Chapter 4

I got arms full of Haley. She was so soft and cuddly and excited and loving and I cherished her. My hands explored her slight body, getting me giggles and purrs. I slid my hands gently over her breasts, slight moundings that yielded to my touch, and she sucked a breath in when I touched her nipples.

"Can I see them, sweetness?" I asked.

"Why?' she said. "I'm almost flat. I dunno why I don't have bigger titties. I mean, Mom's got pretty big ones."

Her mom was indeed busty, but two kids and forty extra pounds...

"You've got pretty, sweet ones," I said. "I'm happy with them. They're YOU." I kissed her lightly on the lips, then moved down to her pink earlobe and her neck.

She giggled. "Oh, here!" And she stripped her shirt over her head.

I saw candy. Little pink strawberries. She shook her head to rearrange that brown hair, and she smiled.

"If YOU think I'm pretty..."

"I think you're gorgeous, little doll," I said truthfully.

She smiled as I explored her torso.

Finally, I could resist no longer. I curled toward her nipples and kissed one, then the other, then back to the first. Then I kissed her mouth. She released the breath she was holding.

"Not too much, baby?"

"Oh, gosh, no, Bill," she said in a tiny voice. "I LIKE it. Do it some more."

I did. I kissed, then experimentally sucked one, kneading it with my tongue. She reacted by clamping her hands on the back of my head, holding her breast in my mouth, and she made little whimpery noises.

I stopped to let her regain her composure and she purred into my arms. "Mmmmmmm, baby, that feels so good..."

"I wanna make you feel good, little one. You made me feel waaaay past just good. Bill's little Haley likes having her nipples sucked."

"Oh, god, yessss!"

"If she likes THAT, she's going to like other things..."

I paused briefly in my travels to dip my tongue in her navel. More shivers. And I moved further down. I planted kisses on her pubic mound. It had the lightest of fuzz on it. I opened my mouth wide and sucked as much of it into my mouth as I could and moaned, "Mmmmmm!" I toyed with it, letting her get used to the idea. She didn't NEED to get used to the idea.

"Gahhhhh!" She writhed. Her hands pushed at my head. "Bill! Do something! I need you to DO SOMETHING!"

Little darling didn't know what to tell me to do. I had ideas. I moved between her thighs and let my lips brush her labia, my nostrils sucking in the smells of little girl, hot little girl, musky, tangy, and waiting for my tongue.

When my tongue hit her, her hands pulled on my head, forcing my face into her wet pussy. I stopped teasing my little Haley and after one good lick to gather her juice into my mouth, I let my tongue find her little girl button. The first lick of her clit, she KNEW what she wanted me to do.

"Ahhhhh! Bill! Right there! Lick! Do Something!"

I licked. I spread her lips gently and sucked her little clit between my lips and worked it with my tongue.

"Nnnnn. Nnnnn. NNNNNN!" I was having an effect on my Haley. I kept licking. "Nnnnnn. Nnnnn. Ohhhh! Shit! Ohhhh! Bill! I'm. I'm. I'm. It's. It's COMING! Ohgodohgodogod! Ahhhhhh..."

Her body arched into my face as she climaxed ... Then she went limp. I scooped her into my arms and held her. I kissed little kisses on her face, gently, as she rejoined the world. Her eyelids fluttered and she opened them. I saw her brown eyes as she focused.

"Oh, Bill. I love you!"

Fourteen. "I love you."

What could I say? "I love you, too, Haley."

"That was the best thing that I have ever felt in my whole life."

I smiled. "Sweet darling, I am glad I made you feel good."

"Mmmmmm, you have NO idea..." and she kissed me.

I kissed her back. I felt a little hand softly fondling my hardening shaft. She looked at me with a mix of lust and curiosity.

"Does it get hard like that a lot?"

"It usually doesn't, right after I come," I said. "It's extra excited about you."

Giggle. "When it's hard, that means it's, like, READY? Again?"

"Uh-huh," I explained, "But it's not gonna come as fast the second time."

"It'll last longer?"

I nodded.

She got inside my arms and wrapped me in her own, her face smiling shyly, mere inches from mine. "D'ya REALLY love me, Bill?"

"I really do, Haley. Why are you asking?"

"'Cuz I think we should love each other before we..."

"Haley! You're too young!"

"Am not," she said assuredly. "Lots of girls in my class already did it. Some of 'em's BEEN doin' it."

"Haley..."

"I don't wanna do it with a buncha guys. I don't wanna do it with anybody but YOU."

"Oh, Haley..."

She kissed me again. Pushed me over on my back and climbed back atop me. "I was rubbin' us together while ago." Her brown eyes connected with mine. "Didja like it?"

"'S not a matter of if I liked it, Haley. It felt wonderful..." and I sucked a breath in as she pushed her juicy young pussy along the underside of my hardness.

. "So, baby, can we?"

"All in one day, Haley?" I was incredulous. "You just sucked a guy off for the first time. Just had a guy eat you till you came for the first time. And now you want to do it?"

"I wanna do it with YOU, Bill."

"Sweetie, that's a BIG step. Sometimes it hurts pretty bad the first time. Girls have this thing." I didn't remember seeing that "thing", her cherry, but then I wasn't exactly in a position to pay close attention with her pulling my face into her pussy.

"Oh, THAT," she said. "Mom took me to the doctor when I had my first period and he asked her if I was going to use those things you stick in you, you know, tampons, and she said I was if I could, an' he said he could fix me so I could use 'em more easily but that it would take that hymen thing almost away."

That was new knowledge to me.

"So you don't have to worry about that."

"Okay. Then still, you've never had anything inside you."

"Fingers. The handle on my hairbrush. Just experimenting."

"Well then why am I worrying? It's probably better the first time if you get on top of me so you can go as slow as you want."

"Me on top? You mean there are other ways?"

"Yes, doll, there are other ways. If you want, we can try them sometimes. But today, Haley is on top."

She was astride my hips now, lowering herself, her pussy making contact with my dick, pressing it against my belly. She slid back and forth a few times, rubbing my dick against her clit.

"Hmm!" she said. "This has possibilities!" Then she raised up, releasing my dick to let it pop up. She moved her hips to put the head of my dick in between her pussy lips and began to search for the head with her hole. Finally she reached underneath herself with her hand, grabbed my dick and guided the head into her hot, tight, wet hole. She pressed down. The head slowly forced its way in. She stopped pushing to savor the feeling, then pushed further, then pulled out, then pushed back in, this time a little deeper. I watched her face. She was concentrating, biting her bottom lip, and she kept on, up, down, each time a little more, my dick in the grip of a hungry, yet virgin pussy. Finally, one last thrust and our bodies met.

"It's ALL the way in!" She sighed. "Oh, Bill! You're IN me!" and she started small, even strokes, getting used to the feel of a dick inside her. Then the strokes got more insistent. She was feeling the fullness and the friction inside her, but her button was on the outside looking for something to rub against, so Haley bent forward, rotating her hips so her clit was making contact with the base of my dick with each stroke, and that was what she was looking for. Once she found it, the game was hers. She was riding me like a rocking horse, her hips plunging down, then up and forward. I was trying to let her find her own way, but I couldn't help it. I had to move. Soon I was meeting her strokes with my own.

"Oh.Oh.Oh." came from her lips with each stroke. "Mmmm.MMMM.Mmmm" Now she was biting her lip. 'Oh.oh.oh." Her strokes became longer and harder. Ohhhh. Gahhhh! Ohhhh! Billlll! I'm. Coming! Gahhhhhh! Ohgodogod ohhhhh!" And her last shuddering stroke pushed me over my own cliff and I spurted into her virgin pussy. I did a couple of strokes in time with the spurts then her pussy finished wringing me out.

She collapsed into my arms and we lay together in post climax bliss. Finally she turned her face to mine and kissed me and her hand touched my face. "Oh, Bill, you're so wonderful. I love you."

"I love you too, little one," I said. "Uh, what're your mom an' Steve gonna say, you bein' gone this long?"

She smiled. "They're gone, too. I told 'em when they were getting' ready to go that I was gonna come over here an' do things with you." Giggle. "I don't think they had THIS in mind, though..." She kissed me again. "IloveyouIloveyou..."

"What's that mean to you, Haley?"

"Means that I LOVE you..." More kisses.

I didn't pursue the line of investigation. I might want 'love' to equate to 'forever', but I was holding a fourteen year old girl in my arms and she'd just delightfully shared herself with me, and sometimes, just maybe, life is like a flower, to be savored for the brief time it's in your hand, then it's gone...

We played, experimenting with one another's bodies, sampling the combination of juices we'd created with the fervor of our copulation. Finally, we were lying entangled together, doing Haley's favorite thing, being cuddled.

"I guess I should be dressed when Mom gets back," she said.

"Uh-huh. And you might wanna wash your face. And this," I said, stroking her sweet pussy. "Smells like you've been havin' sex."

"I haven't been, you know," she smiled, "I've been makin' love..."

We went into the bathroom together, washed faces and nether regions, then I watched her get dressed as I did so myself. We went back out to the shop and were busy working when her family pulled back into the driveway.

"I guess I'll go see 'em," she said. She smiled innocently. "I meant what I said, Bill." She left, walking across the lawn to her house. I noticed an uncharacteristic hitch in her gait.

The shelf I was building could wait. I had some pondering to do. I went inside. Didn't turn the TV on. Just sat in my recliner, thinking about what sort of worm ate a chunk of my brain to let me have sex with Haley. Fourteen. What was I thinking? First, sex was serious business to me. I admitted to myself that I had a deep affection for Haley, that it was more than just neighbors and friends, but to have SEX with her? What did that do to us? I could've happily been her friend and tutor and occasional companion and benefactor until she grew up and moved on.

She was fourteen. Almost guaranteed to move on. But what about that conversation about how kids her age ... We'd TALKED about what 'I love you' meant, and then the next thing I know, we were saying it to each other. I was running one stream of thought after another through my head when I heard a soft knock at the door.

"Who is it?" I hollered. I was not in the happiest of moods.

"It's me, Mister Bill," came Haley's voice. "Can I come in?"

"Please do," I said.

She closed the door behind herself and came up to me. "Mister Bill..."

"Miss Haley..."

"Did you mean it..."

"I meant it. Did you?"

"I don't wanna mess up our friendship," she said. "Can I..." She touched my shoulder.

"Yes ... I wish you would..."

She crawled into my lap with less than the normal exuberance. "I thought about what we did..." she looked at me, those brown eyes wide, moist at the corners. "I ... I took advantage of you, Mister Bill. You're the only guy in the world that I wanted to do that with. And you didn't want to..."

"Oh, you're wrong, baby. I WANTED to. It's just that we're not supposed to. I'm guilty of a crime. Just like sellin' drugs or robbin' a bank. But I love you and I think you're delightfully, desperately cute, and I wanted to..." I kissed her lightly on the head. "I never wanted to hurt you..."

The kiss unleashed a flood. From her almost chaste position, her hip in my lap, her shoulder in my chest, she slid and twisted to press herself full-length against me, her legs intertwining with mine. And her lips met mine.

"You didn't hurt me, Bill."

I was back to just 'Bill' instead of 'Mister Bill'. I said that to her.

"You can be Mister Bill when we're in public," she said. "But now you're MY Bill..."

"I'll accept that, my Haley..."

"I REALLY enjoyed us today, baby," she said. "Can I call you 'baby' too?"

"If I can call you 'baby'."

"You already do, baby," she smiled. "I'm a little sore. I guess ... first time, you know..."

"I've heard that, ' I said.

"I wanna do it again," she smiled.

"Right now?"

"No, 'cuz I need to go eat dinner. But soon..."

I kissed her, stroking that sassy head of hair as I savored her lips and tongue. And the phone rang.

I looked at caller ID. "Your house," I said, then I punched the button. "Hello. This is Bill."

Marie's voice. "Hey, Bill, you got Haley there?"

"She's here," I said. "We're playin' chess."

"Well, send 'er home when ya'll're finished," Marie said.

I passed the phone to Haley.

"Okay, Mom," Haley said. She turned to me. "We're not finished, are we?" She kissed me and snuggled into my arms. "I'll never be finished."

"I hope not," I said.

That ended a weekend. I stood at the door and watched the little cutie walk across the yard to her house. I went back inside, showered, and for the first time in a long time, I had NO sexual tension aching in my groin. No, the tension was in the million thoughts flying through my head.

It didn't make for the easiest of days the next day, either. It was difficult to concentrate on work. Absent the idea that NOW I was guilty of a felony, I was also holding the heart of a young girl in my hands. One thought was troubling to my physical freedom. The other weighed on my heart.

The clock dragged its hands around slowly, but finally the day ended and I drove home. I don't know what I expected. Law enforcement? Haley's mom and step-dad?

What I saw was Haley. And her backpack. Smiling. Before I could get out of my van, she was at my side.

"Hi, baby..." she said. "Did ya miss me?"

I had to confess that I did. This admission got me a shy smile.

"I have homework. Come on." She led me to the door. I fumbled for the key, then opened it, letting her inside ahead of me. The bookbag hit the floor as I closed the door behind us.

I spread my arms and she leapt into my grasp, wrapping her legs around my waist. We kissed, her lips apparently hungry. I know mine were.

Finally our mouths parted. "I guess that answers that question, then..."

"What question, Bill?"

"Whether you'd spent the night regretting..."

She shook her head, sassy hair splaying in delightful disarray. "Nuh-uh ... I been wantin' to tell you for a year, Bill."

