Winter Break in St. Thomas Ch. 02

With that, we got out of bed. Ashley walked out of the room stark naked and crossed to hers, leaving both doors open. I pulled on my shorts and retrieved my shirt from the couch, then went into the kitchen to start breakfast. I heard my daughter moving around, but had no idea what was taking her so long, as I prepared the food. By the time she walked into the kitchen, with her hair in a fresh ponytail and wearing another one of my shirts, I had breakfast ready. Avocado toast, Greek yogurt with a little honey and berries, and juice to drink.

"What took you so long, Ash?" I asked as she grabbed a plate and headed to the deck.

"I was moving my things into our room, silly. I got tired of having to go across the hall to brush my teeth," as if it was the most reasonable thing in the world. Which, I had to admit, it was. The rest of the week was obviously going to be about us getting to know each other at a much different level of intimacy than we had before.

"Ash," I asked, "how are you feeling? Really?"

"Fine, Dad. You aren't that big," she said as she stirred her yogurt. Then she laughed. "I know that's not what you meant. I just like to make you squirm."

"Well, that hasn't changed, at least. Seriously, honey," I stated with concern, "this is going to be stressful. We have to figure out how this is going to work. You're going to college, no argument. I have work so I can't move, at least for a while. And there's mom to figure out. That is going to take some time to handle the way I think we both want it to look."

Ashley put her spoon down and looked at me. "Daddy, I know it's going to be tricky. I've been thinking about those things. I don't have the answers either. I know moving to Costa Rica isn't the answer. At least," with a cocked eyebrow, "not right away. But, like I said, we don't have to figure it out this week. I know we can't avoid it completely, but it doesn't need to consume the week.

"We need to relax and enjoy ourselves. This is our honeymoon. Who knows when we will have time like this together again? Let's just lay on the beach, eat good food, drink good wine and fuck all week. The world can wait that long..."

I just looked at her as she spooned yogurt and berries into her mouth. How had she gotten so mature? I shook my head slightly and decided to move on. She was right. We could ruin the whole week trying to figure it all out, or we could enjoy each other. The latter choice made the most since. We had all the time in the world, and the initial plan was going to change a dozen times anyway.

So, we finished breakfast talking about where we were going to have dinner and movies and books and things going on at school. We didn't talk about other boys or mom, though, by unspoken mutual consent. Then we cleaned up the breakfast mess and headed back into the bedroom. The same bedroom. Our bedroom.

Ashley's things were all there. Hairbands and a brush on the dresser. When I opened a drawer for a fresh pair of boardshorts, she had rearranged things. She had the three on the left and I had the three on the right. Then I took a shower. By myself. I almost invited her to join me. Because that's what new couples are supposed to do.

But I had always found shower sex to be more awkward than fun. Too much worry about slipping and weird angles. And there was that unexpected blast of water in the face. And, the worst, when the hot water ran out before you "finished". Whatever that was when you were having sex standing up in a downpour. So, I showered and hoped Ashley didn't decide to join me. But she didn't. So that worked out.

As I washed the scents and remnants of sex off my body, I contemplated what had transpired over the last ten (was it only ten??) hours. My whole life had changed because my eighteen-year-old daughter had been intuitive, smart and brave enough to make it happen. She hadn't stopped amazing me for eighteen years. That's probably why I had fallen in love with her. I don't know why I should expect things to change now.

I emerged from the shower and toweled off. Then I put on my trunks and went out into the bedroom. The door was open and Ashley was nowhere to be seen, but there was no panic this time. I knew she was showered and changed and waiting for me on the deck. Because that's what my daughter would do. And I knew there wouldn't be any more sand tracked into the condo. And that made me smile and shake my head to myself. I should've known...

I walked out into the bright sunshine and she was there on the deck, wearing one of my t-shirts as a cover-up. She had towels and sunscreen in her beach bag and we walked down the stairs and toward the white sand. We saw the same two chairs from Friday afternoon, unoccupied, and headed toward them. The beach boy saw us, nodded, grabbed an umbrella and headed our way. We spread our towels out and I sat. Ashley, my daughter, grabbed the hem of my old t-shirt and lifted it over her head.

She was wearing the same periwinkle bikini as she had the first day. And my breath still caught in my throat. But I didn't look away. And Ashley watched me watch her openly. And it was okay. Then our eyes met and we both smiled. And she handed me a water from the bag and sat down. And we started the rest of our week in St. Thomas...

To be continued...