Darren, Male, 54

	- Narrator, retired, father of Gwen and Victoria (Vic)

	- 5'11, beige skin, 195lbs, cropped greying brown hair

Audrey, Female, 16

	- High school senior, daughter of Duncan and Theresa

	- 5'9, pale skin, 140lbs, light-green eyes, straight auburn hair over her shoulders

Gwen, Female, 16

	- High school sophomore, daughter of Darren, sister of Victoria

	- 5'6, beige skin, 135lbs, shoulder-length wavy black hair

Victoria (Vic), Female, 14

	- High school freshman, daughter of Darren, sister of Gwen

	- 5'4, beige skin, 120lbs, wavy neck-length light-brown hair

My legs and arms and back were so sore that when Audrey and I returned from our jog, I just had to relax on her bed for a while. Audrey joined me a few moments, and we cuddled and kissed, then she went to shower away the lovely sweat from her body while I dozed.

I woke sometime later, early afternoon, to find myself alone in her room. I stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, rolling over in my head thoughts of both Audrey and of my daughters, and also my newfound determination to return to school. Nothing stuck long as my thoughts jumbled with mostly-happy emotions, though it was a more bitter memory which caused me to shake myself and get out of bed.

I thought of what had happened between me and Rainey. I still felt guilty about how things had gone for her. Never had I left a partner in such a way, and never had I known how much I would hurt someone when I'd broken things off. I could see that, from Rainey's view, it seemed to have come from nowhere, unexpected and mean. We'd had a rather normal, good, relationship, even traveling to the other side of the world together and sharing an enjoyable time in a far-away place.

Granted, Rainey didn't know about Audrey at all, and certain never suspected that I'd cheated on her with the teen while still dating the woman. I felt terrible about that, but I also would not have changed what happened. Those intense, powerful moments in the small garden had led me back into Audrey's arms, and, other than my girls, I would have set aside relationships with anyone in the world to make that happen.

Still, there was a bit of a sour feeling in my stomach when I finally roused and showered and found Audrey talking with Joyce and Herman in the living room.

"Sleepyhead," Audrey laughed at me, "I guess I rather wore you out today!"

Joyce looked a little put off by her words and Herman just stared at me with a measured expression.

"Jogging!" Audrey added when she saw their faces. "We went jogging!"

"Uh-huh," Joyce muttered.

"Honest..."

Herman looked at his granddaughter a moment, then back at me, "Ah, to be so young again, eh, Darren?"

His words almost felt intentionally hurtful, as if he was reminding me of how much older I was than my teen girlfriend. "Yeah..." I replied evenly.

"Ah, well, the alternatives are worse, I think," Joyce said. "Getting old is just another way of saying you didn't yet die."

Their humor was not doing anything to lift up my somewhat dark mood.

Audrey caught my look and quickly changed the subject. "I need to go do some hitting drills before it gets dark. Want to come?" she asked me.

"Uh, sure. I need to go check in with the girls, make sure Gwen gets Simone home on time. When were you thinking of going?"

"Shortly. I need to change," Audrey told me. "Maybe... fifteen minutes?"

"That should do it. I'll ring you if I need to take Simone myself..."

I kissed Audrey then made my way back to the house. Gwen's car was gone, and inside, I found Vic seated by herself, texting while a cartoon penguin made rather dull puns about humans and their pets on the television screen. "Hey, hun. Simone get home okay?"

Vic looked up from her phone briefly, "Yeah, she just got there. Texting with her now."

I nodded, saying, "Good. Nice of your sister to do that for you two."

"She had ulterior motives, Dad, she's going to meet up with Pete near where Simone lives..."

"So I heard... Not sure what to think about that."

"Yeah..."

"Feeling a little betrayed, maybe?" I recalled a conversation with Vic a few days earlier where she'd been fairly unconcerned about Pete and his hurtful teasing, but perhaps Vic had just been covering up her true emotions.

