Chapter 1

"So, is it true?"

"Is what true, Angelina?"

"You know what I mean, Paul. Is it true that she's coming back?"

"She? You mean your daughter? She has a name, you know."

"I don't care to admit she's my daughter, and you know that. It's true isn't it? She's coming back, and she's going to live with you?"

"I can't believe you've become that cold."

"After what she's been DOING? I'm ASHAMED of her, Paul! Aren't you?"

"Look, I'm not going to say I'm proud of what our daughter has been doing with her life, Angelina. But Abbey is still our daughter. Or at least my daughter. You can chose to pretend she's not your flesh and blood all you want. But she's my daughter, she's had a tough time, and she needs to come home for a while."

"Well, I think you're a fool, Paul. She'll take advantage of you for sure."

"How would she do that? I ASKED her to come home and stay with me for a while. I WANT to help her figure herself out and get back on her feet. I'll give her whatever she needs. Besides, I don't think she has money problems. What could she do to take advantage of me?"

"I don't know. I just know what she's like."

"You have no idea what she's like, Angelina. You haven't even talked to her in what, two years?"

"Can you blame me?"

"Yes, I can blame you. You know, she might not have let her life get screwed up if you had at least pretended to care."

"SCREWED up. You got that part right, Paul."

"That's enough, Angelina. We have nothing else to talk about right now."

"That's fine. Good luck, Paul. I hope you know what you're getting yourself into."

"I'll be fine. Bye."

Paul had indeed made the invitation to his daughter. But when she called him and told him that her life was off-track, he felt he had little choice. And he did want her to be with him for a time. But he was worried that if he didn't make the gesture, she might end up even worse off than she seemed to be.

He was right to be concerned. Abbey had gone through some difficult situations in the previous couple of years, involving some mildly illegal activities, minor-to-moderate substance abuse, as well as plenty of behavior that simply took its toll on any human being involved in it. Paul knew the basics of all that when he invited his daughter to come and stay. But there was one major thing Abbey hadn't shared.

"Honey," Paul said upon seeing his daughter face-to-face for the first time in several years, "oh ​my ... are you... ?"

"Hi Dad!" Abbey said with a smiling but weary expression on her face. "And yes, before you say anything else. I'm pregnant. Sorry I didn't tell you on the phone."

Paul did his best not to seem shocked at his daughter's condition. He expected to be troubled by her appearance, but he thought she would just look tired and drawn-out. He didn't anticipate her being, at his estimation, four months pregnant (it was actually just over five months of baby-belly on display).

The two hugged, with Paul being careful to adjust the strength of his squeeze to allow for his daughter's swollen stomach. The embrace was long and warm, with a few tears being shed on both sides.

"I missed you so much, Dad."

"Oh Sweetheart, I missed you too ... so very much."

As they were retrieving Abbey's bags and taking them to Paul's vehicle, he was asking to be filled-in on the situation.

"Well Dad, I'm about five months along. I'm doing OK, I guess. I'm tired a lot."

"Have you been seeing a doctor, Honey? Is someone tracking everything and making sure you're progressing all right?"

"I went once, but in the beginning."

"OK, well we'll get that taken care of first. We need to make sure you're both healthy."

"Both ... I have to tell you Dad, the people I've been around lately don't really talk about it that way."

"What do you mean, Abbey?"

"They just don't act like I'm, you know, gonna have a baby. They don't ever acknowledge that there's a person inside me. Either they just pretend it doesn't exist, or they think of me for ... well, never mind."

"What, Abb? You can tell me, whatever it is, if you want to. You can tell me anything, about anything."

"Really Dad? Are you sure? Because sometimes I think it might help to talk about it."

"Anything, Sweetheart, really. Now what were you going to say. People think of you for what?"

Abbey looked at her father, wondering if she could take him at his word. Could she really be straight with him? She thought this was as good a time as any to find out.

"For fetish stuff, Dad."

"Uh ... what does that mean exactly, Sweetie. I mean, I can guess, but I'm not sure."

"Well, let's cut to the chase, Dad, if you're really OK with it. You know what I do ... or at least what I've been doing."

​"Well, yeah Honey. More or less, I know. Obviously not details. But I know."

"O.K. I'm just going to say it and get it out of the way. I've been doing porn, for a few years."

