Mr. D and the Babysitter

(For readers outside Australia, a few notes: University = College. Colleges are the residential halls attached to Universities. Mobile = Cell Phone. We drive on the left side of the road so we drive on the right side of the car. Summer begins on December 1.)

Setting the scene for this and other stores to come. This is the first of a series which will gradually unfold around a couple of key characters. The taboo/incest aspect will develop. Let me know what you think.

All persons in this story involved sexually are aged at least 18 years. Rachel is 16 when the story begins but 18 when something first 'happens'.

***

When I met my wife she was 5 years older than me. That didn't really matter to either of us. I had not been married before but she had and from that relationship she had a beautiful daughter. When we met she was only 2 years old. Little Sarah did not remember her father, who had died of cancer before her first birthday.

So, when we married, Debbie was 24, I was 19 and Sarah had just turned 3. Sarah made a delightful flower girl, a beaming smile as she walked confidently down the aisle that day.

We settled into our new life together, though to be honest I wasn't really ready to be a father! Sarah adored me and, when she wasn't throwing the occasional tantrum, we got along extremely well.

Then there was the accident. Debbie and I had decided that we wanted Sarah to have a sibling, hopefully close to her in age, and so we tried as hard as we could to make that happen. Ok. We were madly in love and we both loved sex. The sex was extraordinary. I was not really very experienced, having been a bit shy as a teenager but Debbie did things and took me to places in bed (and in other places in the house once Sarah was asleep) that were beyond my wildest dreams.

No baby arrived though and we had begun to wonder if there was some problem. I was working as a home security consultant in a business I had set up with a friend from school. He handled the hardware and installations. I handled the IT and we were very successful. Debbie called me at work just before our second wedding anniversary to say that she was on her way home from the doctor and I should get home early and be prepared! I tried to get her to tell me what she meant but I could hear her smiling at the other end of the phone as she said "You will have to wait!"

I finished up and raced home. Sarah was being looked after by the next door neighbour, Tracy. She was a stay at home mum whose husband earned enough for her to look after their four children and the household. Their youngest, Rachel, had turned 16 a couple of months before and I think both Tracy and Robert were beginning to look forward to a different life once all their children were out of school. The older three had already moved away to University and Rachel helped Tracy looking after Sarah when her schoolwork didn't get in the way. I collected Sarah and went home to wait.

After an hour I began to get concerned. I tried calling Debbie's mobile but there was no answer. Then there was a knock at the door, which surprised me. Instead of Debbie's beaming smile there were two Police officers standing on the doorstep, looking grim.

When they asked if they could come in I began to feel seriously ill. They asked if anyone else was home and if I had any family members close by. I said that there were no family close but asked if it was ok to bring in a friend. When they agreed I called Tracy next door and asked her to come over, both to be there for what I feared I was going to hear and to help look after Sarah.

Tracy came straight over and as soon as we all sat down they told me. Debbie had been driving home and seemed to have been distracted. She had failed to stop at a Stop sign and had been hit by a truck coming from her right hand side. She died instantly. The truck driver was in hospital in shock but was not hurt. Debbie's purse had been thrown from the car and it was only after her body had been removed from the car that it was found and she was identified.

Through my tears I saw them handing me her purse and phone, the screen smashed, and a folded piece of paper, slightly smeared with a stain that looked like blood. I opened the paper and read without taking in what the words meant. The female officer, sounding like she was close to tears herself, explained. "It is a positive test. It means that your wife was pregnant. I am very sorry."

I can't really remember much of what happened after that. Tracy told me that I seemed to collapse into myself. I thanked everyone for being there. I asked Tracy to look after Sarah for a while for me. Then I opened a bottle of Scotch and lost myself.

Tracy told me that she came back a couple of hours later and found me sprawled on the lounge clutching the empty bottle. She got Robert to help and they put me into bed, with a large glass of water and some paracetamol on the bedside table and a note to say that Sarah was staying the night with them.

