A Gift Unwrapped

Author's note:

This is my first story here. Be gentle!

*****

"Christ, Catherine!" Jason growled, long past the ability to maintain his calm. "You can't just drop this on me at the last minute!"

"

This

?" His ex-wife's voice was shrill through the tiny cell phone speaker. "We're talking about

your daughter

, not a crisis. And might I remind you that it is her birthday this weekend?"

Jason grit his teeth. Alicia was always

his

daughter when she was acting out or, God forbid, between Catherine and something she wanted. She was definitely

their

daughter when she made the cheer leading team at her high school. She was

his

daughter again when she'd been kicked off that team after getting caught shoplifting for the third time.

And it wasn't like he didn't want to spend time with his daughter. It was just that Alicia was, to be polite, a handful. She had been for years, ever since puberty kicked in and all her sweetness and common sense seemed to take a hike. Now, at eighteen, she was... well... a crisis might be too strong a word, but certainly she took a great deal of energy.

That was energy he had in short supply lately.

"I know that, but you can't expect me to just drop everything and rearrange my plans because you can't get your shit together!" He shot back, trying not to crush the delicate device in his hand. The headache that had been brewing all day at work was back in full force.

Catherine's voice turned frosty. "Well, excuse me if I think that my career is important."

As if his wasn't. Catherine never understood what he did as an information security specialist or how taxing the job could be. As far as she was concerned, he just 'played on the computer all day'. This sudden, oh-so-necessary business trip of hers was, he suspected, more a chance to get sweaty between some Hilton sheets with her boss than any real chance of promotion.

The ad agency she worked for was one of the biggest in the area and she had been wanting to move up the ladder for years. To that end, a ladder wasn't the only thing she had been willing to climb. There were a lot of very good reasons they were divorced and Catherine's wandering eye (and other parts) was a big one.

"Fine," he bit out after a long moment to settle his irritation. If he pushed the issue, he knew she'd have lawyers involved before he could say 'custody dispute'. "I'll figure it out. Just make sure you have her here before seven tomorrow night."

"Of course." Now that she'd gotten what she wanted, she was all smiles; he could hear it in her voice. God, he hated that sound.

"I mean it. You show up at 7:05 and I won't be here."

"I said, we'll be on time, Jason. Don't be a dick."

*****

Friday evening at 7:03, Jason stood in his driveway, shifting from foot to foot and snarling curses under his breath. She did this just to annoy him, he was sure of it. If he were a betting man, he'd say she was waiting just down the block somewhere, counting off the seconds until he blew his stack.

Jason was not a violent man, but he allowed himself a few less civilized fantasies as his ex-wife's stylish sedan cruised up his street and pulled into his drive. From those few feet away, he could see Catherine behind the wheel trying not to look pleased with herself. In the back seat, he could just glimpse the top of a blonde head where his daughter slouched. From her posture, he was guessing she was no happier about this arrangement than he was. Wonderful.

The last few years had been rough on Jason's relationship with Alicia. She was born high spirited and opinionated; traits that only got more pronounced when hormones kicked in at thirteen. Her older brother, Val was much, much easier. Maybe it was because Val was a boy and Jason understood how boys thought and acted. Girls were a whole other planet of moods and emotions he just didn't grasp. A fault that may have played a large part in the dissolution of his marriage.

You know... maybe.

"Nice of you to show up," Jason greeted Catherine when she rolled down her window. Couldn't be bothered to actually step out of the car, oh no. She was much too busy and he was so far beneath her.

"Don't start with me. I've had a very long afternoon." She flicked her gaze none-too-subtly toward Alicia who glared at them both from the back seat. Her bright green eyes glowed with irritation. It was a look Jason knew well. Catherine created that look and Alicia seemed to be in the business of perfecting it.

"Let's go, kiddo," Jason called to her, ignoring his ex. He watched his daughter's eyes roll and heard her huff the huff of a put upon teenager forced to spend time with her least favorite parent. His fault, he knew. He only saw her every other weekend, per Catherine's legal request, although he really hadn't fought it all that hard. "We're burning daylight."

