Can Everyone Tell?

She said, "Your friend Nate has some serious skills. He found everything about Tyrese like I was looking for my keys in my purse. I wasn't the only one, and I was far from the first. Sorry, Leigh, but Tyrese was a seriously bad guy."

Leigh asked her, "So are you feeling better? Safer?"

"Yeah," replied Tandy. "I feel like I can breathe."

Nick said, "Then call your dad and tell him to come over. We should all go out and celebrate."

Tandy, suddenly looking deflated, said, "Thank you for everything, Mr. Westen. But I just want to go home and tell my dad that the whole thing is over and start trying to put this all behind me. Leigh, Tilda, can you just give me a ride home?"

Leigh said, "Yeah... are you sure? You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. It's just that, going through all of this again, I don't know... it just brings back all the pain. I'll be fine. I just need to be alone for a bit. We'll talk tomorrow, though, okay?"

Leigh went and kissed her dad on the cheek, whispering, "Thank you for helping her."

Nick nodded and said, "We'll go get lunch when you get back, okay? Love you." The three young women left.

The ride to Tandy's house was quiet. As they pulled up, Tilda asked again, "You sure you're okay? Do you want us to just sit with you?"

Tandy sighed and said, softly, "No, I'll be okay. I'm glad Tyrese is gonna go down for this, and I hope he gets a long-ass sentence, and maybe some psycho skull-fucks him to death in there. And if I had anything to do with making that happen, I'm glad. But going through it on that call just sucked the life out of me, and I just want to lie down."

"Alright," said Leigh. "Call us if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay. See you guys later," Tandy said, walking toward her front door.

As they drove off, Leigh commented, "Damn. I can't even imagine what she's going through."

"Yeah, I know," murmured Tilda glumly.

Leigh looked over at her friend, and was surprised to see Tilda's eyes welling with tears. She reached over and gently rubbed her shoulder. "Hey, what is it? What's wrong?" Tilda shrugged and shook her head sadly but didn't speak.

Leigh pressed her, "Hey, BFF here. You know you can talk to me."

At those words, a few tears dropped onto face. "That's just it," answered Tilda. "It just feels like I'm losing my BFF."

"Girl what are you talking about? What, did you sleep with my boyfriend, too? Because this time, he's my dad, and if you did that, bitch, you gon' have to die!"

Tandy laughed mirthlessly. "Well first, there's that: the whole bombshell about you and your dad. Then just as I'm beginning to wrap my head around that, then Tandy comes back and all's forgiven. Leigh, you guys were best friends for twenty years before you ever met me. So now that she's back, of course you don't need me anymore..." she finished as her voice trailed off. She shrugged again sadly.

"Okay, listen. You and I became close friends around the same time me and my dad first, well... started, okay? So the whole time we've been BFFs, my dad and I have been together. During that time, hasn't this," and she indicated between the two of them, "been great?"

Tilda nodded and said, "Yeah, that's why—"

"Hang on," interrupted Leigh. She continued, "And, you had your suspicions for months, right? When you had those suspicions, did that hurt our groove? And a couple of weeks ago at that show, the only thing that really happened was your suspicions were confirmed, right? So what's changed now? I'm still your ride or die."

Tilda insisted, "Yeah, but now Tandy's back, and—"

"Stop," said Leigh. "You're not over-thinking this. You're under-thinking it. Tandy is not 'back.' She's gone through a horrific trauma, and we don't know how this is really affecting her, or how it's gonna affect her in the future. Yes, she's still my friend, and I still plan to be there for her, but that innocent little-girl friendship we had, where we obsessed about boys and makeup and bitchy classmates, that friendship is gone forever, because those innocent little girls are gone forever. You and me, we've gone through some grown-woman shit, starting with Tyrese, going through all kinds of crap at work, and now, you're privy to my biggest, deepest, most damaging secret. Tilda, if I didn't trust you completely, I wouldn't have let you know. Can you imagine the fallout if you'd run back to work screaming, 'Guess what, guys, Leigh's fucking her own dad! Here's proof!'? Well I can, and that's why we don't act like that in front of people who know we're related. I was okay in front of you because I trust you. I don't know how things are gonna work out for Tandy, but trust me, you have earned your place in my life and no one is taking it away. I just hope I've earned my spot in yours, and my relationship with my dad doesn't kill it."

Tilda looked much happier as she said, "No, it won't. Like I said, I was okay with it, then this whole thing with Tandy got me feeling all crazy, you know?"