"Tell me what?"

"That I love you..." her eyes were serious.

"Baby, I love you too. But, why me? You see dozens of boys your own age every day..."

She sighed. "Bill ... Bill ... Didn't we have this conversation already?" Kiss. "Those are screwed up KIDS! I'm NOT. And you're CERTAINLY not..."

"I'm certainly not a kid," I said, "But that 'screwed up' part ... Baby, I'm in love with a fourteen year old girl."

"Hush," she said, silencing me with her lips. "I don't particularly think that's so screwed up."

"Uh, do you have homework?"

"Puh-leeze! You know what I know in math an' stuff."

"So you're here..."

Another kiss. "Because I wanna LOVE you..." She smiled. "Let's go sit in your chair..."

I carried her in my arms and complied. Fears and trepidations faded in the privacy of my home, with sweet Haley in my arms.

"You liked it ... Yesterday, I mean," she asked.

"I liked it. Because I adore you. And that's just more of you that I can have."

Her eyes were questioning before her mouth said anything. "Bill ... can we go to the bedroom?"

"You don't have to do that, baby. I'll still love you and still take care of you..."

"That's just it, Bill. I want you to take care of me..." her eyes twinkled. "Nobody else is gonna do this ... nobody's gonna GET to do this. Just me an' you."

She climbed out of my lap and tugged my hand. My resolve died. I followed her to the bedroom. She rolled onto the bed and I slid up next to her and we tangled up, yearning for one another. Her fingers started tugging at my belt buckle.

"Wait, sweetie, ' I said. "You want these off?"

Her head nodded vigorously. I stood up to undress and she started stripping on the bed. I helped her out of her shoes and then tugged her jeans down.

"Panties," she giggled. "I don't need 'em."

I pulled them down, then planted a kiss on her fuzzy pubic mound, then finished undressing myself, savoring the view of her naked form, especially enhanced by the grinning face I adored as I stepped out of my pants. I turned down the corner of the covers and she slid under them. I slid in beside her, into her eager arms.

"I wanted to be naked with you," she smiled. "It just feels so good..."

"You do, little one." My right hand slid down from her neck to her butt, enjoying the smooth warm skin and the youthful curves. I cupped a cheek in my hand and felt her muscles tighten as she pushed against me.

"You're hard," she said, giggling.

"I wonder why," I answered. "The most delightful girl in the world is in bed with me, naked."

I kissed her again. This was going to be her show. I wasn't pushing anything on her. I wanted to see if she'd take the lead. After a few kisses, I felt her hand pushing my head toward her arching chest as she presented me with bright pink, erect nipples. I kissed and sucked on one, then the other, and tentatively kissed her belly. That got another little push, urging me to her center. She was purring until my tongue slid between the taut lips of a juicy little pussy.

She gasped. "Oh, god, that feels good!"

"Tastes good, too," I said. "Slow? Fast? Soft? Hard?"

"Uh-huh... <<gasp>> All of 'em!"

Oh, how delightful she was, so sweet, so excited, so eager, so tasty. I reveled in the sensations as she quivered under my mouth. In a matter of a few happy minutes she was squealing herself through an orgasm. I let her savor it, then resumed my ministrations, paying attention to the small hands on the back of my head as she guided me into her again.

The second was more intense and she fell limp. I scooted up in the bed and wrapped her inert form in my arms and lightly kissed her face as she rejoined me in this universe.

"Gosh, Bill ... it's just soooo good..." Her brown eyes softened. "I love you, Bill."

"I love you too, Haley." I meant it. Maybe a delicate flower, but I meant it.

She pulled my face toward hers and our lips met. Welded together for minutes before broke apart with her giggling as her fingers grasped my dick. "Hee-hee ... It's sooo hard!" she giggled as she slid down out of my arms.

I watched her brown locks bounce as her mouth captured me. It was only a brief glimpse, because my eyes slammed shut. "Mmmmmmbaby..." I moaned.

She released me from her mouth, her head popping up, a big smile on her face. "I'm still a little sore, Bill, but I want it. In me!"

"You sure, baby? I mean, if you're sore..."

"Not THAT sore," she said. She knew ONE position and she was pushing me over on my back to get me ready. I let her. She straddled me, sliding her pussy up and down on the underside of my dick as it was trapped between us, smearing her juices to add to the almost steady dribble of my own. She had a lusty grin as she lifted her hips off me. My dick sprang up and she guided it to its tight little goal. She was smiling and biting her bottom lip as she pushed downward, ensconcing me in unspeakable joy.

"How beautiful you are, dearest one," I said.

"You're MY guy," she responded as she worked her hips, seeking the angle that would bring her little pink clit in contact with the base of my dick. A little catch in her breathing told me that she succeeded.

I let her ride. I KNEW I was going to come. I was fighting it with every ounce of concentration I could gather, and I felt myself losing that battle until I saw her bite that bottom lip again and squeeze her eyes shut, tightly.

"Nggghhhhh, ohhhh, Billllll," she squealed with a gasp of breath. She pushed downward, hard, and I released. I felt like a fountain as spurt after spurt pumped into her, bathing the hard lump of her cervix. And she melted into my arms.

My bed. I didn't worry about the wet spot that was forming as I curled to the sitting position, cradling her in my arms. She wrapped her legs around my back, holding us coupled together.

The look on her face was pure rapture. I kissed her and she kissed me back.

"It's better than last time," she whispered. "I like it. It's, like, makin' US..."

I just kissed her more, little kisses, all over that precious sweet face. Finally, my softened dick got squeezed out by her tight pussy. We lay together in each other's arms.

"You know I read a lot, huh, baby?"

"Yes, I DO know that, sweetness. Why?"

"Used to be that people didn't have sex with everybody all the time. Used to be that a couple only had sex with each other, and sometimes they're virgins. At least the girl, usually."

"Exactly what kind of books are you reading?" I asked.

"Books about people and customs an' how they change." She was, had become, that is, quite a reader. The library was common Saturday destination for us. She continued, "It used ta be that way, baby."

"I know, sweetness," I said. I was one of those myself, the nerd, before nerd became the term. "I was like that."

"You were? With Deena's mom?" She was curious.

"I was ... She wasn't, but I was..."

I don't know what that did to Haley, but she pulled me to her and kissed me. "She left you, Bill. I've got you now, and you're my first, you know ... I love you..."

"Haley, I love you too, baby, but you're fourteen. Fourteen year old girls aren't noted for committing to long-term relationships." And I realized that I had hurt her.

Her eyes dewed up almost instantly. "B ... Bill ... I love you. Not, 'goin' steady' or sittin' next to you at the cafeteria table ... LOVE love. Like 'forever'. You know what forever means. I do." By the time she got the words out, a tear had freed itself from her eye and started down her cheek.

I could've killed myself. "Oh, Haley baby," I blurted, "I didn't mean it like that. I don't want to hurt like I did when Cheryl left. I want US to be forever..." I kissed her cheek, stopping the tear. Then the other cheek. Another tear. I squeezed her to me.

"Bill, I can be yours forever. An' you can be mine. I KNOW we can. People used ta do it all the time..." she looked at me solemnly. "Can't we?"

"I want to, baby," I said.

"I want to," she said. "With you."

"I'm a lot further down the road to forever than you are, little one."

"I know that. Don'tcha think I haven't thought about that? I want us to get married."

I wasn't too surprised. After all, how much of a leap was it in her mind from "I love you" to "I love you forever" to "Let's get married."?

"Sweetie," I said, "not in this country. First, with your parents' consent, in this state you STILL have to be sixteen."

"Oh." She took a breath while she thought. "That sucks."

"That's the way it is. Keeps some groups from forcing children to marry old men and stuff."

"Oh. But even if I WANT to marry you?"

"The state says that when you're fourteen, you're not mature enough to decide that."

"Do you think I'm mature enough? To decide, I mean?"

"Most of the time I do. I guess I'm not supposed to, but I think so," I answered. "I believe you. You're kind of everything in my life, you know. I love you, little one." I kissed the top of her head and was rewarded with a sensuous wiggle.

"So we can't get married," she said, "right now."

I caught onto the "right now" and filed it into my "one day" stack. "No, baby, we can't, I'm afraid."

"If we could, would you? I mean, really?"

I thought for the briefest of time about other options, going back to searching and chasing women my own age and finding enough baggage with each of them to load a truck, and I reflected on this wondrous little creature laying on my chest, innocent, perfect, and by her own admission, mine. "Yes, Haley, I do believe I would. I would."

This rewarded me with yet another wiggle. She turned her face toward me. "So, another thing I learned..."

"What?"

"In the olden days, people didn't have to go to a church or a judge to be married. They just said they're married."

"Yeah, I know about that, too. They'd announce to the community that they were married and everybody accepted it. Sometimes when a preacher or a judge came around, they'd make it official. Sometimes not."

"Yeah. I read that. We could do that."

"What? If we announced we were married tomorrow, I'd be in jail before sundown and you'd be in a home for unfortunate girls. I'd go to prison, and I could NEVER see you again."

"I don't mean we tell anybody else. We tell each other. Like now." She gazed directly into my eyes. I read her thoughts. More, though, I think I read her heart.

"Haley, I, Bill, make you my beloved wife from now until the end of time."

Her smile was sublime and love filled her eyes. "I, Haley, take you, Bill, to be my husband from now until the end of time." She kissed me to seal our vow.

"And I, Bill, take you, Haley to be my wife forever and ever." I held her to me, breathing in the sweet smell of her youth.

"But we can't tell the world. I want to. That sucks." She grinned. "But then, so do I." She giggled. "And you too!" she got a thoughtful look on her face. "Hey, can we, like, do each other at the same time? I mean, If I turn around..."

"That's called 'sixty-nine', sweetie, and I'd love to try it with you."

Squeal! She bounced off my lap and I laid back. She was atop me in a flash, her thighs spread before my face. I was headed toward that juicy little slit when I was halted by the application of a delightful pair of lips, followed by a giggle and suction.

Oh, well, if that was the game, then ... I licked the length of her slit, the tip of my tongue circling the little pink pea-sized head of her clit. Her turn to gasp. We teased each other for a few delightful minutes before she turned around again.

"I was in your lap while ago. Can we do it that way again?" She smiled.

I sat up and she crawled over astraddle me again. This time she got me inside her without using her hand.

"Gettin' better," she smiled. "I hope I'm doin' okay ... This is what? Our third time?"

"You're way past okay, baby," I said. "And you feel wonderful."

"MmmmmmmIloveit!" her hips were mobile, working her little pussy toward her own ecstasy, bouncing happily.

I was swept along with her enthusiasm. I'd NEVER had something as exciting as what was happening to me at this very moment, and my dick was concurring with my brain and my heart on that finding.

She tossed her arms around my neck, planting her lips against mine, kissing me, giggling, then the giggles gave way to a more serious demeanor as the feelings built in her center. "Again! I'm ... ohhhhhhgodddddd. Enngghhhhhhh!" She froze in place and I was ALMOST there. I worked a couple of tiny but very necessary thrusts upward to complete my own trip. I found lovely release into her center for the second time this evening.

We stayed wrapped up together. Okay, TWO wet spots. Little happy kisses that we shared slowly brought us down from the heights.

"Baby," she said softly, "I think I've finished my homework for the evening, you know..."

"I guess so, baby. It wouldn't be good if they came looking for you."

She got up and I watched her sweet form walking into the bathroom. She started the shower.

"Don't get your hair wet," I said.

"Okay," she answered. "But you need to get me a hair dryer, baby..."

"Okay," I replied. I had a towel waiting when she got out, and I was just soooo helpful drying her off.

She got dressed. I kissed her before she walked out of the door.

Her hand was on the doorknob. She looked at me, her face serious. "Me an' you. Forever, Bill. I'm serious."

I watched her walk across the lawn and enter her own house, and only then did I close my own door.

I smiled. Haley. My Haley. And I liked it that way.

Chapter 5

Okay ... Life went on. If I thought about it too hard, I felt like a guy with an inoperable medical condition that I knew about, but that could strike me dead at any moment, otherwise I was perfectly healthy. So I didn't think about it.

To those on the outside, Haley's parents, the neighbors, even my own daughter, life matched the pattern established over a year ago. When I pulled into the driveway, Haley was usually walking across the yard with her bookbag purposefully slung over her shoulder. Being late summer and early autumn, many days were pleasant enough to sit out under the tree and when that happened the books were there, open, and it looked absolutely like what it was supposed to be: me tutoring Haley on her schoolwork.

Every Monday she came in with the results of the previous weeks' testing, and she'd dutifully show her mom, then she'd show me, and that was my opportunity to 'reward' her with something special: dinner, a movie, maybe both.

Some days, though, we weren't in the yard. Inside, books were opened on the dining room table, or maybe in my home office.

Like today. I pulled into the driveway and as I opened the door of the car, I saw the front door of Haley's house open and she walked out. I saw her head turn, so I knew she was telling her mom something. She was smiling as she walked across the yard. We went right into the house.

"Hi, cutie!" I said.

"Hi, Bill," she answered as I bent over to get a kiss. Her nose wrinkled.

"I know, baby. Wasn't a good day. I need to shower."

She giggled. "I wanna shower with you."

"I'd LOVE that, sweetness, but let's not try that unless your folks are gone. I'd hate for them to come knock on the door while you were soaking wet."

"Oh, I know ... But I still wanna, you know..." she put her books down on the coffee table and spread a couple out.

