Emily Untethered Ch. 01

He turned and nodded, his face turned down in shame. "I'm sorry honey. I don't know what's the matter with me. I keep seeing her when I look at you."

She moved over to hug him. "I know. It's okay, Daddy."

"No, it's not. I'm not going to be okay with staring at my own daughter like she's a piece of meat."

"Daddy..." she started, falling back on to the couch.

He interrupted her though with an upraised hand. "You're my baby. I'm not supposed to see you as anything else."

"You aren't seeing me Daddy, you're seeing her. You're going to be doing it whether you like it or not. It's probably part your mind's way of dealing with this."

He fell silent then, seemingly defeated.

"I'm not saying that I'm going to start walking around naked, I'm just saying that you shouldn't beat yourself up if you happen to glance at me. You're a man. One that hasn't been having sex in a very long time. It's natural to assume that you're going to gravitate to someone that looks remarkably like your wife."

He sat quietly lost in thought for a long time. "I'm not going to be comfortable just looking at my daughter, but if I accidentally glance over, I promise I won't beat myself up. Too bad, at least."

"That's all I want," she replied. "I promise I'll try to be more mindful of what I'm wearing around you."

"I appreciate it honey, but the problem really isn't you. You don't have to change your routine just for your pervert father."

"Daddy!" she exclaimed, exasperated. She dropped her head into her hands and shook her head. "I told you, you aren't a pervert!"

"Honey, you can say it as many times as you want, it's not going to change the way I see how I react to you. I mean, you've been through all that out in California, and now you have to deal with all this shit back home. It's unfair to you."

She sighed and looked over at him, scooting closer and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Daddy, I'd do anything to make this easier on you. You and I are all we have now, and we have to look out for each other."

He nodded and sighed. "I just wish I could make things easier for you, instead of complicating things."

She smiled genuinely at him and shrugged. "Well is there anything I can do for you to make it easier?"

He stopped and looked at her, and then haltingly said, "Uh... n..no."

She burst out laughing at his reaction then. "Oh Daddy, I didn't mean it like that!"

He blushed then. "I knew that."

She laughed for a long time until she was clutching at her stomach. "I'm sorry," she said eventually. "I don't know why that was so funny."

He shook his head. "Yeah, me either."

She pouted at him sympathetically. "Poor Daddy."

He rolled his eyes at her then.

"I mean it though, is there anything I can do to make it easier?"

"I don't think so honey," he said.

"Well, I notice I don't look like her as much when I wear my hair in braids, like I used to."

"It's worth a shot honey, but you really just look like her, regardless. It's not just your hair."

She sighed and shrugged. "Well if you think of anything, let me know." She stood then and leaned over to kiss him on the head and then retreated upstairs.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as she left.