While Piper met with the dance team manager the next morning, I took care of our laundry. I realized I had no idea how to wash her competition clothes. I sat those aside, meaning to ask the girl later about how to handle them properly. I avoided sniffing Piper's odorous panties and leggings, but only because too many other people were nearby in the laundromat.

Because I wasn't home all that often, all of my mail was delivered to a post office box. While the laundry spun in the washing machine, I checked my box and pulled out a wad of envelopes, taking them back to the cafe nearby and fingering through them as I drank coffee.

None looked terribly interesting, mostly bills and solicitations, but one was a hand-addressed envelope, only sent to my post office box without a name, and no return address. I opened it and my jaw dropped when I saw that it was a letter from Veronica.

I'm sorry I never got a chance to explain, and I desperately hope my daughter is fine in your care. I had no choice. She's safer away from me right now. I can't tell more, but please pass on my love for my daughter and let her know I'll come get her when things work out.

The envelope showed a stamp from Toronto three days earlier.

My heart fluttered a moment, my head whirling with anxious thoughts. Some of them I felt rather ashamed to consider. If Veronica came to get Piper, what would happen to the two of us? Would Piper tell what we'd done? And even if she didn't, Piper would surely be taken from my life. I almost cried at that realization.

But again, it was selfish. Piper deserved to have her mother in her life, and she was hurt a lot by the separation. If Veronica showed up at my door, the only thing to do would be to wish her well, privately whisper my love, and let her go back to the life she had before she knew me.

At least Veronica was still alive a few days earlier. That would make Piper feel better, I thought.

Then my stomach turned over. I'd considered many times what sort of thing would cause a woman to flee and leave her daughter with a near-stranger. Veronica was involved in something significant, dangerous. Hell, she'd somehow gotten my address and sent me a letter directly. Sure, she'd not used my name, but it really didn't matter, did it? Was I now just as likely to be greeted at my door by some thug with a weapon as a cop similarly armed? I shuddered and tried to decide if I felt safe enough to stay at my apartment at all.

I managed to finish the laundry, hauling it home before I went back for Piper and found her waiting on me. She'd done her routines that morning, more during her interview for the team manager. "They want me to compete!" she told me with a proud, sweaty smile. She'd not showered, from the look of her hair and glistening flesh.

"Fantastic. Can't promise when we'll be able to be there, you know..."

"Oh, I know, but at least I get to sometimes, right?"

"Yeah," I said, nodding her to join me and head back to the apartment. I felt a little off as we walked and I decided to just tell Piper what I'd received. "I got a letter today... from your mom..."

"Mommy wrote?" Piper exclaimed, stopping us and practically leaping in front of me.

"She did... didn't really say much," I explained carefully, "just that she loved you and left you with me because she thought it was safer. She didn't say why. She was in Toronto about three days ago, it seems."

I could see Piper bubbling, joyous.

"Said... said she'd come get you when she could..."

It took just a few seconds for Piper to realize the same thing I had earlier. "Oh... yeah, uh..."

"I know," I told her as she struggled through conflicting desires, "we'll deal with it when it comes, okay?"

"But what will we do, Uncle Patrick? I need you!"

"And I need you," I whispered as I took her hand and started us down the sidewalk again. "But... we both knew this might be temporary, right?" Not that I'd personally allowed that idea to take hold in recent days. I had been all in to whatever the future would bring, one, I'd believed, which would always include Piper in my life.

Piper's face showed similar thoughts. "I know... but... well, I want to be with you, too, and Mommy... maybe we can all be together?"

I groaned, "That's... that's not gonna be easy, Piper... I don't think you mother is going to take too kindly to... what we've been doing..."

"Oh... yeah... I guess not..."

She held a quiet consternation the rest of the way back to my apartment.

- - -

It made the decision around my powerful, growing urge to finally penetrate Piper, to accept her virginity, much easier. No way would I do so with the possibility of Veronica coming to get her daughter. Not that I hadn't already done things with the girl beyond the pale, but taking her virginity would be an even more troublesome line to cross. We might be able to hide from Veronica our intimacy once Piper was out of my life, but I felt strongly that having intercourse would make it so much more difficult to do so. I can't say why I drew that line, but I did so definitively that day.

Fires were burning in the surrounding hills despite the recent storms. Or, perhaps, caused by the lightning they brought. It cast a smoky hue to the sky that evening, and when the wind blew in stronger, it was easy to smell the forests burning just a few miles away.

Piper buried herself in sketching her routine, and I did some research on the car show in London the next week. At some point, the girl came over and slouched against me, saying quietly, "Do you want Mommy to come get me?"

I chose my words very carefully, "Yes... I think that's probably best, Piper..."

"Oh..."

"What's wrong?"

"I thought you might say you wanted me to stay with you..."

I swallowed slowly. "I do... it's just... she's your mom, you know? You gotta go if she comes for you..."

"But," the girl said sadly, "I'd have to leave you, unless you came with us?"

Her question was more a voiced wish than a direct request, though Piper clearly wanted me to state clearly that I would do so. I couldn't offer her that sentiment. "I dunno, Piper... It's gonna be... complicated, when your mom comes."

"Just sayin'," Piper exhaled, "you could. I'm sure she'd want you to..."

"I know you want me to, but I doubt your mother would appreciate things between us the way you and I do..."

"She might," Piper dreamed, "she might think it's great, like I do."

I shook my head slowly, "I don't think so, Piper..."

"So you'd let me just go, is that what you mean?"

"I just mean—"

Piper continued, "Just let me leave and never see me again?"

"Piper, I don't th—"

She crossed her arms as she leaned off of me, clearly upset, "Well, I think that stinks."