I woke in a blur and so much pain but it was only when I reached across to Debbie's side of the bed and found it cold and empty that reality struck and the tears flowed again. Telling Sarah that her mummy was not coming home again was awful. The funeral was heart-wrenching. The way that no-one knew quite what to say was almost unbearable. The only thing that held me together was the hugs. Guys and girls. Friends and neighbours. Those I knew and Debbie's colleagues whose names I vaguely remembered. That helped me get through the disaster.

It took time but we settled into a pattern of coping. I worked from home when I could then when I needed to go into work Tracy looked after Sarah. At least Sarah had the stability of school and she seemed to be coping as far as I could see. Better than me. We both had nightmares though. As time went on Rachel started taking over looking after Sarah more and more. The school they both attended was a huge campus not far from our house which went all the way from Kindergarten to year 12. As it was just down the street I was ok with Rachel collecting Sarah and walking her home. Rachel would get Sarah some afternoon biscuits and milk then sit at the dining room table and do her homework while Sarah played.

When I got home Rachel would go next door again. And so we went on. When I needed to go away for a conference Sarah went to stay next door and Rachel ended up looking after her most of the time. When I had evening meetings Rachel came and babysat. After the second time that I arrived home after 11 pm Tracy and Robert suggested that it might be easier if Rachel slept the night and came home the next morning. The house had plenty of space and spare rooms so this worked well.

Rachel began staying longer after I returned from work and a few times a week she stayed and ate with us before going home. As I look back I think in the next two years Rachel spent as much time in our house as she did at home, if not more! I watched Rachel develop from a shy girl into a confident young woman. A special bond developed between Rachel and Sarah which was clearly important to both of them.

As I said, Sarah seemed to be coping well but some nights she woke crying out. She would come into my bed and I would hold her until she went to sleep again. We kept photos of Debbie around the house and we talked about her often and gradually the pain seemed to ease.

One night I heard Sarah cry out and leapt out of bed, once I had become aware what had woken me. I ran to her room and at first I was confused when she was not in her bed. Then I remembered that it was one of the nights when Rachel was staying over.

In the house there were two bedrooms which shared a bathroom, both having an internal door which opened directly onto that space. Sarah had one as her bedroom and we had set up the other as Rachel's room for when she stayed over. I put a queen sized bed in there, set up a spare computer in case she needed it for her homework and Rachel had even begun to leave some of her clothes in the cupboard and a spare toothbrush with some other toiletries in the bathroom to save having to bring everything over every time. Rachel always stayed over when I was out late for meetings but she had also asked to stay on nights when her parents went out in the evening. Otherwise she would have been home alone and she preferred to be at our place with Sarah.

I went quietly through the bathroom to Rachel's room. Both doors were already open and there was a low light glimmering in the darkness of the room beyond.

Rachel and Sarah were lying together on the bed. It was a hot night and so Rachel had pulled back the top sheet and they were both in thin short nighties. If this was a couple I would have said they were 'spooning'. Rachel was cuddling Sarah into her and Sarah had her back to Rachel while in front she was tightly hugging her favourite soft toy, a large cuddly penguin. Rachel was stroking Sarah's hair softly and as I approached she looked up and put her finger to her lips, encouraging me to be quiet. Sarah was asleep again, or perhaps had not properly woken when she had the nightmare and cried out and ended up in Rachel's room.

I must have thought before I went to bed about the fact that Rachel was sleeping over because, although I usually slept naked, especially in summer and on warmer nights, I was at least wearing some cotton boxers. I smiled as I looked at Rachel cuddling Sarah, obviously with love, and I knew she was safe. Then my mind began to take in more of what I could see in front of me.

When they had settled into the bed Rachel clearly had to shuffle down to hold Sarah comfortably. That meant that the light cotton nighty she was wearing had risen on her body and behind Sarah's tiny body I could see clearly Rachel's legs all the way up to her naked hips and up to the side of her waist. Sarah's bum covered the centre of Rachel's body but quite clearly the light thin cotton nighty was all that Rachel was wearing.

