Meddling, Chapter 1 (M/FF, paternal - eventually)

[beguiling]

What can I say about this one? The kernel of the idea for this was born from a relationship that I was in some years back. The relationship ended, as all good things must, and so this story has always held a deep and special place in my heart. I actually started writing this during that time, in fact, and I've often wondered what might have happened, had I behaved in any way like this in RL. This story was - and is - harder to write than any of my others. I hope, though, that it is good enough for you to enjoy.

Other than myself (and yes, there are distinct pieces of me in one of the characters :-p ), any similarities to people, places or animals is purely accidental. The people I loved were the inspiration, but not the characters.

Enjoy.

“Well, I think you’re crazy.” I nibbled my fingernail a moment as I read the IM text message from my sister.

We were an odd kind of family. Several years ago, I’d met a man, Joe, on the spanking chat site that I liked. We formed a friendship, met in real life and, eventually, he ‘adopted’ me. He had teenaged kids of his own, but he never once hesitated to add me to the mix. He’s the only man I’ve ever known that was as comfortable with the little kid inside of me as he was with the grownup me. He’s the only man I’ve ever called ‘Daddy’ – something I generally only did when I was feeling very much like that little kid, or when I was in trouble.

About a year after Dad added me to the family – by telling me that I wasn’t allowed to call him Joe anymore, even in front of his kids – Dad had met Ariel online and liked her. I don’t know if he ever worried about me being jealous of her, but it wouldn’t have mattered. I eventually met her online and liked her just as much. There was never a question about it; we just brought her into the family, and she became my sister. Ha. Now she was stuck with us. Sometimes Dad teased, saying that he’d brought her into the family to make me better behaved, not so I could make her misbehave more. I generally responded that he’d brought her into the family to help her loosen up a little. Not that she needed it, trust me.

In any event, Dad’s RL kids had gotten comfortable with us and loved us as much as we did them. It’s funny, but they never questioned at all. They just accepted both of us as more than friends, and even started to introduce us as their sisters. I liked to tell myself that they had no idea of the full relationship Ari and I had with their father, but they were some smart brats, err, kids. We were just a tight and loving, if somewhat odd, family.

I pulled my fingernail from my mouth before I nibbled it down to the first knuckle. Ari might’ve had a point this time. Meddling is a talent of mine. Dad prefers to call it a bad habit and was rather pointed about me not applying that habit in his direction. After a pretty firm conversation that came within a squeak of me getting spanked, I’d promised Dad I wouldn’t meddle in his life.

Yet, here I was hatching a plot. A damn good one, if I did say so myself. But, still, a plot. Which meant I was going back on my word. That, in and of itself, was bothering me a lot. That was worse than the fact that I was disobeying Dad. I was pretty sure I knew how he’d feel about that. Still. This was for a truly good reason. He needed this, he just wouldn’t let himself try it. Dad had met Pam through a friend. They’d talked online, and I knew he liked her. A lot. But he hadn’t gone any further. I knew we – Ari and I and his original kids – were part of why he was hesitating, and that was making me crazy. Did the ends justify the means? Was Dad’s happiness worth me breaking a promise? If I looked at it that way, the answer was ‘hell yes!’.

With some major effort, I shoved the growing guilt down, buried it and nodded. If Dad and Pam would meet. Just once. Or even get started talking again. That’s all I was looking for. For them to start talking. I’d never seen Dad get that excited about someone. He kind of gets this look on his face when he finds them interesting. And he got almost that look about Pam. It was like he found her more interesting than anyone else. He got that look a lot. Because he’d shared her email with me, I had sent her a note, and we had an email conversation for a bit. After he found that out, out Dad had even asked me about her. He’d started the conversation with me. Asking me what I thought about her, and about what she and I had talked about. He never does that. I knew he really liked Pam. I just needed to get him to take a step in her direction.