I kissed her on top of her brown haired head and headed to my bedroom. I should've known better. Haley was a playful young thing and when I stood up to step out of my pants, she was leaning against the door frame, smiling, her arms folded.

"You're not s'posed to be watching, ' I said.

"Why not," she giggled. "I've seen every bit of that. Up close." Grin. She stepped into the room and knelt in front of me, turning her face upward to look at mine. "Is THIS part sweaty? Hmmm?" She flipped my hardening dick upward into her waiting mouth. "Mmmmm" escaped her lips. She released me. "Uh-huh. A little bit." Her head bobbed forward again, giving me a luxurious suck, then she said, "Take your shower."

She stood up and I kissed her, avoiding the hug because of my body funk. I went into the shower and let the hot water cascade over me. I'd been in the shower for a couple of minutes, was lathering up, when I felt a little hand reach in and fondle whatever parts she could reach, accompanied by a cute, happy giggle.

"Stop that!" I chided. "You're gonna get wet!"

"I AM wet," she said. "Wanna guess where?"

"Hold that thought, cutie pie," I said. "I need to shave."

"Uh-huh, you do," she giggled. "That one time you didn't, wow..." She'd gotten a bit insistent about getting eaten one afternoon and I went after her with a day-old beard. The insides of her thighs were pretty irritated.

When I stepped out of the shower, she was sitting on the lid of the toilet. She handed me the bath towel she was holding, then watched me shave. When I finished and walked into the bedroom, the covers were already turned back.

"I know, I know ... a lady's not supposed to appear anxious," she said, repeating something I'd told her, "but you know..."

I laid out T-shirt and shorts within easy reach. I could be 'dressed' in a matter of seconds, if needed. And by the time I finished that task, I turned to see her naked from the waist down.

I sat on the bed and said, "C'mere, cutie!"

She gave a little squeal and jumped into my lap, wrapping her legs around my waist. Haley's favorite position. We were face to face, and with a few movements of her hips, our lips weren't the only moist parts connected between us.

Her bright brown eyes twinkled. "IloveyouIloveyouIloveyouBill!"

How could I argue with the immediate reality in my arms? "I love you, Haley sweetness!" I rocked her in my arms, letting her work her pussy on my dick the way SHE wanted. Our couplings were joyous things right up to the point where her slight form started shivering. It was her way to be biting my chest, not enough to draw blood, but enough to leave a mark, as she came, and I was often in the throes of my own when this happened. No sex I'd experienced before was as pleasurable as mating with Haley.

In the soft, loving aftermath, I held her, stroking her short brown hair, running my lips softly over her smooth cheek. I wanted so much to stay this way until we naturally parted, but such was the nature of our relationship that time wouldn't allow. I backed my lips away from her face and her bright eyes connected with mine.

"I know, baby," she said softly.

"You know? What?" I asked gently.

"I know it would be so wonderful if we could stay this way until ... and then do whatever we have to do for dinner, then be together again, all night..."

I pondered that just perhaps this young angel was reading my thoughts. "Are you reading my mind, Haley?"

"I don't have to," she smiled. "If you love me the way I love you, that's what you want. 'Cuz that's what I want..." her lips met mine, soft, gently opening, a tongue brushing my lips, then slipping between them to meet my own tongue. "Just a few more minutes, okay?

"Yes, little one..."

Finally we both regained a little logic and we parted. She slid off my lap and started to the bathroom.

"Wait," I said. I patted the bed. "Lay down. I want that..."

She smiled as she obeyed, hanging her legs off the edge of the bed, splayed apart. Her pussy lips were still rosy, turgid, slick with the combination of our juices, a thing I couldn't resist. I sucked and licked her clean, getting her another little cum before she got up and then she washed herself in the bathroom. She handed me the washcloth, kneeling.

"If you can, I can," she smiled.

A minute later, she stood. "Now I need to wash my face, huh?"

I handed her the washcloth. "If we keep this up, we'll be here all night."

She finished and put the cloth on the vanity. "Nope! If I was gonna be here all night, I wouldn't be washing my face ever' five minutes."

We got dressed, went into the den and looked over her homework. At this stage of the tutoring thing, my part was mostly letting her recite what she derived from her classes. That was good enough to keep her grades at the 'A' level, but it wasn't good enough to sate her curiosity, so science and math conversations ranged over the way things were applied in the real world, and language and social studies were discussed on what I thought was a very broad level for a fourteen year old girl.

That, fortunately, was what was going on when I heard the phone ring. "This is Bill," I said.

"Bill, this is Marie. You got Haley there with you?"

"Sure do, Marie," I said. I saw Haley's eyes perk up at the mention of her mom's name.

"Look, me an' Steve an' the baby are goin' to my sister's for a bit. See if Haley wants to come."

I looked at Haley. "They're goin' to your aunt's. You wanna go?"

Haley shook her head. "No, I REALLY need to study THIS stuff..." she said loud enough for her mom to hear.

"I heard," Marie said. "You can send 'er home if you get tired of 'er, you know, Bill..."

"She's okay here, Marie. How late ya'll gonna be?"

"Oughtta be back by eight. Steve's gotta work, you know..."

"Well, she's good here..."

"Or she can go home. She'll be okay by herself. Whatever."

"Okay, Marie. She's tuggin' my shirt for help..."

"Yeah, well, thanks, Bill, for puttin' up with 'er."

"Oh, no problem, Marie. She's like, well, a couple years older'n my own daughter. It's nice to have 'er around."

"'Kay, Bill. We'll let ya know when we get back." The phone clicked and I sat it down. I looked at Haley. She had delightful smirk on her face. "Your mom says you can go home when you're finished."

She leapt into my arms. "S'pose I'm NEVER finished..."

"I don't think I ever will be either, little one. But I still can't keep you..."

She smiled. "Just so you WANT to..."

I sat in my chair and welcomed her into my lap. "Little one, in another time and place, I'd be that old guy with the cute little wife..."

She cooed and buried her face in my chest. "I love it when you talk to me like that, Bill."

"You're the one who started that, Haley," I said.

"I know. An' that's how I feel, baby," she said.

Fourteen, and she was calling ME 'baby' and I was forty-two. Oh, well. It made her happy. And her happiness was MY happiness.

"We got TWO hours," she said, a mischievous grin on her face. "Let's take a shower together!"

"That's what you really want?"

She smiled. "Mmm-hmmm. Me an' you. In the shower. I've thought about that ... a lot."

"Okay," I said. "But after this, you need to beat your mom home an' run YOUR shower so it'll look like you showered there."

"I thought about that." She giggled. "We have the same idea!" She got off my lap and tugged my hand. "Let's go!"

So we showered together. I've showered with my mate before, but I never had fun like this. She was almost giddy. We played with soap and shampoo and lathered each other and reveled in the feel of our two slickened bodies sliding together, the new feel of touches on wet genitalia, the sensuality of kisses with hot water streaming off our bodies.

It was like it was all new to me. I cannot imagine how it must have been for my young lover. We finally got out when the hot water started running out, something that had NEVER happened before in this house. We dried each other off, an activity that my Haley determined was also an opportunity to play with me to hardness, and then suck on me playfully.

Since I'd already showered and shaved once today, I didn't need to shave, so I helped her dry her hair, brushing her short tresses to shiny perfection. Finished, she turned around, displaying her nude body for me.

"You are absolutely a delight to see, angel, ' I said.

"You are too, my guy," she cooed, hugging herself to me.

"Well, how was our shower?" I asked.

"I wanna do it again an' again ... that's the way WE should shower all the time, baby," she smiled. Her sweet face saddened. "Now I have to go home, Bill. I wish there was a way I could stay all night with you."

"I do too, baby," I said.

We were getting dressed. I could tell she was thinking about something.

"I know," she said. "We could, you know, like the weekend you have Deena over..."

"Baby, there's NO WAY we could shower together with Deena here!" Deena told her mom everything that she saw or heard during the time she was with me. I don't know if it was because she was so guileless, or because my ex-wife pumped her for information, but that was the way things were.

"No, I don't mean when she's really HERE, I mean we could SAY she's here, an' I'm spendin' the night with HER!" She continued. "Mom 'n' Steve already know that I go places with ya'll all the time. They'd just think it was like that..."

"I'm afraid that they might notice that Deena's not actually here."

Haley digested that for a second. "They like to go to car races 'n' stuff. They know I don't enjoy that. So if they're goin', then they won't be here to KNOW if Deena's really here or not."

I could see that SOMEBODY was putting a bit of thought into this.

"That might just work," I said.

She was pulling her shoes on. After she tied the laces, she stood up and shoved books and notebooks into her backpack. "You look so sad," she said.

"I know," I said. "I hate it when you have to go."

"I know," she answered. "But there's tomorrow, okay?" And with a little kiss left on my lips, she opened the door. I watched her until she unlocked the door and entered her own house.

Two minutes later the phone rang. "Hi, sweetie," I answered, having seen the caller ID.

"Hi, love," she said. "I did the shower an' left a wet towel on the rack," she giggled. "Bill, I'm so happily, perfectly clean right now. I'm goin' straight to bed. And I'm gonna dream of us..."

I was going to dream too. "I love you, Haley," I said.

"I love you, Bill," she replied. "G'nite!" As I hung up the phone, I saw the flash of her parents' headlights in my window.

We managed one more tryst before the weekend, at least if you define 'tryst' as a galloping happy coupling. We talked daily over homework and every time we were in the house, we cuddled and kissed, but pure sex wasn't a driving force, it was a happy result.

The weekend brought Deena into the picture, and by this time, Deena had begun to understand that Haley was pretty much guaranteed to tag along.

That was a bit surreal to me. Deena was my daughter, and as such, I'd been hugging and snuggling her since she popped out, now twelve years ago. She was always the 'huggy' type and even now, at twelve, I still got little girl hugs and kisses from Deena while Haley stood by and watched.

Friday evening I picked up Deena after work and brought her home with me. Haley knew that this was the weekend for Deena, so she made an effort to NOT look like she was waiting for me when we drove up. As we got out of the car, she said, "Hi, Mister Bill! Hi, Deena!"

We both waved back. I noted that Deena glanced at me, and then we went into the house.

"Dad," she said, (I was 'Dad' now unless her twelve-year-old self-restraint was overcome for some reason, returning me to 'Daddy') "You said we were going to the amusement park tomorrow?"

"Yes," I said. That was a two and a half hour drive for us, to the bigger city. "I thought we'd leave early in the morning and spend the night tomorrow night. Have breakfast Sunday morning and drive back home."

"I wonder if Haley would wanna come," Deena mused. "She says her parents never go to places like that."

"I thought you didn't like Haley hangin' around all the time," I said.

"Well, I guess I think of a lot of things, Dad. Doin' that for her ... uh, WITH her, that's just a nice thing to do. An' since I didn't invite any regular friends, she's kinda like bringin' a big sister or somethin'."

Inside, my heart was doing flips. "Why don't you go ask her if she wants to go, if her parents will let her?"

Deena reacted by hugging me and bounding out the door. Three minutes later the phone rang. I looked at the caller ID. "This is Bill."

"Bill, this is Marie. I got Haley an' yer daughter here. Are you SURE Haley's okay comin' along with ya'll?"

"I'm sure, Marie," I said. "Deena's idea."

Marie's voice lowered. "Uh ... Bill, we're kinda in a bind for money right now ... Steve just cleaned out the bank account fixin' the RV up."

"Oh, come on, Marie ... Buyin' Haley a couple of meals and a ticket to the amusement park ain't gonna break me. Let 'er come with us!"

"You sure?"

"We're sure! And we're leavin' at sun-up in the morning, so tell 'er to pack a bag and spend the night here tonight. And a change of clothes for Sunday. We'll be back around noon on Sunday."

I heard her relay the message to the two girls, raising a couple of gleeful squeals. "'Kay, Bill! We appreciate it!"

"That's quite alright, Marie. I don't mind a bit."

A few minutes later the pair burst through the door. A growth spurt had hit Deena over the summer and now she was as tall, maybe taller, than Haley, and while Haley had almost olive skin, Deena was pale and blonde and blue-eyed, and I was glad to see them both happy.

"Come on, Haley," Deena said. "Let's put your stuff in my room!"

"You two entertain yourselves," I said. "I need a shower before we go to dinner."

"You do, Dad!" Deena countered. "I didn't wanna say something in the car."

Haley winked at me over Deena's shoulder.

I showered and dressed and came out to find Deena lounging on the sofa and Haley in my chair.

"Where am I supposed to sit? Haley, you're in my chair."

Haley smirked. "So, move me!"

I growled playfully and scooped her out of the chair and sat down, dumping her in my lap. She jumped up. "Deena, your dad's a beast!"

"I know," Deena said. "He's so mean..." she giggled. Haley took the other end of the sofa and we watched a little of one of Deena's favorite TV shows while we made plans for dinner.

I succumbed to pressure for a pizza joint and after enduring mediocre pizza, forked over another twenty bucks so the girls could play arcade games while I talked with another dad who was enduring the same ordeal. We shared our miseries as he watched a ten year old boy and a girl maybe a year younger than Deena.

Finally, my charges ran out of money and we went home. It was shower time. Deena went first, and as soon as the door closed, Haley had me wrapped in her arms, kissing me.

"IloveyouIloveyouIloveyouBill," she said softly.