Obviously I had 'noticed' Rachel before. This beautiful young woman had been staying at our house many nights. In the morning she usually appeared with a light robe wrapped around her, over her nighty. Especially in summer when she came to look after Sarah after school she usually changed into very short shorts and a t-shirt. She was comfortable in our home and relaxed here and even though I had noticed her developing body I had been very careful not to look too long or too obviously or to let my thoughts go there beyond fleeting recognition that she was becoming a very sexy young woman.

Now my body betrayed me. As I looked at her, half exposed to me I felt my erection start to stir and the movement caught Rachel's attention. I felt deeply embarrassed but the more I tried to settle my mind and my body the opposite seemed to happen. Very quickly the tent inside my boxers must have been very obvious. Her partly naked body was gorgeous. The light in the room was enough to reveal her to me and me to her.

I looked across to see how Rachel was reacting, expecting her to be embarrassed or upset or disturbed. Instead, while her eyes were wide open, she was not looking worried at all. She kept her eyes locked on my groin for what seemed like hours but must have been barely minutes. When she looked up again to my face I am sure I was blushing and I mouthed the words "Sorry. Thank you for looking after Sarah. I will leave her with you. She should be ok now. See you in the morning."

If I had been speaking aloud that would surely have been a garble of words tumbling out of me. Instead I made sure I mouthed the words slowly so that she would understand. Rachel nodded. Smiled. Then her eyes drifted down again to my groin and she smiled a deeper smile, looked up again quickly and blew me a kiss, then closed her eyes, lowered her head and snuggled into Sarah again.

I fled as quickly and quietly as I could. What was I doing! What was I going to do?! I relied on Rachel for the pattern of my life. Sarah needed her and loved her. Would she tell her parents? Would she just decide not to come back or never to stay the night again? What would happen???

I lay on my bed, thoughts swirling, worried yet also, if it was possible, even more aroused than I had been when standing in her room. My erection was so hard now that it was painful inside my boxers. So I slid them off and lay naked on the sheet. The swirl of thoughts were swept away by the mental image which filled my mind.

Rachel's long smooth legs. Her hips. The glimpse I had of her smooth skin on the edge of her waist and the curve of her belly sliding down towards ...

As my imagination filled in the parts of her body I had not actually seen my erection became so hard that the ache brought a moan to my lips. I reached into the bedside drawer and grabbed a bottle of massage oil with one hand but the other hand was already holding my throbbing penis. As I pumped up and down I thought of Rachel, that smile, and in my mind I rolled her back on the bed, moved my body over her, moved her legs slowly apart and slowly slid deep, deep inside her. Then with every pump of my hand I felt myself sliding in, gripped by her tight young wet pussy.

Very quickly, more quickly than I wanted or expected, I came, more than I could remember ever before. Immediately remorse swept through my mind. This young woman is Sarah's friend. She is the daughter of my neighbours and friends. They have trusted me with her. She has trusted me. What am I doing?? Lusting after her was betrayal but oh so overwhelming, so compulsive, so impossible to rid from my mind.

I cleaned up myself and the bed and a very restless night with little sleep followed.

In the morning I wondered what would happen. What would Rachel say? I was making coffee and toast for my usual breakfast when Sarah skipped down the stairs dragging Rachel by the hand. Rachel was fully covered again, her robe completely decent revealing nothing more than what I had seen any morning before. As Sarah chattered away, as usual, I watched Rachel carefully through the corner of my eye. She seemed as normal as always. After nibbling her usual two triangles of toast with butter and strawberry jam and downing her glass of milk Sarah decided it was time to get dressed. She pulled on Rachel's hand to follow her to the room to help but Rachel said softly "Go ahead sweetie, I will be there in a moment."

When Sarah skipped away Rachel turned to face me. "Here it comes" I thought. "Now she will reveal how she is going to expose me."

Instead Rachel leaned in towards me and smiled. "Mr D. Please don't worry. Thank you for letting me be here. You know I love Sarah and I could never leave her."

"But" I said "last night ... I am so embarrassed ... I don't know what to say ... I cant explain ..."

