Daddy's New Daughters

"So, I'm here and my ears are open. Say your peace."

"Why?" the aggressive one asked.

The quiet one then said something in a whisper. "I think we should introduce ourselves first."

"Maybe a good idea." I added.

"I'm Angel and she's Francesca. Now answer me."

"About what?"

"About what? About what? You ... you ..." she was too angry to speak apparently.

"Look. Calm down. Ok. Your father asked me to stay away so I did. Can you really blame me? I don't know what you heard but if you want the real story I'll tell it to you."

"My father! Are you for real right now? My father!"

"What she means to say," began Francesca, "is that you're our father."

"No." was my immediate reaction.

"Yes." said Angel.

"How?"

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that you fucked my mom."

I swallowed hard. "She got pregnant? She never told me."

"Yeah, cause you fell off the face of the fucking earth."

I shook my head. Even after all this time she had found a way to hurt me. "So, you're twins."

They both shook their heads in the negative at the same time.

"Angel's my aunt." Francesca said.

"Oh. You're Stephanie's daughter?"

The quiet one nodded and then Angel jumped in.

"Yeah, you knocked up two women and then you just took off."

"I did not just take off."

"We're both 18 years old and only now have we been able to find you."

"I was always easy to find. Your mother had my number. Yours too. Stephanie knew where my parents lived. Once I was out of school I certainly wasn't hiding. A simple search for my name in academic literature would have turned up ..."

"We tried to contact you on facebook and you blew us off."

"Right. Because for you young people, if it doesn't happen on facebook then it isn't real. You could have searched for me in the DMV records. You could have opened up a phone book. If I had known that you two ladies were coming into this world I would have found a way to be there. I know I can't prove that to you but it's the truth. I'm angry and offended that even after all this time, even now in the 21st century, it was you two who came to find me instead of your mothers. They should have told me about this years ago."

"They kept us in the dark too." Francesca said. "They don't know we're here. They don't know we found out."

Angel erupted again. "That does not excuse you just not checking up on them. You can't just go around in life having sex with women and then not doing follow up to find out if you left a present behind."

"Yes, well, when Clara's husband told me that if he ever saw me near his home again he'd shoot me on the spot I think I had good reason to stay away."

"We have questions." Francesca said.

I told her to ask away and slowly the tale of my summer at college and the blowout weekend was all told. After that I got to hear about how the girls were raised in a very tense home where their father/grandfather was always suspicious of his wife and they never really got along. Eventually a divorce happened. Stephanie stayed away from her mother and father for a while but when Francesca was five she moved back in with her mother so that the two girls could be together growing up.

When the girls were 8 Stephanie married but that didn't last very long and she eventually got divorced.

It was when they were 11 that Angel got hold of the divorce records for her own parents because she wanted to find out why her father never came around. It was then that she found out that her father was not her father. She also found out that her niece was also her sister.

They had my name and so the two sisters tried to find me. When Francesca tried to ask her mother about me Stephanie just told her to drop it and never bring it back up. So the girls were on their own.

When they were older they were able to gain access to Clara's email and they found a very old conversation between Clara and Stephanie. By reading carefully they were able to figure out my age, which high school I went to, and the fact that I was good with computers.

So they searched facebook and eventually found me.

And that brought the story to the present. They had put their money together, waited for summer vacation and then got on a plane and came all the way out here to see me.

It was a bit of a waste since my home was not that far from where they lived. But they didn't know where I lived. They did know I'd be speaking here so they came here.

There was more to talk about obviously and we'd have to decide if we wanted to tell Clara and Stephanie about this little reunion but that conversation would have to wait. For now I needed to go back inside and participate in an event. I asked the girls to stay and wait for me.

As I left Francesca got up and gave me a hug. I could already tell she was a sweet girl and really felt bad that I'd missed her growing up. As the hug ended Angel rolled her eyes at us but then she moved in quick and got a hug as well. Unlike Francesca who was gentle with everything, Angel pressed in hard and when the hug ended she had to hide her face because she was showing an emotion other than anger.