The girl stood and shuffled into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

I sat a while, letting Piper have some privacy. I expected she was less mad at me and more upset about what she knew would happen when Veronica arrived. I couldn't pretend that our bubble wouldn't burst in that moment, that what we'd been for each other wouldn't change immediately. Even ignoring the serious concern of Veronica finding out what I'd done with her daughter, the moment Piper's mother returned would mark a clear ending for my budding relationship with the girl. Piper was smart enough to connect those dots, and I knew she was feeling quite sad about it. The lump in my throat represented that same realization in me.

Eventually, I joined her and held her. She sobbed lightly but said nothing more, leaving the bed after a while to shower. I called my parents, keeping my voice low in the bedroom. I hadn't talked to them in weeks, and they were both thrilled to hear from me. I gave no details about my more adult assignments, and said absolutely nothing about Piper. The call ended like most, with my Dad wishing me well and hanging up to go find something to eat.

I did the same in my kitchen. Not really much around, I decided to walk to the store before it closed. "Piper?" I asked through the bathroom door, not hearing the water running.

"Yeah?"

"Gonna go to the store real quick, want to go?"

"No..."

"You okay?"

"Fine."

I left her, heartbroken, but with nothing more to say to ease her mourning.

- - -

Twenty minutes later, I returned with chips and salsa and a few bags of snacks for our trip, along with a jug of milk and two of the grocer's deli-wrapped sandwiches. Piper was on the couch watching cartoons. I offered her food and she accepted, though without much cheer. We ate quietly a while. At least she was eating.

Piper flipped back to the Netflix screen and scrolled through some options, settling finally on a reality show about teen dancers, starting in somewhere in the middle of the show's season three. "Seen this one before?"

"Yeah," she replied, "it's okay."

I finished my meal and offered my arm to Piper so she could snuggle like usual. The girl just shook her head. I asked quietly, "What is it?"

Piper's lip quivered and tears were falling again. "I just figure," the preteen sobbed, "I better get used to it..."

I cried, too. To have her reject my hug like that crushed me. The girl, maturely, was already trying to prepare for the day when I wouldn't be there to offer my warmth and my love. God, that hurt so much. Finally, I told her, "I understand..."

It became too much for her, though, and Piper rolled into me, squeezing herself around me. "I can't," she moaned, "I can't help it! I need you, Uncle Patrick! I love when you hold me..."

And I did, for a long time. I never wanted to let my young love go. I held her long past the rise of her snores and occasional twitches of the muscles in my arm.

- - -

I can't say the next day was much better for either of us, but Piper had failed to keep from hugging and kissing me, and I couldn't even make an attempt to avoid it no matter what would come one day. It wasn't intimate, much more innocent than what we did sometimes. She needed to feel my arms around her, my whispered love for her offered regularly, and I washed in the girl's warmth, her tears, and her deep desire to be in my life.

I managed to get her down to the studio for a few hours of practice, then walked her back to my apartment. "Where do you buy the outfits you wear for your competitions?" I asked as we strolled, hand-in-hand.

She shrugged, "All over."

"Will you need something new for your new routine?"

Piper nodded, solemn, "Would be nice, yeah..."

"Wanna go look while we're in town? Early flight out in the morning, but we could at least go look."

"Okay..."

- - -

I found a couple of stores which catered to young dancers and models, and while Piper toured one store and tried things on without me, I slipped into the bar next door and had a beer. As I sat sipping my brew, a gravely female voice behind me caught my attention, "Is that Patty Barnes?"

I turned and saw an older dark-skinned woman, perhaps in her late-sixties steadily stepping up to the bar. Her hair was curled and short, mostly grey, a nice contrast with her rich brown skin. There was something familiar about her, but I couldn't place the woman. I replied, "I am..."

"Thought so," she smiled, reaching out a hand, "I see in your face you don't recognize me. Don't remember your Mrs. Middleton?"

"Oh!" Mrs. Middleton had been my ninth-grade Math teacher. "Of course, how are you?"

"Fine, Patty, fine," she said, settling onto the stool beside me. "You?"

"I go by Patrick, these days," I said, hoping the woman would stop using the child-name I hated so much as a kid, "and good, thanks."

"What's life had for you since you left me all those years ago?" she said before ordering a scotch and soda.

"Oh, you know," I replied, "college. Got a job doing photography. I get to travel all over the world now."

"Sounds wonderful! I retired last year," the woman said, and when she paused, I knew immediately we were out of small talk and the silence was about to get awkward.

"Uncle Patrick?" I heard Piper say behind me.

I turned back and she had her hand on her stomach. "What is it?"

"I don't feel good. Tummy ache."

I winced for her, "Sorry. We'll get you home, okay?"

"Okay... I picked out a couple of things next door...

The girl headed away with a decidedly uncomfortable rhythm after I told her I'd be right over.

As I paid my tab, Mrs. Middleton asked me, "Daughter?"

"No, uh, niece."

"Lovely girl. Gorgeous hair. Dancer?"

"Yeah, she is. Thanks." I stood and nodded to the woman, "I need to go see to her. Nice to see you again, Mrs. Middleton."

"Nice to see you, Patty."

I silently grumbled and left the woman at the bar to find Piper.

- - -

Constipation had set in to the point where Piper was openly groaning in pain. I got some laxatives from the drug store and tried to comfort her with ice packs and a fan. She was soon quite gassy and excused herself to the bathroom.

I didn't know what I'd do if, needing to travel somewhere, Piper might not be feeling good enough to fly. I supposed I might be okay leaving her at the apartment for a day or two, but even that idea left me feeling rather unhappy with the result. Would I cancel a gig? Marilyn would not be happy. It happened, sometimes, but I'd only ever done it once myself, and that was when my mom's sister had died the day before a shoot in Rio. The company had covered for me, but I'd still felt rather guilty about it.