To assuage my conscience, I told Ari again my idea. If Dad and Pam got back in touch, and nothing happened again, fine. If that happened, I’d drop it completely, because I’d accept that meant they weren’t really interested in each other. Not as a couple. But, as things were now, they’d simply never had a chance to find out. Instead, life had interfered. What’s fair in that? They needed my help. It’s not really meddling. It’s just … being helpful. I was pretty proud of how firm my voice was as I explained all of this to my sister.

“Yeah. Sure. It’s meddling, sis. And you know how Dad feels about that. AND he is not goin to stop at The Look. And you know it. He’s going to pull out the paddle. I hate that paddle!”

I paused. She had another point. Dad had this horrid black stiff leather paddle that he used when we’d really misbehaved. It was pretty deadly. Still, this was a good cause, and an important thing to do. That paddle alone was enough to make me hesitate. Again. Dad’s Look was deadly. Add in that paddle? Okay, I wasn’t going to think about it. This was a great plan. It would work. It had to work.

“Listen, Ari, don’t worry! I don’t even know if she’s going to agree to come up. She might not. Besides, if she does, all you have to do is get Dad to come to an early dinner at the diner he likes. Other than that, you’re not involved. You don’t know anything. No habla espanol, okay? You’re outta the danger zone.” I guess I really did have the ability to ignore any reality, as Ari would say, when I focused on a plot.

“Yeah, right. He’s going to believe that. Cuz really, when do we do stuff like this without talking to each other about them first hmm?? Especially when it’s involving Daddy?”

“Okay, you have a point, dammit. Then I’ll make sure he knows nothing. No, I don’t know how. Yet.” But I had a plan. I always did.

We chatted for a little more, but I knew Ari was in. She was all for making Dad happy. Her only concern had been that, if Pam – or any woman for that matter – entered Dad’s life, she didn’t want anyone becoming our “Mom”.

Dad had never hesitated at accepting and dealing with the four-year-old kids inside of both Ari and I, and he was good at it. His ability to parent us as adults and as those little kids amazed me. And always made me wonder what I’d done to deserve such a terrific guy. He is a wonderful man and a wonderful parent, and we wanted that wonderful parent to have a full and wonderful life. Which included having a girlfriend. Or more, if that’s what he wanted from a relationship. But Ari and I didn’t want that relationship to develop into anything more regarding us. It’s not that we had anything against Pam. Like I said, Dad liked her, we liked her. Heck, she got my jokes and even understood about the littles inside sis and me, and encouraged ‘em. She was a grand lady. But we wanted her as a friend, and a girlfriend for Dad. What can I say? We were Daddy’s girls.

I lived close enough that I could pop over whenever I liked, but I generally kept visits to weekends, so I wouldn’t invade too much is his RL kids’ time with him. This was one of my weekends ‘home’. Dad helped make things a lot easier by taking a side job that afternoon. He would be gone another three hours. I had dinner bubbling in the crock-pot, the RL kids were out at their friends, and I could do my, ummm, “research”.

While Ari and I were IMing each other, I opened my email. I’d debated pretending to be Dad, but that idea quickly went into the trash. Especially since I could honestly write Pam as myself and tell her that I wanted to talk to her. And I could honestly tell her that Dad wanted to talk. Well, I honestly believed he did, so that was good enough for me. I opened up my own e-mail instead, entered her address and, after a few false starts, my fingers were flying, and I’d sent off the e-mail. Of course, now I had to wait to see if she replied.

I never was much good at being patient.

Dad came home earlier than expected and went for the coffee pot, a hug, and his computer – in that order. I hung out in the kitchen, checking my email on his laptop, glancing nervously at his office door each time. Granted, Pam had only had an hour and a half to receive my note, let alone remember me and decide if she even wanted to talk. But, still, I was hopeful.

Unfortunately, my mailbox was pathetically empty. Not even spam. This was going to kill me, and I desperately needed a diversion.

