Daddies' Girls

By Dottie

Copyright 2012

Chapter 11

Reese

            When Mom dropped me off, I heard them talking about Aunt Lilly. I'm itching to ask, but I'm going to wait till the boys are in the bed.  Once they are all tucked in, we go to the kitchen to raid the fridge. Once we're settled in her room with huge bowls of frozen yogurt and iced tea, I say, "Calleigh, doesn't your mom like those frozen daiquiri things like my mom does? Does she have any?"

            I watch her face and she almost looks mad. "No, she doesn't, Ree.  Anyway, she's preggo so why would she?"

            I just shrug. "Thought we could try them out. You know, see what it's like."

            She sits down by the pillows on her bed. "Why? Haven't we been in enough trouble this week?"

            I sigh. "OK, OK, it was just an idea.  Don't get your panties in a bunch."

            She shakes her head. "You've been around your dad too much. You sound like him."

            I can't stop the cringe. "Don't say that! I don't want to be anything LIKE him!"

            She looks down. She still wants to be Daddy's girl. Which, when it comes to Uncle Nick, he does seem like an awesome Dad. "You got lucky, Leigh.  Your dad is the bomb."

            She puts her bowl aside. "Ree, your dad is too. You're just mad cause you got caught."

            I run my spoon through the yogurt, not looking up. She's right. I did always look up to my dad.  Why did it change? Oh yeah, he turned into a tyrant and won't let me see the guy I love. "Let's not talk about our dad's. I brought us a movie to watch."

            "Cool!" I knew I could distract her. "What did you bring? Please say something funny. I'm sick of drama this week."

            I chuckle.  "OH, I'm sure there's no drama in it. I swiped it from Jake. It's porn."

            I look up in time to watch her spoon slide down her leg onto the bed, spreading melted frozen yogurt in its wake. I grab the bowl from her hands just before it follows the same path. She screeches at me, "IT'S WHAT?"

            I glance at the door. "Shh, dammit, don't wake the boys. God, you're such a baby. Haven't you seen porn before?" I hope she doesn't call my bluff. I haven't, but she doesn't need to know that.

            "NO!" she hisses. She glances at the door. "What if the boys get up? Or my parents come home early?"

            I shrug. "Then we better start it. Listen, Leigh...Aunt Lilly is in it."

            I think I see her ears smoking. "WHAT?"

            I grimace and say, "Would you PLEASE shut up? I found it at Jake's. Aunt Lilly is on the cover. I don't want him watching her do what I think she does in this. So I took it."

            She visibly shivers. "Then why do WE have to watch it? Aunt Lilly? Really?"

            I pull the DVD from my bag and hand it to her so she can see it. Aunt Lilly's wearing a white nighty with men AND women pawing at her. What, she's a lesbo too? "Let's just watch. If it's too much for your virgin eyes, you can turn away."

            She gasps. "You're just as much a virgin as me, unless you lied."

            I shrug. "But I have kissed a boy.  And been felt up. AND touched his thing. How far have you gone?"

            She snaps, "You sound like a slut, Ree. You know I haven't even kissed a boy yet."

            I move to the TV and pop in the DVD, letting the slut comment slide. "Seriously, let's not fight. OK?"

            She relents as I lay across her bed with the remote. "I just...Aunt Lilly?"

            I nod. "Yep. Now, hit the lights."

            When it's over, I can't stop myself from saying, "Wow...some of that was...HOT!"

            Not surprising, Calleigh frowns. "Eww...you think it was hot watching Aunt Lilly do that? Isn't that kind of like watching your mom and dad?"

            My turn to frown. "That's gross Leigh. Do you think about your Mom and Dad doing it?"

            She blushes. "Well, kind of."

            My mouth drops. "WHAT?"

            She blushes brighter. "It's just...you know how my mom and dad are. I want someone to love me the way he loves her and treat me the way he treats her.  Even though she's pregnant he's all over her. I think it's...sweet."

            "Sweet?" I roll my eyes. "It's GROSS Calleigh. You mean you think about your dad....THAT WAY?"

            She throws a pillow at me. "NO! God you're so stupid! I think about how he loves her and does all these special things FOR her. Why are you being so mean?"