Piper was in the bathroom so long I decided to check in on her. "You doin' okay in there?"

"Yeah," she said, a little weak, "its starting to get better..."

I could smell the results even outside the door and politely suggested a courtesy flush.

Piper chuckled dryly, "Don't think I smell too good right now, do you?"

I agreed it was not my favorite scent but that things were fine, I just wanted her to feel better.

When she finally came out, after a long sit and then a cleansing shower, she declared herself unbound and feeling much better. She curled up with me on the couch, the previous day's determination to break our closeness to prepare for the future when her Mom came for her had already disappeared.

"Ever been too sick to fly, Piper?"

She shrugged, "Nah. Not that I remember."

"Just wondering."

"Why?"

"Well, cause, what happens if we need to fly for a gig and you're not up to it?"

"I'll still go..." she protested mildly.

"But what if you don't feel well? Like, really unwell?"

Piper shrugged again, "I'll still go with you..."

I left it at that, not a certain it was so clear cut, but I did admire the girl's determination.

- - -

It wasn't so much that our melancholy moods disappeared early the next day when we headed for LAX, but both of us, being experienced travelers, got into the mindset needed to take the exhausting steps necessary to go LA to Hamburg over the course of a day. We were at our destination late, checking in at the hotel and immediately heading to our room. I called the number Gunther had given me and let the man know I wanted to meet with him and Lena the next morning if possible. I left out the details, but he knew the intent and suggested a cafe near where he lived.

Piper and I showered then sank into our bed, snuggled, and fell asleep without much effort.

- - -

Monday I woke with a strange sensation running through me. Was I really going to do this? Was I really going to be in the room, taking photographs, while a ten-year old girl and her father had sex for the first time? It couldn't be real, I thought, yet here I was, rolling to my feet and stretching, soon to meet with the two soon-to-be-lovers a few hours before the planned taboo moments.

Piper was groggy but showered with me. I picked up a coffee to go from the hotel's breakfast bar and Piper snagged some milk, her stomach feeling better but she hadn't really wanted to test it. We caught a cab in the early morning light and the driver dropped us off at a small, English-style breakfast cafe in a strip of old brick buildings.

Gunther and Lena were already inside. Both dressed conservatively, him in a button-up shirt and dark slacks, the girl wearing a loose green blouse and beige slacks which were a size too big for her. Or maybe it just seemed like they were too big given how many tight, stretched outfits I'd seen the girl wear.

We huddled at one of the two outside tables, away from anyone. "So... Before we get to... this evening," I started, "I wanted to get a feel for how this is going to go..."

Gunther smiled and looked to his daughter. "Lena has planned the setting herself."

When prompted, the girl explained, "In my bed, um... and then we kiss and stuff, um... and then, you know, um, it happens..." Lena was clearly both nervous and excited, blushing, smiling, anxiously stroking the fabric on the front of her blouse.

"And," I asked, "you're still completely certain this is what you want?"

"Oh, yes!" Lena exclaimed, then more quietly, "I want it, for sure! Um... a lot!"

I watched the girl for any sign of resistance, for any show of some other thought fighting just beneath her flushed exterior. Not seeing anything more to suggest she might be hiding her true thoughts, I nodded and replied, "Okay." Turning back to Gunther, I said, "I'll work two cameras, and Piper's gonna take some shots, too." Piper smiled, looking brighter about things than I'd seen in days. "I'll need to see the room and have some time to set up so I get good angles first. Can we do that this morning?"

"Yes, yes, of course," Gunther said, nodding in agreement, "and you'll meet my lovely wife, Katharina, as well."

"May I talk with her, alone?" I asked, hoping to get one last read on things before letting my aroused mindset take over and actually go through with photographing the incestuous and forbidden encounter.

"Of course, of course! I have told her everything I know of you, and of Piper, she wishes to meet you and talk, as well."

We made small talk when the table near us was seated, but I knew enough to continue. Piper used the restroom, then Gunther drove us first to the hotel so that I could collect my equipment, then on to his home a few minutes away from the English cafe.

Gunther and his family lived on an fenced estate encompassing several acres of mostly-cleared, rolling hills outside the suburbs. His nearest neighbors were well down the ridge, and the home was a single-story, broad-reaching Dutch ranch-style house. It featured well-manicured shrubs and carefully placed trees, a pasture with horses and another with goats. Inside, through two large, dark-wood doors, I stepped with Piper, carrying my equipment in and setting it aside a moment.

A beautiful, short, dark-haired woman, probably in her late-30s, greeted us almost immediately. Gunther said something to her in German and she then said, "It is, er, lovely, er, to meet you, Mr. Barnes."

"Call me Patrick, please."

"I am, er, Katharina, erm, call me Kat."

"You have a lovely home, just gorgeous," I replied. "This is my niece, Piper."

"Hullo, Miss Piper," the woman said warmly.

Katharina seemed bubbly and enthused by the moment. On the surface, at least, I saw no sign of any reservations or fear. As a guy who took photographs of those playing roles, of sorts, I didn't exactly trust my first observations. She offered us drinks, and I took a dark, bottled German beer, Piper accepting a measure of a non-alcoholic honey-based drink, something like mead but much sweeter.

I asked, "Can I speak with you... privately... Kat?"

"Of course, er, Excuse us?" she said to the others.

I glanced at Piper, the girl chatting with Lena, and followed the woman down a long hallway and out onto a shaded patio. Katharina offered me a chair at a round polished metal table. Once seated, I was direct. "So, you're aware of what it is that your daughter and husband are planning to do today?"