So my life had change. It was on my mind for the rest of the day. I was a father. I never would have thought that possible. I was always so careful with women. I had worked very hard to stay away from getting trapped.

Of course I wasn't stupid. A paternity test was in order. When the conference was over and I was back at home I brought the girls with me to a doctor I trusted. I was actually going to be a bit busy for a couple of weeks so there would be little time for getting to know each other but we all went to see a movie together one night.

The dna results came back pretty fast. I did indeed have two daughters. Again, wow. Just wow. How could they not tell me? I had so much lost time to make up for. I owed it to them and to myself. I adjusted my work schedule and really put in an effort to spend as much time with them as possible.

At first we just sort of had a routine of just doing a simple hug at the end of whatever we were doing. If we went out to dinner then when it was time for them to go home they would each just give me a hug. Yeah, it felt awkward at first but we eventually got more relaxed around each other.

Eventually I got my parents and my sisters together and I dropped the news onto them. There was the initial shock but my family warmed up to the girls pretty fast and my youngest sister Consuela was near their age and they got along great.

My mother of course had to berate me in private about the fact that I was messing up my life family wise. She kept asking why I couldn't be more like my sister Maria who was already married with four kids. Then she started the whole Holy Day of Obligation speech again and said I needed to go to Mass.

Look, if they aren't going to let me kneel for communion I already feel uncomfortable with the way the priest is doing his job. Then they won't even let me go to confession so I couldn't get communion even if they'd let me kneel. So going to Mass just meant listening to the guy go through the motions but not really mean any of it. Then, as everyone else went up with their dirty hands out that they used to pick their nose, or scratch their ass they received what they claimed to believe was God. Yeah, I wasn't buying it anymore.

I let my mom know that I was really focused on learning to be a dad and if she could ever find a Church where the priest stopped turning his back to God and actually did his job right then; and only then; I might think about attending.

In the meantime my daughter Angel and I had our first disagreement over something and I was in the strange position of trying to insist on something. Francesca was already going to college but Angel did not see that in her future. She hadn't even applied anywhere. I just had to insist that she go. She said it was her life but I said she was my daughter and it would mean a lot to me if she went.

In the end I put myself on the line to pay for all her school as well as room and board. It was too late for her to get into a really good school but she could go to an open admissions college and transfer later. Honestly, I wasn't so much hung up on which school she went to just so long as she went. This is the 21st century, you have to go to college. She just told her mom she was able to get a scholarship which I guess was sort of true if you called me a scholarship.

I called a guy who owed me a favor and they pulled some strings and we got Angel admitted into a fairly good college. It wasn't the college I would have picked for myself but it was college and some college is better than no college. I also made sure to show the girls the fact that there were no jobs for psychology majors. Computer science and engineering was where the money was.

Did they listen? No. Of course they didn't but at least they didn't go into psychology. Francesca was going to do medicine like her mother and Angel looked like she might be on the path to become a teacher. Both fine professions, and both more than Clara ever did with her life. My daughters would have to deal with more people than I was used to dealing with in person but maybe they'd like that.

It really was funny how my life changed. I found myself texting them or emailing them pretty often. I was interested in their lives and they were interested in knowing more about me. They were always happy to meet my friends and people I worked with. Angel was very insistent that everyone knew who she was related to. One guy even told me that a few of the guys had forgotten her name and she was referred to as just "Roberto's daughter".

Things were going well with my new life as a father and then I got something of a shock on a Friday in October. There was a big storm coming and I wanted to enjoy the weather before it got bad.

"Daddy." Francesca said as we were playing chess on my back patio. They had both started calling me that. I hadn't gotten completely used to it yet but I was getting there.

She continued, "Can I stay here for Thanksgiving?"

"What about your mom?"

"I can go see her but she's got this guy that she's dating and he has younger kids. They're cute and all but I think my mom will just be too busy."

"My home is your home. You can stay whenever you like."

"Really?"