"Maybe... Yeah, maybe," Vic replied. "Like... she knows what he said about me. I mean... it's true, I guess... I am a dyke, but... he was just being an asshole about it... er... a jerk."

I ignored the use of the word asshole and said, "Maybe he'll come around. Probably just showing off. Typical teen stuff. I'm not excusing it, Vic," I added when I saw her tensing, "not at all. Just that... well, hell, everyone does mean stuff in high school. Most everyone..."

"I don't." Vic told me, sticking her chin out, "I never make fun of anyone..."

"Okay, not everyone, and you're much nicer than most people, Vic," I replied.

"Were you a jerk to anyone, Dad?"

I had to think a moment. I recalled Tracy Spencer. "Yeah... unfortunately."

"What'd you do?"

I settled onto the couch next to Vic. "There was this girl... Tracy... when I was a sophomore or thereabouts. She used to come to school in these really ragged clothes. Some of my friends made fun of her, and... I'm ashamed to admit... I did, too. Not to her face, that I know of... but we laughed about her sometimes. I was trying to impress a girl I liked, and she laughed at Tracy, too. Tracy found out and I heard she missed a few days of school she was so upset that we were making fun of her..."

"That's awful."

I nodded, "It was... I knew we were being mean. I knew it might hurt her... but... Well, I've got no excuse, Vic. It's easy to just say I was a stupid kid and kids are stupid about that stuff, but I knew better. Turns out, Tracy's family was dirt poor. Her parents had no money for new clothes or nice things. They struggled just to pay rent on these really shabby apartments, and they had to move often when, some months, there wasn't money for that, either. Real sad situation for Tracy... I didn't know that at the time..."

"Jeez, Dad," Vic said with disappointment, "You were a jerk to her... did you ever apologize?"

I shook my head. "Never... She came back at some point, same ratty clothes. I stopped making fun at some point, it just wasn't funny after a while. She eventually moved out of our school district. No idea what became of her."

"You should look her up and apologize."

I raised my eyebrows. "That was... over thirty years ago, Vic. I doubt she'll be easy to track down, even if I did know what to say to her."

"Dad, you made a living doing tech... You're on Facebook. It's kinda easy to find people these days, you know."

I chuckled dryly. "You kids and your technologies..."

Vic punched me gently, then said evenly, "I think it would be nice if you apologized. Maybe it might make her feel good."

I nodded. "Okay. You're right. I'll see what I can do to find her. Thanks, Vic. You always have kept me honest."

"I try."

"Wish I had some good wisdom to share about Pete and your sister. I really don't. Just don't be surprised if they decide to start dating again..."

"Yeah," Vic replied, "I'm sorta expecting that..."

"Well... it might make things tough between you two. Gwen knows she's going to make you mad, but... she's a teenager, too... first loves feel like the most important thing in the world. It's easy to look past the hurt you cause when all you want is to recapture what you lost. Gwen's torn because she'll hurt you or piss you off, but... Pete was her first love and I know, personally, how strong that can be, how easy it is to ignore the other problems and dive back in."

"I know... I just don't like it much."

"Don't expect you to."

There was a quick knock on the door. I answered, finding Audrey waiting outside. "Ready?" In a quieter voice she added, "I didn't want to just come in... in case Simone was still here..."

I smiled. "Gwen took her a bit ago. Just me and Vic. I'm ready. Uh... mind if I ask Vic if she wants to come?"

Audrey grinned, "That'd be great. I'll ask her myself."

The teen followed me into the living room.

"Oh, hey Audrey," Vic said more cheerfully than her words with me moments earlier.

"Heya, Vic! I need to get some swings in at the cage before dark, wanna come?"

Vic smiled, "Sure. That's be great. Can you give me five minutes to change?"

"Of course."

While Vic disappeared into her bedroom, I confessed to Audrey about Tracy. "I feel real bad about it, Audrey. Vic said I should contact her, but... I dunno... that sorta feels a little creepy to me."