"Of course," the woman replied, "and I support them!"

"Even though your daughter, she's only ten..."

"I gave myself, er, to a man when I was her age. Erm, I do not regret it and I wish her to, er, experience this as she wishes."

"Even though it's her own father..."

"It is natural, yes?"

"Umm..." I wasn't following.

The woman leaned forward, "The man she, er, most loves? The man who has been in her life? Errr... that she trusts, hmm? Why not him?"

"Well," I replied, sipping my drink, "incest... it's not really accepted most anywhere..."

She nodded, "I understand. I do not pretend that it is, er, otherwise. That does not mean that we cannot, erm, in private, raise our daughter as we wish... that she desires this is, err, her own choice."

I waited a moment, the woman looking like she might say more, but she did not, so I asked, "Given all that... are you sure she wants other people there, for her first time? People she barely knows?"

Katharina waved away my concern, "Lena has been raised to, erm, be free with herself, in front of others. You have seen, yes?"

"Explicitly, yes."

"Then you know, er, that she is used to being seen in, erm, otherwise private moments."

"True, but her first time—"

"Her first time, Mr. Barnes," Kat interrupted, "is just one lovely moment in her life. Err, and she wishes it to be, erm, er, preserved."

"So why don't you just take the pictures? Why spend a small fortune and bring me in?"

"Because," she replied, "I saw the photos you took of her, erm, first, err, what is the word?"

"Menses?"

"Okay," Katharina agreed, "her first menses. You captured her, erm, soul. Lena could not believe how well your, err, photographs turned out. She treasures those and wished, erm, you to do this for her today."

I sat silently and the woman watched me, eyes clearly reading my face.

Before I said more, Kat said, "You ask me these questions, yet, erm, I understand that your, erm, niece will be joining you and seeing this?"

I nodded.

"And do you not, uh, ask yourself why you bring her if it troubles you so?"

I pursed my lips, "Because... like Lena... Piper's level of... comfort... about such things is not that of a normal girl..."

Kat was quiet a moment, scanning my face, "You have been with her, yes? As Gunther will be with Lena?"

"What?" I spat, "no... no."

"Hmm... But you wish to... How could you not? You are a man, she is a beautiful girl, erm, how could you not desire such things?"

I had no good response.

Katharina pressed on. "The girl is, er, sexual... around you?" When I didn't say a word, she asked, "Surely, you have seen the sexual, erm, nature of her work? Does this not bring your attention to her, as a man to a beautiful girl should?"

"Should?" I squeaked.

"Should," the woman confirmed. "It is normal, err, I believe. To desire such things... Look at me, Patrick," Kat said after my gaze drifted down and away, "tell me you do not think such things."

I shook my head, somewhat meeting her gaze, saying quietly, "I cannot..."

Kat leaned back and crossed her arms under her modest breasts, "Embrace it. As my husband and daughter have. She is old enough to know, if she wishes more from this. She is old enough to know about, erm, emotions and desires. I did so at her age. I wanted a lover, someone I trusted, to be my first."

"Who?" I breathed. "Who was your first?"

"My brother... Klaus. He was much older than me, by many years, but he was the one person, the one man, who I trusted then. He was so gentle, Patrick, erm, he broke my barrier without pain and he filled me with his love, that night, err, and many after."

"Sounds... wonderful."

"It was..."

"Do... do you still see him?"

"From time to time, erm, yes."

I asked, "And Gunther knows?"

"Of course, he knows it makes me happy to be with Klaus."

"Gunther and Lena," I changed the subject, "have they... been together... in any way?"

"Besides, erm, kisses? Only innocent kisses so far."

"Not even touching?"

"Only the normal sort, those any father and daughter might, er, share. Though they both long to do much more... They want what Klaus and I have, erm, together..."

I let out a deep breath, the whirlwind of context and emotions and the woman's confession leading to an admission of my own. "We've been... intimate... Piper and me, I mean... Not fully, not yet, but..."

"Lips and, erm, fingers?"

"Yes... exactly."

"Mmm," Katharina purred, "sounds lovely."

"It is," I said, my voice almost failing. I sipped my drink and added, "She... she wants me to make love with her... fully..."

"Yet you resist."

I nodded, "It's complicated... and not just because of her age... or our relationship," I tacked on to support the cover story of Piper being my niece. "It's complicated," I repeated.

Katharina spoke gently, "When it is right, it is right. Do not, erm, force things. Do not, err, miss the journey to where, um, she wishes to go."

"I'm trying..."

"Then, I suspect, Patrick, erm, you have convinced yourself of today?"

"Yeah... I have."

"Wonderful," she clapped lightly and smiled, "I must prepare myself, as well."

"For, uh...?"

She smiled more broadly, "For my part in this evening's, err, momentous events."

"What would that be?"

Katharina giggled and winked, "Oh, you will see soon enough... Soon enough."

- - -

The woman had disappeared and I'd moved, mechanically, back to the others, telling Piper and Gunther that I wanted to see the room and start setting up. Lena went to begin her preparations while her father led us into a different hallway and into a large bedroom clearly decorated by a young girl.

Much like Piper's room in Miami, Lena's bedroom featured splashes of bright colors. Light orange painted walls, posters of bands and boys and images of space over top. Her mattress was wide for a young child, easily a queen, covered with more colorful images of ponies dancing and rainbows and sparkling star shapes. The broad room had depth, considerably bigger than my rather modest one in the apartment. I could easily see plenty of places to set up and take photos.

