I Missed You

You’d barely gotten up from your chair when the light of your life, the center of your world, and your pride and joy comes bursting through the study door. With that same ebullient energy she’d had since she was old enough to start crawling and getting into trouble Penelope flies across the room to scoop you up off of your feet in a great big bear hug.

“DADDY!” Burying her face in your shoulder she squeezes you tight, and for Penny that was pretty damn tight! Tall and built like an amazonian warrior goddess your daughter’s build couldn’t be more different than your svelte physique or Elsie’s petite softness.

Early in Elsie’s pregnancy, after you’d both made it clear that she would be carrying it to term, your aunt had approached the pair of you with an offer you felt at the time you couldn’t refuse. Leveraging the mutant gene that made your family so special your scientist aunt explained how not only could she nullify the risks of your taboo genetic pairing but she could also give your unborn child a leg up that other parents would have traded anything for. An enhanced immune system, superior memory and cognition, augmented strength and speed and stamina, and the list of options went on. Being young and foolish you and your sister threw restraint to the wind and, treating it like some video game character builder, had Peg turn up all the dials to the max. After all, why shouldn’t your child have every advantage that she could?

In hindsight there were regrets for giving in to the temptation of a perfect ‘designer’ baby. The biggest, obviously, was the complications it caused later in the pregnancy that eventually cost your sister her life. You and El had the chance to end things beforehand to try to save her but with a mother’s courage Elsie would not have it. A distant second to that one was your choice to tweak the looks of your offspring. You and Elsie had come up with this idea that if you altered the child’s appearance that nobody would ever suspect its true parentage. Together you’d come up with this whole story about Elsie having a one-night stand with some mystery man. To place that cover story beyond all doubt you’d given your child to be the genes for blond hair, blue eyes, and freckles, features that neither you nor El had yourselves. Penny still had touches of Elsie’s unique beauty but in hindsight you wished, for her appearance at least, that you’d let nature take its course. The amount of control you’d exerted on your daughter’s biology felt so very wrong now. You’d played God and payed the price.

But none of those regrets changed how you felt about this miracle that you’d helped to bring into the world. Penny was so much more than the sum of her genetics. For all of your meddling she’d turned out to be a person all her own.

“Oh.” You hug her back and kiss her soft hair. “I missed you, Peanut.”

“Oh Daddy! I missed you too!” As the smell of strawberries fills your nose she squeezes you right to the point of crushing you but, as always, stays safely on the side of not harming you. Your back was cracking and you could barely breath but take her embrace without complaint. You were used to these hugs. “I missed youuuu!”

“Heyyy.” You pet her long blond curly hair. “Don’t you start crying. You’ll make me cry!”

You spoke the truth. Having her in your arms again already had you misty-eyed. For fifteen years, since the day you’d moved out of Mom’s house, it had just been you and her. Your mom and big sis were still a huge part of your life but you were careful to keep your own space and the red lines of taboo brightly marked. With Peg, Chloe, and Elsie all out of the equation and you protecting your daughter the old Bailey ways had become a thing of the past. For all those year it had been just one rambunctious daughter and a struggling single dad doing their best. There were ups and downs, struggles and tribulations, but you wouldn’t have traded a single day of it away for anything. But time passes and the seasons change. Last year she’d graduated and after a wonderful summer together Penny moved away for college. You were so damn proud of her, so proud that it made your heart ache with joy, yet oh how you missed her being around. For so long Penny had been your only purpose and your guiding star, now that she was gone everything felt so…empty. But you had her back again! One whole heavenly week of how things used to be!

She giggles that one of a kind giggle of hers and sets your feet back down onto the floor. Stepping back she half laughs and half sniffles as she wipes her big, brilliant azure eyes. She smooths her pastel pink sundress then sorts of bounces on her toes in that way she that made her curls bounce. Despite her imposing physique Penny was very much a girly girl, a perfect princess, which delighted her grandma to no end. Elsie, while feminine, had always had a geeky chic to her, Fiona had a bad ass bitch vibe, and cousin Chloe, well…Chloe was Chloe. In her granddaughter your mom had, for the first time, a willing and enthusiastic parter to explore the joys of frills, bows, shopping, hair salons and make-overs. Though muscular Penny fit into her dress like a dream. She had chiseled shoulders and arms and…everything yet maintained her lovely feminine curves. And she still had the full Bailey hips, ass and bust and the ethereal poise and beauty passed down from her mother put her in a class of her own. Had you been twenty years younger and not her dad…she would have been WAY out of your league.