"Haley baby, I love you too, but you're gonna get us caught." And I kissed her long and sweet. She slid backward over the arm of my chair into my lap and her butt wiggled deliciously. "Stop that!" I said. "Deena's gonna walk in."

"Nope! She'll turn off the shower an' we'll hear that!"

"Little one," I said, weakening, "we can't get caught."

"I know," she whispered. "But I love you ... Thank you for doin' this for me ... this weekend..."

"I want to do nice things for you, sweetness. Even if we weren't..."

"In love," she finished.

"Yes. In love," I conceded. And I had arrived at the same conclusion in my head. I was in love with Haley.

We heard the water stop in the bathroom and Haley slid off my lap after landing a last kiss. I read conflicting thoughts in those brown eyes.

Deena stuck her head out of the bathroom door. "Haley, you can do your shower while I'm dryin' my hair."

"'Kay," Haley answered, grabbing her bag of clothes.

A few minutes later, Deena was out, pajama-clad. "You changed the channel," she said.

"I can only watch so much 'cute', baby," I answered. "And now I got you..."

She cuddled in my arms. "I'm getting too old to do this any more, huh?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Heavy."

"You're not heavy, darlin'" I answered. "And you'll always be my little girl, baby."

Haley walked in, wearing her nightshirt. It made it down past her butt to mid-thigh, and I thought she looked cute. Deena hopped out of my lap.

"Your turn," Deena said. "Ever'body gets a hug!"

"Baby, Haley's not my daughter. She might not want me to hug her."

Haley played along. "Well, since Deena's right here, nobody would say nothin'." And she got into my lap. I gave her a perfunctory hug, and she got up. She smiled at me. "I feel much better now, Mister Bill!" And she giggled.

We watched a DVD movie on TV and it finished shortly before ten o'clock.

"Bed-time," I said. "We have an early start, tomorrow."

"But we can stay up. You're drivin'," Deena begged.

"No way. Then you two will sleep all the way. I want you awake so I'll have somebody to talk to..."

"Oh, okay, Dad," Deena conceded.

I started shutting off lights and walked up the hall. I stuck my head into Deena's open door. They were arranging themselves into her double bed. "G'nite, girls," I said.

"Daa-aadddd! I get goodnight kiss!" Deena whined.

"Oh, okay. I thought you were outgrowing some of that stuff."

"Nuh-uh," she said.

I had to lean across Haley to kiss Deena on the cheek, and then she hugged me, pulling me almost on top of Haley.

"Deena! I'm gonna squish Haley," I said.

Deena giggled. "Oh, okayyyyy, Dad! G'nite!"

Haley got a mischievous smirk on her lips. "I don't get a goodnight kiss, Mister Bill?" Those brown eyes twinkled.

"Uh ... okay." I gave her a perfunctory kiss. I started to, anyway, aiming for her cheek. She turned her head and caught me with her lips.

"G'night, Mister Bill," she giggled.

The alarm went off at six and I rolled out of bed. As I got dressed, I hollered up the hall at the girls. No sound of acknowledgement was forthcoming. I finished dressing and walked into Deena's room to find two angels tangled in the covers.

"Wake up, sleepyheads," I said, gently shaking each of them. "Let's get it in gear, girls."

"Bathroom," Haley said.

"I'll use Dad's," chirped Deena. Deena turned up the hall and I looked into the bathroom door as Haley grinned and flashed me, raising her nightshirt, revealing her titties. She caught the shirt with her chin and pulled her panties down and made a kissy face. I pulled the door closed.

Fifteen minutes later we were on the road, running through the drive-through for a fast food breakfast. The three of us laughed and talked and listened to music all the way to the park, and they talked me (didn't take TOO much) into riding every extreme roller coaster ride in the place, and then after paying waaay too much for the food, we stayed until the fireworks display at the end of the evening.

We left with the crowd and made our way to the hotel where we had reservations. Again, I got a little hug and a quick fondle from Haley while Deena showered, and I got the kiss and a giggly hug before I turned out the lights. The two girls slept in one bed, I in the other.

I guess I had one soft drink too many because I got up at two AM for a bathroom call, and then I went back to bed, stopping to notice the two angels sleeping in the dim light of the room, one my daughter, the best thing to come out of a failed marriage, the other, a very unlikely lover.

I crawled back into bed and went back to sleep.

I woke in the morning to soft chattering in the bed beside mine.

"I used ta sleep with 'im, yaknow," Deena said. "He says I'm too old to any more, but I miss it."

"I never got to do that," Haley said. "When Mom was single, when I was real little, I slept with her, but then she started datin' and that went away. An' now she's married an' I don't wanna get in bed with her an' Steve."

"I know," Deena said. "But ... we could just sort sneak in, if we're REAL careful..."

Haley said, " You really wanna try? I mean, YOU'RE his daughter..."

Deena said, "Well, you're, I dunno, kinda like ... hee-hee! Let's do it. He won't get mad."

I heard soft footsteps and then very slight motions in my bed and then felt a warm body on either side of me. Deena was on my left. I saw her when I opened my eyes a tiny bit. Haley was on my right. Close. I felt a hand slide into my pajamas and KNEW it was Haley's. She was pushing her luck. My luck. But her touch ... She pulled her hand back.

I played like I was waking up. "W-what are ya'll doin' in my bed?!?!?"

"We got cold, Daddy," Deena said. The use of 'Daddy' was significant, a sign that manipulation was in progress.

"Yeah, Mister Bill. You're so warmmmmm!" and Haley molded herself against me. Manipulation of a totally different sort.

"We need to get up anyway. You'll warm up when you move around."

"Oh, Daddy, let us stay for just MINUTE..."

"Yeah, Mister Bill ... Please?"

"Okay," I gave in. "Just a minute. But be still!" And I lay there, trying to be still myself, with loving daughter on one side, object of love and lust on the other. Finally I could stand it no longer. I could smell Haley in every breath. "Okay," I said. "Let's get going!"

"Awww, Daaa-aaddd!" Deena whined, but she started getting out of bed.

Haley said nothing, but gave my dick a quick squeeze as she slid out from under the covers. She smiled. "Thank you, Mister Bill. I never had a dad to snuggle with."

We checked out, had breakfast, did a pass through the park, and then it was on the road home. Deena has the front passenger seat and Haley was sitting in the back, leaned forward, her face between us, talking.

We went straight to drop Deena off at her mom's.

"I had a great time, Dad," she said, hugging me. Then she hugged Haley. "I had fun, Haley. I'm glad you got to come."

Haley moved to fill the front seat vacated by Deena. After we backed out of the driveway, Haley smiled at me.

"You're beautiful," I said, "but you scare me to death. What if Deena'd caught you with your hand in my pajamas.?"

"It was a quick squeeze, that's all. And under the blanket. The only way she could've caught us is if she looked under there or HER hand was there, an' I doubt she'd do THAT!"

"I know, but still..."

She batted those thick eyelashes at me over those big brown eyes. "I'm sorry, Bill. I just wanted you to know I was thinkin' about EVERYTHING with us..."

"I know ... It was difficult to get through the weekend and not just scoop you into my arms, baby..."

She smiled sweetly. "Ya know what I think?"

"What do you think?"

I think," she said, "that when I get home, I'm going straight in the house and drop my stuff off an' hang around for a while, and then I'm comin' over for a math review..."

"You think?"

"Yeah. They'll think that's just what we been doin'. Tomorrow's school. I need some study..." She smiled, lips together. "I need lots of things..."

When we pulled into my driveway, their RV was missing.

"I wonder where they went," she said.

"Here!" I handed her my cell phone. Call 'em."

She punched in her mom's number. Held it to her ear. "Hi, Mom. Where are you?" Pause. "No, we're just getting back and we didn't see the motor home." Pause. "Okay. I'll put my stuff in the house an' hang out with Mister Bill. I was gonna have to go over there this evening an' do math stuff anyway." Pause. "Yeah, we can do something here. He won't mind feedin' me one more meal!" Pause. "Yeah, he's smiling." Pause. "Okay! Love ya, Mom. Bye." She turned to me. "They're just leavin' my uncle's deer camp. That's at least three hours away."

Now it was my turn to smile. "Then go put your stuff in your house and come back over here."

"Nuh-uh! Come with me!"

I questioned in my mind why she'd want that, but I followed her. She pulled out a key and unlocked the door, then let me in. As normal, the place reeked of stale cigarette smoke, and was quite cluttered. I followed her into her room, and it was the most orderly place in the house. She put here stuff down. "Somethin' I wanna do here." Her eyes glittered.

"What?"

"You an' me."

"Here?"

"Yeah," she said. "We don't have to get all undressed. Just enough to..." She was pulling her jeans and panties down.

We'd done doggie-style one time. She liked it, but not as much as some other positions, but she recognized that it required the minimum of undress. And she was that far.

"I must be crazy," I said as I unbuckled my belt. When I lowered my pants, she was already fishing my hard dick out of the fly of my drawers. She sucked it several times, then got on her hands and knees on the bed.

"In me," she giggled. "Just put it in."

I complied, gently pushing the head around her wettening slit to further lubricate things, then sinking slowly into nirvana.

"Ooooooooh, that's sooooo good, baby..." she said. She pushed back against me a couple of times, then pulled away. "Now. Let's go get in YOUR bed an' finish this."

We got dressed and she kissed me. Walking across the yard with her book bag, she said, "You gotta know, guy, that I lay in that bed an' think of us doin' things. Makin' love. Now when I lay there, I can say we DID it in there."

We walked in the door and she shut it behind us, turning the deadbolt. I scooped her up into my arms and she wrapped her legs around my waist. I carried her into the bedroom.

"Naked," she said. "I want us naked. I have been in the same room with you one night, an' in the same house for two, an' I want you."

"I know how you feel, darlin'," I said.

All this talk was going on while clothes were coming off and she scooted nude onto the bed as I peeled my last sock off and slid in between her legs. Our mouths met and our arms clasped and we merged. As it was our second session for this day, it was so much slower, more loving, softer, gentler, and the orgasms just a strong. But we had hours.

The sweet little thing curled up beside me, hair tousled by our activity, as we rested. Wasn't long, though, before her curiosity had her exploring my softened dick and it took only a little of her gentle but happy explorations before I was hardening again. She turned her face to look at me, her expression unmistakably lascivious.

"You're gonna kill me," I said.

"You want me to stop?" she smiled.

"Never, little one. It seems to react to you, and as long as you can make it work, it's yours."

"Hee-hee!" Her head bobbed downward and air hissed from my lips as she sucked me.

The sucking was preparation to her next move: She straddled me. I sat up and wrapped her body in my arms, looking into happy, loving eyes.

"Just one more for tonight," she said. "We never get to do it this much. And I want YOU so much, Bill..."

I kissed her as her mobile hips started working herself on me. "I love you, little angel, ' I said.

"You better, guy," she said. "I chose YOU!"

Her brown eyes glittered as we worked together. I didn't really expect to have a third orgasm today, but before long, her happy action and sweet body had me feeling the surges. For her, the grin morphed into something much more serious as she neared the goal. The eyes still glittered, though, and 'serious' was mitigated by the upturned corners of her mouth.

"I ... I ... Getting' CLOSE!" she hissed.

"Hold on, goddess! I'm almost..."

"Hard, Bill! Push! Hard!" she squeezed her eyes shut, closing on her own little piece of nirvana.

I thrust upward, not hard to do with her slight form in my lap, urging my dick deeper into hungry wetness. She came down on one of her thrusts, pushing, a little twist of her hips at the bottom and I knew she was close. I thrust again, almost at the edge of my third. Her legs clinched tightly around me.

A little "ohgod..." escaped her mouth.

I got another thrust timed with hers. "I'mthereBill ... OHhhhhhhh, godddddd!" as she slammed down. And I erupted. I squirmed as I spurted gouts of semen into her center. She was shaking from her own orgasm. Finally she let her legs loose from around me and I lay back, pulling my cutie atop me.

"Mmmmmm," she purred. "THAT was good one!"

"They're ALL good ones, baby!"

"I felt every time you squirted, guy! When I do it, ever'thing down there's soooo sensitive and I feel you throbbing an' then it squirts an' I feel it." She smiled. "An' that's how I know I make you happy."

"You make me happy in ways that don't involve us mating, little one..."

"I hope so, guy," she said. "But ain't it neat that this is sooo good between us?"

"Yes, it is, kitten," I said.

We held onto each other for some time, then she said, "We got time for a shower, Bill."

I smiled. "Yes, we do, baby."

"An' we're already undressed," she giggled. The shower was fun. Afterward, I helped her dry her hair and we dressed and went back into the living room and curled up in my chair, my angel in my arms, talking about happy things.

"I wanna do this forever, Bill..."

"Me, too, baby." And I was serious. But all the hurdles...

Chapter 6

Reluctantly I let her go home that night when we heard the RV rumbling into their driveway. As I stood in the door watching her go home, I waved at Steve. He walked over.

"Sorry about bein' late," he said. "I owe ya one."

"Not a problem, buddy. She was gonna do homework over here anyway. So we finished that and watched TV. She's a good kid. Deena appreciated having her around this weekend."

"Well," Steve said, "I appreciate it. Her school work's a LOT better, an' to be honest, she ain't that much fun in the RV over the weekend. We took it up to brother-in-law's deer camp to see how that was gonna work. Ain't Haley's thing, you know..."

"Oh, don't worry. She an' Deena get along just fine, and having Haley around means I don't have to give MY daughter a hundred percent of the attention all the time. Haley an' Deena entertain each other. Means I don't have to..." I played along with Steve. Seemed to me that he wanted to feel comfortable with leaving Haley.