I asked Gunther if he had any specific instructions. Did he want soft lighting or bright, close-up shots or only those taking in the whole scene, any moments where he wanted a specific focus or angle as it happened. He said it was up to me, that he trusted me after the sets I'd taken of Lena backstage and at the private show in Berlin, though he had an additional request: He showed me a video camera and asked that I might ensure it is set up to properly capture the scene. Gunther didn't ask me to actively video the action, only that I ensure it had good lighting and would be able to record the event faithfully and in full.

He left me and Piper alone in Lena's bedroom. For several moments, I just stood there. The girl had a long, low dresser and a tall armoire, a cushioned chair in one corner. She either kept it very neat or had cleaned up for her special moment, not so much as a tossed sock visible anywhere. Items were stacked or shelved, arranged orderly and in a practical location. It made it much easier for me to pick my spots for the various cameras.

Piper listened as I voiced my thoughts about the setup, saying nothing until I finally paused and said, "Everything okay?"

The girl smiled at me, "Yeah. I just like watching you work."

I grinned, "Thanks. I know that feeling when you're working on your routine or practicing."

"This is really happening, isn't it?"

I nodded, "It is."

Piper shivered.

"Excited?"

"Uh-huh," she said, then leaned close to whisper, "I wish you could orgasm me right now..."

I didn't mention that I'd disclosed our private moments to Katharina. I should have asked Piper first, I realized. I'd sworn her to secrecy, yet, there I was, spilling secrets which could lead to my arrest and send Piper away as an orphan. But I held that secret for the moment, not wanting to spoil the girl's mood. "Wish I could too," I replied quietly.

"Where am I gonna work?"

I told her, "I think, with these two still cameras and the video recorder, you could move around. Quietly. Don't interrupt them or get too close, just move quietly and slowly, taking shots as you see them. I'll turn off the flash on everything. I think I can get enough lighting in here to not need it. Be aware of the shadows you cast, though, try to keep from blocking a light source."

"Okay, understood."

I explained more about how to approach what was her first really private assignment. She'd done the Boston gig with me, but this was very different in a myriad of ways. I emphasized several times that her role as the photographer was to document, not influence. I think she got the idea.

We practiced a little with me pretending to take photos from the tripod-mounted cameras while Piper crept from spot to spot, stopping as if to take a few shots before moving again. The room's broad design gave plenty of space to maneuver, and pretty quickly, Piper and I felt comfortable with our setup. I double checked battery levels and various settings, ensured all was ready, and then shut off all the devices to await the beginning of the taboo events to come.

- - -

Katharina put together an early afternoon tea, inviting us to a lovely sun room. She'd clearly showered and had her hair pulled back loosely, wearing, as far as I could tell, only a robe tied tightly around her slender waist, just above the obvious motherly curves below. Lena and Gunther were not around, so Piper and I sat with the woman and munched on fruit and cheese and drank wine. I offered a sip to Piper, but she smelled it and wrinkled her nose, sticking with hot tea with honey and lemon.

After a period of small talk about travel and the work I did, Piper leaned over to me and said, "Can I ask her a question?"

"Of course," I replied, smiling at Kat since she could cleary hear the girl's question.

"Um, Miss Kat?" Piper said, "Will you be watching, too?"

The woman nodded and looked pleased, "Of course I will. I'll stay out of your way, erm, naturally, but I would not miss this for the world!"

"Neat," Piper replied, "but like, is it gonna be weird? Like, watching your daughter and all?"

Katharina shrugged, "No, not one bit. I was telling your, erm, uncle, that when I was my daughter's age, it was, err, my brother who was my first lover."

"Oh!" Piper exclaimed, "What's that like?"

The woman laughed, "So many questions! You, erm, remind me of my Lena!" Kat sipped her wine and said, "It was wonderful, Miss Piper, er, just wonderful. I cannot wait for my daughter to experience, erm, her first, er, penetration."

I swelled at the notion. We were just an hour or so away from the start time, and my tension and excitement were growing by the minute. Piper could barely keep from bouncing out of her chair, and the aroused, flushed skin on Katharina's face suggested that she was feeling similar emotions.

Lena came in and joined us. She wore a thick robe which covered her from neck to ankle, just a hint of red lip gloss, a touch of liner around her eyes. Her curly dark-brown strands were carefully bundled and braided, the ends left untwisted, letting the natural curls play along her neck. Her skin was rosy and warm, and she sat, clearly excited, smiling at everyone in the room.

Her mother spoke to her in German and the girl responded. Kat turned to me and said, "My apologies, we forget ourselves, erm, sometimes. I was just, er, asking her if she was ready, and she can barely, erm, speak for she is so anxious!"

"What's it feel like?" Piper burst out, up on her knees in the chair and leaning on the high table.

"What, Miss Piper?" Katharina asked.

"Like, when it goes in? When you're, uh, sexing..."

Katharina looked at me with a pleased, knowing expression, then said, "Like being stretched and filled, my dear, err, like being opened. If, erm, done well, it is so pleasant that you never wish to, err, feel anything else again." She turned to Lena and said, "and shortly, my daughter will first experience this, err, sensation for herself. Oh, I am so excited!"

Lena giggled and blushed, and Piper looked at me with an expression which said, to anyone watching, that more than innocent discussion of this moment had already passed between us. I was too excited, myself, to even worry.

Gunther joined us and swallowed a small cup of wine, kissing his daughter on the cheek. "All is ready?" he asked me.

"We're all set up. We just await you and your daughter."

Gunther swallowed a few strawberries, then washed it down with half a cup of hot tea cooled down with cream. He knelt beside his daughter, a soft expression on his face, and touched her cheek. She shivered and smiled on contact, blushing, her bright white teeth shining and brilliant. The girl's body was lightly vibrating as Gunther spread a finger down her cheek to her chin, then he slowly turned her head. "When you are ready, my love, go to your room..."

