Chapter 17

I woke up the next morning to the delicious smells of breakfast. I had fallen asleep on the couch and spent the night there. That did wonders for my back. I decided I'd better get up fast and find out who the burglar was that had broken into the house and was making breakfast. It surely wasn't one of my girls this early in the morning!

Imagine my surprise when I entered the kitchen and found Katie cooking breakfast. Katie? I went over to her, put my arms around her from behind, and made a big point of looking at the clock closely after kissing her neck. She sighed softly, and leaned back against me. The smile she gave me would have lit up a small town for a whole day.

"What are you looking at?" she asked.

"Just wondering how the clock got so messed up on time."

She looked at it, puzzled. "It's the right time," she insisted. She reached over and gently bit my ear as she realized what I was saying. Ah, so there was a difference between Cindi and Katie. Cindi would never have got that joke.

After more hugging, she steered me over to the chair to sit down. She looked at me for a second, her head tilted sideways slightly (I love it when they do that), then started to rub my shoulders. Sometimes there are advantages to having girls that can sense emotions. She made my back feel better. I didn't really care if it did or not, as long as she kept kissing my neck and kept those cute little hands on me. Then she slipped onto my lap and kissed me. That was good, too. She whispered in my ear how she would like to make something else feel good, too, but Amy would probably feel that emotion. Then she served and fed me breakfast.

By the time Amy stumbled in, I was eating my own breakfast; Katie was hungry and was eating her own instead of feeding me. Amy walked in, took one look at Katie, looked at me with a surprised but pleased look on her face, and then mouthed "thank you!" to me and went over to get her own breakfast. She sat down to eat, and Katie and she proceeded to have one of those teenage conversations where I wasn't even sure what language they were speaking, much less understand any of it. I could've bought a Porsche for what I spent sending them to school just so they could talk like that! Well, not really, but you get my point. After Katie left to get ready for school, Amy looked closely at me.

"Thank you, Daddy, for whatever you did last night to cheer Katie up. I can't stand seeing her unhappy. I don't know how you do it; you always were able to do the same thing with Cindi." Brief jolt of sadness for both of us at the mention of Cindi.

"Well, if you got sad once in a while I could show you," I teased. Then I turned serious. "Of course, the one time you did I was a miserable failure."

"Daddy, that's not true! You were a big reason why I came back. We just needed a little help."

"Your Mom will be in town tomorrow," I reminded Amy. Katie walked back into the room as I said it.

"Really?" Katie asked.

"Yeah. It's their birthday. Nice hint, Dad." Amy the smart aleck. We told Katie about the whole weekend of festivities we usually had planned. She was excited. They never did anything fun like that in her family.

After dropping the girls off at school, I decided to see a lawyer friend of mine. I told him about Katie's situation, and asked him about adopting her. He said I would need a signed statement from her current "mother" releasing her. I thought that would be easy, even if I had to bribe her. He said statements from the real parents might or might not be necessary, depending on the language of the judgment from the court. He would research that and get back to me. In any case, unless someone fought it, it should be done quickly, since she was already living with us. I told him to let me know if there were any problems and I would take care of it.

I checked in with Chief Haskin to see if there was any progress with the accident investigation, but he wasn't in. I told his secretary I would check back later, and headed for work. I visited with the Director of Microbiology about Amy's bug. He told me they had made some substantial progress, but he couldn't tell me anything yet. He'd let me know when he had something. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I had the feeling he knew more than he was saying and that he wasn't happy with what he knew.

After work, I stopped by a jewelry store to pick up Victoria's birthday present. I had put it on layaway a few weeks earlier when I saw her admiring it. I was sure I wouldn't surprise her, but she would enjoy it anyway. When I got home, Amy and Katie had supper ready again. This I could get used to.

After supper, Amy came down to talk to me. Must be serious, I thought, the 'twins' were not together.

"Dad," she started. Yep. Dad. Serious. "Can I ask you a question?" Really serious. She didn't sit down or cuddle.

"No, Amy, you are not allowed to ever talk to me again!

"Of course you can ask me a question."

"Well, it's just that I know you aren't going to answer it, so I don't know why I am bothering ... Dad, do you have someone following us?"

Damn! Certifiable genius. I never expected her to notice that, though. Those guys are professionals.

"Why would I have anyone following you, honey?"

She rolled her eyes, gave me an 'Amy' look, and stamped her foot in frustration.