"Of course. You and Angel. I'd just be worried about your mom getting upset if you blew her off for a big holiday like that."

"I wouldn't cut her out. I'd go see her but I just don't want to be trapped there."

"Sure. Fine by me. Stay whenever you like for as long as you like. I am pleasantly unattached."

"You never think about getting married or anything?"

"No. I mean ... sure there were a couple of times it crossed my mind but if I get married I want to do it right or not at all."

The game dragged on and I became aware of it getting dark so I had to turn the outside lights on. That brought bugs so we moved our game inside.

"Daddy, can I ask? What sort of woman would you be looking for?"

"You have someone in mind?"

"Not really. I'm just curious."

"I suppose if I were to get married I'd want a wife. I don't want to just live with a woman. I tried that and it doesn't work. If I get married I want a wife. A real wife."

"But what does that mean, to you?"

"It means we aren't in competition. We're on the same team with the same goals. It means she rejects the whole world for me."

"That's sort of heavy, dad."

"That's how it would have to be. I guess my dream woman would be someone like Kate from that play. She's in a position where no one understands her. No one accepts her. No one has anything good to say about her with the lone exception of her husband. He stands by her no matter what and she sees in him her true family. Now, I don't want my wife to be rejected by her family. I'd never wish that on someone but the idea of it is important. There's that idea there of a wife really choosing her husband even if it means she has to choose against her old family."

"So, what do you think about women's lib and feminism?"

"Not much for me to think about it. It has nothing to do with me. You want something then you go get it. I certainly won't stop you. In fact I'll cheer you all the way. But if a woman wants to put her hands on what's mine then I'll chop them off. Not literally of course. And I don't mean you. I mean, you're my daughter. I'll probably leave everything I have to you and Angel anyway. Well, you, Angel, and my sisters."

"You know, I don't have school tomorrow. Can I stay here tonight?"

"Sure, I have four extra bedrooms. Just pick one."

The rest of the evening passed seemingly without anything interesting happening. The only thing relevant was that I went to the little tin box I had where I kept a spare key to the house. I figured I didn't want to have to worry if I decided to leave early in the morning before Francesca was ready. I didn't want to feel like I was kicking her out.

Of course once I gave her a key I couldn't very well take it back from her. And since she had a key that meant that I'd need to make a key for Angel. I got the feeling that she was often jealous of what other people had. I'd been trying to teach her not to covet and try instead to be happy when others had something nice. But in this case she'd certainly have a point. She was just as much my daughter as Francesca.

Now, a funny thing happened. It was all the way after dinner, after Francesca had a shower, and after she called her mother. That phone call was pretty funny too. It started normal and I just stayed quiet since all this was still a secret. At the end of the call Francesca must have decided to play a joke. She stood right in front of me and smiled. Then on the phone she asked her mother who her father was.

I almost burst out laughing. I had to stay quiet while Francesca sat down next to me and hugged me even as she was arguing with her mother on the phone about how she had a right to know.

In retrospect I suppose I should tell Francesca not to play with her mother's emotions like that but at the time it was very comical.

Anyway, Francesca said she wasn't at the dorm and she was instead spending the night at a friend's house. Her mother thought that meant boyfriend but Francesca insisted it did not.

The call ended and it was time for bed, at least for me.

I didn't tell Francesca that she had to go to bed. I thought she was going to stay up longer watching youtube on the laptop that I'd gotten for her. (Don't worry, I got one for Angel as well.) However, when I went upstairs to go to bed Francesca followed me and went to the room she'd picked for herself.

It was sort of funny. I'd hosted my sisters and their kids at my home so many times but this sort of felt different. This was my daughter finally coming home to me. I knew it wasn't exactly like that but I had some sort of emotion about this and that's the best I can describe it.

I got in bed but I didn't read as I usually did. I just sat there thinking about the fact that my daughter was sleeping in my house. I hadn't asked for it either. It had been her idea. She'd come to me. She accepted me as her father. I liked that. I can't say why but it felt good. I could almost say it made up for what their mothers had done. Not really but in that moment I found I wasn't so bitter.