"I don't think so," Audrey replied, "not if you just reach out and let her know you're apologizing. If it was me... I'd appreciate that... No asking for nude photos, though..."

I laughed, "Don't worry. I've got a million mental snapshots of you I still need to review first."

Audrey grinned, glancing quickly down the hall, then yanked her softball shirt up, revealing an athletic bra holding her breasts in tight mounds. "And now you have one more!"

I laughed but didn't look away until I heard Vic's door open and Audrey let her shirt fall down past her waist, a sly smile still on her face.

"Okay, ready," Vic said, now wearing tight black leggings and carrying a bag with a bat and other softball gear.

- - -

The girls were taking turns in the cage, Audrey often pausing to show Vic a better way to adjust her stance, or demonstrating how to attack a curveball. Even though Vic was playing softball and the pitching mechanics yielded different trajectories for the ball heading towards the plate, Audrey assured her these were habits which would work there too. I watched them a while, then couldn't stop thinking about Tracy.

I pulled out my phone and logged into Facebook. Rarely did I spend time there, only about three dozen connections linked, mostly my daughters, Audrey and Theresa, a few old work friends, and little else. I hadn't been on the site in months, most likely.

I figured out how to search for someone and typed in Tracy's full name. Unfortunately, there were dozens of women (and men) called Tracy Spencer, and I didn't find one that was obviously her. I had grown up in a small town well north of Houston, so I tried refining my search to include the town name. No luck.

I wondered if she might have married and changed her name, or, perhaps, she had passed away. I went back to the original list of search results and clicked on each one to see if a photo or other information on the account might clue me in to the woman I was seeking.

A couple of dozen in, my breath caught in my throat as I scrolled through the public photos of one account. The profile picture was a generic landscape, no face present, but a few photos available on the page had such identifying images. One of those was a poorly-scanned copy of an old Polaroid, and right there I saw the Tracy Spencer I was seeking.

She was probably twelve or thirteen in the photo, a little younger than the first time I met her in high school, but it was clearly her. The same ratty, dirty-blonde hair. Ragged clothes. She stood awkwardly in the middle of a cluttered, poorly-kept room, staring at the camera with a distant look, an expression I'd seen on Tracy years later in hallways. I felt really guilty right then, realizing how my ignorant teasing had only made Tracy's life that much harder. I felt a bit sick to my stomach, really.

I scanned through the other half-dozen or so photos I could access. Two were of landscapes, like her profile picture, and two were of an older-looking white man with white, scraggly hairs wild and unkempt on his face, an old, dirty grey ball cap on his head, the Texas flag a faded, torn patch across the front.

The last two pictures made my heart sink even further. Each showed two children, young, perhaps four or five, the photos with stamps within the last year. In a near-mirror of the room from the old Polaroid of Tracy, I saw a dusty, ill-kept place where somewhat vacant-eyed children wore old clothes and had poorly-trimmed hair. I wondered if these were Tracy's children.

It seemed unlikely. Tracy was roughly my age, so she'd have had to have been in her mid-to-late forties at the time they were born. Not impossible, but unlikely. Grandchildren, perhaps. Why, all these years later, did it seem Tracy and these kids had not gotten a leg up from their poverty?

I tried several times to compose a message, failing each time to avoid trite or cheesy or downright stupid sentiments. I finally settled on this:

Hi Tracy. I know this is going to be an odd message, but this is Darren Oxley. We went to school together at Longview High. I don't know if you remember me, but... I was one of the people who was really mean to you. I feel horrible about it. I'm so sorry I made it difficult for you to attend classes. I was a stupid teenager, but that's not an excuse. I hurt you and I am so sorry for this.

I'm reaching out now because one of my daughters is facing someone like I was in high school, and it brought back memories of how awful I was to you. I can't believe I was so mean, but my daughter insisted I reach out and apologize. She's right. I should have done so long ago, or better yet, never hurt you at all. I'm so sorry, Tracy. I know I cannot make things right, but if I can do anything to begin to right that wrong, please say so. If you don't respond, I understand and respect that. I won't contact you again without your consent. Once more, I'm so sorry – Darren.

