Black to White by TarnishedPenny

This time, I didn’t have to put his arms around me.

I wriggled against him, just enough to express my happiness.

“Thank you for that, too, Paul. Thank you so much for trusting me.”

That earned me a gentle hug.

It was peaceful, pleasant. I allowed myself to relax, my body flowing into his, molding myself against him. It’d never been this way for me before; I was finding that I liked it a great deal.

I liked the way his hand was moving over my hair with soft, fond strokes. I liked his skin against mine, liked the sound of his breathing, liked his warmth, the way his chest felt under my fingertips. It brought a new level of contentment to me.

“Sam,” he began.

“Mmm?”

He paused as I shifted to lie on top of him. My hands slid down to either side of his chest, my breasts flattened against his chest.

His hands came up, held me around my waist and I smiled happily.

I smiled again as I felt a soft touch at my hip, well away from his hands. This was entirely new to me and my eyes opened wide. I wasn’t objecting, mind.

I felt ready now. I inhaled deeply, held it with the joy of discovery.

I lifted, raised my lips towards him – and jumped at the sound of a loud knock at the door.

The door opened a crack. Devon’s voice came through from the hall. Paul suddenly looked petrified.

“Daddy?”

“Um, I’m not dressed, Devon.”

“I’m coming in, Daddy. You and Sam have ten seconds to cover up.”

I rolled off him, came to rest under his arm. He yanked up the duvet to our noses, leaving us looking like something out of a British sitcom.

The door opened. To my relief, Devon’s face was calm, almost serene. She kept her gaze averted from us and I could sense Paul relax slightly. In her hands was a tray with two cups of coffee. She walked to his side of the bed, set a cup down on the side table, then around to my side with the second cup.

She paused by the door on her way out and for the first time looked her father in the eyes.

“I’m doing it this way so that you can’t try to pretend, Daddy — not to me, not to Sam and not even to yourself.”

She looked down, bent over and picked my discarded nightie off the floor. She contemplated it for a moment then looked back and forth at us in bed before setting the flimsy thing down on a chair.

“I love you both. Breakfast is in half an hour.”

With that, the door closed behind her.

+

What followed was, to say the least, a bit difficult.

Much to my regret, Paul had been too embarrassed to share his en suite  shower. I’d used the main bathroom, skipped washing my hair and still beat him to the kitchen.

Devon’s eyebrows rose as I entered the kitchen.

“So?”

“So, nothing. Devon, like I said, we just cuddled.”

“Less your nightgown.” There was a twinkle in her eye.

“Mmm-hmm, yeah. But it was just cuddling, Devon. And so you know, liked it. Your dad’s a nice guy.”

She was about to say something when Paul entered, took his plate and sat down.

Silence filled the room, blanketed the meal. Devon and I had tried to get a conversation going, but each of us around the table now ate alone, as solitary as if we’d been in separate rooms.

Paul was entirely silent, totally focusing on his food. The spaniels didn’t seem to notice one way or the other. They stood in a circle around the table, waiting to do an emergency cleanup if anybody dropped a piece of toast.

I finally put down my muffin, wiped my mouth on the napkin.

“OK, awkward,” I announced.

The two looked at me. Devon giggled but Paul actually blushed.

“I mean, really?” I said, trying not to blush myself as they stared at me.

“Look, why are we like this? Nothing happened.”

Paul’s eyes dropped to his plate.

I reached out, took them by their hands.

I saw Devon nod in support and was deeply thankful she didn’t mention my nightgown. She turned to her father, took his hand.

“Daddy.” Then again, more forcefully, “Daddy!”

He looked up at her.

“Did  anything happen? ”

He flushed, shot a glance at me. “Of course not!”

She squeezed his hand, changed her tone and instantly became much more matter-of-fact.

“OK, then. Nothing happened. So, what are your plans for today, Daddy?”

Paul looked a bit shell-shocked. His day had been one whiplash after another. I could see him try to pull himself together.

“Um… There’s some stuff to catch up on at the office. I should go in.”

She smiled gently. Just another normal day…

“Will we see you for lunch?”

He thought for a second, shook his head.

“Probably not, Devon.”

“Then we’ll see you for dinner.”

She squeezed his hand again, turned to me.

I was trying hard not to grin at the expression on her father’s face – still embarrassed, but oh, so lovable. He was still 100 percent Paul and I felt my heart go out to him.

“What would you like to do today, Sam?” she asked.

“Um, I need to do a bit of shopping, but I can call an Uber or something.”

“Where are you off to?”

I named a local supermall.

“I need some stuff, too, Sam. We can go together. I’ll even flip you for lunch! ”

I thought about that. I owed her a lot more than just lunch.

“Thank you.”

.

We didn’t hurry after Paul drove away. We took the dogs for a walk and got to the mall no sooner than we had to. We lingered here, window shopped there, talked of nothing much, tried on clothes – just two friends passing time. Eventually, she pointed out a sushi place she said was pretty good.

It was, too.

I lost the toss and caught the eye of the server.

“Where next?” Devon asked as I tucked the receipt into my purse. “It’s been nice, but you said you needed something.”

I named a lingerie chain, a high end one with a reputation for very feminine (read ‘very sexy’) items.

Devon flushed. She’d been supportive, but ‘supportive’ only went so far.

“Sam! I am not going to watch you trying on lingerie to wear for my father!”

I choked on my tea, almost sprayed the table between us.

“What? Oh, heck no, Devon! But the wire in one of my bras is starting to poke through and I want to replace it. It’s where I normally go.”

She said nothing, looked at my skeptically.

I raised my one hand, crossed my heart with the other.

“I promise. You get the veto, Devon.”

She seemed mollified and actually knew her way to the store.

+

We got home in the mid-afternoon to find that the pool was calling. I put on a fairly conservative swimsuit and did some lengths. Shoulders protesting — how did Paul manage so many laps each morning?  — I got out and dropped into a chair beside her.

“Devon, I really appreciate your being so chill about all this.”

She turned her head, grinned.

“S’okay, Sam. It was a bit of a shock at first, but I believe you now.

“And you think how he looked at breakfast this morning was grim? I’ve seen him look a lot worse than that, Sam. So, you know what? I think you’re good for Daddy.”

Good old rock-solid Devon pragmatism. I’d been hoping that would kick in.

She reached out, held my hand.

“Thinking it over, Sam, it’s great that you got through to him at all. I really have been worried the past couple of years.”

I squeezed her hand.

“Well, you made it a lot less awkward, Devon. Um, is there something he really likes for dinner, something I could make for him? You know, comfort food?”

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