"What does that even mean?" Alicia sniped as she climbed out of the car, slung a backpack onto one shoulder and hefted a suitcase from the seat beside her. Her blond hair shone in the sunlight and the pink halter top and white shorts she wore hugged her tanned form nicely. The kid was a knock out, no question about it. Catherine might be a shrew and their marriage might have been a disaster, but they made damn fine-looking kids together. "Nobody says that anymore and besides, it's night time."

In truth, and even though it made him some special kind of asshole, he'd been relieved to realize Alicia's birthday fell on one of her mother's weekends, this year. He had still planned to see her, of course - after all, his little girl only turned eighteen once - and had a gift picked out long in advance, but he also really enjoyed the notion that he could leave when and if things got tense. Like they were now.

This was going to be such a lovely weekend. Jason heaved a sigh and turned his gaze toward Catherine who was already shifting the car into reverse.

He hoped her boss gave her crabs.

"Bye, honey! Happy birthday! I'll call you!" Catherine called to Alicia who tossed something like a wave over her shoulder in reply. "Goodbye, Jason."

"Bye," he said and turned to follow Alicia inside. Catherine was gone well before he closed the front door behind him.

His house was on the small side, just two bedrooms, with two baths, an office, living room, and kitchen. Alicia generally took the guest room when she stayed over for his visitation weekends and Val took the pull out sofa in the office. Val was twenty and away at college more than he was home these days. Jason kind of wished Val was with them this weekend. With Val he had a buffer for Alicia's unpredictable moods. His son had some kind of calming effect on the girl. It was like magic.

"So," he ventured as he leaned against the doorway to the spare room and watched her dump her bags into the closet. So much for unpacking. "You want to make a run to the grocery store? I grabbed some snacks for the weekend, but thought you might like to pick out your cake?"

"I get a cake?" She asked, still huffy, and flung herself down to sit on the bed.

"Of course," He answered, frowning at her. "Why wouldn't you? It's your birthday."

"Not like you or mom actually care."

Jason grit his teeth, counted to five, and answered as calmly as he could. "That's not true. I love you and I had every intention of seeing you this weekend even before your mom got called away. And I know she wanted to be here, but she's got that important conference with her boss."

Alicia snorted and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'booty call'. He tried not to smirk. His daughter was a handful, alright, and very little escaped her notice.

"I'm eighteen, Dad!" She yelled, face flushing with anger. "I should be able to do whatever I want for my birthday! It's not fair I can't spend it with my friends."

"You're still in high school and living at home with your mother. Until those things are no longer true, you have to have some kind of supervision. We've been through this."

Alicia's academic progress imploded right around the time Jason's marriage to her mother took a nosedive. They tried sending her to a child psychologist, but his too sharp daughter just ran rings around the dopey woman while her grades continued to slip, her attendance at school dropped rapidly, and her visits to the juvenile detention center increased. She'd been forced to repeat her sophomore year as a result of all the trouble, barely scraped by on her second go at it, then fell out again her junior year. She was, he sincerely hoped, graduating as a senior this year. Long after her classmates.

It was a tough situation for a willful kid. It wasn't exactly a picnic for her parents, either.

"Look, sweetie, I know this is hard-"

"What do you know about it?" Alicia demanded, getting to her feet and gesturing wildly.

"You don't know anything about me. You barely even see me! You don't give a damn about me and I am not sure you ever did!"

That got his attention. He scowled and pushed off the door, stepping into the room and looming over the angry teen. Even though she was a grown woman, he still towered over her by nearly a foot. She'd inherited his wife's short stature along with her curvaceous figure. It was a combination that ensured she'd be spending a great deal of money on high heels over the course of her life, but she would always, always have men's attention.

She certainly had his, now, although it had nothing to do with her tits and ass.

"You want to be treated like an adult then start acting like one, damn it!" He shouted and her words trailed off in surprise. She was used to him being the even-tempered one out of her parents. Shouting was more her mother's thing than his - he tried to be the fun dad, damn it - but with the stress he was under at work and the headache still thrumming behind his eyes, well... he'd had it. "You're here for the weekend whether you like it or not and I'll be damned if I'm going to spend it listening to you throw a tantrum for the next two days."