"Look, Dad, I know I'm just a kid, so I don't really expect you to tell me things that you haven't even told Mom about what you really do for a living, but don't treat me like an idiot, ok? I want to know if this is something I should be worried about, or if there is something I should know about. I guess I could just take him out next time I see him and ask him myself. You know I can do that."

Damn it. Why does she have to be so damn smart all the time? Why not just when I'm ready for it and think it's cute?

"Ok, Amy. I won't treat you like the idiot you are acting like. What did he look like, and how did he act?" She described him and his actions to me. Nothing to worry about; one of mine. Except a 13 year old girl had just blown the cover one of the best shadowers I'd ever met. Maybe I should hire her!

"Don't worry about it, Amy, he's one of the good guys. Just a little added protection I arranged for my family."

"And your family would need added protection ... why?" Great. She wasn't going to let this go. I guess I was going to have to piss her off.

"Let me worry about that, ok sweetie? You just concentrate on being a teenager that doesn't irritate her parents too much. Ok?" That should just about do it.

She gave me another 'Amy' look.

"Strange, how someone who works in a hospital can arrange protection like that," she snapped, and she stomped off.

Well! That was fun. Wonder how long she would be mad at me about that?

I had trouble sleeping again that night, so I went down to the basement to watch TV again. Maybe the excitement about the upcoming weekend; I really did enjoy these times together. Maybe an uncomfortable feeling I had that I was not going to like the results of the investigations that were running. Maybe I was just secretly hoping Katie would come find me. Whatever the reason, I finally dozed off, only to wake up with Katie sitting on my lap kissing me.

"Hey, sleepy head. Couldn't stay awake waiting for me? If you are really tired, I can leave you alone tonight."

I put my arms around her and held her so she couldn't get away.

"You're not going anywhere, Little One. Now, what was this you were going to show me this morning that Amy would have picked up on?"

She grinned, giggled, and slowly took her clothes off. Not that she had a lot on anyway. The universal uniform, panties and a tee shirt. Then she just as slowly took my clothes off. I love it when she undresses me. Then she swallowed my cock all the way, and gave me one of the best blowjobs I've ever had. The things she does with her tongue, lips, hands and teeth had me filling her mouth within minutes. Then she sat down on me, taking me inside her before I could get soft, and proceeded to bring herself to an orgasm as I watched. I just love to watch her tremble and shake all over, with her head buried in my neck, kissing me and trying to keep from screaming her brains out.

We cuddled for a while, and then she started to cry. I instinctively knew this was not the usual happy cry. Something was wrong.

"What is it, pretty lady? Talk to me."

"You are going to hate me so much. I seduced you and started this whole thing, and now I have to stop it. I'm so sorry!" she sobbed.

"Sweetheart, this has always been up to you, whenever you need it. We can stop whenever you feel the need to. But why do you have to stop it?"

"I don't want to! I love you so much, and you make me feel so good I can't believe it. You and Victoria have been so nice to me, giving me a place to stay, and even talking about adopting me. And I repay Victoria for all her kindness by seducing her husband behind her back. The kids at school are right — I'm just a slut." She sobbed brokenly against my chest.

This was going to be fun. I love problems this easy to solve. I lifted her head up, looked into her eyes, and wiped her tears away, kissing her gently.

"Katie ... look at me. You are not a slut. Sluts sleep with multiple guys at once. You're not two-timing me are you? And you said you were seducing me behind Victoria's back. Would it help it I told her about it?" I teased, trying to get her to laugh.

She smiled shyly. "Well, I'm not sleeping with or making out with anyone else. I am dating someone, though." She looked at me nervously. "Is that ok?"

"Of course it's ok. You should be dating guys your own age."

What I said finally dawned on her. "No! Please don't tell Victoria! She would hate me! Not to mention she'd probably kill me and kick me out of the house!" She looked frantic. She didn't seem to see the humor of being killed and then kicked out of the house.

"Katie, you know I love Victoria very much. You said I was a nice, sweet guy. Did you ever wonder why I gave in to you so easily? Why I did these same things with Cindi?

"Well ... because I seduced you and you couldn't resist, because I remind you of Cindi? Because you felt sorry for both of us? Because you get lonely and ... you know ... when Victoria is gone so much? I don't know."

