Resurrection

Resurrection

The morning light struck his eyes from the window. He awoke, dazed and blinded. He shifted in bed to get out of the light but was hampered by an unfamiliar weight. Scooting out of the light, he looked down. He was naked, which was odd. A halo of blond hair covered his chest. He had slept alone for so long that this was unbelievable. Memories threatened to surface but he could not quite grasp them. Her breath, for he was sure it was a woman, tickled his chest hairs as she breathed, sleeping soundly. Curious as to her identity, he gently brushed her hair back from her face. His touch caused her to stir. She turned slowly to look up at him. Her blue eyes and bright smile caused all the memories from the previous day to suddenly return.

"Good morning, Daddy."

*****

"All right, smile you goof balls."

The three girls stood for the camera as William snapped a picture. His youngest daughter, Natalie, and her two friends, Bailey and Michelle, were making goofy poses in their graduation gowns. The end of their last year in school was enhanced by their having just turned eighteen two months ago. They were happy to be free for the summer and excited for the future.

"Come here, Mr. B," shouted Michelle, "I'll get a picture of you and Nat." Their last name was Buchannan but the other two girls always called him Mr. B.

"Oh no. I take pictures, I'm not in them." He demurred.

"Come on. It's not every day your last child graduates from high school." Michelle snatched the camera from his hands. "Go over there and stand with her. I promise to take a good one."

Having been overcome, after putting up a token resistance, William went and stood with Natalie. Natalie, of course, fussed with his hair and tie. He sighed and squirmed as she did it.

"Cheer up. I want this picture to be special." Natalie's golden hair sparkled in the June sun but her smile shined more like her own star. She had inherited his family's mostly Scandinavian looks. Standing a few inches over five feet tall, she was every bit as graceful as any super model.

"Besides, it's not every day that I get to see you in a suit. You look so handsome." She turned, hugged her father's arm, and smiled for the camera.

William knew she was just saying that because he was her father, but it lifted his spirits anyway. His other daughter, Katherine, was hell on wheels, having inherited most of her mother's genes. As soon as she was out of school and eighteen, she was out the door. Except for occasional calls, mostly to talk to Natalie, he barely had any contact with her. At last contact, she was living somewhere in Texas. It still hurt the way she left so suddenly.

"I wish Katherine could have come." Natalie dropped her head a little, pretending to fix her father's lapels.

"I'm sure she would have come if she could." He knew it as a lie as soon as it came out. Katherine avoided her father as much as possible. Though he had no hand in it, she still blamed him for her mother's death.

"I wish your mother had stuck around for this occasion as well." Natalie could only nod, a single tear squeezed from her eye. She hugged her father tightly, resisting the urge to cry. William wrapped his arms around her. The memories once again, came to him unbidden.

*****

6 years ago.

William stood in the cemetery, standing next to his two special girls. Rarely did he cry but his body betrayed him today. Surrounded by family and friends, he felt so alone. His wife, after years of fighting, had finally succumbed to her demons.

He had come home from work that morning without thinking anything was different. He had walked into the bathroom adjoining his bedroom, removed his contacts, and crawled into bed. He had gotten off work around 5 am and knew he was to get up in a few hours again to take her to work. It seemed like her alarm went off as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He stretched, groaned, and started to get dress. He put on his spare glasses, the contacts being only for work. He came out of the bathroom, still hearing her alarm going off. He walked over and turned it off. He shook her gently, saying her name.

No response.

He shook her again, speaking a little louder.

Still nothing. He noticed then that she wasn't breathing.

He screamed. He shook her harder, yelling her name. He ran out off the room and grabbed the phone. He dialed 911 as he ran back in. Flipping on the lights, he told the operator his address and the situation. He rolled her onto her back, yelling at his wife, yelling at the operator, yelling in general.

Of course the noise awoke his children. They came running into the room to see their father trying to perform CPR on their mother. The girls screamed and began crying; asking what was going on, looking for comfort from a father who could not provide it.

He yelled at them, frustrated and panicked. He told them to go unlock the front door, turn on the outside light. The youngest obeyed while the eldest began crying harder. He told her it would be all right with little conviction. He knew she was probably already gone by the time he had gotten home, but what else could he do? She was his first love and he could not give up, even though she had.

