Thread: All to Herself (Ethereal & Father Figure)

The sudden rush of her up the steps and into his arms came as a surprise and it warmed his heart more than anything she could have done in that moment. He had expected happiness to be sure, but this was something far different and he had to wonder how right he had been about how his little girl had been feeling. It tore at his heart strings as she covered up the fact that tears had been falling down her face, and it made him realize that he had most definitely done the right thing by her this night. It was the depth of her joy at having run up to him, the way her eyes sparkled, the sheer level of excitement...but more than that it was her relief that really got to him, the fact that she was more than pleased, but that he had hit on something that was fundamentally important to her. He wrapped his arms tightly around her to reassure her, to make sure that she understood he was always going to be there for her, and to make sure she remembered that nobody else was as important as she was. She didn't have to do a single thing for him for that to be the truth. Of course he was unsuspecting as to the fact that she intended to prove herself...and that she was willing to go to any length to do so. And why would he? While the darkness that was his fantasy life was something that few would have accepted, it was not a darkness that had eclipsed the world of his daughter. No, for him he idealized her in a way that might truly be the only naivete that the older man had. She was his beautiful girl and she was something special, someone who would never think in the way that he did, someone who was practically pure. He'd understood she had boyfriends, but he respected her privacy and her judgment, never once did it cross his mind that she had done anything more than fumbling attempts at intimacy. His hand reached up and he caressed her hair as she lay her head against his chest, the strong fingers kind as they gently smoothed through her locks, and his chest rose as he inhaled slowly...the scent of her causing a softening of his features. There was nothing but reassurance in the gestures he gave her and as she spoke he leaned back so he could turn his head down to look at her. His voice was comforting as he gave a small kiss to her forehead, those lips as gentle as they had ever been. Of course we can watch a movie, I'll even order some pizza and we can make a night of it, all right? For a moment it seemed like old times, when she was younger, and he allowed that nostalgia to touch the gentleness on his face, almost as if he were seeing her for the little girl she had once been. His hand gave her side a small pinch as he raised his eyebrows at her, before wrapping his arm around her tiny waist and he easily picked her up. She wanted to spend time with her Father, well he would be the one that she had loved her entire life, and he carried her with startling ease down the stairs as he taunted her. What do you think, should we watch a good horror movie or two? You won't get scared, now will you? And with that the uncertainty that had been between them evaporated for him as he, against any protests to the contrary, summarily dumped her cute self onto the couch as if she weighed nothing at all.