"Uh-huh," he said. "At home she kind keeps to herself. I don't know what to do with a teenaged girl, ya know. Not like a dad, anyway. And Marie ain't much better off."

"Seems like that's the same song that the parents of every teen on the planet are singing," I said. "She comes over here to study, or sometimes we play chess or watch a movie. She seems content with that."

"Yeah, Li'l Stevie doesn't make things easy for her to do that at home sometimes."

"Little brothers are like that," I said.

"Nuther one a'them ol' songs," Steve laughed, then he looked thoughtful. "Hey, is your daughter comin' over next weekend? We might wanna go up to the deer camp on Friday an' come back Sunday."

A lightbulb went off in my head. I can't describe the feeling that went off much lower. "I might have 'er. Lemme check with the ex."

"I don't mean to put you on the spot," Steve said.

"Oh, you're not, buddy. Lemme get back with you on Tuesday." I figured I needed Monday to talk to Haley.

I went back inside, watched a little TV, my laptop on my lap while I caught up with some news and some message boards. My computer chimed. Email. I swapped to the email program window. Haley!

"Mom an' Steve are talking about spending next weekend up at the deer camp. I hope I don't have to. -Haley"

I tapped out a quick reply. "I'm working on arrangements for you to spend the weekend with me and Deena. Talk to you tomorrow." And I knew that Haley understood that Deena NEVER came over two weekends in a row.

So I went to sleep with the thought in my head that I just might have my Haley ALL weekend. Got up the next morning, bumbled around the house, ate breakfast, went to work, none of those activities in any way remarkable.

When I pulled into the driveway, Haley was waiting in the front yard. She picked up her book bag and came over. Once inside, I got severely kissed as soon as the door closed.

"You were joking about Deena coming over this weekend, right?" Her brown eyes twinkled.

"Right. You know she doesn't do two weekends in a row."

"So ... They'll leave as soon as they can Friday." She smiled.

"When I get home, you and I will drive off like we're going to get Deena. If they're gone, we'll come right back. If they're not, we'll go eat or something, then come back."

"And we'll have the whole WEEKEND together!" she squealed. More kisses, then she spread her books on the floor of the living room.

"You have REAL homework?"

"A little," she said, smiling. "Go take your shower while I work on it."

I followed instructions, knowing that I'd feel much better afterward. Only thing was that I couldn't put on any cologne or aftershave, because we didn't want our little Haley going home with those smells on her. And in the middle of my shower, a little hand reached in and gave me a fondle while its owner giggled.

I finished and walked back into the living room.

"Look at this." She showed me some math problems. "This is how I think I should do them."

I scanned her work. "Yep! That gets it, baby!" I watched her scratching answers out in pencil in her even, neat handwriting.

Then she went to her science book and we talked about the questions she was seeing in class, and as was Haley's normal action, she asked questions about how that knowledge fit into the real world. English and history were equally easily taken care of. Left us with a little time to burn.

She stood up, unbuttoning her jeans. "I know we can't get all the way naked, but I wanna..."

"I can't resist you, little one," I said, standing and unbuckling my belt.

"Just pull 'em down an' sit on the sofa," she said. "We can do it like that."

I sat back on the sofa with my pants around my ankles. Haley straddled me. We kissed as I let my hands savor the curve of her youthful, firm ass. She wiggled down onto me, her wet pussy sliding on my hard dick.

"Mmmmm, I love how it feels when I rub on you like that," she whispered.

"I love it, too, sweetness. You excite me so much..." I couldn't finish the comment because my mouth was obstructed by hers. I loved her kisses. I slid my fingers into her short, sassy hair, caressing her head as we kissed. Her hips were mobile, raising, moving, searching as my dick sprang up, hard for her. I felt the head find the opening to her sweet young pussy and she started sliding me into her. Her mouth broke from mine.

"Yessss," she hissed. "This is when I feel BEST!" She pressed down on me. I felt our pubic arches meet. She giggled. "I feel it up to HERE!" She pressed her fingers against her lower belly. A little wiggle and her eyes sparkled. "Uh-huh," she said. "Right there! It's right there." She wiggled again. "I could just wiggle with you in me an' I could come."

"I feel your little button," I said. I could feel her clit pressing at the base of my dick, like a little pea trapped between us. I pushed up, little thrusts that I could feel were moving that little pea. That is, I could feel THAT when I wasn't overwhelmed by the head of my dick deep inside perfect, warm, wet tightness.

Her lips met mine again. Our kiss was hot, but the circular motions of her pussy on my dick were hotter. She pulled her lips away, panting. "Oooooooo, I feelit!"

I felt it, too, my balls contracting. I struggled against the release.

Her fingers dug into my shoulders. "ComeonBill!"

I pushed upward into her, relishing the fire beginning to start in me.

"Nnnnnnghhhhh! Yeahhhhhhh!" she said, then she clamped her lips against mine. "Mmmmm."

I pushed twice more and squirted surge after surge of semen into her, bathing her cervix. "OhgodddddddHaleyyyyyy!"

She pushed her mouth against mine again and we stayed kissing as we savored our orgasms.

"I love you, Haley, ' I whispered.

"I love you too, Bill," she replied. "I really do. So very, very much." And a shower of sweet little kisses.

"Baby, if we stay here I'm gonna have a spot on the sofa..."

"I know ... can we do each other?"

"Uh-huh," I said.

"Quick! In the bedroom!" she giggled.

I kicked my pants off and headed into the bedroom. There I flopped down on top of the bedspread and she slid on top of me, presenting me with a pink, hot, and very juicy pussy. I relished the musky tang of her as I started licking and sucking the slick remains of our love. She was happily working on my dick, then she crawled a little further down and I felt her tongue and lips on my balls. The feeling was exquisite.

I returned to the happy task of licking out the inside of her pussy, then teasing her little clit with my tongue, bringing her to a mewing little orgasm for a finish. She turned around and snuggled on my chest, wrapped in my arms.

"If I ever lose you, Bill, I will KILL myself," she said.

"I'm yours forever, little angel," I said.

More kisses, and then grudging the idea, we got up and went into the living room and retrieved our pants, then went to the bathroom and washed our faces.

She giggled.

"What's funny, angel?"

"This weekend, we won't have to jump up an' get dressed. We can lay there together. And start ALL over..."

"I know," I said. "I can't wait."

"You won't get tired of me?" she smiled.

"Not even close."

She put her books back into the bag, then stood. We wrapped in each other's arms, like a last gulp of air before a diver submerges.

"I love you, Bill," she said softly.

"I love you too, Haley." I gave her one last kiss and then held the door open, watching her cross the yard.

The next day when I pulled in, I saw Steve working on their motor home. He waved, so I walked over.

"Ain't gonna shake hands," he laughed, waving a grease-covered paw. "How'd yer day go?"

"It was a day," I said. "Got a big generator torn down. It's mess. And they don't air condition powerplants."

"I hear ya," he said.

"I was gonna tell you that Haley's good to stay with us this weekend, buddy."

"Great," he said. "I owe ya one."

"You don't owe me anything. Glad to have 'er around."

He smiled. "Glad you think so."

About that time, she walked up behind me with her bookbag slung over her shoulder. "Hi, Mister Bill"

"Hi, Haley," I said. "What's on the agenda today?"

"Word problems," she said. "They eat me up!" She smiled sweetly. "IF you're not too tired."

"No, sweetie," I said. She was always a pet name in front of her parents, from Day One, before we had so much as held hands, so I didn't worry about that. "Come on over." To Steve I said, "See ya, buddy. Looks like I'm being commandeered."

I went to the door with Haley fairly skipping alongside me and let her inside, following her. She reached behind me, locking it, then kissed me.

"You!" she squealed. "I've been thinking of YOU all day."

"You mean you don't have math homework?"

"Nope. Did it all, waiting for the bus. Wanted time for this." She pulled my face down to hers again, kissing me, and I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her back.

"Little doll," I said. "I missed you too, you know..."

We were cuddling happily when the phone rang. I looked at the caller ID. "Shhhh! Your house!" I put the phone to my ear. "This is Bill."

Marie's voice. "You got Haley over there, huh, Bill?"

"Sure do. She's laying in the middle of the floor workin' on a math problem."

"Is she 'bout finished?"

"No, I don't think so. Haley, how many do you have to go?"

Haley's smile melted me. "Eight. It's gonna be a while."

"I heard," Marie said. "We're goin' to Wal-mart an' then to my sister's. Be back about eight, if that's okay."

"Fine with me," I said. "Haley, your folks're gone until eight. You need to tell 'em anything?"

"Love ya, Mom!"

"Bye, Bill. She can go home when she's finished."

"Okay," I said. "Bye!" I closed my phone.

"You go take a shower," she said. "I wanna do EVERYTHING!" Giggle. She climbed out of my lap. "AN' shave!"

I did. Twenty minutes later I came out of the bathroom naked and joined her in our bed. She was as naked as I was, and after a few kisses, she twisted around on me, a bit of pure sexuality, light as a feather. I had a fourteen year old pussy in my face and it was delicious. Equally pleasurable was the eager lips closing over my dick, sucking me, her tongue kneading the coronal ridge, her ivory-white teeth nipping enthusiastically.

Giggle. "I like it when you get THIS hard," she said. Another giggle. "You know how good it's gonna feel in me?"

"I do indeed, little one," I said.

"So let's do THAT," she giggled. Sometimes Haley's youthful exuberance was all the foreplay she wanted. Or maybe I was looking at it wrong. Maybe it was that Haley thought the FIRST one was supposed to be foreplay for the next one. Five minutes of sixty-nine and I had her impaled on my hard member.

Never have I enjoyed a happier lover.

"Sit!" she'd commanded. I sat with my legs crossed and she wrapped her legs around my waist, impaling her tight pussy on my rigid dick. Her face was aglow, eyes laughing, joyous with our mating. "Make me come good!"

"I'll do my best," I said, meeting her bounces with my thrusts. With each thrust I felt the hard lump of her cervix pushing at the end of my dick, and it was a wonderful thing.

"It's workin'," she said. "I can feel it happenin'."

"Me too, angel," As her eyes squeezed shut, presaging her own orgasm, I felt my first spurt building. I was struggling to hold it for hers. Her eyes flashed open, her mouth formed a little 'o', and she squealed.

"Eennnnnnnnn! Yeah! Mmmmmmm!" and she pulled my face to hers, locking our lips together. When her tongue entered my mouth, I felt my balls contract and the first spurt went to her center. Tiny thrusts augmented the remainder of my spurts. I breathed through my nose because our lips remained together.

We stayed knotted together for a sweet eternity. I didn't mind the feeling of juices sliding from our connection down over my balls and I imagined, onto my bed.

"I love you, Haley."

"I hope so, my Bill. 'Cuz I'll never do this with anyone else. You need to get used to that." We eased down onto the bed, laying in each other's arms. This was her 'kissy' time. We'd cuddle for a little bit, then she'd shower my face and mouth with little kisses. My response was to kiss her neck and work down to those delightful titties. Half an hour of this and she announced, "Bill ... you're hard again."

"I've BEEN hard, sweetness," I answered.

"When it's hard, it's MINE," she giggled, sliding down in the bed. Her mouth closed over me.

"Not fair," I said. "Where's mine?"

"Oh, if you're gonna whine," she giggled. "Lick on this..."

What was present to me was pink, juicy and delicious and in a few minutes my little cutie was shuddering through an orgasm. I turned her around and kissed her gently while she drifted back down. Her hand was still idly fondling me.

"Mmmmm," she said after a kiss, "You're still hard. I can't leave you like that, can I?"

"You could..."

"I don't wanna," she giggled. "I think we should use ever' one of 'em you get..." Her brown eyes twinkled. I knew I was going to have another walk into ecstasy.

"You get on top of me this time," she giggled.

I climbed between those youthful thighs and my rod pushed into her tightness. She meshed her fingers behind my neck, smiling at me. "Hard, baby. I'm not gonna break, you know..."

I plunged into her with firm, fast strokes, catching her own rhythmic wiggles in return. She was taking care of her needs by exploiting my own and I knew that we'd get to the end together. I collapsed sideways, pulling her with me as my surges waned.

Damn! That was good...

The thought occurred to me... "Little cutie, we've managed to forget dinner..."

"Uh, we did..."

"You wanna get dressed and go grab a burger? That way you can account for some of the strange aromas..."

She giggled. "Sounds good. But if we had all night, we might not even get out of bed to eat..."

"We'll see how that works this weekend, darlin'," I said.

We got dressed. I got another kiss before we opened the door, and out we went. There was a fast-food drive-through a few miles up the road and we got a couple of meals and brought them home. By the time we finished eating and put the trash away, her mom and dad were still not home.

"We'll see when they drive up," she said. "Sit down. I wanna snuggle."

'Snuggle' these days was different than it was a few months ago. Now it was hugs and kisses and caresses. And it was very satisfying, especially since we'd both satisfied each other's urges earlier.

Finally we saw the headlights as Marie and Steve returned. I let Haley out of the door for the evening and watched longingly as she walked away from me. I went through the house shutting off lights and retired to the bed that had seen such happy moments earlier that day. I read for a while with the TV on in the background, then I rolled over to go to sleep. I could find no combination of spare pillows that came close to replacing the neat little bundle that had been in my arms earlier. Finally, I went to sleep.

