A Swiftly Changing World

"That's actually a good question, honey," my wife said.

"You're taking his side?" Emily asked with incredulity.

Jess let out a huff of air over the speaker. "It's not about sides, honey. I'm *all for* you having sex with your dad. And you'll notice that he hasn't said no yet. Speaking from personal experience, I can't say that there will ever be anything quite like it in your life. He's a hell of a lover and sex with the man who helped make you is just... powerful beyond description. But I, for one, would like to hear the answer to his question. What's different about him now that you would want to have sex with him when, last week, it wouldn't even cross your mind?"

Emily rolled her eyes at my pointed gaze. "Oh, geez. Okay. I've heard you guys have sex more times than I can probably count, okay? Do you think, for a minute, that I wouldn't figure out that Dad's a good lover? C'mon! I'm a normal girl, all right? What normal girl do YOU know, regardless of her age, who could listen to that, KNOW that about a man, father or not, and NOT be at least a little curious? Having sex with Dad, I'll admit, has crossed my mind more than once over the years. I mean, not like it was anything I'd ever really try and do, but I thought about it in the abstract. Like, what would it be like? Right?"

"Okay," I said cautiously. That's rather textbook Freud stuff. Most boys, at one point or another, think of their mothers in a sexual way. So why not girls? It seemed logical enough. "So what changed?"

"Everything!" Emily said with barely-concealed excitement. "Everything changed. As of tonight, a whole new world of possibilities were opened up to everybody! Dad saw me naked, having sex with another guy-"

"Whoa! WHAT?!" Jess nearly shouted over the speakerphone.

"Uh-oh," Em said meekly. I just shook my head at how, once again, she had managed to let the cat out of the bag without my help at all.

"Would somebody PLEASE explain to me what exactly happened today?" my wife asked sternly.

I decided to take the reins for a minute, if only to keep my daughter from getting grounded even longer. "When I got home today, Jess, I caught Emily having sex with a boy. She was doing it while watching that video of Polly. Apparently, it got them both horny and one thing led to another. Typical teenaged behavior."

"And I take it you stopped them immediately, right?" Jessica prompted.

"Well, not exactly. At first I was too stunned to say anything. I got there just as they were, uhm, finishing up."

"Emily Louise Goddard, did that boy cum at least wear a condom?" Jessica growled over the line.

"No, ma'am," Emily answered sheepishly, sounding for all the world like a child who'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. It was strange to see her dressed so sexily and behave so childishly at the same time. I just couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that this was my little girl laying on the bed beside me, ready to have sex with me. I'd washed her as a baby, for crying out loud, and here she was, explaining to her mother how she'd gotten caught by her father having sex. She was quick to add, "But I have a morning-after pill!"

"Well I should fucking hope so!" Jessica snarled. "Sex with some strange boy in your father's office! Hoo-boy, are you in some hot water, young lady!"

"But-!" I knew precisely what my daughter was about to say next, so I held up a silencing hand, in the hope that she would sprout a brain-stem and keep quiet for the next few seconds.

"Honey," I said calmly, "be careful here. You're about to scream at our daughter for having sex with a boy her own age, RIGHT on the heels of telling her that it's okay to fuck her father, who is many years older. No matter how you paint that horse, it's a double standard. For the time being, let me take care of that one, okay?" There was silence from my wife, but since she didn't make any protest, I figured she decided to follow my lead. "Now... let's get back on topic here. Emily, you were answering my question."

Emily blinked at me for a second or two, completely surprised at how quickly I'd defused a potentially explosive situation between her and her mother. It took her a few seconds more to collect her thoughts. "Okay," she said finally, "THAT, what you just did with Mom, that whole thing of keeping your head. THAT is sexy as hell, okay? I don't know if Mom or any other woman has told you this, Dad, but that kind of self-control... God, what a turn-on! And, yeah, there was a time when I thought you were, like, totally weird, but I've come to realize that it's part of your charm, in a sense. You're, like, smart about EVERYTHING. Okay, not everything, but you know lots of really cool shit. I never get tired of talking with you about all kinds of stuff. No one does! And that's sexy, too. And, let's face it, Dad, you're pretty attractive, physically. Not like Denzel Washington attractive, but you're far, far, far from plain. I've heard people tell Mom all the time that she's a really lucky woman to have you for a husband. Hell, I've been told that I'm lucky to have you for my dad by all my girlfriends. And you know what? They're right. What do you think, Mom?"