"Dad..."

He wasn't in the mood to listen anymore. "Get changed and get your ass in bed. We'll talk more tomorrow when you can act like something other than a spoiled brat."

Even though she looked a bit more timid than she had earlier, she still found her voice to protest. "But, it's not even eight o'clock!"

"I. Don't. Care." He snarled, taking a step closer and watching as she took a step back. "Maybe I'm the world's worst dad, but I'm still your dad and you will listen to me. I'm tired and I do not have the energy for this. Bed. You. Now."

He turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door solidly behind him. He winced. Damn it. He'd spent the whole day coaching himself on staying calm in the face of teen angst and being supportive for her this weekend, but after a few acerbic words from her mouth, all he wanted to do was put her over his knee. That... hmmm.

Jason shook his head sharply, ignoring the spasms of pain that shot through his temples at the motion. That was not something he needed to be thinking about right now. Damn, he must have been sicker than he thought. Painkillers, sleep, and then maybe tomorrow would be better.

*****

The room was dark and the house quiet when Jason woke a few hours later. His headache had dimmed to nearly gone. He stretched, took a deep breath, and released it slowly. Before he even fell asleep, he already felt bad about the blow up with Alicia. Yeah, she was acting like a brat, but he was supposed to be the responsible one. He should know better than to lose his temper. It wasn't like he didn't have practice dealing with her mood swings.

And, if he was being fair, she did have a little bit of a point. Not that he didn't love her, he did. Maybe he could be a little more active in her life, though. He was going to have to talk to Catherine. They could arrange more visits. The visitation agreement had been drawn up immediately after the divorce when tempers were still flaring. Given Catherine's new found interest in career advancement, plus the fact that Alicia would soon be graduating high school and beyond needing any kind of custody arrangements, he bet his ex would jump at the chance to change some things.

That wouldn't help him with this weekend, though.

Jason sighed and got to his feet, stretching again as he walked barefoot, clad only in boxers and a t-shirt to his door and opened it softly. Ordinarily, with Alicia in the house, he'd be strict about being fully clothed any time he stepped out of his bedroom, but as late as it was, he decided not to bother. He just wanted to check on her and then he'd be going right back to bed.

At first, he thought all was quiet in the house, but after a moment he realized there was a faint light and voice coming from Alicia's room. A glance at the clock on his dresser told him it was just past one in the morning.

He walked out into the hallway and down to her door. At the door, he paused and heard her soft voice. It was too faint to understand the words, but he recognized Alicia's voice and then her laughter. The only way to describe it was... sexy. That was not a sound he ever heard her make before.

Unable to resist, he grasped the door knob and turned it very slowly, quietly, and pushed the door open a tiny crack. Oh.

Christ.

Jason blinked several times, unable to tear his gaze away from what he was seeing. The faint light under the door was given by a three wick, jar candle burning brightly on the bedside table. Apparently, it was one of those scented candles. The smell of birthday cake hung sweet and thick in the room.

There on her bed was Alicia. She was lying on her left side, feet toward the bedroom door, facing the dresser where her laptop sat open. There was enough of a dim glow from the screen that he could tell it was on. All of that registered as a dim second to the fact that his little girl was naked. Completely, utterly, beautifully, naked.

Her wavy blond hair hung loose over her bare shoulders. His gaze traced the line of her spine and the sweet, perfect curve of her ass. One leg was bent and held wide with one hand, giving what he could only assume was her online audience a gloriously unobstructed view of her pussy while her other hand worked the thick end of a red, tapered candle in and out of her.

"Ooooh," she whispered and licked her lips, never taking her eyes from the laptop. "Fuck, I'm so close..."

Jason's breath caught. In the back of his mind, he knew he should put a stop to this. Somewhere, maybe all over the world, there were people watching his baby girl fuck herself and she was entirely too comfortable in front of the camera to be performing like this for the first time. Hell, she was a little too comfortable with that candle inside her, too.

He reached a hand down to press against his crotch, trying in vain to slow the reaction he knew he shouldn't be having. His cock, swelling hard and fast inside his boxers, ached. Every breathless whine from that bed shot straight to his groin and made him throb with want.