The girl swallowed a gulp of tea, looked at her dad, and said, "I'm ready."

Lena stood after hugging her mother. Gunther got to his feet, turned to me, and said, "I believe she wishes you to begin immediately. I'll be along shortly..."

I felt my pulse raising. Could this really be going down? Was I going to be in the room, taking photos, of a ten-year old girl giving her virginity to her own father? My knees were more shaky than any moment I could recall, except, perhaps, a moment or two with Piper. She followed me down the hall and we entered Lena's bedroom.

The girl sat on the bed, legs crossed under her robe. She looked up at us and said, "When you have everything ready... I will start..."

I nodded, flicking switches, again checking settings, turning the lights up in the room and adjusting the aim of the soft-blue spot lights I used for more intimate sets. Lena was centered perfectly for the best lighting. Piper picked up the third camera, then let me know she was ready. I nodded to Lena and said, "Just forget we are here, and... have fun..."

She blushed and smiled and said nothing more. I watched her sit a moment in her robe and took a few shots like that. Lena took a deep breath, then another. Her eyes closed, she breathed evenly a minute, then her focus came back to the moment ahead. She slowly slid her robe from her body. Underneath, the ten-year old was completely naked. My finger was on autopilot as my mind sought out every detail of the girl's body. Small, puffy, blossoming breasts, nipples puffy and the tips hardened. Down below, a light patch of dark fur hovered over her sex, the thin, dark-red lips stuck together with her legs mostly closed. She looked so different there than I'd seen before. No blood, mostly. Where there was no hair visible, the girl's private skin looked smooth, delicate, almost innocent. I snapped shots and let my mind race with arousal and excitement.

She parted her thighs and obviously showed herself to our cameras, Piper kneeling down and taking direct shots of Lena's vulva and breasts. I moved to the other tripod for a different angle, taking several photos there. I was so impressed with Piper's poise in that moment that I watched her instead of the naked Lena for long seconds.

My attention returned to Lena as she spread wider, her wet, swollen lower lips slightly sticky, opening slowly, her thighs well open. Over several beautiful seconds, Lena's inner lips rolled open like a flower, wet and shiny. The ten-year old's vagina was a pink shadow with a small, crescent-shaped barrier, little bigger than the one I'd seen inside Piper. I was mesmerized, zooming in to capture the girl's wetness, her beautiful, secret flesh, her body trembling lightly but a very pleasant, excited look on her face.

Lena pulled herself upright when she heard footsteps. She turned and I saw from the corner of my eye that Gunther and Kat had approached, the man stepping through the door while the woman leaned onto the frame. I ignored her and focused on capturing shots of the man and girl coming together. He wore nothing at all, naked, his penis half-hard, thin, average length, a dark brown shaft and a more reddish head. He whispered something in German, then hooked one arm around his daughter's waist, pulling her close. She caught her breath, giggling, then looked up at him with love and arousal in her expression.

Their lips came together, and other than the light clicks of shutters being engaged, the only sounds were the soft moans of father and daughter kissing passionately for the first time. One of Lena's legs drew up, knee bent, foot behind her in a pose which was so cliché I almost laughed. But it was a genuine response from the ten-year old, and I captured the lovely moment from both cameras while Piper did so from her handheld.

There was no urgency from Gunther. He was gentle, lightly-passionate, breathing calming and talking softly to his daughter in German. I longed to know what he said to the girl. Once, she giggled and nodded, and it was so damn cute I took multiple shots of her over those seconds. I saw Piper turn briefly, somewhat behind me and deeper in the room. She snapped past me to where Katharina was still leaning against the doorframe, the woman's eyes sparkling, her face flushed, a tight smile on her face. Piper took some shots of Kat, then turned back to the father and daughter who were beginning to settle back on the mattress.

It had easily been twenty or thirty minutes, and the room was heating up. I could feel sweat dripping from my brow, and I wiped it with the hand towel I kept hanging from a back pocket for such purposes. Lena's skin was glistening, rosy, so wonderfully warm in my lens. Her father had not even so much as touched her breasts yet, let alone parts more forbidden, but the girl was clearly aroused and enjoying the gentle process which would lead to her deflowering.

I watched as they kissed, Gunther stroking Lena's cheek and neck, his lips moving lower, lower, soon, his fingers and mouth were over her right breast, the man suckling there gently. Lena moaned softly, watching her father touch and lick her. Her legs began to part naturally, offering my cameras, and Piper's, more intimate opportunities to capture her arousal. I saw wetness already on her thin, dark-red labia. Her young pussy was swollen as if anticipating what would happen soon.

Gunther whispered in German and Lena's eyes lit up, the girl nodding. The man slid further, touching her softly, soon cupping her sex in his fingers. I watched as he slid a single finger into the ten-year old's pussy. Lena gasped, her hips rocking against the penetration. Gunther fingered her slowly, sampling her forbidden flesh with his hand before moving down again and using one hand to spread wide Lena's thighs.

The rosy insides of the girl's vagina were easily captured. I zoomed in, snapping regularly, Piper moving so that she could get a new angle. Every first hair between Lena's legs was drawn distinctly in the photos I took, her father's finger wet with her arousal. She was flushing deeper, moaning even more loudly.

I couldn't believe how easily the two seemed to forget there were near-strangers watching their most intimate moments, that the girl's mother, the man's wife, was also gazing longingly and with affection from the doorway. I shifted cameras, shooting images from a higher, less direct angle, capturing perfectly the puffy mounds on Lena's chest which appeared swollen, nipples tight and hard.