The rest of the week, we simply did homework. Well, we got our share of hugs and kisses and caresses, but we didn't go further.

The week crept up to Friday. I went through the motions at work and as soon as I could do so without incurring odd looks, I was out the gate, headed to home and my Haley. She was standing in her front yard and her folks' RV was missing.

"They left half an hour ago," she smiled. "I told 'em you'd pick me up an' then go get Deena."

"So let's look like that's what's happening. Go pack your bag for the weekend. We're leavin' town."

She gave a squealy little giggle and took off. Ten minutes later she was in my house with her bag.

"Couldn't wait any longer, Bill. I need kisses."

I obliged her.

"So we're goin'? Where?"

"At least a hundred miles in the direction opposite Steve's deer camp. I think it's a better deal. NO neighbors noticing that YOU'RE at my house all weekend and there's not a sign of you an' Deena in the yard."

"Uh ... I didn't think about that, honey," she said.

"I did, sweetie. I love you to pieces, but if ONE soul finds out about you and me, I go to jail and prob'ly won't come out."

"I'll be careful, Bill. I love you, you know..." and those angelic brown eyes...

"I love you too, sweetness, and I'd do anything for you, but I want us to STAY together, not you outside and me in prison."

Her face looked serious. "I know," she said simply. She stepped closer and I bent over and kissed her.

"Lemme finish packing my bag," I said.

"'Kay. You're not mad at me, are you?"

"Never." I stuffed a couple of pairs of socks into the bag and zipped it. "Now, how about a kiss before we go outside?"

"Maybe more than one?" she grinned.

"As many as you think proper," I said.

She squealed and jumped, pushing me back onto our bed and then she smothered my face with little kisses.

"Whatcha think about THAT, baby?" she smiled.

"If I thinka bout it too much, we won't get outta here," I laughed.

"NOPE! Let's go!" She grabbed my hand and tugged, pulling me up, and we walked out the door. As I was locking mine, I asked her, "Did you lock yours?"

"Yep!" she said. "See?" She dangled a key on a chain around her neck. "I'm getting too old to carry a key like this, I think..."

"Yeah. You need to get used to carrying a purse."

"Maybe you can buy me one?"

"Might just do that."

And we got in the truck and took off.

Chapter 7

A two-hour drive got us to a city with a zoo and some great hotels that I knew of, including a chain that owed me a few free nights on their preferred customer program. Our bellies were happily full from a stop at a popular chain restaurant. I knew I wasn't the top of the cuisine scale, but I also knew that Haley was always happy to eat at a local example.

We checked into the hotel, looking for all the world like a dad and daughter. She was carrying her little overnight bag and I was carrying my own larger, more battered version of the same. Her head swiveled from one side to the other as she took in the alien sights. In the elevator, she said, "I never stayed in one this nice, Bill. Never."

"It's just another hotel, baby," I said. "I've stayed in a bunch of 'em." I looked at her cute face. "But I never looked forward to it as much as this."

She smiled, but maintained her distance. Until the door closed behind us. Then I was treated to a happy, eager little girl leaping into my arms, wrapping her lithe legs around my waist, her lips against mine.

"Are you as excited as I am, baby," she giggled.

"You know I am, sweetness," I answered.

I kissed her hair and she said, "Nuh-uh," and pulled my head down so our lips met. I walked with her wrapped around me and set her down on the end of one of the two beds in the room. Her response? She flopped backward onto her back and extended her arms, which I slid in between.

"We have two nights, baby," she squealed. "All NIGHT. TWO nights. And we get to wake UP together."

"And I get armfuls of my Haley all night," I said.

She kissed me and then with bright, excited eyes said, "Let's go have a long shower an' then NO CLOTHES until we go to breakfast in the morning..."

"Brilliant idea, little one," I said. I stood up, then bent back over and started unbuttoning her blouse, relishing her giggles as I exposed the neat sports bra she favored for those firm young titties. Then I unbuttoned the button on her jeans and unzipped them. When I tugged downward, she responded by wiggling free of them. She stood, stepping out of her jeans and shrugging her blouse off her shoulders, leaving me with a vision of young cutie in panties and sports bra.

"You're behind," she giggled, tugging at my belt. I didn't spend a lot of time before I was standing in front of her wearing nothing but my boxers, a condition she saw as permission to slide her small hand into the fly and retrieve my dick.

Giggle. "I like lookin' at it." "It" was hard. She looked at me with mischief in those brown eyes and her head bobbed, producing spikes of pleasure through my being as she gave me a quick suck. "Get undressed," she giggled. "We got TWO days!"

The shower was wonderful. We took turns lathering each other up and then trading titillations on soapy flesh. I had my back lovingly washed, a particular pleasure and we kissed passionately as the water sluiced away the soap.

We got out, helped each other towel off, then she started drying her short, sassy hair while I shaved, then I helped her finish her task. Completed, she turned and struck a pose. "Ta-daaah!" she said.

"Ta-dah, indeed, cutie," I countered, scooping her giggly form up in my arms. She clamped her lips to mine as I carried her into the bedroom where I put her down.

"Let's pull the covers back, guy," she said, walking to the far side of the bed.

With the bed prepared, we met in the middle, tangling arms and legs as we pulled into one another. She smelled fresh and clean and I couldn't resist the allure of those perky nipples and discovered that she wanted me there sucking, her hands clasping the back of my head as I sucked and licked and nibbled, little gasps and mews coming from her mouth. When I stopped, her hands pushed my head downward.

"I've been thinking about this all day, baby," she purred. Her purr changed to a little gasp as I kissed her firm, tight pussy lips. She spread her legs as widely as possible and those pink lips spread open a tiny bit, revealing glistening delicacies waiting to be savored. A few more kisses and I NEEDED to put my tongue in there to savor the musk that was filling my nostrils. As I gathered the first of her juices to taste, she writhed, trying to put her little clit against my tongue.

No sense in teasing her now, I thought. I lightly flicked the pink pea-like head. "Ahhhhhh," she moaned. "Right THERE! You know what I need, Bill. Giveittome!"

I worked her over as she wished, listening to her, feeling her hips buck uncontrollably as she reacted, nearing climax. Her legs closed, heels digging into my back, spurring me, and she came. Squealing. "Ennnnghhhhhh! Yeahhhhhhhh! Ohgod!"

I moved up beside her and held her in my arms, stroking her hair, caressing her face. She looked at me, almost breathless, and licked her lips.

"I think THAT was the best EVER, Bill. I love you SOOO much!"

"I love you, angel. I'm glad I can make you happy."

"You don't just make me happy, baby," she said. "You make me lose my MIND!" She sighed. "Sometimes it's soooo soft an' loving, an' sometimes it's like this..." She pulled me down to kiss her again. "Now it's time for a soft, slow one ... for YOU!"

That meant her favorite position. I sat cross-legged and took her into my lap, facing me. Those same firm legs that a few minutes before were digging heels into my back now wrapped around my waist as she impaled her juicy young pussy on my shaft.

You know, I've laid awake at night after one of our sessions and tried to think of something that felt as good as smiling, cute Haley in my arms like this, and I couldn't come up with anything. And she WAS smiling. As she'd told me after one of our sessions, "It's like you an' me just REALLY connect, Bill. Not just makin' love, the sex part. It's like I can be soooo happy with you and you can be happy with me and I don't have to prove anything to you, but I wanna be the best ME I can, and you're there for me." Yes, sometimes she talked in run-on sentences, but I learned that if I hung on while she was talking, they made sense and they told how she thought and felt.

She had a way of turning a phrase that made me smile. At first I thought it was just the way she talked, but then one day she dropped one of those verbal twists on me and when I didn't react immediately, I looked at her and she smirked and raised an eyebrow as if to say, "Am I going too fast for you to catch that?"

"You're an evil little thing," I'd said, laughing. "I thought that was an accident."

"Nope!" And the grin. That was some of what I loved about my Haley. Yeah, the same Haley that was in my arms, coupled with me right now.

"You're thinking about something, Bill," she smiled. "I could see your eyes go far, far away."

"I was thinking about my Haley, the many, many reasons she's so amazing to me," I said.

"Then I'll excuse you for bein' somewheres else. As long as it's with Haley. I understand she loves you very much." And she kissed me with a soft, burning passion that belied her tender years. That simple kiss would have been ecstasy enough, but it was compounded and recompounded by the motion of her nether regions slowing beginning to slide back and forth in my lap, my dick glissanding in and out of delicious warmth and tightness.

She watched my eyes. "We make each other feel so good, babe," she said.

Yeah, thirty years difference in our ages, but when we coupled, we became the same, and I could be 'babe' to a fourteen year old girl. And absolutely love it. And with that sweet face inches from mine, knowing exactly what she was doing with those hips, I was headed to the heights.

Her eyes twinkled. We started out smiling and laughing softly with our happiness and for a couple of minutes that was love-making, laughing, relishing the sensations our bodies gave each other. I watched the cute face before me, the eyes with tiny wrinkles in the corners as she grinned, the smile on those pink lips as her expression changed from breathless sigh to smile as she worked herself against me, finding her little clit against the base of my dick, and I was consciously trying to use my own little thrusts in concert with hers. I KNEW I was going to come. I just wanted her there with me. And I watched her face while I could still see straight.

It wasn't long before we both lost cogent thought and gave in to the urges between us. Her chest pressed firm, still-blooming titties against mine as she clasped her arms around me for all she was worth. Her face was buried in my neck, her pre-orgasmic whimpers singing in my ear.

"God, baby..." I sighed, "You're the best..."

"Mmmmnnnnnnnn," was her answer as her hips became more demanding.

I increased my own thrusts as her breath hissed between her teeth.

"Nnnnnghhhhh! Yeahhhhhh!" she blurted, slamming her pelvis down onto me.

That was the final straw. I emptied myself into her, my waning thrusts causing her to react with her own, then she was still as she slid into trans-orgasmic semiconsciousness. Neither of us wanted to move.

So we didn't. We sat there in each other's arms, still coupled, each of us waiting for the other to speak. She slowly drew her face back, smiled that little smile that I found so adorable, and then she parted her lips, pressing them, almost brushing them against mine.

"Wow!" her voice was soft, but the single, simple exclamation rang in my innermost being.

"You ... Haley. My life..." I said.

"Mmm-hmmm," she said. "Mine too..." She gave me a gentle shove and I went onto my back with her on top of me.

She smiled. "I always feel so good here," she said. "Only bad thing is, we came apart..."

"I know, sweet one," I said. "But there'll be more."

"Mmmm-hmmm," she sighed. "We have all weekend."

We lay together for some several minutes, breathing together, then with a smile and a giggle, she started sliding down.

"Hee-hee! I love you soft an' sticky like this," she said as her smiling face bobbed downwards.

"You better hurry, baby. You're gonna lose that 'soft' part pretty quick!"

"Mmmmm, I know," she purred, taking short, licking sucks on me. "I like bein' able to make it work!"

And god, she could make it work. I was forty-four and she made me feel like a teen-aged boy. She'd sit between my legs, mine over hers, and play with me, exploring, talking softly, sometimes about sex, in which case I got as hard as an axe-handle, sometimes about everything else under the sun, playing with me idly as we discussed whatever came through on the bright stream of her consciousness.

This time, though, she was lying between my legs as she happily sucked and teased me with little licks and nibbles. She paid attention in earlier sessions and knew my delight in having my ballsack nipped and tugged, and she did that. She felt me shudder.

"You like this, huh?" she said, smiling.

"You know I do, sweetness," I said. "But I wanna taste of Haley."

"You sure? I can't do all this." She demonstrated what she couldn't do, pushing her face deep between my thighs, biting the very back of my scrotum. When she did that, a surge hit my dick and it jumped in her hand causing her to giggle while she was biting me.

"I know, but I get a very tasty, wiggly, giggly girl out of the deal."

She was already moving. Her weight atop me was negligible. The impact of my face between two athletic young thighs wasn't, nor was the sight of a pink pussy opening in front of me, the inner lips looking for all the world like the petals of a pink flower, complete with glistening dew. Her musk assailed my nostrils. I breathed it deep, then gently moved my face close enough to kiss the pinkness.

Her "mmmmm" in reaction to that resonated through me from my dick. It was in her mouth, at least the tip, being ministered to by her tongue and lips, and the sound, the vibration of her little purr, went right into me.

That caused a chain reaction. "Mmmmm," escaped my lips as they were pressed over her pussy, my tongue dipping inside for tastes of her juice. Well, it was both our juices from the earlier mating, although there was a sizable wet spot on the bed where some of it had oozed out.

"You taste so wonderful, little one," I said, then put my mouth back on her sweet moisture. Her reply came in the form of a wiggle as she scooted towards my face. Now she could hardly reach my dick with her lips, so I settled for kisses on its head. I knew what the maneuver meant and I started teasing and licking her clit with my tongue, four or five licks, then a trip into her hole for a taste of juice, then back to her clit.

Her hips became more mobile, urgent, pushing against my tongue as if she were searching with her pussy. I knew she was serious, so I stopped teasing and went to giving Haley what she was searching for.

"ohgodohgodohhhhhhh, Billllll!" She sucked in her breath in a hiss. I licked her more. "Nnnnnggghhhhhh! Yessss..." A shudder wracked her little body as she came. And then a sigh.

A gentle pressure from my hands and she turned to get into my arms. I held her and petted her gently as she rode through the afterglow. Little kisses caused her to snuggle more tightly against me and I brushed my lips through her hair, enjoying the soft sensation and the fresh, clean smell.

