*All sexual activity takes place only between characters 18 and older.*
~
It was a few days after the big blowout between Ken and Adrienne, the one that ended with Adrienne leaving for the other man they were arguing about in the first place, when their daughter came into her father's room and crawled into his bed. She was six at the time and her father realized she was finally understanding that her mother was completely gone from their lives. The usually sweet girl with long, chocolaty brown hair simply nestled herself under the blanket and curled up on her side with her back up against her dad.
"Daddy?" she asked on that very first night.
"Yes, honey?"
"Are you gonna go away too?"
Ken hugged his little girl snug. "No, princess. Never."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
"Hope to die?"
"Hope to die."
"Not even if you get mad like Mommy did all the time?"
"Not even if I get mad. Daddy will be right here forever. Pinky swear."
The pinky swear reassured Carly, and she finally relaxed and went to sleep. In the morning, when Ken woke up, Carly was already up and in her own room looking through her clothes for something to wear that day. Her father helped her pick out an outfit, got her bathed and dressed for the day, and later went off to work while Carly went to school.
She did the same thing the following night, without asking the same questions. And then the night after that and the night after that. Before Ken knew it, a year had passed and Carly was still snuggling into his bed where she slept peacefully, knowing what was left of their little family of two was intact.
That first year turned into a second before Ken realized he hadn't been on a date since his wife left, even though their divorce had been finalized for months already. He realized he'd been so focused on his daughter's well-being that he barely gave a thought to his own. That was the way it was supposed to be, he told himself. He was responsible for making sure his only daughter grew up feeling happy and safe.
When Ken realized he needed to start dating again, he didn't know how he was going to get around the logistics of bringing a woman home. Carly wasn't going to be happy about being displaced from her dad's bed just so he could play around with some woman she didn't even know. Then there was the way half of her things were now in his room. She was treating it like it was her room, too, and only used her own for getting dressed or undressed for her baths.
Ken decided the only way to deal with the situation was to go to the woman's house if he ever got that far with someone. But anytime he went out, Carly made life impossible for her babysitters. She became irritable and bratty, constantly asking when her daddy was coming back and not doing anything they said without putting up an argument. One babysitter after another quit, and every time it happened Carly would hold her head up in triumph. Ken finally resigned himself to the notion that dating wasn't going to be possible until Carly was older. Sooner or later she'd hit her teens and want her privacy back. But after the rejection by her mother, he wanted to let her decide that on her own terms.
But even when the girl finally hit her awkward, rebellious years, she continued crawling into her daddy's bed no matter what -- even after they'd had terrible fights. Or after Ken had been forced to discipline the girl after misbehaving. Sure, she spent a lot more time alone in her own room, but there was never a night that she slept there. There seemed to be an unspoken understanding between them that no matter what else may have happened during the day, Ken would always be there for his daughter to depend on. Bedtime was cuddle time. Safe time.
The only other inconvenience Carly's nighttime presence caused was that Ken had to get used to wearing underwear to bed during the warm part of the year. In the past, he'd always slept naked in warm weather, but with his daughter in bed that had to change. Boxer briefs also had the added benefit of concealing any untimely, dream-induced erections.
After Carly turned eighteen, she blossomed into a sweet, beautiful girl with long, silky hair that was medium brown and a ripe, shapely body that made her popular with the boys at school, not to mention everywhere else. There was a slight thickness to her legs and bust, most of which her father assumed came from her love of playing volleyball.
In her last couple months of high school, Carly started going on dates and also to parties with her friends. Ken had thought this would finally break the cycle, but it didn't. No matter where she went, and no matter with whom, she was always home by midnight and getting into her dad's bed for a night's sleep. There were a few times he smelled alcohol, but he only ever mentioned it the next day. Since it happened infrequently, and she never appeared to be more than a little tipsy, he decided it was a non-issue. And as far as bedtime was concerned, Ken steadfastly preserved that as a safe zone for Carly.
He didn't think twice about the fact that Carly continued sleeping in bed with him. It had become so routine that neither of them thought twice about it anymore. The only concession they agreed on was to keep their habit only to themselves, since most people would probably not understand it.
At the same time, Ken decided he really needed to think about dating again. She wasn't beautiful in a classic sense, but she was girl-next-door cute in the sweetest and most alluring way. She was now about five-six, and not too thick but not thin, either. She had a volleyball player's legs and ass, and pertly shaped C cup tits that quivered enticingly in her T shirts as she climbed into bed without a bra.
Being a typical guy, Ken woke up hard morning after morning. He knew it wasn't because of Carly. How could it be? She was his daughter, for fuck's sake. No, he'd simply been without a woman far too long. It had been worth it, though, when he thought of the way his only daughter was turning out. He was prouder of her than anything else in his life, and he loved her with every molecule of his being. But, he needed a sexual relationship, and with Carly now in her young adulthood it was time. He had a hard time imagining sleeping with anyone else, though, even if the lack of physical intimacy was so frustrating.
Carly turned eighteen toward the end of her senior year in high school. Ken realized she'd end up leaving for college before long, or else she'd want to strike out on her own and get her first apartment. He was going to have to make the adjustment sooner or later. He'd miss her terribly, but it meant he'd finally be able to think about having a normal relationship with a woman again. Yet he was apprehensive, too. He was so out of practice he didn't know if he even remembered how to have a simple conversation over dinner with a new woman anymore. But he couldn't let that stop him. He was just going to have to get back into practice and back in the game.
All of this was going through Ken's mind one night about a month before Carly's graduation. That was how he found himself lying awake in the wee hours of the morning with his daughter curled up beside him, her firm, young ass nestled against his hip. Then Carly stirred and sat up sleepily. She pouted as she realized she'd turned the wrong way in her sleep. She rolled over to face her father and snuggled up to him with her warm, round tits pressing up to his side. Her arm and leg went across his body while he snuck his arm around her and held her close.