Gunther's tongue moved out and made contact with his daughter's cunt. Lena moaned, "Mmmmm... Mmmm... Papa... Mmmm..." He began to eat her and Lena's body writhed more strongly, moving with his tongue and lips and probing finger. Gunther lapped her gently, savoring each second spent between his own daughter's thighs, tasting her virgin flesh and clearly enjoying her taste. I certainly understood the powerful flavors between a ten-year old's legs. I glanced to see Piper remaining focused despite what had to be an intense moment for her, using the camera to record for all time the moments shared between father and daughter.

A few more whispered words, Lena giggling, more of Gunther's tongue between her thighs. Lena moaned and sighed, grasping at her father's head suddenly, pressing her body up against him. She shuddered and Gunther licked her wet slit. "Papa... Mmm... Papa... Es passiert, Papa... Ohhhmmm... Ohhhh..."

Lena's head rolled back, eyes shutting finally, her body sweaty and flushed, rising and falling quickly, her father's tongue buried one second inside her virgin hole, then moved higher the next to swipe wetly across her young clitoris. Her orgasm was like out of a fantasy. The sounds of our cameras were white noise to her moans, to her father's delighted grunts and encouraging words. She came for long seconds, writhing and jerking.

Before the girl had stopped moving, her flesh shading from rosy to deep red all over, her father was over her, kissing her lips, whispering in her ear words lost to me. Lena nodded, kissing him back, wrapping her arms around his back and squeezing tight.

Piper looked at me. She knew what was about to happen, that the girl was at the very moment where her virginity would be given to her father. Gunther's penis was hard and tucked against Lena's slender thigh, so close to her entrance that her wetness was already smeared along the upper side of his shaft.

They whispered together, touching, kissing, no rush to move on. I became aware of my own erection then, and I wondered if Piper's panties were wet with excitement. The girl had said she'd never seen anything like this before, not in person, and I realized that I, too, was a virgin in terms of seeing people together like this, so intimate and raw and lovely together, performing for each other as if Piper and I were not just feet away, watching the passion play out so wonderfully.

Suddenly, Gunther's hips rose and I saw Lena's hands draw down. Gunther's cock wasn't huge, and I thought that was a good thing given how slender and small Lena's sex was, even aroused and dripping wetness. She held him, giggling, just the tip of his penis pressed against her folds. Lena's young, sparkling eyes looked to her father. Her head raised up, they kissed, and the girl pulled Gunther's cock into her body.

The ten-year old moaned into her dad's mouth as he slowly sank into her body. I saw her twitch, perhaps in just a little discomfort, but it was clearly her hands which drove his movement, Gunther letting the girl guide him forward. Lena paused, panting against his cheek, freshly deflowered and clearly overwhelmed a moment. For the first time, her eyes fluttered open and I saw awareness of me and my camera. It lasted only a second or two. Then a smile spread on her face, she kissed her father's cheek, and whispered something in his ear.

Lena let go of the man's cock and drew her legs up a bit, knees spread and cocked at an angle. Her arms snaked around Gunther's shoulders and then he was driving firmly deeper into her body, spreading Lena's no-longer-virgin pussy around him

Over long, sensual moments, the lovers moved together, Gunther gentle with his thrusts, Lena receptive to his penetration. I saw a small red streak appear along the man's shaft, but it was soon smeared away as her arousal started to spread more rapidly along his length, creamy and white and coating his flesh with slippery girl juices.

What the two did for several minutes was make love. They weren't fucking, the father and daughter, or rutting or humping or any other descriptor I thought of in those moments. No, they made love, kissing, tender touches, whispered affections, Gunther moving very carefully in and out of his ten-year old daughter. She began to pant heavily again despite their slow motions. Lena tightened her arms around her father, her thighs too, "Mmmm... Papa... Papa... Ohhh... Tu es, Papa... Tu es..."

Piper moved close to me, but I tried not to be distracted. It seemed like we were nearing the end, the climax of their mating. Piper seemed to want to say something to me, but I made sure she remained quiet. The girl nodded, then returned her focus to the love-making father and daughter.

Gunther grunted into Lena's mouth, his buttocks clenching tighter, tighter, his movements still very gentle. "Aaaaahhh... Aaaaahhh... Meine Tochter!"

"Oh... Papa! Tu es, Papa! Ohhh..." Lena moaned, staring into his eyes.

Gunther filled her over several long movements, firmly planted deep in his daughter's vagina. He kissed her as he came, his body shuddering, shuddering, Lena wrapping herself all around him, receptive, wanting his seed. I could hear them squishing together as he continued to move, but soon, Gunther stilled. Piper was at an angle to see right down Lena's body to where drops of the man's semen had spilled out and coated his shaft.

For several breathless minutes, they held together, kissing, Gunther's penis randomly twitching in the ten-year old's vagina.

To my surprise, this was when Katharina joined them on the bed. She settled beside her daughter, stroking the girl's face, the look of arousal on mother and child. Kat touched her husband's cheek and smiled at him. The delighted, overwhelmed look on Gunther's face was genuine and made a lovely image in my lens.

Gunther slowly withdrew and immediately, as if practiced, Lena rolled back her hips and swept her legs into the air, holding her thighs mostly together, a trickle of sticky white cum bubbling out of her vagina, just the lightest of red smears along one labia and along her upper, inner thigh.

To my shock, Katharina took her husbands place as he sat back on the edge of the mattress, sweating and flushed. The woman brought her head down close to Lena's sex and carefully dragged her tongue, collecting the seed which had been lost and adding it to the larger bubble still nestled in the entrance to the girl's vagina. She did this several times while Piper and I captured the scene.