"That's soooo wonderful, Bill. I love you, you know..." She turned her bright face to connect our eyes. I could see the love.

I kissed her pert nose. "I love you too, Princess."

"'S too early to go to sleep, Bill," she said... "We can play..."

"Whatever shall we play?" I asked, with a pretty good idea of what she might have in mind.

My supposition was validated by her giggle. "Here! Prop up on these pillows." She piled pillows and I sat back, lounging. It was play time for Haley. I guess it was a combination of things: She was completely inexperienced when it came to the male body and was naturally curious. She enjoyed the sensations she could get from exploring me. And she KNEW I enjoyed it all. So there we were in a big bed with her kneeling next to me with all the flexibility of the youthful, sitting back, smiling with those big brown eyes as she tugged and stroked and explored.

"I know you like this," she said, grasping my shaft with her left hand as the fingers of her right stroked the head, measuring the ridge. Her fingertip went directly to the SPOT just underneath the head of my dick, causing its hard (hey! ONCE tonight already!) shaft to jerk involuntarily. She giggled, her index finger following the movement, making little circles on the sensitive skin.

"Bet I can make you squirt," she said.

"I know you can, princess," I answered. "You ALWAYS can. It's just a matter of what we're doing when it comes."

She looked thoughtful for a second. "I'm tryin' to decide." She smiled. "You know I love it in my pussy." Giggle. "And I LOVE it there. but it makes me feel so good to suck on you and taste it an' feel it squirt in my mouth. I mean, I'm RIGHT there when it happens, an' I feel it jump in my mouth, an' I feel your sack thingy get all tight," she said. "I LOVE that."

She looked at me. My eyes kept closing with the sensations, and then I'd open them to see the angel happily playing with me. "If I'm inside you, angel, I get to hold you and kiss you and we both get..."

"I LOVE you in me, Bill," she said. "But I don't wanna be boring..."

"Loving YOU could NEVER be boring," I said.

"'Kay," she giggled. "But I'm not ready for that just yet." Her head bobbed as she bent over, sucking my head into her mouth. She was gripping it lightly in her teeth as she turned her face toward mine, the smile visible around my dick as it filled her mouth. Her lips closed back over it as she went "mmmmmm". And then suctioning, and another "mmmmm". She released me. "I love that juice you make when I do this," she smiled. "I can taste it so good."

"You make earthquakes in me, little one," I said.

That got me an arm-full of wiggly, happy Haley, a Haley with lips that loves to kiss, and I kissed them. She was pressed on my body, her firm little ass in my lap, her arms around me, my hands exploring that youthful form. In between kisses, she whispered, "You know, I love ever'thing YOU do to me, Bill, but I think I'd really like to get your mouth ... you know..." That wish was underscored by a delicate flutter of thick eyelashes at close proximity, and that was enough. I reflected on the wonderful sensations of having a fourteen year old pussy being pushed into my face, and it was a very happy experience.

"I would love to do you, baby," I said. "You wanna solo one?"

She and I loved sixty-nine with each other, but she loved to straddle my face, too.

"No, I wanna start out eatin' you, but you know..."

I did indeed know. I knew that halfway into a session, she'd pull my dick out of her mouth, afraid to lose control and bite down too hard. I kissed her. "I think I like that way best," I said.

She cooed and giggled in my arms. "I like 'em ALL. But I think this is what I wanna do right now." And she twisted around and sucked me into her mouth.

"Let me get flattened out, cutie," I said. "I'm hungry for you." I twisted sideways in the bed and pulled her atop me, putting my face between her thighs. What I saw before me was tangy, musky and tasty, pink from previous orgasms and the subsequent constant light state of arousal. Her outer lips were engorged, slightly puffy, spreading open a little, revealing inner lips that were like petals of a pink orchid, moist with morning dew. They came together at a sweet pink pea of a clitoral head just barely escaping its sheath, and it was as erect as I ever found it, just begging to make acquaintance with my tongue.

I nuzzled my face into the inside of her thigh, tickling her, enjoying the giggling vibrations as she kept my dick's head trapped between her lips. A little wiggle of her hips told me she was expecting something from me, and I was all too glad to provide that, brushing my lips along her pussy, relishing the texture and the musky smells, then my tongue followed, picking up the exquisite taste of her juices.

"Mmmmm," she purred. "That's wonderful..."

"I think so, too, sweetness," I said as I savored her. I know she had sweet, quaking orgasms from this, but honestly, I enjoyed it soooo much myself ... and then add to that the sublime sensations that she was producing with the happy sucking sounds coming up from her face at my crotch.

Loving with Haley was like this, a combination of the happy innocent explorations of two kids discovering that girls and boys are different, along with the realization that a little loving and playing results in ORGASMS, and both those ideas wrapped in love between two people that society thinks are unlikely mates.

Presently the sucking on my dick stopped as Haley turned her head, mouth open, little gasping noises telling me she was getting where she wanted to be. Her little hand held my dick against her soft cheek.

"Nnnnnghhh. Ohhhh, Billl. I'm. So. Close!" Her breath hissed. "There!"

I knew EXACTLY where 'there' was, and I did not intend to stop.

"Nnnnnnngoddddd! Yesssss! Ohgod!" And a subtle change in flavors told me without looking, without seeing her pink flower of an anus clenching in and out, without feeling her thighs grasping the sides of my face, without seeing her flushed face, I KNEW Haley was coming.

I softened my ministrations to her little pink pea, instead kissing her lips and slowly moving my tongue to gather the nectar from her young pussy. After a minute, my tongue went back to her center.

"Ohgodbaby," the words tumbled out. "Another one?!?!?"

"I'd love to taste another one, ' I admitted.

"Mmmmmplease..."

"Okay, if I must..." I feigned regret. For EXACTLY one breath. Then I went back to deriving pleasure from the pink, happy, wiggly wetness in front of me. Since she's barely returned to earth after her last one, this one rolled in quickly with little delighted, breathless squeals from its recipient. I laved the juices from her lovely young lips as she drifted back down again.

Once she reached a steady state again, she turned around, still atop me, and put her face to mine, kissing me.

"You ... I ... Baby, we ... Gosh..." She took a deep breath, pausing. "I'll think of somethin' to say," she said.

"Just let me hold you," I said.

She sighed. "Okay ... THAT'S something I can do right now..." I kissed the top of her head, nuzzling the soft brown hair, cuddling her to my chest. She was so much like a kitten at times. And right now, my kitten was purring contentedly as I petted her.

Finally, she turned her face to me. "Wow, baby," she said. "I think I lost my mind for a while that time."

"I just want to make you happy. I enjoy being with you and being able to do that for you."

"'S my turn, isn't it? To see if I can make you lose YOUR mind..." Giggle. Her brown eyes flashed. "I think I need to get this thing in me..." She rose up, pushing on my chest with her hands, spreading her thighs to straddle me. She knew what she was doing. She bent back down to kiss me, then said, "Why don't you sit up so you can hold me?" With that face asking the question, I couldn't refuse. It was her favorite position, and having a hundred pounds of young teen in my lap with my dick in her was a good thing.

She laced her fingers together behind my neck, wiggling herself in my lap, filling herself up with me, eyes laughing at the joy of being together this late at night. And she knew that she could step the joy up from the simple happiness of togetherness to the greater happiness of mating, to the ultimate happiness of lifting each other to orgasmic bliss.

Soon I was cradling her head into my chest, petting that soft brown hair, and I was as satisfied as I'd ever been in my life.

"Bill?" came the soft voice.

"Yes, little angel?" I replied as softly. The mood was just too pleasant for loud voices.

"Can we sleep together naked?"

"If you want, pet," I answered. "Let's try it. We'll put your nightshirt by the bed if your shoulders get cold."

"I'm gonna snuggle with you all night, guy. I won't get cold." She smiled as she disengaged herself from around me. She skipped to the bathroom and I heard water running. She returned with a washcloth and a face towel. "Lemme clean up our mess," she said.

I laid back and spread my legs, giving her access to my sticky parts. She gently wiped away the mess on my balls and the insides of my thighs, but she reserved my dick for special attention from her sweet little mouth. She tossed the used towels into the bathroom and then crawled onto the bed, grinning, turning her butt to me.

"Oh, I get a little bit of THAT before bedtime?"

"If you WANT it," she giggled. She knew I wanted it. She was delicious. After a few moments of tasting her, she turned around and snuggled into my side. "This is, like, the GREATEST thing that's ever happened to me, baby," she said. "You make me feel so good. So loved."

"I DO love you, Haley Nicole," I said, using her middle name for emphasis. "You're the most perfect person I can imagine."

"And I want you for the rest of my life, Bill." She met my lips with hers and we turned out the lights and drifted into sleep in each other's arms.

It had been years since I slept with somebody else in my bed, and I could imagine from her activities that Haley was not used to having somebody in hers. She woke me several times during the night as she moved in her sleep. I'd react to a knee or an elbow and rearrange myself to accommodate her, at the same time stealing a caress or a touch before returning to sleep. Still, it was a GOOD sleep. And it was wonderful to wake the next morning, easing back into consciousness, to find this delightful little naked form beside me. She stirred when I did.

I was worried about that 'morning breath' thing, but I guess it wasn't too much of a distraction to Haley because her first move was to pull me down to her face and kiss me, and it wasn't just a polite brush of the lips, it was a full, soft, delightful kiss with our tongues playing together.

She smiled, almost shyly. "We did it, Bill. We slept together all night. Was I okay?"

"You were perfect, little one," I answered. "Are you up for a quick shower before breakfast?"

"Both of us, huh?" she said. "I wanna shower together."

"Of course," I said. "I get a naked Haley!"

Squeal! She wrapped her legs around my waist in a leap.

"You are such a doll!" I exclaimed.

We showered, we dried her hair, and we got dressed. Breakfast was a short jaunt up the road. I got to sit across the table from this delightfully cute little thing, and then we were off to the day's activities. We did a museum, and we did a zoo, with Haley taking my camera and snapping pictures of everything we saw.

And conversation. She gave me a surprising (it might've been surprising to others, but I was used to precocious and intelligent commentary from her) narrative about things.

In late afternoon, we took in a movie. I cautioned her about out conduct in the theater. "You're supposed to look like my daughter or my niece, not the girl who shared my bed last night."

"OUR bed," she corrected. "But I know what you mean, lover," she giggled.

So we did watch a movie together, something we'd done quite a few times over the past two years, and it wasn't without physical contact, but that contact was limited to me putting my arm around her shoulder and her putting her hand chastely on my bicep. We continued our afternoon out together with a walk of the mall and a favorite of hers, "Since we're ALREADY here!", dinner at the food court. That all put us back in the room in early evening.

Giggle. "We had a night's sleep an' all day to rest up, baby," she smiled. Her fingers tugged at my belt. "A nice, long shower would be nice, don't'cha think?"

And looking at that face, why yes, I DID think...

Out of the shower, I shaved while she dried her hair. And into bed.

"Just hold me," she said, "for a little while. Today was soooo good, baby..." She read the expression in my eyes. "No 'cuz of all the places we went. It's 'cuz you gave a whole day to me. An' you looked like you had fun."

"I did have fun, sweetie," I said. I held her in my arms. "You know, it's fun watching you enjoy yourself."

She wiggled in my arms, nestling in, then turned her face to mine. "Maybe it wasn't a good idea to cuddle naked." Another little giggle. "I'm, uh ... down there. an' I can TELL you're excited."

I was hard. Got harder when her little hand grasped my shaft gently, sliding the skin up and down. She grinned.

"Lollipop," she smiled, sliding down in the bed. And she treated me like a lollipop, licking, sucking. "Oh, no, don't you cum yet," she tittered. "I can tell you're..."

"You're driving me wild."

Giggle. "You know how happy it makes me to know I do that to you?"

"I'm glad, because you DO!"

"Mmmm, you're juicy. An' your sack is getting' tight." She pulled her face away from my dick and came up to kiss me. "If we let it unwind, you'll have a bigger one, huh?"

We'd talked about that. She was curious and analytical by nature, and having sex between us gave her a fresh field to explore. We found that she worked better if we could do two or three of hers with a little rest in between. It wasn't unusual for her to almost lose consciousness on the second or third. For me, the second or third was every bit as intense, but if she did like she just said, got me aroused, almost there, and then we backed off, my first would be epic.

But all that was just a theory. In practice, we reveled in giving and receiving pleasure between us.

She was in my arms, purring, giving me a chance to explore and caress and titillate her. A finger to the lips of a sweet young pussy told me the level of her excitement, as if the kiss we shared wasn't enough. Or her hand, pressing mine, guiding my fingers into her.

"Seems like a shame to do that with my fingers, little angel," I whispered. "When you taste so good..."

Her fingers pushed past mine into her wet pussy, then she presented them, glistening, almost dripping, to my lips. "Here ... Just a taste..."

I sucked her fingers clean. "Mmmmm..."

She pulled her fingers away and placed her lips against mine briefly, then whispered, "We can kiss an' hug an' I can come, an' then BOTH of us can come..." And her lips silenced any words I might have had, right up to her squealing, mewing little orgasm.

She got up and resettled into her favorite position. Her blissful young face enthralled me.

"I'm sooo wet, Bill. It'll go right in, an' it'll feel soooo good..." she said as she eased down. Her hands were laced behind my neck and all she had to do was a little searching wiggle for the head of my dick to find the opening of her eager young pussy, and I was home. "Mmmmm," she purred. Her eyes laughed along with her happy giggle. "Seeeee?"