            I have to laugh at her. "It's fun to watch you squirm. And just so you know, I get what you're saying. My mom and dad used to be that way. Sometimes I think they are going to split up though."

            She gasps. "Why? What's going on?"

            I just shrug. "Lately all they do is fight. Mostly about me. I just...I fucking hate it Leigh. It's all my fault they are miserable."

            She says, "Of course it's not. My parents fight too. They had a doozy about me, but they still love each other. I bet your parents are making up right now."

            I groan. "Damn, Leigh, that's NOT what I need to hear."

            I expect her to laugh at me. Instead, she says, "Do you want them to break up?"

            Just the thought makes me sick. "NO! Never. I just...I've never heard them like this. It's scary."

            She actually has some pretty good advice. "Maybe you should talk to them, Ree. REALLY talk to them. You know why they are worried about Jake, right?"

            I just shrug. "Not really. He's a good guy."

            She plays with her pillow case. "You sure?"

            I frown. "What are you getting at Leigh?"

            She sighs and looks at her computer. "I wasn't going to tell you...but...I can't let you keep thinking Jake is great."

            I watch as she turns on her computer. "Tell me what, Leigh?"

            She shrugs. "I heard about this at school today. Somebody asked me when you broke up with Jake."

            She turns the computer to me and I see Jake.  With a girl. He's behind her with his hand under her boob kind of pushing it up. It says ‘my woman'. He has this on his Facebook page? I push it away. "I don't believe that. He wouldn't..."

            She slowly closes her computer. "He posted it last night, Ree."

            I feel my heart pound. "NO! Leigh he said he loves me. He'll wait for me..."

            She grabs my hand. "Ree, you can't trust him. I thought...well, how he treated you, I thought he loved you too. I'm sorry. I didn't want to tell you...but you had to know."

            I fall back on her bed, grabbing a pillow and sobbing. This is how Aunt Jade finds us when they come home. Me crying into a pillow and Leigh...well, she's trying to make me feel better.

            Aunt Jade sits with us. "What's wrong? What happened?"

            I sit up and see Uncle Nick in the doorway. He clears his throat. "I'll check on the boys."

            When he walks away, Calleigh says, "Mom...why are some guys jerks?"

            She smiles. "ALL guys are jerks, girls. You just have to find one that doesn't show it as much."

            I sniffle. "Jake has a new girlfriend already. I guess...I wasn't...good enough."

            She puts her arm around me. "Reese, it's gonna be ok. At least he's shown his true colors." She looks around the room. "What did you two do tonight?"

            I feel Leigh shifting nervously so I answer. "We ate frozen yogurt and watched a movie. How was dinner?"

            Aunt Jade smiles. "It was wonderful. Thank you for babysitting."

            I hug her neck. "Thanks for getting me out of the house. I should call Mom."

            She says, "Already did. Your dad's on his way to pick you up." She looks at Leigh.  "Calleigh, are you ok?"

            She stammers.  "Yeah, I just got frozen yogurt on the comforter. Sorry, Mom."

            Aunt Jade chuckles. "It's ok. I'll wash it tomorrow." She hugs me and Calleigh both. "Girls, remember, sex doesn't mean love. Please...don't have a sexual relationship till you're ready. Really ready. OK?"

            We both nod, more than a little embarrassed. Aunt Jade leaves and I turn to Calleigh. "Hide the video till I can get it back. Dad has been ticked off enough, he may want to search my bag."

            She grimaces. "Where do I hide it?"

            I roll my eyes. "Somewhere that your Mom and Dad never go. The basement. You're dad's old studio?"

            She brightens. "Yeah. He hasn't been there in months. Says he's not recording until after Jazz is born."

            I hug her neck. "Thanks for telling me.  I can't believe I almost..."

            She says, "You didn't...that's all that matters. See ya tomorrow!"

            I frown. "Tomorrow?"

            She rolls her eyes. "Yeah, remember, Dad wanted to surprise Mom? We're coming to your house for a couple of days?"

            I force a smile. "Yeah, right tomorrow."

            Why can't my dad do romantic things like that? Maybe I should suggest it? Give him a nudge? Calleigh's right, I don't want my parents to split up. I have to find a way to fix it for them. I have to.