Katharina wasn't just lapping up her husband's cum. She was ensuring as much of it as possible stayed inside her daughter's body. She spread Lena's labia which caused the pool of sperm to dip lower, back inside the girl. Kat pressed it in with a finger, gently so, then used fingers to close the ten-year old's labia over top of Gunther's semen, soon shifting into a seated position beside her, maintaining her lock around Lena's pussy lips.

It took several confusing moments to put all the pieces together. Just two weeks earlier, Lena had her first menses. Two weeks. The girl was right in the middle of her cycle. She was, I realized with a start, almost certainly ovulating for the first time since it became obvious she was fertile. They were trying to get her pregnant! Katharina's actions proved it beyond any doubt.

I was so caught up in that realization that I missed that Gunther had stood from the bed, donned a robe and approached me. He said very quietly, "We are now at a moment where we would like our privacy. You... you have captured things as we wished?"

I just nodded, not believing that this man had just attempted to impregnate his own ten-year old daughter, but unable to voice my thoughts.

Gunther continued, handing me an envelope, "Your fee," he told me, "and I have arranged a car to drive you back to your hotel. When you are ready, simply dial this number and someone will be along shortly."

I nodded, then realized a logistical issue I'd not considered. "Err... how will I get you the photos? I... I can't put them anywhere... uh..."

Gunther nodded, "In the sitting room, I have provided a laptop. Please transfer them to the drive marked 'Lena'."

I replied, "Alright... We'll get right on that." My eyes drifted to the bed, where Lena was smiling, her head now against her mother's body, the woman still holding shut the ten-year old's labia. I gulped but then told Gunther, "It has been a pleasure... Thank you for sharing this with us..."

He smiled, "The pleasure, I assure you, was all mine, and Lena's..."

Gunther turned back to the bed, shed his robe, and nearly wrapped himself around Lena.

Piper and I quickly gathered our things, my body shaking significantly from the excitement and raw thrill of what I'd witnessed. Piper seemed to be in a similar state. Once we had the equipment in cases and bags, I led her out of the room, but not without one last glance back at the lovely family sharing a taboo moment on the bed.

- - -

"They were making babies!" Piper breathed once we were well clear of the bedroom and seated on the couch, the first camera's card already being transferred as directed.

I turned, my voice very unsettled, "H-how did you know?" I'd only connected those dots after seeing what Katharina did after Gunther filled the girl with cum.

Piper pursed her lips, "Well, you told me, like, there's a cycle, and, like, right in the middle... that's the time you can really get a baby... Like, what did you call it?"

"Ovulation... Lena was ovulating..."

"Yeah... I just... I realized it, I guess. Like, it was two weeks, right? Since Berlin?"

I nodded.

"So... they were trying, right?"

"I think it's obvious after seeing what Katharina did... she was trying to keep all of her husband's sperm inside Lena's vagina... no other reason I can think of."

"Neat," Piper said, smiling.

"Maybe," I protested mildly, far too overwhelmed to really think too strongly about anything. I switched cards, uploading the second camera's efforts. "How, uh... how did you like being the photographer... for this...?"

Piper's smile broadened, and I could see the excitement in her face. "Oh, it was neat!"

"Neat, huh?" I laughed. "That's one way to put it."

"Well, like, it was so cool, right? They really loved each other first, then they sexed!"

"Never thought I'd ever see anything like that, on a number of levels," I replied.

Piper said quietly, "Do, uh... do you think we should tell them, you know, about us, too?"

I paused, then admitted, "I sorta... let it slip, to Katharina..."

"You... told her?"

I nodded and cringed.

Piper sat still a moment as I switched out the memory cards a final time. The girl said, "That's not fair... you make me be quiet but you tell her?"

"I... I screwed up, okay? It just sort of slipped out..."

Piper pursed her lips, "But if I say anything, that's bad..."

"You know why, Piper..."

"I know," the girl replied, "I won't screw up, like you did..."

"I'm sorry... I promise, it will never happen again..."

Piper looked at me, eyes narrowed, "I don't want you to go to jail, Uncle Patrick... I won't say anything, ever... but..."

"But?"

"But can I at least tell Lena at some point? I... I kinda want to talk to... someone..."

"I think that would be okay... so long as you ensure it is just between the two of you..."

"She's gotta keep her own secret, right?"

"Yeah, though," I added, remembering the questions the girl had been asked after the last competition, "I seem to recall a bit of too-clear intentions for her and her father being talked about in Berlin... But, yeah. Her and only her. I promise I won't tell anyone else, not without us talking about the consequences first. Promise."

"Okay," she said, her eyes darting back down the hall before she started to smile and slid her fingers into mine, "this is okay, now, right? Now that they know?"

"Katharina knows, but, yeah... I think around those three is okay, so long as it's only them..."

"Good, cause," Piper said, kissing my lips and pushing her young tongue into my mouth, "I really want to orgasm you again real soon!"

I groaned, my cock leaking precum liberally all day, and nodded with her kiss, breaking just enough to say, "I want you so much it hurts, Piper... Let's hurry up and get back to our room."

Patrick, Male, 25

	- Narrator, professional photographer

	- 5'9, beige skin, 165lbs, muted-brown bangs

Piper, Female, 10

	- Child model

	- 4'7, tanned beige skin, 90lbs, blue-green eyes, straight raven-black hair

Gunther, Male, late 30s

	- Father of Lena, husband of Katharina

	- 5'10, beige skin, 160lbs, cropped blonde hair

Lena, Female, 10

	- Child model, winner in Berlin

	- 4'11, tanned beige skin, 100lbs, dark-blue eyes, curly dark-brown hair

Katharina (Kat), Female, late-30s

	- Mother of Lena, wife of Gunther

	- 5'1, beige skin, 125lbs, blue eyes, wavy dark-brown hair