Even after a dozen attempts to rephrase and refine, I still felt like I'd thrown cheese into what I hoped was a sincere apology. Perhaps it was selfish of me, to attempt to ease my own guilt by, possibly, opening up old wounds and making Tracy feel hurt once more. I hoped that wasn't so. I hoped my apology made her life just the tiniest bit better. It wasn't much, to be sure, but I didn't know what else to do or say.

I hesitated a moment, hovering over the button to send the message. Looking up I saw Audrey with her hands on Vic's hips as she showed her how to shift her weight and turn at the right time as the pitch came in. I had a lot of reasons to be a better man than the teenage me. Two of those reasons were right down there in the batting cage, and they both deserved to have a lover or a father capable of admitting when he is wrong and who seeks to heal the harm he's caused.

I clicked the button and felt rather anxious awaiting any reply.

- - -

On the ride home, I told Audrey and Vic about the message I sent Tracy, and Vic read it aloud. "I think that's nice," she told me.

"I hope it doesn't make her feel worse..." I muttered.

"I don't think it will," Vic replied. "If it was me, I'd appreciate it. Like... if Pete sent me something like that... That would be nice."

"I agree," Audrey added, "though... I don't know her or what her life might be like. Hard to say for sure what she might think..."

We pulled into the drive and Gwen's car was already there. "Guess her night out was cut short."

I called to my oldest daughter when we got inside but there was no answer.

"In the shower," Vic told me after checking down the hall, "water's running in there. Wish she'd hurry up, I feel sticky and sweaty."

"Same here," Audrey replied, "Can I use your shower, Darren?"

I smiled and kissed her cheek. "It's your shower as much as mine."

She laughed, "Well, thanks! I'll go grab some things from next door... assuming it's okay to stay over here tonight?"

I looked at Vic for assurance. My daughter grinned and I replied, "I'd love that."

Vic and I started getting a meal together, turkey sandwiches, pickled olives, and spinach salad. There was no sign of Gwen by the time Audrey returned and disappeared into my bedroom.

Finally, Gwen appeared from the hallway looking a mix between tired and anxious. "Everything okay?" I asked when she plopped down in a kitchen chair.

"Yeah."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"Not really," she said, then immediately did so anyway, "it's just... I talked to Pete a while and... I dunno... he's being real nice. Like... he even asked about Vic and said he had heard she got a hit in the game. Like... I dunno, like he wasn't the same guy as before."

Vic spat, "He's just trying to get in your panties, Gwennie." My daughter only ever used that version of her sister's name when she was trying to rub her the wrong way. "All he wants is to get you in bed again, nothing more."

"Bullshit!" Gwen exploded. "That's not true!"

"Girls!" I shouted, trying to stop the argument before it really got going. "How about we all cool off a little bit before this gets worked out?"

Vic crossed her arms over her chest, a frown on her face, "Fine. I'm going to shower. A long shower."

When her sister was gone, Gwen said, "Jeez, Dad. What's got her upset?"

"I think she's not as cool with you and Pete as she'd let on." I paused in spreading mayo on a slice of bread and said, "Hate to say it, but you gotta admit Vic might be right."

"But he's nicer now, Dad! He didn't say anything mean about her at all!"

"Maybe true," I replied, "but... Gwen... Putting myself in Pete's shoes... at that age... It's not too hard to imagine playing the nice guy to get another chance with a special girl..."

Gwen frowned. "It's not like that," she muttered but didn't sound nearly as confident as before.

"Look," I said, setting aside the bread and knife and putting an arm around Gwen's shoulders, hugging her from the side gently, "I'm not saying Pete's unredeemable, but you have to see it from Vic's side. I think she put on a happy face for a few days because she and Simone were getting close and she could ignore Pete's insults. Simone going home today, after they shared their first time together, would have been tough on Vic. Trust me, I know just that feeling every time Audrey leaves and I'm left behind. It makes you feel a little hollow, missing the one you love, and... that can affect how you view other events, especially negative ones. Whatever you and Pete do, and that's your decision, Gwen, you have to understand that your sister is affected, too. He was mean to her, and with you and Vic becoming friends these past few months, finally, I think she probably feels a little betrayed right now."