"I can't argue with her there, honey," Jess said agreeably. "She's pretty much summed up some of the best reasons I've stayed with you all these years- aside from the fact that I love you with all my heart."

I just stared at my daughter for several long seconds and then said, "So that's why you want to have sex with me?"

"No, Daddy. I have plenty of better reasons. For starters, I know you love me, which means you won't hurt me, no matter what. I can trust that 'till the day I die. I can't trust that with some guy my own age. Not yet, anyway. And I know that you find me attractive, too, in the way a guy looks at a girl. So knowing that I'm pretty in your eyes, that helps a lot, too. It makes me want to be pretty for you even more. So here we are, Dad. We've got a green light from Mom, your brother sure as hell won't object and there's no law in this state saying we CAN'T Polly told me. I've got those pills, so getting pregnant won't be an issue. And, on top of all that, I KNOW you're clean. Dad, that's a big plus these days, okay? STD's are all over the place. I screwed Rick today because I've known him since, like, forever. The girlfriend he has now? It's his first girlfriend. She took his cherry, right? And she's, like, Miss Pure Driven Snow. She popped her cherry with a banana, just to get the pain over and done with so that she could enjoy her first time, and Rick was her first guy. So I know they're clean. But you? You've only ever been with one woman since before I was born! And I know Mom wouldn't screw around on you. So, there's that whole thing, too."

I swiped my forehead and said, "Jesus Christ, Emily. We've both had about the same amount of time to process all of this stuff, but it's like you've been giving this some deep thought for years."

"Duh!" Emily said brashly. "Dad? Have you been listening? I HAVE been thinking about it for years. I've just never thought that I could actually get the chance!"

At that moment the doorbell rang.

"What's that?" my wife asked.

"The doorbell," I answered. "Em ordered some pizza before we called you."

"I'll go get it," Em said and jumped off the bed and was out of the room before I could tell her to cover up. When she was gone, I just shook my head to an empty room. Kids, right?

My wife breathed quietly on the speakerphone. "I... I just don't know, honey," I told her.

"Duncan," my wife said lovingly, "I'm not going to force you into doing anything you don't want to do, okay? And neither will Emily. But here's the thing: we both love you and we both want to make you happy."

"Okay, honey," I said. "I get that. But I was already happy to begin with. And... you're my WIFE, all right? I married YOU. Neither of us has cheated on the other in all our years together. And I feel... well, I feel like I'd be cheating on you now."

"Oh, phooey!" Jess spat. "Don't give me that horse shit! Listen, Duncan, that's OUR daughter you're talking about. She's half you and half me. Of all the women in the world that you COULD sleep with, our own daughter would be the LEAST like cheating. It's like there's a piece of me with you, right there, running in her veins. What it all boils down to is this: do you want her?"

"What, like point blank?"

"Yes, point blank. Bottom line. Do you want her?"

I took a deep breath and then admitted so to her. "I haven't been able to get the image of her naked out of my mind all day long. It's been like... I dunno... burned into my retinas or something. It's driving me crazy, honey. I've always known she was beautiful, that our little girl would grow up to drive men nuts, but I never thought I'd be one of those men."

"So be with her, honey. Show her how a good man loves a good woman. You know I love you and I won't be in the least bit bothered by it. In fact, I'm rather surprised we're still talking about it; if it had been up to me, you'd be screwing her silly this very moment."

Hearing those words coming from my wife, no matter how many times or how many different ways she said them, still seemed alien to me. Thrilling, but still alien. "So... what about everything else?" I asked.

"Like what?" my wife replied simply.

I shrugged at her disembodied voice. "I dunno. Like... the whole fatherhood thing. Is that going to change? Will I, will WE still be respected by her as authority figures in her life? She's still living with us and won't be gone for a while. This could change everything."

"It doesn't have to if you don't want it to, honey," Jess told me gently. "Listen... when Dad and I started, he had some of the same doubts and questions. But you know what? There was this one night when I snuck out of the house to meet this guy by the lake at the park. Me and that guy, we screwed like bunnies in those park bushes under the midnight stars and I didn't get home until 3 AM. And guess who was waiting up for me, seriously pissed off that I'd broken the house rules by sneaking out at night?"