The paramedics arrived, pushing him off to the side. He stood there, dumbfounded and disbelieving. The touch of his youngest's hand shocked him out of his state. She was scared and confused, not knowing why mommy wouldn't wake up. He knelt down and hugged her. He carried her out to the living room to join her sister while the paramedics worked.

They transferred her to a hospital but declared her dead enroute. The police asked him some questions. Since she died mysteriously, they said, there would have to be an investigation and autopsy. He understood. The husband was always the primary suspect.

Later, it had been declared a suicide. She had overdosed on her medication. The pills finally silenced the demons in the end.

Still, he stood, reliving those moments over and over again. A small hand clasped his. He looked over at Natalie, her eyes puffy and red. She smiled at her daddy and for the briefest of moments, the pain subsided. He squeezed her hand and smiled back.

Natalie clung to her father the rest of the day, going where he did and never letting go.

*****

"Daddy?" Her voice came to him down a tunnel. He looked into the face of his grown daughter. It took him a moment to recognize that this beautiful woman standing so near him was his daughter.

"Huh? What honey?"

"Are you okay?" She clasped his hand. The way she always did when he 'went away'.

"Yeah, honey, I'm fine." He forced a smile. "Just admiring the prettiest girl here." Her bright smile flashed again.

"Hey! What about us?" cried Bailey.

"Sorry, the THREE prettiest girls here."

"Smooth, Dad. Real smooth." Natalie giggled. She knew where her father had gone, mentally, but tried as best she could to bring him back from there.

All three girls were beautiful, of course. Bailey was dark haired and athletically thin. She ran a lot of track in high school so had never developed much up top. Michelle, on the other hand, was the quintessential cheerleader beauty queen. Standing nearly six feet tall, Michelle towered over her friends. They tended to joke that they didn't really like Michelle, but got caught in her gravity field and couldn't break away.

"All right," William said, "We've got to get you guys home. There's still a graduation party to throw."

There may be nothing more annoying than three beautiful, screaming, and jumping eighteen year old girls. Then again there's not much cuter either.

*****

The party was held at William's house. Since all three girls were so close, they wanted to have one party instead of having to gone to separate ones. With only himself and Natalie living at their house, there was more room for everyone. Friends and family from all over the area came to visit on this day. William manned the BBQ while the girls navigated the sea of friends with ease.

He spotted Michelle talking with two boys near the tree in the back yard. She was leaning back sexily with one foot propped under her. The fact that she had changed into a short, frilly, black skirt didn't hurt much either. She slowly swirled her drink while talking. Amazingly, she kept both boys entertained without paying too much attention to either. She spotted him watching and smiled. They may not be his kids but he always looked out for them as if he were. She smiled, raised her glass in salute, and went right back to the boys.

Bailey was sitting on the old swing set William still had in the yard. She was talking with her boyfriend, Jacob. William liked Jacob from the few times they've spoken so he was not worried about her. She smiled and waved at William. Jacob turned, saw William, and nodded as well.

William was uneasy. Something wasn't right. It's why he was scanning the yard. He didn't see Natalie around. He got Bailey's attention and signaled to her if she had seen her. Bailey, after glancing around, shook her head no.

Michelle, after catching her eye as well, also shook her head no. William then heard the dog barking inside.

"Hey, Jim? Can you watch the grill for a sec? The dog's acting up."

"No prob." William handed his cooking utensils over to Jim and headed inside.

"Shasta!" he yelled. "What's the matter, girl." A small black terrier loped over to him whimpering.

"Get off of me, Peter!"

William did not think, only moved. Sprinting to his daughter's room, he bashed in the door. Peter, Natalie's boyfriend, was on top of her straddling her waist. Her blouse had been torn open, revealing a sexy pink bra underneath. Peter stared at William while fumbling to put his dick back in his pants.

"Mr. B! Hey this isn't what it looks like, ok? We were just fooli-." His words were cut off as William grabbed Peter by the throat. He lifted Peter off of Natalie and held him against the wall, choking him.