Rachel smiled again. "Really Mr D. Don't worry. Everything is fine." And with that she skipped out of the room after Sarah.

I was both relieved and confused. Rachel took Sarah to school as it was a weekday but I could not concentrate. I collected Sarah from school that day and soon after we got home I got a call from Tracy asking if she and Robert could come over and talk to me about something important. I agreed but was already resigned to admit what had happened and lose my friends and the stability which had held Sarah's life and my life together.

I greeted them both and offered coffee, or something stronger if they wanted. They declined and we sat down. "It is about Rachel" Tracy began. I shuddered, but then sat in shock as Tracy continued. "You know that she is in her final year of secondary school. It is only a week until her final exams. We have been thinking a lot about what happens next in all our lives. You know that her brothers all decided to go to University in Melbourne. We have an opportunity which has opened up for us there to move our business and there is a role for me to take up, something I have been preparing for all this time at home. It is the chance of a lifetime."

"That sounds great" I replied cautiously. "It will be a fantastic new start for you there. ... You said this was about Tracy? Is it because she will be leaving soon and won't be able to look after Sarah anymore?"

"No, exactly the opposite" said Robert. "She just turned 18 but has always had a mind of her own. She wants to study here locally."

"Ok" I said." I hear they have great Colleges at that Uni. I studied there. Several friends of mine studied there though I lived around here so I never needed to find accommodation."

"That is just the thing," interjected Tracy. "We don't want her to stay in a College and neither does she."

"So what will she do?"

"That is why we are here," said Robert. "This past two years as Rachel has been caring for Sarah we know that they have become very close, and they have a special bond. We know how hard it was when Debbie died and we believe that Rachel has helped you both to heal."

"It has made a big difference to her as well. She has grown into a wonderful caring young woman and we believe we have both you and Sarah to thank for that," added Tracy.

I raised my eyebrows. My question still had not been answered. "So," said Tracy "we want to ask a favour of you. A big favour."

"Okay." And I waited.

Robert leapt in "We are ready to move as soon as Rachel is finished year 12. We will wait for then and after she has graduated we will move. But we want her to stay here."

"Here in Perth?"

"Well, yes" said Tracy quickly "But more than that. We want her to stay here. With you and Sarah. Please agree. Please. We know she will be happy and comfortable and safe here. It will be the best thing for everyone. Please consider it carefully. We can pay board for Rachel to help cover the cost of her being here of course."

Then silence. They waited. My mind was racing. 'Safe?' After last night could Rachel really be safe here? But it did make a lot of sense and I would need to control myself and shift those patterns in my mind.

"You don't have to decide straight away," urged Tracy. "Take time if you need to."

In one of those moments that shapes the future I decided. "Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes, that will work. I don't know what we would do without Rachel and by the time she has finished her degree Sarah will be older and more able to cope. It will be fine, for all of us."

Tracy leapt across and hugged me. I wasn't sure if it was relief that Rachel would really be safe and secure or that she was just relieved that they could plan the next stage of their lives together. Whatever her intentions it was a nice hug. "You both come over for dinner tonight and we can work out all the details" she said.

That night, Sarah's hand in mine and a bottle of decent Margaret River red wine tucked under my arm, we went next door for dinner and the conversation. Rachel opened the door and greeted us both with big hugs, just a normal everyday kind of hug, then she took Sarah's hand and led her off to play. Tracey and Robert already had a bottle of bubbles open so we started with that and set the red aside for later.

"Thank you again," said Tracy. "You don't know how much this will mean to us, to be able to be there with the boys and to make this new start for the business!"

"It is fine," I replied. "Really. I have been thinking. Rachel already has that room where she has been staying. We can set up the other spare room as her study and between the two rooms there MIGHT be space for all her clothes and the other things she wants to bring across with her. It will work. We will make it work."

That makes it sound like I was being really responsible and mature about this. In fact, apart from those details, I had spent much of the last couple of hours imagining Rachel naked on my bed, masturbating as I imagined. Even that 'chaste' hug at the door had set me off again and I was glad I had a glass in my hand to balance in front of my stiffening groin.