I say goodbye to Dr. Samuels, still in the nineties-style outfit I wore in the past. She says I can keep it and tells me to come back tomorrow so she can examine me for side effects.
I hop into my little, white convertible that my dad bought me as a high school graduation present, and head home. The evidence of what happened in the past is drying on my thighs, making them uncomfortable.
It's not far, just a five minute drive to my dad's enormous house. It may be safe to call it a mansion. The lawn is immaculate, the gardens lush, the brick red and sturdy.
I love this house.
The door is locked and no one answers when I ring.
I wander around back and fish the spare key out of Dad's koi pond.
Inside, I breathe in deeply, smelling home.
The first thing I do is head up to my bathroom and shower. It makes me feel a little anxious washing dried cum off my legs. What did I do?
I sigh as I emerge, completely fresh. It's wonderful to experience luxury after so many months in the dorm.
I put on a dress I'd left behind because it was a bit too childish. It had fit me better a few years ago, before my breast had gotten quite so big. As a result, the ruffled fabric at the bottom was tugged up an inch too high. Still, it was comfy and that was what I needed right now.
I sat at my vanity to brush my hair and met my own eyes in the mirror. I wasn't a virgin anymore. I swallowed. I'd given my virginity to—
"Anybody home?" I hear my daddy's deep voice call from downstairs.
I swallow, suddenly nervous. "Up here, dad!" I call back.
With an elevated pulse, I quickly pull my damp hair into a ponytail, and I hear my dad's footfalls in the upstairs hall.
He pokes his head through my door. "Hi, princess!" he says happily.
"Hi, daddy!" I cry, just as happy.
His big arms pull me into a bone-crushing hug that makes me wheeze. "I've missed you, Danielle." See, here in the present, my dad loves me as much as I love him. Almost.
"Me too, dad." I catch a whiff of cinnamon on his breath and I remember a spicy kiss.
I turn back to my vanity, so he can't see the blush forming on my cheeks.
He sinks onto the edge of my bed. "So how was the drive home?"
"Fine. Boring."
He leans forward so he can see my face in the mirror. "Good. Boring is good on a drive. No surprises. How were classes?"
"All aces, daddy," I say, grinning proudly.
"That's my girl."
My grin doesn't fade as I apply a bit of mascara to my already dark lashes.
"Are you hungry, baby?"
My eyes snap to his, as I was half expecting a double entendre.
His eyes are clear. No powerful, forbidden lust in them. Did he even remember what happened? For him it would have been twenty years ago. If he did remember, he could have easily chalked it up to drug use or some strange dream.
I felt a little disappointed.
"Danielle? You okay?"
"Oh. Yeah, I'm just tired I guess. And yes, hungry."
"Good. I brought home takeout from Zeppolis."
My grin returned. That was my favorite Italian restaurant.
Downstairs, I set the table with the fancy dinnerware. I put my dad's plate at the end of the table and mine next to his on the side. On a whim, I light a tall candle and set it near the center of the table.
"Nice touch," dad says from the dining room doorway. He has the takeout containers stacked in his arms.
I move the floral centerpiece so he can have room and we accidently bump into each other. "Move it or lose it, princess," he says playfully.
I have to sit and turn my head away from him. His elbow had grazed my tit, though he has no idea. I have to get myself together.
We fill our plates up with delicious Italian food and begin to feast. I'm ravenous.
Dad laughs. "Slow down, baby."
"Um," I murmur. "It's soo good, daddy." I twitch. That sounded wrong.
He didn't seem to notice and chuckled again. "Thought you'd like it. But didn't you stop anywhere on the drive home?"
Food. He meant for food. He wasn't asking me whether I stopped at the lab and went back in time and met him and fucked him. No.
Still. "Not for food, dad."
"Oh, yeah? Where'd you stop, then?"
I lick my lips, nervously. "The lab. To see Dr. Samuels."
I watch for a reaction in his eyes, but there's none.
"Hmm," he says, sounding somewhat bored as he always does when I talk about science. "Bet she was happy to see you."
"Yeah." And then I take a deep breath and a huge risk. "She made a time machine."
He's reaching for bread and I think I see him pause for a second. "A time machine?"
I nod.
"Crazy!" he says with a grin. "That lady's pretty amazing, huh?"
Disappointment settles on me again. That's all? He doesn't put two and two together? He doesn't think, Oh, I fucked some girl with my daughter's exact hair and features twenty years ago who claimed to be a time traveler, and NOW my daughter has access to a time machine. Hmm. Hmm. Very coincidental.
Nope. He just munches away.
"Yeah, she's amazing," I mutter.
His hand rests on my arm and I look up, shocked. He asks gently, "What's wrong, Danielle?"
I lick my dry lips. I'm not brave enough to tell him or to even drop hints. "Nothing, daddy. Just tired." But his hand on my arm is sending tingles to naughty places. I can hardly stand it.
After dinner, I pace my room feeling frustrated. How could he forget? It was something special to me. Has he just been with so many women that they all run together? This one likes bondage, this one likes anal, this one claims to be my daughter, then disappears before my eyes?
No.
I tear open my door. There's no way someone could forget that. And then, the fact that I exist at all means he must have read the paper I'd left with mom's name on it. He went and married my mom, all because of my suggestion, right? Unless he left without looking at the paper and married mom by luck or fate.
I stomp down the hall toward my dad's room. But still, a girl who disappears. There's no way in hell he's forgotten that. There's no way to explain it away.
I knock on dad's door before I lose my nerve.
"Yeah."
I open his door and step into his room. The only light is from the table lamp on his night stand. He's propped up in bed, reading.
"Dad."
He takes in my nervous posture, my hands wringing together. "Danielle, are you really okay? If something's upsetting you, you can talk to me, baby."
I stomp over to his side and he stares up, startled.
How to begin... "This afternoon, I stopped at the lab."
"Right."
"Dr. Samuels has made a time machine," I prod gently.
"So you said." One dark eyebrow rises over one brown eye. "It's pretty amazing."
"Daddy," I close my eyes and inhale. "I went back in time."
There's a long silence and my eyelids part.
My daddy isn't smiling. His dark, brown eyes stare seriously into mine. It looks like disapproval in them. "I see," he says, finally.
What does he see?
He closes his book and sets it beside the lamp. "Have a seat, Danielle."
I know this tone. But why am I in trouble? I sit on the edge of his bed by his legs and watch him warily.
"It really happened?" he asks, clenching his jaw angrily.
My nipples harden. My clitoris swells. I swallow harshly. He does remember.
"Answer me," he demands.
I look up, shocked and ashamed. "Yes, daddy."
He looks away, as if disgusted. "You're my daughter, Danielle. I so regret my actions back then."