I was going to keep that feeling. I was going to remember that. I turned the light off and put my head on my pillow. I really was a dad, not just a father but a dad. I was going to be a good dad.

Knock, knock. My door was left open since I never really closed it. She didn't need to knock. I sat up and looked over at her.

"Daddy," she said; "can I ask you for something?"

"Sure. Whatever you want." I almost added 'within reason' but then I checked myself and told myself to be a good dad not an asshole. I'm a good dad. I'm going to be the best dad I can be for them. I ... I love them. They are my daughters and I love them. I was just then realizing it fully.

"Can I sleep in here?" she asked.

Ok, I was not prepared for that. I didn't know what to say. I wanted to ask why. I wanted to know if she wanted me to sleep somewhere else. What was going on?

"Well, sure, I guess. If you want to."

"I know it sounds weird but I have this thing."

"What thing?"

"This fantasy. See when I was little my mom always made me sleep in my room. And there were these times when I was scared ... this sounds so stupid."

"No, it's ok. Go ahead."

"Ok. Um ... See, when I was scared I would want to go and sleep with my mom but she'd never let me. She'd get angry with me that I was waking her up so I had to always just stay in my room."

"Well, you have to understand. She worked very hard hours and she was doing it for you."

"I know that. I understand that. But I just dream about it sometimes. And I was just sort of thinking, would it be ok if ... you know ... could I sleep in here with you?"

"You want to sleep here?"

"Is that ok?"

I looked over at my bed. It was a pretty big bed. I could probably fit eight people in it. And if not eight then at least six. It would be fine. She's my daughter. It would be fine.

"My house is your house."

She came over to the bed and sat next to me. She hugged me.

"I'm just going to say this. Ok? Don't freak out. Just go with it."

"Go with what?"

"I'm scared daddy. Can I sleep in here with you?"

What the hell was this? What was I supposed to say?

"Um ... Sure, pumpkin. You don't have to be scared. I'll protect you."

"Thank you, daddy."

She pressed herself up to me and stayed still in my arms as she got comfortable in my bed.

So, that was a bit of a twist but ok. I tried to imagine what it was like when I held my very young nieces and nephews. I tried to get myself to think of this as something like that.

Only, it wasn't really working. I knew this one thing about myself. On the one hand, I always knew that I could control myself and act appropriately. On the other hand there were times when certain people would get me sexually excited even when I didn't want to be. There was my younger sister Consuela and every now and then I'd bump into an ex who'd drop the hint that she'd want to do something with me. But I had my rule so no matter how sexy she was I couldn't take her up on it.

Francesca had a very revealing shirt on that wasn't really a shirt at all. It was just a muscle shirt but it only went down a little past her breasts. She had breasts that were just larger than handful size and she didn't have a bra on or anything. She was pressing them up to me and with just a bit of rotation of my eye I'd be able to see almost everything.

Yes, there were times when I found myself with a very inappropriate hard on. This moment with my daughter in my arms in my bed was one of them. My big head knew she was my daughter but my little head did not and was a bit slow in the up tick.

I waited. This was so difficult for me. I waited until I thought she was asleep and then I slowly got my arm from under her and then scooted my body away from her. Ok. Now things were ok. She was fast asleep and I had plenty of room to occupy.

I wasn't sure how much time passed but right as I was about to enter dreamland myself I felt a presence near me. I was laying with my back to my daughter and I felt a hand touch my arm. My mind popped back to consciousness and I froze in place. I pretended to be asleep and I hoped she would just go back to her slumber.

Her hand moved down and started feeling my chest. It didn't stay there very long though. She moved her hand along my body and she went for my dick. I think my eyes were wide open and I tried to keep my breathing even. She was touching my dick. What the hell? Do I tell her to stop? What if she's doing this in her sleep? Would it be ok to wake her? What if she wasn't sleeping? What did this mean? Why was she doing this?