As they pulled into Leigh's driveway, she said, "Okay, then this is the last one, I swear."

"Last one?" asked Tilda.

"Yeah. Now let's go get my big-dicked daddy and take his sexy ass out to lunch!"

"Aaauuuughhhhh!" groaned Tilda, as Leigh laughed loud and long at her friend's discomfort.

"I swear, that was the last one!" she promised as they walked into the house to find Nick waiting for them, relaxing while listening to some jazz.

*****

Russ Ralston, Tandy's father, owned a small landscaping company. Although he had several crews working for him, he ran a mowing crew himself. His days started early... he was usually out the door by 6:30. But he was usually done for the day by 4:00, and often earlier during the Florida summers and the afternoon thunderstorms. So when he got back in at 4:30 and found Tandy still asleep in his bed, he got a little worried, thinking she had been in bed all day. But he noticed that she was dressed in street clothes, so he thought that maybe she'd gone out. Trying not to wake her, he went straight into his bathroom to take a shower, looking forward to washing away the dirt and sweat from a hard day's work. He started the shower and undressed in the bathroom just in case Tandy woke up.

The sound of the shower woke her up with a start, but she relaxed when she saw her dad as he pulled the bathroom door closed. She'd slept for a couple of hours, so sleep was finished for a while. She sat up in the bed and let her mind go where it wanted. She knew she'd come to lie down in her father's bed rather than her own, because she needed to be comforted. Since no one else was around, his bed that smelled like him, and had always offered comfort in the past, was the next best thing.

She thought about Jamie and Madison. They were father and daughter, and were very much in love. They seemed extremely happy. Tandy had lived with them for a few weeks, and she knew that in their case, appearances did not lie. Their life was as blissful as it seemed. Madison's best friend, Courtney, knew all about their life, and was as supportive as a friend could be. They even had a child together, and they'd named the child 'Alecia' after Courtney's middle name.

She also thought about her own friend, Leigh. She was involved with her dad and Tandy could plainly tell that she was happier than she had ever been with ANY boy before this, and Tandy had known her for twenty years. She could tell that Tilda wasn't quite comfortable with it. But Leigh and Nick certainly were, and they were really all that mattered. She knew that conventional wisdom decreed that 'fathers and daughters don't do that sort of thing.' Clearly, SOME fathers and SOME daughters did. The question she had for herself, as she lay there in her fathers' bed was, is that what SHE wanted? A year ago, the answer would have been, 'hell no!' , but now she wasn't so sure.

The bathroom door opened and Russ walked out, thankfully fully dressed. She hadn't even heard the shower stop. He saw that she was awake, and he came over to her and kissed her on her forehead. He asked her how she was feeling, and she could see the love and concern in his eyes. She reached up and kissed him, tentatively, on the lips. The kiss began to deepen, but Russ broke it off. He seemed surprised, then pulled her close, hugging her for a minute.

He pressed her back to the bed and said, "Baby, I know you've been through a lot, and all I want you to do is heal, and that's gonna take some time. I've seen Leigh and her father together, and I can tell that something is going on with them. That's their business, and I'm not gonna be one to judge them or tell anybody. I mean, what's it matter to me? But for us, when you're ready, REALLY ready, to explore, well, anything, then we'll look at it together. I'm not saying 'No', I'm just saying, 'Not yet.' Because this isn't what you need right now. What you need is this." And with that, he hugged her tightly, comforting her. She started sobbing into his collar. This was the first time she'd cried to him since she'd been back. And now, with the new understanding of what their relationship might one day become, she let it all go, and just let him once again be the protector for his little girl.

*****

December was always a very big deal at the Westen household. Nick's birthday was on December 21, followed by Leigh's birthday the very next day, with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day just a couple of days later. They'd invited Tilda and her family as well as Tandy and her father over on Christmas Eve for dinner. They usually spent Christmas Day alone together, or with maybe a close friend or two. This year, Nick had something special planned for Leigh, and he wanted it to be just the two of them. He was sure he'd done a perfect job of hiding everything from her, and she was sure to be surprised. He'd even thrown her further off with a seemingly lackluster Christmas present of a leather messenger bag. She was visibly disappointed, and she handed him his big heavy present a bit more forcefully than expected. Maybe 'shoved' is a better word. That was probably deserved, since she'd sought out and found the exact new AV receiver he'd been lusting after, and it cost a damn lot more that any funky-ass man-purse. What the fuck?! she wondered.