"Isn't what it looks like? I heard my daughter shouting at you to get off of her! I find you, literally, with your dick in your hand, straddling her. What is it supposed to look like, a mother fucking tea PARTY!!!" William did not get angry often, but even he got scared when he later found out what he had done.

"Daddy don't! I'm okay." Natalie grabbed William's arm, trying to pull it away. "Please. Let him go. Don't hurt him."

William stared into Peter's eyes, nearly growling.

"The only thing saving you right now is her. If I were you, I would leave this house and not return. If I find out you were even sniffing around her again, I will personally rip your balls off and shove them up your ass!" William, trembling with adrenaline, released Peter.

"Get out of here, Peter!" Natalie slapped his arm. "I never want to see you again!"

"But Nat . . ." Peter protested.

"GO!" William shouted. "You heard her! Get out of here!"

Peter stumbled and slipped as he hastily exited the room. William stood there, rapidly breathing through his nose and mouth. He opened and closed his fists several times. All he saw was red. All he heard, though, was his daughter's voice.

"Thank you, Daddy." Natalie embraced her father tightly. She was also shaking, but with fear rather than rage. "He was partially right. We did come in here to fool around." This was not what William wanted to hear, but his rage, still burning, would not let him move. "But he wouldn't stop when I told him to. He ripped my shirt. He called me a cock-tease. He said he was gonna shove his dick in my mouth."

Unbidden, thoughts of his daughter, on her knees in front of him, swirled through his head. The rage quickly drained off, as another type of burning began to ignite. He encircled his daughter within his arms. Not for the first time, he realized how long it had been since he had been with a woman. His body didn't distinguish that this was his little girl, just a sexy, nearly naked woman, clinging to him.

"I'm sorry, Daddy. I shouldn't have brought him in here." She squeezed him tighter. William hoped she couldn't feel his expanding manhood in his pants.

"It's ok, honey. He should have known to stop when you told him to." He kissed the top of her head. Her hair smelled of citrus. He really liked that smell. "Are you okay? I mean, he didn't try anything . . ."

"No, I'm ok. You came in before he could do anything." She stood on her tip toes and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you for rescuing me."

They released each other. William couldn't stop himself. He glanced down at Natalie's chest. Seeing her breathe, watching her breasts expand and contract only emphasized his need. He turned away from her.

"I'll let you get dressed." He said, walking out of the room.

"Is everything ok?" Michelle and Bailey were coming in the front door. "We saw Peter leaving. What's going on?"

"Natalie and Peter had, shall we say, an incident. I don't think they will be dating anymore." William said.

"Oh my God!" Bailey ran into Natalie's room right away. Michelle stayed with William.

"How are you? You look a little flush." It wasn't hard for Michelle to see why when she glanced at William's crotch. "Hello Little Willy. Or maybe not so little."

"Michelle!" William turned away in embarrassment. "Hey it's ok. I know the story. Nat's really sexy. You're her father, but still a man. Sometimes these things have a mind of their own."

Michelle placed one hand on his shoulder and glided around to his front. "It's nothing to be ashamed off. Heck you should be proud of 'Big Willy' there."

"Can you please stop giving it a name?" William tried to turn away again, but Michelle wouldn't let him. She wrapped her other arm around him. Her hands slid through his hair.

Suddenly, she gripped his head and pulled him into a very passionate kiss. Stunned, William's mouth gapped open. Michelle thrust her tongue into his mouth, frenching him deeply and grinding herself on his leg. Just as he was beginning to reciprocate, though, she broke the kiss.

"God I've wanted to do that for a long time." She was breathing heavier. She released his head only to place one hand on his crotch. "Give me a call if you ever want help with this bad boy." She gave his cock a good squeeze. "Please." She kissed him lightly one last time before heading to Natalie's room.

'Jesus' he thought. He was harder now than when he left Natalie's room. He ran to his own room and into his adjoining bathroom, shutting the door. Before he realized it, his pants were down, along with his underwear. He vigorously jerked his cock up and down, punishing it for betraying him like this. Visions of Michelle and Natalie danced in his head. He tried to focus on the ones of Michelle. Unfortunately, it was the ones of Natalie that excited him the most.

He was not stroking his dick for long, when he erupted like a fucking god. The intensity brought him to his. He hadn't felt anything like that since he lost his virginity.

