Sara waited for her dad to get home from work. Her mom had thrown her out of the house, and she didn't know where else to go.
Dace came home from work, as he drove up he saw his daughter sitting on the steps. He stopped the car as soon as he was in the driveway, and raced to her, "Sara, what are you doing here?"
She was shivering uncontrollably, "Mom...thr...threw...m...me out."
He got her to her feet, unlocked the front door, and pushed her inside. He was furious, "What the hell is wrong with her, its 2 degrees outside! What was she thinking?" Helping his daughter off with her coat, he saw that she was blue, "Come on, we need to get you warm."
Sara's teeth were chattering, "I...knocked...but...no...one...was...home." Her brain took in the fact that he was undressing her, but she could only wonder why until finally realizing it was just her coat. She let her dad pull her up the stairs. She was so cold; her brain didn't want to function.
Dace got them to his bedroom, "I'm sorry baby, but I only have one bedroom, so I guess you are stuck with me."
Sara stood there and sort of understood that her dad was saying something, but she couldn't understand anything. She was sort of aware that he had made her sit on the bed and then he took her shoes off.
Dace made his daughter lay down and piled on blankets hoping she would get warm. He looked at her worried as hell. He kicked his shoes off, and got under the covers with her. Wrapping his arms around her, he tried using his own body heat to warm his daughter up. Holding her next to him was like holding an ice cube. It took quite a while for her to stop shaking.
Sara woke up confused, her brain couldn't figure out what was going on. Why was it dark in her room? She always left a light on. Why was the window in the wrong place? Where was she? Feeling arms around her, she rolled over and sat up. With moonlight coming through the window she recognized her dad and remembered where she was.
Dace was used to sleeping alone and her movement woke him up. He looked at his Sara and saw the tears flowing down her face. He reached for her, and his daughter snuggled against him, not for warmth but for security. He felt her sobbing, and it was making her tremble. Her tears were making his arm wet, and he wouldn't have moved it for the world.
"Mom and I had a terrible argument about her loser boyfriend. She took my cell phone and told me to leave. I didn't have any money or anything so I walked here." She shuddered, "Daddy, what am I going to do?"
"You're 18; you can do what you want." He moved her so that he could kiss her, just a gentle father daughter kiss. "You can live with me if you want."
"Are you sure you won't mind?"
He gave her a grin, licked at the tears on her cheek, "Mm-hum, salty, I would love it."
Sara giggled, "I'll work on the taste." She brought her lips to his, "Thank you daddy." She moved so that she was lying in his arms again. "I don't know what I would do if you didn't want me." Sara had worried for months in an ever increasing horrible situation. She had tried to stick it out until so she could finish high school, but her mom's live-in boyfriend wanted her gone.
Dace knew that they would have to figure things out, but the two were fine for tonight. Father and daughter fell asleep in each other's arms.
The next day, he made sure he pumped medicine into her. When she said she was up to it, he called his ex-wife and fussed at her for what she did. He told her that they were coming over to get Sara's things and that his daughter would be living with him. He had been told to come and get the stuff at 3pm.
Dace drove Sara over, they found her stuff thrown in the yard and no one was at home. He knew his daughter was embarrassed, "This is not your fault." He helped her gather her things, "Just put in all in the back seat, we can worry about it at home where it's warm."
When they were done, they were getting in the car and he stopped her, "Do it."
She scrunched up her forehead, "Do what?" She saw her dad raise his hand and his middle finger was pointing up. Sara grinned and gave her ex-mother the finger. She had no intention of ever seeing her again.
The next few days were filled with Sara sorting her clothes and washing what needed it. Dace made room in the drawers of his bedroom furniture so that she could put her things somewhere. He explained what was happening to his land lady that lived on the first floor, but she was fine with it. Sara had also gotten a really bad cold, but luckily it didn't get worse than that.
The two had a few problems sleeping together. Dace usually slept in his underwear and she fussed at him when he tried pajamas and had stayed awake all night. Sara explained that she was a big girl now and had seen underwear before. She slept in her panties and an oversized tee shirt. They tried sleeping far apart from each other, but by morning, the two always wound up as close to each other as they could get, so they just gave up and went to sleep that way.
Her life got a lot better right from the start. Sara went back to school with Dace going with her to explain what was going on. He had called the school and told them, but wanted to make sure she was going to be okay. She had gotten close with her dad's land lady. Mrs. Tikal was helping her learn how to cook, and she and Sara had become friends.
Father and daughter were lying in bed, when he put his arm around her, Sara turned and kissed him. Moving the blanket out of the way, she laid her head on his chest, listening to his heart, "Thank you, I would have never made it without you."