Gwen breathed deep and quiet, not really looking at me but mostly at the wall behind me. "We're just talking," she said in a low, steady voice, "just talking."

"Okay," I replied, not really too sure what else to inject here. The sisters were going to have to work this out on their own, mostly. I'd do what I could to keep some peace in the house, or offer some of my, hopefully, useful wisdom, but my daughters were old enough to not need to hold my hand on such things. It was becoming easier to see them as young women now that both were maturing quickly and both had become sexually active. Not that I liked that thought. They were still my little girls. But I had to accept them as young women now, and part of that meant letting them work out their relationship as young adults.

Audrey came back in and Gwen grunted a greeting at her. My girlfriend looked at me for a sign, and I shrugged and offered a small smile, then said, "Dinner's almost ready. You want to eat with us, Gwen?"

"Not really," she replied, "I'll eat in my room."

I knew this was more about avoiding Vic, and that was just fine with me. "Here you go, then," I said while passing her a plate. "Bring the dishes back before you go to bed." It was a regular battle to ensure my daughters didn't leave dirty plates and glasses in their rooms, despite their maturing years.

I asked Audrey to knock on the bathroom door and tell Vic that her dinner was ready. Like my oldest daughter, my youngest opted to eat in her room, so Audrey and I took our plates and settled down on the couch together. It was rather cold that night, more like a real January evening than we'd had lately, so outside by the pool was not an option.

We put on a college basketball game, and Audrey and I ate, mostly in silence, before she sat her plate aside and turned to me. "Sore?"

"Me?" I could feel every muscle in my shoulders, back, and legs answering with stiff, dull aches. "Rather sore, yeah."

"I could give you a massage."

I raised an eye. "You give massages now? Do I get a happy ending?" I laughed.

Audrey smiled, "If you want. I'm pretty sore, too. Not places that can be massaged, though... well, maybe, but not in a way that will help..."

"Should I apologize?" I grinned.

"Definitely not!" Audrey laughed, then said in a quieter voice, "But I think the places you like to touch and penetrate could use a break. Still have my period, which isn't helping."

"Then I'm not getting a happy ending if you're not."

"Bullshit," Audrey chuckled, "Besides, I have something I want to try with you... if you're up for it..."

"Do tell."

"I think you'll like it. Trust me."

"I trust you."

"Then go take a shower, and, err... you know, use the toilet really good..."

I raised my eye again, "Uh..."

"You said you trust me..."

"And I do..."

Audrey smiled and kissed my lips, "Then really trust me..."

- - -

I had no idea exactly what Audrey had in mind. My sore muscles made me look forward much more to the offer of a massage than anything sexual she might want to try with me, but my cock disagreed quite strongly, and as I finished moving my bowels and then scrubbing clean in the shower, my penis stayed half-erect in anticipation.

I was naked when I stepped into the bedroom and saw that Audrey had put on a silky peach-tinted camisole and a pair of dark-red panties. The top was mostly sheer and the teen's lovely young tits were pressing out the fabric, her cotton-candy areolae and nipples light shadows beneath. It was a shame she was too sore because I really wanted to spread Audrey's legs and eat her right then.

But she directed me to lie on the bed on my stomach, a couple of large towels over the spread. A moment later, I felt warm, oiled fingers firmly tenderizing my neck and shoulders. I melted in Audrey's hands. How the hell had she learned to give such an amazing massage? It wasn't just that it felt really good on my knots and tension, but she had a process, a rhythm, which suggested this was something she'd practiced. For just a split second, jealousy fired through me thinking she might have first done this with Travis, but it receded quickly as Audrey worked down my back and worked out the aches so perfectly.