"God I'm just a sick lonely freak, thinking of my daughter that way." He said. The guilt unfortunately extended, to a lesser degree, to Michelle as well. He considered both her and Bailey as his own daughters. Now to find out that at least Michelle was harboring some kind of desire for him made him only feel worse. He grabbed a towel and cleaned himself up.

"Daddy?" The knock and voice at the door startled him.

"Yes, honey?" he said, quickly fixing himself up. He opened the door to Natalie's slightly puffy face. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"I'm not feeling so good right now. I think I'm gonna stay in my room for a bit. Bailey's gonna sit with me." Natalie let go. She smiled briefly up at him, but he saw that it never reached her eyes. He would do anything to make her smile again, the way she's supposed to. "You and Michelle should go back to the party."

"After what just happened, I don't think I'm in much of a mood to be at a party. I'll let everyone know that you are having one of your migraines again. We'll get everyone out." He looked up at Michelle and Bailey standing behind her. They nodded. "They'll understand. If you want, Bailey and Michelle can stay over tonight to keep you company." He, disgustingly, secretly hoped they would, in case Michelle was serious about her offer.

"No that's ok. I know we had other plans, but they can go without me." Natalie turned to look at her friends.

"We can skip them, Nat." Michelle said, looking at William. "They're not that important or that fun if you're not with."

"Thanks guys, but I think I just want to be alone tonight. You guys can spend tomorrow night, ok?"

"Sure, Nat." Bailey led Natalie away again.

"She'll be ok. She'll be back to her bubbly self in no time." Michelle smiled.

*****

It didn't take long for them to clear out the party. With Peter leaving in such a state, most attendees were very considerate of the situation. The cleaning, unfortunately, took much longer. Since it was only William and Michelle outside, Michelle used every opportunity possible to flirt with, touch, or grope William. He was very confused and very frustrated by the time they had finished.

They had just put away the last garbage bag as Bailey came outside.

"Are you guys done yet?" she asked.

"We just did." William said. "We were coming in to let you know."

"Good. Natalie's sitting in the living room. She said she wasn't going to bed until you came inside. I think she's a little more shaken by this experience than she originally let on." Bailey seemed very worried about her friend.

"Don't worry," William said, "I'll see how she's doing in the morning. If there's any problem, I'll make an appointment for her to talk to someone."

"Ok Mr. B. We'll call or stop by tomorrow. Thank you for letting us use your place." Bailey gave William a comforting hug and a peck on the cheek.

"Yeah, thanks." Michelle, on the other hand, gave him a much longer hug and a kiss, however brief, on the lips. "We'll see you tomorrow."

"O - okay," William stuttered, "Tomorrow."

The girls walked to their cars. Michelle had a certain sway to her step that caused William to stare. They both waved as they pulled away.

"Damn it." Standing on his front porch with a raging hard on, William could only curse as he had to go inside to be alone with his daughter. The daughter which he had most recently realized had blossomed into a beautiful woman.

*****

"How you doing, honey?" William had calmed down enough to walk in and confront Natalie. She was sitting on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, staring at the TV. She turned and smiled at her father.

"I'm feeling a little better. Bailey helped a bit, but I'm better now that you're here." She looked like she was had been crying.

William sat on the couch and hugged her to him. Natalie leaned her head into the crook of his neck. He only hugged her tighter when she started sobbing again. He was able to resist the thoughts in his head simply by wishing to comfort his daughter.

"You know what the worst part was?" Natalie had stopped crying after a few minutes. "It's not even what Peter did that had me so scared." She pulled away from him and looked into his eyes. William had an idea what was coming.

"It was you." She said. He had dreaded that. He knew he had an anger issue, but he nearly always kept it in check. He struggled with it constantly some days.

"I'm sorry honey. I didn't mean to scare you." William began to withdraw his arms.

"NO!" She yelled and grabbed his arms. She put them back where they were and held them in place. "I wasn't scared OF you, I was scared FOR you. I thought you might seriously hurt or even kill Peter. I was afraid of losing you." She kissed his bare arm that encircled her front. "You're all I have left. Mom's dead and Kathy's God-only-knows-where. If you had to go to prison, I don't know what I'd do."