I reached over to hit snooze on my alarm clock. Today was Valentine's Day and I didn't really feel like getting up. Ever since my wife Alex died of Leukemia, holidays like Valentine's day and our anniversary were just a bittersweet reminder of what I lost. I loved her so much, and it was really hard watching her condition deteriorate. Today was especially hard, because it was also the 1 year anniversary of her death. That's right, she left me on Valentine's Day. So I just closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep.
I felt a gentle nudge, followed by a gently pleading voice calling "Daaad".
I just groaned a bit, pretending to be asleep. I didn't need to open my eyes, anyway; I already knew I would see the face of my beautiful daughter, Ashley. She got both her looks and her personality from her mother, she was always so kind and empathetic. I felt the bed move as she climbed into the other side.
"Wake up dad," she gently pleaded. "I made you breakfast."
I guess I was obligated to be conscious today. She knew this day would be hard on me, but I also knew it was hard on her--it was also the day she lost her mother.
"Ughhh", I groaned again, making a show of being groggy and disoriented. I rolled over and came almost face to face with her. I did a double-take; she looked just like Alex as she lay on her pillow bearing the same "good morning" smile I was greeted with every morning for years. Some part of me wanted to pretend it was Alex, to embrace one last time as husband and wife--but this wasn't Alex, it was my daughter Ashley.
"Morning Ash" I said, reaching my arm around her and placing my hand on her back to rub it gently. She was still in her nightgown and I could tell she wasn't wearing a bra yet, so she must have just gotten up herself not too long ago. She's 22 now, so definitely not a little girl any more; but sometimes she still acted a little goofy. She was staying here to save money while she went to a local college, ostensibly--in truth I think she felt bad about leaving me alone and found excuses to stay here.
"Come on, sleepyhead," she prodded, "breakfast is getting cold." She grabbed my hand to pull me up and started to guide me in the direction of the door to go downstairs.
"Ok hold on now," I said as I pulled away. "I will be down in a bit," I said as I walked over to the bathroom.
Every morning I could feel my body getting older. I had to go to the bathroom, and it seemed to always take longer to empty my bladder out. I had a slight complication this morning, though; remembering Alex and seeing her in Ashley's face as I woke up had strengthened my usual morning wood, so it took a bit more time than usual. While I was with Alex, I had always sat down to pee out of respect for her, but since her death I had reverted back to peeing standing up. As I stood there going, I felt a presence like someone watching me.
As I finished, I came out to wash my hands and realized that Ashley was still standing there in her nightgown, and she was probably able to see the whole thing via the mirrored doors on the closet. I started to blush a little bit, shaming myself that I didn't close the door. I blamed it on being out of sorts today and pushed it out of my mind.
"Okay," I said drying my hands, "let's see about this breakfast."
The table had a red tablecloth--which was odd, since we usually only used for Christmas. There was a hearty breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs ready for us. I sat down as I took in the delicious smells. The pancakes were shaped like hearts and lined with bacon around the outside. "Oooh fancy," I remarked about them.
She responded between bites, "I have been experimenting with making different shapes out of pancakes, and hearts were my latest invention."
"How did you do the angle on the bottom?" I asked, genuinely curious.
She paused to swallow again and reply "Nutcracker".
"Wow!" I managed between bites. I was continually amazed at her ingenuity as she grew up, she always found clever ways to do things. I was the Engineer of the family, so I guess she got that part of her personality from me.
"What are these strawberries supposed to be?" I said. The pancake had two strawberries placed upside down with the tops having been cut off; a line of cream cheese icing went from one side of the pancake to the other, moving underneath each strawberry on one side.
"Those are..." she started to explain, her face getting a little bit red. "To remind you of Mom".
I stared at them blankly for a few seconds thinking about it, until it hit me--boobs. My daughter put boobs and a bra on these valentine's day pancakes. I closed my eyes and exhaled with a chuckle.
"Today is... today, I know," she struggled to explain, "I wanted to remind you of good things--better times."
My slight chuckles started turning into sobs and tears started to well up a bit in my eyes.
"Awww dad!" she came over and pulled my head into her chest as she hugged me tight.
"It's..." I said, still somehow managing a smile, "They're nice." I honestly wasn't sure if I meant the strawberries or the tits around my head...maybe both. I could tell through the nightshirt that they weren't small, but also not massive either; probably somewhere between a C or D cup like her mothers'. I reached my hand around her hip to hold her close; I knew it was probably wrong, but I let myself enjoy their softness for a bit--it helped ease the pain a bit.
I turned to put a little kiss into her stomach then pulled back to look up at her to reassure her that I was okay, "Thank you, Ash."
We finished breakfast and I cleaned everything up as she went back up to get dressed and stuff. As I turned the water in the sink off, I still heard it running.
Ash must be taking a shower,