Soon, she was firmly stroking my legs and even my feet, then she moved back up, starting at my neck again, this time finishing on my buttocks, her fingers oiled and slippery the whole time. She worked my ass like a profession masseuse. I'd enjoyed the occasional massage at one of the above-board parlors nearby, and I'm not sure any of them did for me what Audrey did as she used knuckles to press deep into my buttocks.

And I'm certain none of those professionals ever spread my buttocks slowly and teased my anus with her finger. I jumped a little at the contact and Audrey giggled, "Trust me."

I mumbled my reply into the pillow. I was so relaxed, despite the touch of her finger in a very personal place, that I could do nothing but let Audrey explore my body.

She worked up to it slowly, very slowly, spreading oil all through my crack and down over my balls, massaging them gently a moment before once more touching my butthole. The teen worked the tip of her finger inside, then a little more.

I'd never had a woman much into such things. Oh, sure, every now and again a partner, including my dead wife, had done so and I'd found it an okay experience. Nothing worth exploring further, but if my partner was excited by it, I was willing to let her do as she wished.

At first, Audrey's finger burned just a bit, my hole stretched and taut. But she was very gentle, carefully twisting and turning her finger, pressing against one side then the opposite, working in a little deeper from time to time. She was opening me up little by little, and before long, not only did she have her index finger so far inside me that her knuckles were against my balls, but it actually started to feel rather nice.

A warm, full sensation was growing down there, and at first I didn't even realize how hard I'd grown. Audrey had drawn my cock back so that it was pointed towards my feet on the towel. She'd only touched it briefly in the beginning, but it was throbbing as if Audrey was stroking my dick instead of probing my ass.

She turned her finger and I could feel her pressing down somewhat towards my testicles, running the tip along a spot inside that caused the lovely burning warm sensation to swell and spread. Her rhythm was gentle but steady, as if she knew just what she was doing. I could feel my cock pulsing on it's own. I really wanted her to touch it, to stroke it. I'd cum almost immediately if she did.

But the slow, pleasurable torture continued for long moments, my dick swelling and straining for contact while Audrey fingered my butthole. I was breathing quickly, almost humping the bed. Audrey used her free hand to hold me still, whispering seductively, "Let me do all the work... Lie still..."

I did my best, but it was hard with the unusual sensations causing my cock to randomly spit out thin jets of precum.

"You're almost there... almost there..." Audrey whispered.

I started to groan and without more warning, I felt semen racing down my shaft. I came hard as I moaned in pleasure, several thick spurts firing back, going I knew not where. I didn't care. Audrey's finger had tapped into some pleasure center in my ass that made me cum, and, goddamn!, did I unload. She milked me long moments until I was finally dry, then pulled her finger free.

I was so spent I couldn't even move. At some point, I felt Audrey slide in beside me after returning from the bathroom. "Like that?"

"Mmmm... God... Yesssss..." I told her.

"Thought you might... I just found out about earlier today... in an article... It's called a prostate massage. Guess it feels really good to a guy."

"God, yessss..." I repeated.

Audrey laughed, "Can't move?"

"I feel so fucking good right now..."

"Mmm... So glad."

"I owe you a buttload of favors for this, Audrey."

She laughed again, "And I'll take a buttload in the butt as payment, I promise..."

I managed to laugh, smiling into the pillow.

"Hate to say it," she told me, "but we should probably shower you off..."

"I hate everything," I chuckled.

Audrey giggled, "Come on, lover. I'll help you up."

Legs of jelly and Audrey's grip on my waist kept me upright long enough to get into the shower. I mostly leaned against the shower wall, grinning, while Audrey quickly soaped and rinsed me. I managed to turn and wrap my arms around her, steamy water rushing down over us. We kissed long and deep and I forgot everything in the world but Audrey's lips and wet skin. "I love you so much, Audrey."

The teen pressed her face into my neck, kissing me there a couple of times, "Ever and always, Darren. Ever and always..."