I laughed. "You certainly are very pretty and sexy, Little One, and you would be hard to resist, but I think I could have managed it if I had wanted to." She blushed prettily. "The truth is, Katie, Cindi did seduce me the first time, but Victoria knew about it by the second time we made love. She approved of it, because of the good effects it was having on Cindi's recovery. She also told me in so many words that I was a fool and she would kick my butt if I did not make love to you. She has given me permission to be with you anytime she is out of town. Not only given permission, but strongly encouraged it."

"WHAT? Why would she do that? Why would she share someone like you with someone like me?" Katie looked stunned.

"Because she loves you. She knows I love you. She knows how much I miss Cindi and how much you remind me of her. She knows how hurt you have been, sexually and emotionally, and she knows I can help with that as I did with Cindi. Because we are grateful to you for saving Amy's life. We discussed things we could do for you in appreciation. She knew you were in love with me, and the thing you wanted most in life was to make love to me. Was she right?" Katie blushed and looked down when I said that.

"Yes," she whispered shyly. "But, I would never try to take you away or make this a permanent arrangement or anything like that! I just want to enjoy you when I can."

"She knows that, Katie. No offence, pretty girl, but you could never take me away from Victoria. No one could. This is not meant to be permanent. You will someday fall in love with a wonderful man, and you won't need this anymore. Until then, I'm here anytime you need me, as long as Victoria isn't in town. As long as you follow certain guidelines. Don't get pregnant. Don't bring diseases home from other guys. Do not tell anyone."

"I would never tell anyone! Those other things would all involve having sex with someone else, and I am just not interested in that. Besides, I'm on the pill. Do you really mean it's ok? She doesn't mind?"

"Yes. Now, shut up and make me happy," I teased her.

Suddenly, I had 90 lbs of wiggly, squirmy Katie all over me, kissing, hugging, and sucking everything she could find to get her mouth on. Then she decided she wanted to do something special for me. First, she pretended she was Cindi. That was sad but also nice. Then she pretended she was Amy, giving herself to me for the first time. How hot was that? I don't want to think about that anymore! By the time she left to go back to bed, I was exhausted. I was going to have to get some sleep one of these nights.

It wasn't going to be tomorrow night, though, because Victoria was coming home. I told the girls they could sleep over at Rebecca's house if they wanted, but strangely, they both said no, they would just suffer through it. Giggle, giggle.

When I got home from work that evening and walked into the kitchen, I was greeted with the prettiest sight I could ever want to see. Victoria, Amy and Katie were all working together, cooking dinner. I stood there and watched, and listened, before they knew I was there.

Victoria was the essence of loveliness; at 37, she still looked no more than 25. Amy, looking so much like her, looked older than her 13, maybe 16. For some reason, I doubt it was accidental, they were wearing almost the same outfit. Finally, Katie, looking so different, yet so much like Cindi it took my breath away. The others looked happy, but Katie positively glowed. She was happier than I had ever seen her. I knew Victoria would be talking to me tonight! They were all mine for the whole weekend. Tonight was staying at home night. Tomorrow evening was dinner at Victoria's parents' house. Sunday was the birthday celebration at our house, with just us four.

As we were relaxing after dinner, teasing each other and just generally having a wonderful time, Victoria and I decided it was time to talk to them about Katie's future.

"Amy, Katie," Victoria said, "your Dad and I have talked about it, and considering Katie's situation at home, we decided we would like to start proceedings to adopt Katie. Your Dad has looked into it and it should not be hard to do, and hopefully would not take that long. What do you girls think about it?"

Of course, Katie was excited. I'd warned her not to let on that I had already mentioned it to her. Amy had a strange look on her face, one I could not read. Victoria noticed it too, and looked at me questioningly, but I had no idea what was going on.

"Sure. That would be great," Amy said, then burst into tears, ran into her room, and closed the door. Victoria and I looked at each other in shock. We never would have dreamed that Amy would have a problem with this. Katie started crying and looked devastated. I told Victoria I would talk to Amy and headed for her room. I knocked on the door.

"Amy. It's Daddy. Can I come in, sweetie?"

I heard a very tiny "yes". Amy was lying on her bed, sobbing her heart out. I have never been able to handle females crying. It just tears me up inside. Amy crying has always been particularly upsetting to me, maybe because she does it so seldom. This was several times in the last two months. Poor little thing. I sat down next to her on the bed, took her head and lay it in my lap, and just held her, stroking her hair. Finally, she calmed down a little.

"Want to tell me about it? A very upset little girl out there doesn't understand why you don't want her to be your sister. Honey, how did we screw up? I honestly thought you would be happy about it; we wanted to surprise you. You and Katie seem to be so close..." I was thoroughly confused and upset that I had caused all this commotion. I could just imagine how Katie must feel.