I’d had to call Ari. If I kept wandering around trying to fill time between periods of checking mail, Dad would have been sure to notice. I snagged the cell phone and dialed. The trick now was to be nonchalant until the plan came to fruition. And not have him notice me doing it. Right.

“Hiya, sissy bo bissy!”

“Well, you’re in a cheery mood, silly sister o’ mine.” Her voice was upbeat, as usual. “I guess Dad isn’t home then, huh?”

“Cute, brat.” I giggled with her. “Shows how much you know. He is too home. He’s just fussing on his computer.” I curled onto the couch, popped the TV on and muted it as we started chatting about everything in life. Eventually, the conversation worked its way back around to the current ‘major event’ topic.

“Are you sure about this, sis? I’m in if you are, but if Dad finds out we’re meddling …” Ari’s voice faded off. She didn’t need to finish anyway. My hand crept back to my bottom.

“Yeah. I’m sure.” I didn’t sound it just then, but I was sure. “Besides, I changed the original plan. Remember how I said I was going to create a Yahoo account with Dad’s nick, to email Pam, so she’d think she was talking with him? Well, I still think that’s the best idea for getting her here. I really do. It’d be great. They’ll talk, they’ll meet. They could even end up happily married. Dad’d have sex on a regular basis, the kids’d have a Mom that they liked, we’d have another friend. Life would be grand.”

I’d made my voice all dramatic and playful, and Ari was laughing right along with me. She has the best laugh in the world. “Sure. It’d be grand right up to the moment when Dad asked you about those e-mails he supposedly sent.”

“Ahhh, yeah. Zactly.” I still grinned a little, but the laughter faded. “That’s why the new plan. Not as sure-fire, but much better in the long run. Even if everything turned out perfect, and he was gods-fated to be with this woman… if I sent e-mails pretending to be Dad … well, I don’t think I could handle how unhappy he’d be. And being in trouble is bad enough. Losing his trust would kill me, yanno?”

“I know, sis. That’s why I didn’t want you to do it. It really was the … well, the craziest of all of your ideas, and you sure have some CRAZYYY ideas! But, if you’re not going to do that – and I’m really glad you’re not – what are we going do?”

That’s what I love about my sister. Notice how she went from saying it’s me doing stuff to saying it’s ‘we’ doing stuff? She’s right in there. Even knowing that, if Dad finds out and gets unhappy, we’re definitely going to be in some major hot water. Damn, I love my family.

“Well, this is what I’m thinking. I wrote Pam, but as myself. I’m going to talk to her as me a few times first. Then I’m going to start talking about how Dad wants to talk to her. I’m going to get a feel for it. Then I’ll hint to Dad. I just have to be really careful about that part.” Again, my hand slipped back to rub my bottom. “It’s going to take longer, but it should be worth it.”

“What about Dad?”

Oh boy. “That’ll be trickier. You know how he is.”

“OH, yeah.”

“Soooo,” I sighed, and mentally kissed my ass goodbye. “If Dad seems a little touchy about it, then I’m going to simply kinda hide it from him. I mean, he doesn’t know what Pam looks like, right? So, if he meets someone for dinner, and it just happens to turn out to be her, then hey, whaddya know?! Right?”

There was momentary stunned silence on the other end of the line, and then Ari burst out laughing. “Girl, you are crazy! He is going to kill you when he finds out. Then he is going to kill ME! And we will both be dead!”

“Yeah, welllll . . . “ I couldn’t help it. I started giggling myself. Ari was right. My plans – even the good ones – usually got us scolded at least. As often as I got her into trouble, she should hate me. Instead, she loved me. As much as I loved her. Good thing Dad loved us both.

We chatted for a little bit more, me calming down as we talked. By the time we’d hung up, we’d made plans for me to pick her up the next day so we could hang out at Dad’s all day – and so that she could distract him while I checked and wrote e-mail. Dad finally emerged from his office, and we settled into watch Lord of the Rings: Return of the King one more time during dinner. And all I could think about was checking my e-mail once more before bed.