All characters are consenting adults, over 18 years of age.
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When my daughter Nicola went off to university we knew it would be hard on both of us. I'd raised her alone since she was small and we were very close. I missed her a lot and from our frequent Skyping it was obvious she felt the same way.
The other big issue was money. We are not rich and I didn't want her to get desperate for funds and have to resort to something like being an escort, and putting herself in danger. So I had put to her a rather novel idea a couple of months before she left.
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"Nicki, please don't think bad of me for this; but I have a way you can earn quite a bit of money while you are at Uni, without work getting in the way of your studies, getting into debt or putting you at risk."
She looked at me eagerly, her big brown eyes full of curiosity.
"Don't hate me for suggesting this, and you don't have to do it; it's just an idea; but you could be a webcam-girl."
"A what, Dad? Oh. Oh, wait, you mean?!" Nicola said, comprehending.
"Now I wouldn't want you to do anything like this unless it was necessary, but we don't have the money, and I'm sure you don't want to work in McDonalds or such like, or much worse. You're young and beautiful; and I know you're not, well, innocent; so I figured this was a safe option . . ."
"You want me to have sex on camera?" My daughter asked bluntly.
I winced. "Well, no, you don't have to go that far. Just tease and um . . . play with yourself, or such like. Look, I don't want my daughter doing anything sexual, but if you get desperate for money you might be tempted to, um, strip or sell yourself . . . lots of students do it, apparently. This is the best I could come up with. I can get you a website set up; you fill it with content, and you get subscribers or such."
She sat back and looked thoughtful. "It wouldn't be too much work, I guess. You really think I'm pretty enough to be popular?"
I smiled for the first time. "Darling, you'll always be beautiful to me, but yes you are. Remember your audience is probably going to be a load of lonely old men; your youth will count a lot too." "Okay, Dad; I'll give it a go." She smiled back.
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Two weeks later, just before we were about to depart to install Nicola at University for her first term, she came to me.
"You were so right Dad!" my daughter exclaimed, rushing up and hugging me.
"Of course." I replied humorously, embracing her back. "About what?"
"The webcam stuff! It's brilliant! I just . . . "
"Stop! Stop. I don't want to know the details, I'm still your father." I said, blushing, pulling apart from her.
We sat down as Nicola laughed "Yeah, Dad, even though it was your idea! Well, I just got a hundred pounds for the ten days since I started! I might even be able to afford to eat at Uni!"
"So, you're okay with it? With, er, doing stuff, and having an audience?"
"I guess." She replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Actually, yes. I am okay. It's not anything I wasn't doing before, but now it makes money."
"Are you happy?" I asked.
"Yeah. You were right about this, Dad. I'm in the prime of my life and I'm using what God gave me. It'll be so easy to do at Uni too."
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The Christmas holiday arrived quick. Nicola came home and we spent most of the time visiting our wider family. She didn't bring up her employment at all, but she was happy, so I guessed it was still working out.
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Nicola came back home for the Easter holiday, still happy.
"Dad, my job is making a lot of money. I can't believe how popular I've become. I'm taking us out for dinner."
"My little girl all grown up." I observed, smiling.
She smiled back at me. "Dress up, Dad, we're going somewhere posh."
It was indeed a posh place. A fancy restaurant in town; that we'd never been able to afford to go to before. Actually, even takeaways had been a rare delicacy for us. Luckily I was good in the kitchen and Nicola inherited that too.
My eighteen year old daughter looked stunning in a simple but elegant black dress and heels. Her long black hair cascaded beautifully down her back. She was a head shorter than me but she looked tall, and elegant.
We took our booked table at the restaurant, I pushed her chair in as she sat down before sitting myself. We looked at the menu and I was shocked at the prices.
I whispered to her. "Darling, have you seen these prices?"
"Hush, Dad; I told you, I can afford this." She replied with a knowing smile. "Easily." She added, half to herself.
I let things be. We chatted and ate, enjoying each other's company after so long apart. I felt my daughter had changed significantly during her term away. She was definitely an adult now, even though she was still eighteen.
I saw the bill when it was placed on the table. I went pale at the figure on it but Nicola just dropped her credit-card on top of it and carried on talking to me. It was a different card to the one I had given her, I noticed.
She put in her PIN when the waiter brought the machine over, without a glance at the amount. I marvelled at her confidence and suddenly felt rather emasculated, but at the same time very proud.
It was a lovely evening, so we decided to walk back home, it was only a couple of miles and we had proper coats. I could get the car on my run, the next morning. As we walked, I couldn't stay silent any longer; "Just how much money are you making?" I asked.
My daughter grinned at me as we walked, holding hands. "Daddy, you hit a gold mine. I couldn't believe it, how much more I was making each week; well, not just I."
"Not just you?" I was curious at this too.
"Tasha and Jenny. We're all doing it. The website you set up for me, we all perform on there." Nicola replied, mentioning two of her Uni friends she had spoken of before.
"Together?" I asked without thinking, then countered "No, don't answer that."