"Oh, babe, I just remembered," said Nick suddenly after oohing and aahhing excessively over his new receiver... it was exactly the one he wanted, and he knew for a fact that it cost north of $2000.00. Leigh had been rolling her eyes the whole time. She was really glad he was happy, but a friggin' MAN-PURSE?! "I have two more presents for you. But they're probably nothing compared to my new Yamaha! Anyway, open this one first." He handed her an odd-looking package that looked almost like a thick letter. She ripped away the gift wrapping, and inside was a manila folder. At this point, Leigh was beyond pissed. "The fuck is this? Is this a divorce already? You haven't even figured out how we could even GET married, even though you KNOW that's all I want! And now you're handing me legal papers? For CHRISTMAS?!! What the fuck, daddy!"

Nick looked hurt. "Of course, not, sweetheart. Look at it!"

She opened the folder and looked through the documents. They were cruise documents, for a cruise in April. April!! So for Christmas, she gets to LOOK FORWARD TO A CRUISE THAT'S ALMOST FIVE FUCKING MONTHS AWAY?! She looked at him with wrath in her eyes and said, "What, did you win this on the fucking radio?"

Nick ignored her biting comment, and said, "Okay, this last one ties the other two presents together. I think you'll like it."

Leigh snapped, "I got an ugly-ass man-purse to keep my cheap-ass welfare cruise documents in until we can go on a cruise in twenty fuckin' years. You're really knocking it outta the park this year, NICK." She had never said the name 'Nick' with such venom. Even the 'K' seemed to echo ominously.

"Nick?!" he exclaimed as he handed her her final gift, a small box that looked suspiciously like a watch.

"What's this? A free travel sample of suntan lotion for our imaginary-ass trip?" she spat. She opened it rather unappreciatively in Nick's opinion, but he said nothing, knowing he'd have the high ground in 5, 4, 3,..

Under the wrapping was indeed a box that USED to hold a watch. His pretty daughter looked very cross as she sighed impatiently and opened that stupid-ass watch box. ... 2... Inside that box was a smaller box that looked like, ... No WAY... 1... She pulled it from the watch box and opened it to find a large, shiny, princess-cut diamond engagement ring. Leigh was shocked, and beyond speechless as she took it out and looked closely at it. It was not a 'promise' ring or a keepsake ring. This was an engagement ring, pure and simple. She looked at her father, her mouth hanging open.

He took her hand and said, "You will always be my daughter. I want you to be my wife as well. Will you marry me, Leigh?"

Her eyes welled up and she sobbed, choking on the word, "Yes." He slipped the ring on her finger, and it fit perfectly.

Finally Leigh remembered how to breathe and move. "Omigodomigodomigodyesyesyesyesyes! Daddy, YES!" she screamed as she launched herself at him, hugging him tightly and kissing him over and over, long deep kisses mixed with short kisses all over his face. She couldn't slow down, eliciting a steady stream of love and apologies, that sounded a little like, "ImsosorrydaddyIwassuchabitchiloveyousomuchicantwaittilweremarriediwassuchabitchihopeyoustilwannamarrymeiloveyouuchthisissoooowonderfulIloveyouIloveyouIloveyousoooomuch!!"

After she caught her breath for a moment, she said, more seriously, "But how can we get married? It's still illegal, isn't it?"

"Well," Nick began, now positively sure of his position firmly on the high ground of gift-giving, "First we take this, ahem, 'welfare-ass cruise', that goes, among other places, to St. Maarten, where it's perfectly legal for fathers to marry their bratty, unappreciative, adult over 21 years old daughters." Leigh had the decency to blush appropriately at this. He continued, "Also in the stack of 'apparent divorce papers,' you'll find a copy of your birth certificate listing your name as Leigh Petersen, your mom's maiden name. We'll present that in St. Maarten for certification, and Leigh Petersen will marry Nick Westen and become Mrs. Leigh Westen. Your passport and driver license and everything already say Leigh Westen, so everything is legit. The ugly-ass man-purse is to keep all these important documents all in one place while we travel. Especially our new marriage license. So what do you think?" he asked, smiling expectantly.

Leigh was still in shock as she gazed lovingly at the shiny new diamond on her ring finger. She murmured, "Santa did know." Nick just smiled and nodded. She said, "Why April? Do we have to wait that long?"

"Not at all," answered Nick. "It's just that everything happens around the holidays. Birthdays, our first getting together, the actual holidays. I thought it would be nice to have our wedding anniversary at a different time of year, so that that was all we were thinking about. But if you want, we can go earlier. I bought the tickets that can be changed for a small fee."