"Yeah, that is cutting to the chase. And I'm OK, Abbey. Really, talk about anything you need or want to. I'm fine. I'm concerned about you, but I love and respect you, Sweetheart."

"Oh Daddy, you're just incredible." Abbey stopped to give her father another big hug before they climbed into his car. Once again, she had a few tears in her eyes. "Well, yeah ... so I do porn. It's all been pretty mainstream. A lot of girl-girl. Some boy-girl, but not much. Do you know that I have a website?"

"I think you mentioned it once. I can honestly tell you I haven't see it, Honey. But anyway, I get the basic picture."

"OK, well fetish work is like, more specialized. Like, people who are into sex and smoking, sex that's all about feet, sex with food involved, sex with chubby girls ... I guess I've always kinda been one of those chubby girls ... and now more than ever."

"Honey, don't be down on yourself. You're not chubby, even now. You've always been absolutely beautiful and you still are."

"Well, I've been known as a girl with big boobs and a big butt. That's kinda my trademark, if you don't know. There's no secret about that. But any way ... the kind of fetish work I'm talking about is about having sex with pregnant girls."

"Ohhhhh," Paul said tentatively. "I see. So you ... I don't know if I should ask, or if I want to know ... You ... Did you ... Have you... ?"

"No, Dad. I didn't do any of that. I had lots of offers. Stuff like that, especially pregnant sex with girls or guys, or just solo is in demand. And it pays pretty good."

"OK Abb, I understand. I'm uh ... I'm not sorry to hear that you haven't done that kind of thing."

"Me too. Anyway, my point was that nobody sees me as, 'both of us.' They either act like they don't even know I'm pregnant, or they try to think of how to use it to market me."

"It is hard for me to hear that, Sweetheart. I can't deny it. Mostly because it feels like nobody around you was thinking of you as a person, much less the wonderful young woman you are. Did anybody in that business really care ... about YOU?"

This time it was more than just a few tears. Abbey leaned over to her father in the car, took hold of his arm, pushed her face against it and began to full-out cry. Paul wished he wasn't driving so he could hold his daughter and comfort her properly. But at the very least he felt like he was giving her the chance to start emptying herself of some of the emotions that had obviously built-up inside of her.

When they got to Paul's house, he brought Abbey's bags inside and showed her right to her room. She had not seen the house before and decided she would take the full tour after a nap. Paul gave his daughter a big hug and left her in her room to rest.

As soon as she was alone, Abbey used the attached bathroom, got completely undressed, then crawled into the big, soft bed her dad had prepared for her. Even though she had not seen her father's current house before that day, she felt more comfortable, more safe, and more at home ​than she had in years.

Abbey slept for so long that Paul went to check on her twice to make sure she was OK. After many hours had passed, Abbey wiped the sleep from her eyes, put on a t-shirt and stretchy shorts and went down to see her dad and get a proper tour of his house.

"Oh my goodness!" Paul exclaimed when he saw his daughter coming down the stairs. "She lives!"

"Dad, I'm so sorry!" Abbey replied. "I feel terrible that I came right into your house and slept so long!"

"Abbey Honey, one of the biggest reasons you're here is so you can just feel at home, and get all the rest you need. So please, don't apologize for sleeping, or doing anything at all to take care of yourself."

Abbey's face and her hug said it all. She loved her father, and felt loved unconditionally by him. She felt safe with him. She never felt judged, even though she knew he would always tell her honestly how he felt about whatever she was doing. She was so glad to be there with him that words could not express it.

After a very long embrace that included the shedding of a few more tears on the part of both father and daughter, Paul gave Abbey a tour of his large house, then brought her into the kitchen and prepared dinner while they talked.

"So Abb, I don't want to pry or anything, but um ... maybe you could bring me up to speed on the ... you know ... the whole baby thing."

"What do you mean, Dad?"

"I don't know, Honey. I'm guessing it wasn't planned. How did you wind up getting pregnant. I'm assuming that people in ... you know ... who do the kind of work you've been doing must be extra careful about protection."

"Yeah, that's usually true. But it happens. I was seeing a doctor for some other things, like depression and stuff. I was having these big mood swings and he thought it might have to do with the birth control pills I was taking. He told me to take some time off the pill, but of course to be careful while I wasn't taking it. I did it, but I wasn't careful. I was stupid. It wasn't even work related. I just got stupid at some parties, and the rest is, well..."