Amy looked at me with big, sad eyes. What had I missed? I felt like I should know why she was crying. I braced myself for the chewing out I was going to get. Amy isn't the most forgiving or diplomatic person when she's upset. Usually you didn't have to guess what the problem was.

"God, Daddy, I'm such a brat! Poor Katie, she must feel just awful. I really am happy for her, and I really think it's a great idea. I would love to have Katie as a sister. It just seems like ... like we're forgetting about Cindi. I'm so happy around Katie. and yet it just feels like I should be missing Cindi and not being happy. When I heard we were going to adopt Katie, it just seemed we wouldn't need or remember Cindi anymore. I'm so sorry, I'm so silly, and now I've made a scene and Mom and Katie both probably hate me; Katie's so upset; I can feel how upset she is in my mind. And you have to listen to all this nonsense from me and I'm ruining your birthday weekend ... Daddy, is this what they call a relapse? Am I having a relapse? I don't want to go back to the way I was before. Please help me, Daddy!" she cried as she started sobbing again.

I didn't know what to do. This was such a little thing, but it was so big to her.

"Honey, we don't have to adopt Katie right now. We don't have to adopt her at all. It was just an idea to help her. However, we can take our time and let you get used to it. She can still stay here just like she has been."

"No! I really don't mind. It's so important to her. She needs to belong to a family. I'm the idiot here, not her for wanting a family. I just need to calm down here for a while, and then go back out there and see if I can repair the damage I've just done. I hope it can be repaired. Tell them I'm ok and I'll be out in a little while."

"Amy, they love you. They will understand. Don't be so hard on yourself. I'll tell them."

I went back out to a sobbing, red, puffy eyed, almost hysterical Katie, with Victoria futilely trying to comfort her. I walked over, picked up Katie, and sat down on the couch with her in my lap. She buried her head in my chest and sobbed. Victoria looked lost, not knowing what to do. I smiled at her and told her it would be ok.

I finally got Katie to calm down. I sat her down between Victoria and me, so I could talk to them both.

"Katie, Amy thinks you hate her now."

"I don't hate her! I love her. I thought she hated me. I can find somewhere else to live. I don't want her to think I'm pushing her out of her family. I can go somewhere else. I don't want to hurt her!"

"She doesn't want you to leave. She thinks it's wonderful that you would be her sister. She was just taken by surprise. She thought we were all forgetting about Cindi." I cringed at the look of horror on Victoria's face. "She understands now how impossible that is. She's afraid she's having a relapse and she doesn't want to go back to how she was. We have to be gentle with her; she's a very hurt little girl. Just because she's been acting normal the last two weeks, we tend to think everything is ok. Even though you have helped a lot, Katie, she still misses Cindi."

Amy finally came out of her room. She apologized to everyone, then took Katie by the hand, led her into her room, and closed the door. They came back out an hour later, laughing, joking, and giggling as if nothing had ever happened. Teenagers! So resilient.

Later, when it was time to go to bed, I asked Amy if she needed to sleep with us tonight. She rolled her eyes and giggled.

"I don't think so! I'd like to get some sleep! Besides, you might not be able to tell Mommy and me apart in the dark! Hmmm, on second thought..." Victoria swatted her on the butt for that. Both Katie and Amy hugged Victoria goodnight together, each whispering in an ear. Victoria blushed? I had to hear what they said!

Neither of us bothered to wear any clothes to bed. We were both too excited for such unnecessary frills. Victoria was in a playful mood, however, as she proceeded to give me one of the best blowjobs in history. She kept bringing me right to the point of climaxing, then backed off and let me calm down. I had a flashback of the first time Cindi had done that to me. Now I realized where she got the idea. The imp had been watching us!

I looked over at the doorway, and sure enough, two little wide-eyed faces were showing through the partially open door! They looked guilty and started to dive under cover until they heard me laugh. I smiled and mouthed "I love you!" to them as they watched. They mouthed it back as Victoria stopped long enough to ask me why I laughed. I told her it was because I loved her and she made me so happy. That was true. When she lowered herself down on me, taking me inside her, I understood why she had taken me so far with the blowjob. She was so wet! She exploded with her first orgasm as soon as I was inside her. Just in the short time it took me to peak, she had another orgasm. This was going to be a fun night! The two little faces looked stunned.