Leigh looked at her dad with such love and devotion, and said, "You really think of everything to make me happy, don't you?" She stood up and started taking her clothes off until she stood before him, wearing only her new engagement ring. She rubbed that finger up between the rapidly moistening lips of her softly furred sex. "So now, she continued, "I'm gonna fuck you until your dick falls off, and then I'm gonna reattach it and fuck you some more." Nick tore his clothes off, grabbed his sexy daughter, and carried her upstairs to their bedroom.

In the bedroom, Leigh got up on her knees over Nick and pushed him back, kissing him deeply, their tongues wrestling. She pulled away from the kiss and kissed him down his body and took the tip of his hard, leaking cock into her mouth. She teased the tip with her tongue, tickling his slit and driving him crazy. She slowly sucked his whole length into her mouth, taking his tip down her throat. She'd never been able to do that before, and Nick was surprised, and loved the sensation. She started moving his prick in and out of her mouth, sucking him hard enough to pull his balls right out of his dick. He'd never felt anything like this before. His hips started moving up and down, fucking her face with more and more force. Leigh took every bit of his rod, and she didn't forget to pay close attention to his balls, licking them and sucking them into her mouth to polish them with her soft, delicious tongue. As she took his cock back into her mouth and resumed her otherworldly sucking, Nick felt himself jetting up the peak. He pushed her face away, and, breathing heavily, said, "Not yet. Not yet. Don't wanna cum yet. Gimme that pussy, baby girl!" as he pulled her on top of him in a sixty-nine.

"That'll make you cum faster," she warned, know how much her daddy LOVED eating her scrumptious snatch.

"Yeah, but it'll be way better," he answered, already muffled by her dripping cooze. He pulled her generous ass-cheeks apart and started by licking her tight little rosebud, forcing his tongue up inside the tight orifice. As his tongue speared in and out of her most personal space, he matched her sucking, and he licked and sucked her backdoor for all he was worth. It felt so good to Leigh that for a moment she stopped sucking her father's succulent dick, to just luxuriate in what he was doing to her asshole. She remembered her job and resumed her oral ministrations. Now that her sphincter was a little more relaxed, he slipped a finger up into her juicy cunt and gathered some honey on that finger. He slipped that slick finger up her ass and wiggled it. She stopped sucking again, grabbing his cock and balls in both hands and squeezing and stroking him tenderly, moaning out loud from the pleasure.

Nick put his mouth right against her entrance, sucking and drinking her copious honey, wiggling his finger in her ass. Leigh knew it was cumming soon. She wanted her father to get there first. She redoubled her efforts, tickling his tip, licking and sucking his balls, even extending her tongue down and licking his taint. That got a loud moan from him. Leigh wet a finger and put the pad of her finger against his asshole, threatening to breach.

Nick wanted to make his babygirl explode first, and he knew Leigh was about to make him go nuclear. He slid two more fingers inside her, this time in her sodden pussy, and rubbed her spot. He could feel his fingers inside her from the back, and he pushed them toward each other. The sensation of the double penetration was diving Leigh mad, and she knew it was about to happen. Nick finally latched on to her clit, alternately sucking it hard and flicking it back and forth with just the very tip of his tongue.

Leigh knew she was a goner... just before the massive tsunami took her away, she slipped her finger up her father's tight, untouched asshole and pressed against the first round gland she found and then her world went white as her orgasm crashed over her, paralyzing her with Nick's dick deep in her mouth. Nick felt the intrusion, the pressure on his prostate, and he came so hard that he thought he was having a stroke. He fired his cum so hard and so much he was afraid of drowning his daughter. Leigh was still immobile as he started cumming in her mouth, and, forgetting to suck or swallow, the first spurts just filled her mouth and ran back out again, forced out by the next surge. She finally resumed sucking and swallowed as much as she could until he finally finished. She pulled her finger out, as did Nick, and they lay there licking and sucking each other in a post-orgasmic euphoria.

Nick wanted to kiss his daughter, so he shifted down and joined her at the foot of the bed, pulling her close and kissing her deeply. She returned the kisses, offering her tongue in return. In that moment, they tasted every bit of each other, and they could feel their love surrounding them. Nick pulled the blanket over them as he held her. They fully intended to make love again, but the intensity of their joined orgasms had literally knocked them out. They fell asleep in each other's arms in minutes, and neither had ever slept better.