That revelation felt very weird to hear. She was talking about the first time we'd had sex, the night she took my virginity. "Jesus, honey... that was... you mean, you were having sex with your father when you and I were dating in high school?"

"No," she answered. "When we MET, sure, I had sex with Dad all the time. When you and I started dating, however, the thing with Dad stopped. I told you then that I'd never cheat on you, and I've kept that promise from Day One."

"So that's why he always seemed kind of... aloof around me," I mused.

"No, you blockhead," my wife retorted. "He was aloof to you because you were taking his little girl's heart, when he'd had it all her life. Just like you will be a bit distant to whichever bonehead is crazy enough to win Emily's heart. The thing between him and I stopped that night because, above all else, he taught us to live with honor and dignity. He wouldn't have dreamed of touching me in any remotely sexual way once he knew I really was in love with you. I knew, from the first time I kissed you, that I'd end up marrying you. He honored my love for you without a second thought and that's what good fathers do. And even when we were together, sexually, he never stopped being my dad and looking out for me. We still talked about stuff and did things like a normal father and daughter do. There was just that extra thing, thrown into the mix. For him and I, honey, it was just sex. Something fun and pleasant to do while Mom did her thing."

"What the hell? What was Betty doing during that time? Did she know?" I blurted.

"Oh, honey, he never stopped loving her, but their sex life sort of died when I was about thirteen. We told her about our little affair YEARS ago and you know what? She already knew about it, even back then. She didn't say anything about it because she knew, for whatever reason, that she couldn't please the man she loved and she was just happy that I was able to and not get screwed up in the head over it. It was also all under one roof. Her husband stayed home to support his family, there were no prying eyes and no scandal. He wasn't cheating on her, Duncan. He just... well, I noticed that he needed some attention, so I gave it to him because I loved him. It was innocent at first and it took a good, long while for it to turn into something sexual. It wasn't like we just jumped into the sack all in one go."

"Like I am with our daughter?" I asked sharply.

Emily came back into the room with two paper plates, both stacked with pizza slices. "Here you go, Daddy. Pizza, all the meats, just the way you like it," she said as she handed a plate to me. As I reached for the plate, I saw that her cleavage seemed even MORE prominently on display than when she'd been laying on the bed. The full roundness of her breasts looked ten times tastier than the pizza slices, but an insistent gurgle in my stomach told me to get my priorities straight.

I took the plate gratefully and thanked her.

"Honey," my wife said over the speakerphone, "after what I just heard, I think that Emily is every bit the wife you need when I'm not around. I trust you both and look forward to when I get home. Unlike my own mother, I DO still have a healthy sex drive and I fully intend to play with both of you like a kid in a candy store!"

Our daughter choked down a bite of her dinner and blurted, "Whoa! Mom, did you just... WOW! I mean, holy shit! I'm not... I'm not sure..."

Jess simply asked, "Did you like watching Polly's video?"

"Yeah," Emily answered.

"Then, trust me, I'M sure, even if you aren't. I've never been with another woman, Emily, but if I'm gonna start, it might as well be with you. Besides, why should my husband have all the fun?"

Emily just stared at the phone base in total awe of what she'd just heard. "Whoa," she breathed quietly. Then she stared off into the distance, her pizza getting cold as she considered the ramifications of fucking not only her father, but her mother as well. I couldn't even begin to imagine what was in store for us when my wife returned home- that was a bear I simply wasn't ready to wrestle with just yet and wisely decided to deal with it later on.

"And on that note," I interjected, "I think it's time you get some sleep, my love. You've got another big day tomorrow at that class. And WE have a pretty big dessert to tackle once we're done with dinner."

Emily's eyes brightened up at that. "Mm-hmm! Yummy dessert!"

Jessica sighed deeply, the wistfulness practically seeping out of the speaker's little holes. "I wish I could be there with you guys tonight. God, what a special thing! But, I guess it's best that I'm not. It's your thing tonight. Have fun, okay? And know that I love you both!"

"We love you, too, honey," I said genuinely.

"I love you, Mom! Have a good time out there in the Windy City!"