"Ohgod, princess, yes..."

"An' we'll come together." Kiss. "A good one for both of us..."

I kissed her back. "There's no such thing as a bad one with you, baby..."

"I knowwwww," she smiled demurely. "I love it..."

Chapter 8

I woke up in a wonderland of delights yet again, a tousled brown head in my face. And aleggy, naked body. That wiggled when I touched it. And the face that turned, sleepy-eyed, to look at me.

"Good mornin', guy," Haley said. "I love you."

"I love you too, little kitten," I said.

She hooked a hand behind my head and pulled me to her lips for a kiss. "Mmmm," she purred afterward.

"I'd love to stay like this, princess, but..."

"Oh, sure. Leave me," she giggled as she let me up to make my bathroom call. Of course, when I turned around, she was standing there nervously.

"I didn't HAVE to until YOU did," she said.

She took the toilet after I finished. I was washing my face when I heard it flush, then a young pair of arms wrapped around my waist.

"What time do we have to leave today?" she asked.

"Checkout time is eleven. Why?"

"'Cuz I think we can go do breakfast, then come back to the room, and that gives us time to play before we have to go."

"You like this..." I turned to face her.

"I love you, Bill. And it ain't about sex. But it's sooo much fun, just to be able to play together and not have to worry about the clock or who might come knock on the door. So we can stay until we have to go, an' then we're gonna be back home, an' we'll STILL love each other, and we'll still be able to get together, but I'll remember THIS weekend for the rest of my life..."

"Then let's go get breakfast, little one, ' I said.

Another round of kisses and caresses and we got dressed. A short jaunt up the road got us in position in front of plates of pancakes. I was sipping my coffee.

"Can I have a sip?" Haley asked.

"Sure. You might not like it. Some people don't."

"Oh, EVERYBODY drinks coffee," she said, taking my mug. She took a sip. Her eyes connected with mine and she smiled. "See!" Another sip. "Good, actually..."

"I make better at home," I said.

"I've smelled yours. Now you have to start making enough for TWO."

The waitress passed by. I snagged her for a second mug of coffee, then sat there regarding my young love's face in the pretty autumn light streaming in the window. We talked happily until the mugs were empty and we refused refills. I paid the ticket and we were on our way back to the room.

She giggled once we got in the elevator. "Just a few more happy hours, baby..."

At ten-thirty, we took a shower and dressed, then checked out. I had a very relaxed, very happy Haley against my side, all the way home.

Two hours later, we reached the house and it wasn't much of a surprise to see that the RV wasn't home at her house. She went to her house, dropped off her overnight bag, then came back to mine.

I stretched out in the recliner with her cuddled in my arms, nuzzling the fragrant softness of her hair.

"Mmmm, baby," she said. "This is how I KNOW we're a normal couple."

"How so?" I asked.

"Because we've made love physically all weekend, and we're still makin' love, just like this..."

"Yes, we are making love, little one," I said. We had the TV on but it only provided background sound for us to gently nap together after we moved to the sofa.

Finally we heard the sound of her folks' return. Our wonderful weekend was over.

As I worked around the house, taking care of the chores that evening, I reflected on how good it felt to have Haley with me all that time. The bed was especially empty that night as I dozed off, and I missed the elbows and knees, and when the alarm went off, I missed the sight of that smiling, tousled head on a pillow next to me.

Monday after work we were back onto the track. She was there waiting when I pulled in. We went over the homework, she working while I showered, then a little bit of happy play where we brought each other to happy orgasm with our mouths.

When It came time to let her out of my arms for her return home, she said, "You know I have that field trip tomorrow. I won't see you unless I come over late. We're not supposed to be picked up at school until after six."

"You have to come over if you can, baby," I said. "I don't wanna think about going twenty-four hours without my Haley."

"I'll figure out something. Maybe I left a book over here." Her eyes sparkled as I kissed her then let her out of the door.

So I wasn't in as big a hurry to get home the next day, but there I was anyway. No Haley. I decided that I needed to keep some appearance of activity that showed that everything I did WASN'T centered around a little fourteen year old brunette. That's why I was sitting in my lounge chair under the tree in the front yard, paperback book in one hand, beer in the other, enjoying the tempered warmth of early autumn in Louisiana.

I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and looked up. Marie, Haley's mom, was walking towards me, beer in one hand, Marlboro in the other. "Hey, Bill," she said. "You mind some company for a minute?"

My mind questioned, but my mouth said, "Oh, sure, Marie. Come sit!"

She sat her plump butt down. "Cheap date," she laughed. "Brought my own beer."

"I don't have any of the lite stuff," I said, but if you want a Shiner, I got plenty."

"Nah, this is good. Wanted to talk about Haley, anyways..."

My antennae went up.

"How'd she work out with you an' Deena this weekend?" That was our cover story: Haley was with me and Deena.

"Oh, it was great! We did the museum, the zoo, the mall ... I have as much giggly teen girl as I ever wanted..."

Marie looked at me. "Seriously, Bill, since she started school this year, an' since she hangs out with you so much..." she paused, "An ' Deena, she's just NOT a problem at home."

"Good," I said. "Haley's a good kid..."

"She's better'n a good kid. My sister's got a kid her age that's a hellion. Haley's not. Her daughter's chasing ever'thing with pants. Haley's not." She took the final drag off her cigarette and dropped it into her empty beer can.

"You want one of these?" I asked. "I'm about ready for another one."

"Well, yeah, I guess so," Marie said.

"I'll be right back," I said. I collected our empties and went into the house, returning with two fresh bottles.

She looked at me. "I got to thinkin' about it, Bill. I mean, she's fourteen. She's good in school. REAL good, actually. I never did that good. Never. And every day, when she gets home, she straightens up her room, and then sits there with her backpack, waitin' for you to get home." She sighed. "She likes spending time over at your house, whether Deena's there or not. Same thing on weekends. It's 'Momma, is it okay if Mister Bill takes us to the movie' or 'I'm gonna go with Mister Bill to the store, just to get out of the house..." She looked at me. "Mister Bill is awfully big in my daughter's life."

"Uh ... Marie..."

"Look, Bill. You're a nice guy. All I'm sayin' is that I have a great daughter, and I'm tryin' to figure out why. I'm not exactly Supermom. And with Steve an' Li'l Steve, I guess Haley gets..." Another sigh. "What I'm sayin, Bill, is that when she's with you, y'all could be fuckin' each other silly, an' I STILL get a great daughter out of it..."

I guess that sound of my jaw hitting the ground was audible.

"Oh, I'm not accusing you of that, so don't panic." Her eyes, at least, were laughing. "I'm just sayin' that she's fourteen, and when I was fourteen, I was goin' through boyfriends at about one ever' two weeks, an' Haley's NOT. I mean, I don't see notebooks with boyfriend names written all over 'em, an' the phone ain't ringin' off the wall, none of that." She grinned at me. "I was kind of a slut ... my daughter ain't. She's got her Mister Bill, and she's rock-steady."

"Marie, I..." 'I.' What 'I' was, was at a total loss for words.

"Bill, you're a decent guy. I watched your driveway. Your car's almost always there, even on Friday an' Saturday nights, an' you know, you're not bad lookin'."

That I could reply to. "Thank you."

"Seriously, when Steve was out of town for that month, I even..."

I contemplated THAT thought. Maybe if you took away the cigarette stench and the beer breath (said the guy sipping a beer) and the burnt-out hair ... No, nothing there. Sex. Love. Had to be love. Haley provided love.

"Awww, you look stunned, Bill..."

"Marie, everything you said..."

"Bill, let's look at it this way ... Haley's fourteen. Now, if she had ACCESS to guys in her age group, she could be doin' 'em and maybe I'd know, maybe I wouldn't, but she could ... An' d'ya think for a minute that any of 'em would really CARE about my Haley? Or that she'd care about them? I dunno if she's one a'those girls who thinks it's LOVE ever' time she ends up screwin' some guy. Some girls are ALWAYS like that. I NEVER was. It was a dick to me. But some girls start out believin' in love, and after they get torn up a few times learnin' that teen-aged guys are seldom like that, then they lose the whole idea about love an' it's just like breathin', 'cept you can't get pregnant from breathin'."

"Haley and I have talked about some of that stuff, ' I admitted. "She thinks a lot of what you and Steve have..."

"That's another thing. Steve an' me, we have a good sex life. Haley's walked in on us a coupla times."

"She asked if what she saw as normal."

"And..."

"I told her what she described was a very normal thing between two people who were in love. I always told her about love, Marie."

"Me too, Bill. I don't wanna see her pregnant at sixteen and married at seventeen and a mom with a husband disappearin' over the hill a month after the baby is born. And strugglin' on welfare and minimum wage jobs. I don't want that for her."

"She's plenty smart, Marie ... Straight A's..."

Marie snorted. "Yeah ... talk about ... and I hear 'Mister Bill' this an' 'Mister Bill' that when it comes to school stuff, too. Bill, that school thing, all those A's, that's Bill an' Haley. I can't even start to claim that, other than lettin' her go..." She took a sip of her beer, then fixed me in her eye. "I guess what I'm sayin' is this, Bill: I want whatever you're ... you AND her are doin', just keep on doin' it. Hangin' out like y'all do."

"Uh ... Marie..."

"I'm just sayin', I'm not gonna be lookin' in yer window to see if you're screwin' my under-age daughter. Me, I can't see the difference between YOU doin' her, what with you bein' decent and mature an' intelligent, an' her boinkin' some fifteen year old, 'cept YOU care about her." She smiled. "What time is it?"

"Quarter to six," I said.

"You wanna go get her at school? Or I can."

"Did we just have..."

"Your call, Bill. I figure if I keep you two apart, it's worse for her..."

"uh ... Marie, Haley and I..."

"I don't wanna know, Bill. That way, if somethin' happens, I don't know anything."

"I'll go get 'er from school," I said.

"Look, another thing, Bill ... If she, like, she could stay there overnight. I know you get up early to go to work. She can go to school."

"You're serious."

"Damn straight I'm serious, Bill."

"B ... but..."

"Bill, cut the crap. Do you love my daughter?"

Meekly I nodded.

"When she turns sixteen, if she and you are STILL together an' you want ... I'll sign the papers so you can marry 'er if y'all want." She smiled. "Like that makes a difference these days ... You better go get 'er."

Now, folks, let me tell you, I was one confused son of a gun as I drove to Haley's school. The parking lot was lined with cars and middle school students looking for parents. And I saw Haley waving excitedly at me. She ran over to the car, threw her backpack into the back seat, then scooted in the front.

"I didn't expect YOU to pick me up, baby!" she squealed.

"I was talking with your mom, baby," I said. "She said I could come get you..."

"So you talked to Mom," she said.

"Yeah. A REALLY interesting conversation. D'you know how that got started?" I asked.

"I asked 'er about goin' canoeing with you this weekend and said that you camp overnight. An' she started in about how she didn't understand but she was happy that I had somebody to hang with, an' we got to talkin'. She said she was gonna talk to you..."

"Baby," I said, "I think she..."

"Bill, she told me that she didn't care if we were fuckin' each other silly. That's what she said. I told 'er that you an' me have NEVER fucked. I used THAT word. It's true. We never have FUCKED." She smiled. "We make love. Time and time again. She doesn't care. You know, she told me things about herself ... I don't feel bad about what we do, Bill. I didn't before Mom told me all that stuff. Now I REALLY don't feel bad."

I reached over to caress her arm. She took my hand, entwining her fingers into mine.

"We still can't let anybody know what we're doing. We just don't have to worry about your mom watching your moves, baby."

"I know," Haley said. "And that's a big relief, don't'cha think?"

"Did you say something to her about getting married?"

"She said something to YOU about it?"

"yeah..."

"About when I'm sixteen?"

"She said if we were still together when you're sixteen..."

"Where else would I be?"

"Me, too, little one," I said, turning into my driveway.

We got out of the car. "I'll be back," she giggled. "Forgot a book over here, remember?" her eyes laughed as she looked over her shoulder, heading to her own front door.

I went inside and was kicking my shoes off when the door opened behind me. I turned to see Haley. With her backpack. And a bundle of clothes.

"For school tomorrow," she said. "Don't look so surprised. Mom said she told you..."

"Have you eaten dinner?"

"Noo-ooo," she said. "What's for dinner?"

"Whatever we decide on the road, little one. Let's go eat."

We got back in the car and hit a chain restaurant for a quick meal, then we were back in the house.

"Homework?" I asked.

"Nope!" She shook her pretty little head. "Field trip today."

"Then I guess it's shower time," I said.

Squeal! "I always wanted to use this shower with you," she chirped.

"Then let's go," I said. I had a BIG shower, complete with a bench, a feature that provided much relaxation, some days. Haley'd seen the inside of that shower. Even used it on weekends when she'd spent the night with Deena. Now she was anticipating the recreational aspects. We quickly stripped out of our clothes and gave that shower the best utilization it had likely ever seen.

Out of the shower, we both occupied the vanity, me shaving, she drying her hair, and then...

"We really ought to get dressed, baby. Pajamas, at least."

"I don't have pajamas here," she said. "Can I use one of your t-shirts?"

"Isn't that how this all got started?" I asked.

She giggled. "Yeah. It is. And it's gonna end wonderfully."

The End

Posted on 2011-12-10

storiesonline.net