"Fuuuuuck," Alicia gasped, her hips rocking up off the bed as she fucked herself hard and fast with the candle shaft. The twisting expression on her face, tightly closed eyes, and wide, panting lips, along with the slick, glistening red candle sliding in and out of her tight pussy made it clear she'd reached her climax.

Jason watched her cum, almost unconsciously stroking himself through his boxers. His eyes never left the candle, watching it plunge into her. He'd forgotten the online audience and forgotten that the pussy he was aching for was so very off limits. All he could think was how good it would feel to sink into her and ride to his own orgasm.

Alicia rolled slowly onto her back, laughing breathlessly, breasts heaving as she came down from her high. She left her legs splayed wide, although from that angle, Jason was the only one who got a good view. The laptop was only seeing her profile.

She slipped the candle from inside her and turned her face back toward the camera, smiling a lazy smile as she brought the warm wax to her lips and licked it clean. A shiver ran through Jason and he gave the head of his cock, peeking through the slit in his boxers, a squeeze to hold back. It was one thing to quietly watch his nineteen year old daughter pleasure herself; it was another thing entirely to get caught jerking off while doing it. He was about to step away and go back to his room when he heard her soft voice again.

"Okay, boys and girls." Alicia got slowly sat up and leaned over, pursing her lips and blowing out the birthday cake scented candle. "Thanks for celebrating my birthday with me." She padded unselfconsciously to her dresser, leaning forward so that her sweet, full breasts bounced toward the screen and back. She smiled seductively and winked at the camera, then tapped a key, presumably to end the video.

Jason didn't wait to see what would happen next. He hurried back to his room, his gait awkward with the raging hard on between his legs. He silently closed his bedroom door and leaned back against it, breathing deep, ragged breaths and trying to wrap his mind around what he'd seen... and how he'd reacted.

"Not good," he breathed even as his hand moved to free his weeping cock from his shorts. Jason knew it was wrong, but he couldn't stop himself from remembering every breathy sigh and every roll of those hips while he stroked himself to a quick, desperately needed release.

Yeah, this was going to be a very difficult weekend, indeed.

*****

Jason woke very early the next morning. Before his mind had been blown by his daughter's after hours peep show, he'd been planning to get up and shop early for a birthday cake to surprise her. He did want to apologize for their fight the night before and he figured a few hours out in the fresh air would clear his head. It hadn't. When he returned and didn't stumble upon another recording he was actually a little disappointed. Christ, there really was something wrong with him.

A quick check of Alicia's room found her sleeping peacefully. After the night she had, he wasn't surprised that she slept deep and sound. He didn't go so far as to check under the blankets, but he was pretty sure she was no longer naked. There was a strip of blue across her shoulder that he was pretty sure was a spaghetti strap to a pair of pajamas.

The laptop was closed on her dresser and the birthday cake candle was still on the bedside table. The red candle was nowhere to be seen. He knew he didn't have any in the house, so she must have brought it with her from home. It made him wonder what else she had hidden away in her bags.

"Down, boy," he muttered to himself and pulled her door closed.

Back in the kitchen, he carefully cut a slice of the chocolate cake, the thick buttercream icing giving off a scent so similar to the candle that had haunted his dreams the night before. He swallowed hard, shoved that thought aside and arranged the cake slice on a small plate. One, perfect, pink buttercream rose crowned it. He pressed a birthday candle in just beneath the rose, pocketed a cigarette lighter, and carried the plate and a fork back to his daughter's room.

Quietly, he crept back into the room and sat down on the edge of her bed. He reached over with his free hand and set it on her shoulder to shake her gently. "Rise and shine, birthday girl."

Alicia started slightly and blinked her eyes open, looking sleepily up at him. It took a moment for the confusion to shift into remembered anger and then wariness. Her gaze fell on the cake and she raised an eyebrow. "Cake? In bed?"

"Why not? You're an adult, right?" He smiled, hoping like hell that his face didn't show any of what he was thinking. Those words and this room and the smell of sugar... he shifted slightly.