"Ha! Not half as good a time as you two will! And, hey, Emily? I want details when I get home, okay, honey? Every little thing, take special note of it. The first time with your father only happens once! And, Duncan, call me in the morning, please. I love you both. Goodnight and have a good time!"

And, with that, the line went dead. Emily and I looked at each other for a long moment, her in that skimpy lingerie and me in my sweats, our pizzas getting colder by the second. I smiled at her, took a bite and said around the mouthful of food, "So... give the delivery guy a heart attack dressed like that, did you?"

Emily smiled devilishly. "I don't know about a heart attack, Dad, but I'm pretty sure that his heart's working double-time to keep up with the hard-on I gave him. It was funny as hell, the way he had to keep covering it up with the pizza bag." She giggled happily as she took another bite of pizza.

"Humph," I said after I swallowed my food. "All that, just over a girl dressed in some sexy lingerie?"

Emily, my devil of a daughter, blushed. "Well... maybe I had a tit or two hanging out. As a tip?"

I closed my eyes, not sure if I should chastise her for flashing strange men who were kind enough to bring us food, and said, "Hell of a tip, I'd say." I paused for a moment and then added, "I'm not sure I like the idea of my daughter showing her body off to a total stranger, though."

Emily blushed a little and smiled weakly. "Sorry, Dad."

I shrugged it off. "It's okay, I guess. No harm done."

We ate in silence for a few moments until Emily looked down at the half-consumed pizza pie thoughtfully. "Dad?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Have you ever killed anyone? In your books, I mean."

My eyebrows arched in mild surprise. "You mean, you don't know? Haven't you read any of them?"

My daughter blushed again, this time with a different kind of embarrassment. "Only one of them. The one about the guy with the mental problem."

As the author, of course, I immediately knew which novel she was referring to. In that particular story none of the characters had died, but the hero had some close to it. "A few," I answered honestly. "Sometimes that's what the story called for. Why?"

Emily picked up her slice and took another bite of it. "No reason, really. Just talking about that pizza delivery guy dying of a heart attack... got me to thinking. I'd feel real guilty if I caused someone to die because of something I did."

I chuckled slightly. Emily's capacity for empathy had not diminished as she grew older. Quite the contrary, actually, it seemed to have grown right along with her. Just to receive news that someone special to another person had suffered something terrible often brought out in her feelings of genuine sadness. She never shied away from giving even a complete stranger a meaningful and kind hug, should they impart some sort of sob story to her. Mind you, my daughter was by no means a push-over, but she had a big heart. "I don't think you have to worry about him, honey. The guy's probably young enough to handle it. At worst, he might have a small pang of regret for not getting your phone number-"

"He's already got it, actually," she cut in, pointing to the label on one of the pizza boxes. Our address, name and phone number were printed neatly there. Doubtless the boy had a copy of it in his till log, so that he could figure his mileage later in the evening.

"Good point," I replied. "Anyway... I'd wager that he's probably on his way back to the store, ready to tell his manager and fellow drivers about your risqué display. Like bragging rights, only he didn't do anything to earn such a pleasant gift as seeing your breasts."

Emily smiled slyly. "Well, he did bring us food that we didn't have to cook."

I smiled back. "Stipulated. So, in the end, he'll tell his buddies how some hot girl gave him a good show. No big deal."

We continued to eat quietly for a few moments longer. I had gotten myself another slice when Emily asked, "Was it difficult?"

"Was what difficult, Em?"

"Killing people in your stories," she explained. "I mean, I've read some of your articles on your writing process. How you think of each character as a real person and your job, as a writer, is simply to tell their story. If they're real to you, how can you bring yourself to kill them off?"

I rolled my eyes at my daughter. "It's not like I sit there and say, 'Hey! I know! Let's kill the main character! That'll sell some books!' Honey, sometimes people die. It's a messy, sometimes vicious fact of life, but that's how it is. I write a story and try my best to make it believable. Otherwise it won't sell and people won't read it. Sometimes Life throws you strange curves and situations, things that come out of left field- like what we're planning on doing after we get done eating. No one could have predicted how this day would end for us. And, if they had, if they had told us how things would go, we'd think they were insane and say that WE would have to be insane if we believed them. Right?"