“It’s good to be home.” She says with all her heart. “It is so good to be home!”

“It’s good to have you home.” You say with equal love. “Fiona’s driver was there to pick you up?”

“Yeah. He was…fine.” She says. “Do all of her people really HAVE to wear collars? It’s so embarrassing!”

You chuckle. “We could fly out to the mansion to ask her. A chopper ride is only a phone call away.”

“No way! Nuh uh!” She shakes her head. “I’m home and I’m not going anywhere! Not today anyway.”

“That’s my girl.” You grin. “I hope you don’t mind but I thought I’d make my lasagna for supper tonight.”

Your smile grows as Penny nearly swoons with delight. “Oh my God…YESSSS!!! My favorite!”

“Oh? You still like lasagna?” You tease. “I thought maybe being at Harvard you’d developed a more sophisticated palate.”

“Nope!” She shakes her head. “There is nothing in the whole world better than MY Daddy’s special lasagna.”

Raising Penny you’d become adept at dishes that made a lot for a little. Since right from the start when she’d suckle your wet-nurse mother’s big titties dry the girl could EAT! Casseroles, stews, slow-cooker pot roast and veggies, chili and other such belly-fillers had become your specialties with lasagna being your signature dish.

As Penny stares at you something changes. A tiny twitch of her eye, a barely perceptible fading of her smile and a dimming of that bright spark in her soul triggers your fatherly instincts to tell you that something was going on in that head of hers.

“It’s good to be home.” She says again at a whisper.

Stepping forward you take her hand and gaze up into her eyes. “What’s wrong, Peanut?”

She averts her gaze and shakes her head. “I’m just happy to be home.” Closing her eyes she lets out a long sigh. “It’s been too long.” Her voice trembles and her bottom lip begins to quiver. “I m-missed you Daddy.”

“Ohhh. Come here.” You pull her into another hug. This time she shrinks down into you to let you give her a proper fatherly embrace.

“I missed youuu Daddyyyy!”

“Shhh. It’s okay, baby. I’m right here.” Kissing her head you hug her tight. “You’re home. We’ve got a whole week together. A whole week!”

“Yeah.” She whispers and clings to your slim body as if she were getting pulled under in a choppy sea and you were a life preserver. “A whole week.”

You hold her close for as long as she needed it. Life had been tough on Penny. Growing up without a mom and being raised by her a busy single dad would take its toll on any kid. But being in elementary school when the ‘big secret’ was revealed to the world, getting teased unmercifully for her size and her anatomy, and having to live everyday in a world where the people around her didn’t enjoy the super-human gifts that she possessed Penelope had always felt isolated from the world around her. Through it all though she always had her loving Daddy and this cozy little condominium that she called home. Until now. You knew she’d been feeling homesick. Only now did you appreciate just how deep those feelings went.

“Daddy?” She asks softly.

“Yeah, Peanut?”

“Um…” She sighs. “Nothing.”

“Come on now.” You pull back to look at her face, your hand gently holding her thick, muscular shoulders. “You might be a smarty pants college lady now but I know when something is wrong with my little girl. You can’t hide from me. Out with it.”

She smiles, a sweet yet slightly sad little smile. “You know me so well.”

“I ought to.”

“I just…I really missed you, Daddy.”

You knew there was more but decide to let her open up in her own time. Whatever it was it would come out when she was ready.

“Hey.” You pinch her chin. “Did you meet the new roomie yet?”

“Oh!” Her face lights up. “No!” Looking around the floor she asks. “Where is he?”

“Probably sunning himself on the balcony.”

“AHHH!” She squeals then crushes you in a second anaconda hug before rushing back out of the room. “Kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty! OH! There you are! AAAAHHHHH! DAD! HE’S SOOOO CUUUUTE!!!”

You laugh like you hadn’t laughed since last year. Before following you glance to the photo of Elsie. She stares back at you with those deep, dark eyes and, you’d swear on her grave, that she was smiling just a little bit brighter.