I woke to the sound of my cell phone ringing. It took long seconds to regain my awareness beyond the two soft, warm bodies crowded along my sides, hot breath on my neck and arm. I didn't really want to move. It was early, I was sure, too early for a phone call.

The jangling had stopped by the time I'd disentangled myself from the two beautiful sleeping girls and looked to see who rang me in the night. The missed call was from Johanna, the woman who had hosted the private show in Berlin and who had connected me with Gunther and Lena. I was intrigued enough to slip into the bathroom and close the door so as not to disturb the girls while I returned the woman's call.

"Patrick, oh, good, you are awake."

"Sure... now... why, uh, why are you calling so early, Johanna?"

"Oh, my apologies. I only wished to know if you were, by chance, anywhere close by?"

"Near Berlin? Err... not especially, no. I'm in Monaco right now... why?"

"Ah, well to me, that is close by. I will come to you shortly."

"Err," I paused, "come to me? Why?"

"I have a proposition for you... on the behalf of someone else... I think you might find this of interest..."

"What proposition?"

"Something better reserved for when I see you later today..."

It sounded a lot like the time Gunther had flown to see me in Boston. If this proposal was anything like his, I was certainly intrigued. I checked the time. "So... what did you have in mind?"

"I'll likely land around, say, two or two-thirty. I have a charter I use regularly, should be no problem to come to you today. Can you meet me for a meal? I'll text you a favorite of mine, we'll meet there around four?"

"Sure, sure," I replied, "uh... Piper's with me."

I heard the woman purr just a bit, "Hmmm... I seem to recall that was not a problem the last time you and I met... I'm sure it won't be this time..."

"And," I added hastily, "I've got someone else with me... a girl... a teen..."

"Another, erm... niece, Patrick?"

"No, just... just a friend... of Piper's," I replied. I didn't correct the woman on the revealed relationship I had learned about my daughter and me.

"Hmm, well... if you trust her with what you and your niece have seen so far... I believe this will be fine. Four-o'clock?"

I confirmed that I'd meet her then and the call dropped. Seconds later, I got a map link to a top-rated restaurant on the water not far from my hotel. I saved the link and peed quickly, now awake and unable to return to bed despite the way my cock throbbed a time or two when I could still smell the scents of two little pussies on my face.

Because of the voluminous space in the room, which was more like a condo, I was able to quietly grab my laptop and sat down to check email without waking Piper or Grace. I checked my messages, looking for anything from Marilyn. I still didn't have a next assignment that I could tell, and I verified it by logging into our employee portal. Monaco was the last gig on my schedule. What the hell was going on?

I fired off an email to Marilyn, asking for a next assignment. Reasonably politely. I knew she would have only just returned from her surprise vacation to Sydney to see Piper perform in the ModelLight competition, but she still should have handled assignments the moment she was back. They were delayed already, at least for me. I should have had something. I wondered if gigs I would have otherwise been given had instead gone to the new hires. Marilyn's assurances had done little to mollify my concerns. I sent a second email to one of the other photographers, a woman close to my age named Meghan. She was on my level in terms of experience and range of expertise. I asked if she had any upcoming gigs assigned to her yet. Her response should tell me whether or not to go on the offensive with Marilyn. If it was only me missing upcoming work, I'd know something wasn't right and my job was in danger, whether from some power play from Marilyn or something else. I knew little about our company above her head and knew next to no one in any real position of authority. If the woman had it out for me, I had no leverage of any kind.

Well, I acknowledged, that wasn't strictly true. Marilyn was in possession of child pornography, the old magazine she took with her after finding her own youthful images in one of the items in Milton's collection. It occurred to me that having such knowledge might keep her from acting in a negative way in terms of my job if I presented it to her that way. But immediately I recognized that any liability Marilyn had in such things, I was in worse shape. I had more of the stuff than she did, boxes to her single periodical, and the woman was dangerously close to hearing or seeing something which might tip my hand about even more taboo and illegal activities, especially with access to ModelLight competitions where she would see Piper perform in, at best, questionable ways.

Blackmailing Marilyn to protect my job, even if my ethics might allow it, was out of the question.

There wasn't much more I could do at that point. As I started to put away the laptop, I had an urge to look over the early photographs I'd taken of Piper in Tokyo, the first time I ever saw my daughter. I logged into my personal virtual server and started slowly enjoying them all over again. God, was she sexy.

"Okay, Daddy?" Piper's sleepy voice said quietly, the girl suddenly leaning into me, the glow of the laptop stopping me from seeing her approach.

I startled briefly, then replied, "Yeah, fine, Love. Just checking work and . . ."

Piper's eyes blinked a couple of times as she looked at my screen, her nearly-naked body captured during her performance, the preteen's little vulva clearly visible in multiple shots. My daughter smiled and kissed my cheek, hugging my neck, "Aww, Daddy... You're looking at me!"

I grinned and kissed the girl a moment, then told her, "I love you, Piper, I hope you know that, no matter what happens with Grace, you are my love, okay?"

"I know, Daddy," Piper said with a smile, "I always know."

The girl looked again at the screen as I slowly moved from photo to photo.

Piper's mouth began to open slightly and I watched my daughter more than I looked at her photographs.

After a few, she made me stop on one which showed her in a bend and stretched position, almost ninety-degrees backwards, knees slightly spread, arms outstretched to help offset her bend. Because of the angle of her body, Piper's vulva was clearly indented and colorful between her slender things. "Do you like that one? Does it make your pe-nis get hard, Daddy? Looking at my vul-va in that one?"

I nodded and automatically moved my hand to grasp my eleven-year old daughter's naked bottom., squeezing it lightly and letting a finger drag down the cleft between her buttocks. She giggled and quickly slid down under the overhang of the desk. I, too, was naked, and it took only seconds for Piper to take hold of my penis with her hand and giggle again. She said quietly, "Keep lookin' at me!"

I felt my daughter's little mouth slide down my rising cock, her gentle but steady suction combined with a slippery up and down rhythm to quickly have me straining for release. When had Piper, my eleven-year old daughter, become good at giving head? I dunno what was different, or even better, than the other times Piper had sucked me, but she and I had a rhythm right then that really did it for me.

Her slippery lips and rougher, wet tongue hugging my dick, my daughter slobbered as she sucked me, slurping noisily and humming lightly around my penis. I looked at the screen, staring at the photo Piper had last seen, the one with her vulva pressing out the fabric, dark and obvious to all eyes. Her head bobbed. Bobbed. Bobbed. I rose and strained, one hand moving to Piper's head to steady her just right as I began to orgasm.

A warm, powerful rush of pleasure and energy spewed out of me as I filled my daughter's mouth with salty cum. She choked lightly after two or three spurts, but she didn't stop sucking, letting me finish right against her throat and tongue, only pulling away when the head of my penis became too sensitive, the eleven-year old swallowing in two gulps. Piper climbed back from under the desk and grinned, cum on her lips and chin, a small strand hanging from the latter, swaying but stuck fast for a few more seconds to a larger glob slowly running down one cheek.

I pulled Piper to me, hugging her tight, her arms locking around my neck. I kissed her as deeply as ever before, tasting pungent semen in her mouth and not caring one bit. I loved my daughter unlike ever before. We'd changed so much together over the previous few weeks, and it was taken to another level when she sucked cum from my nuts under that desk in a hotel in Monaco. Piper became a legitimate lover, not just a little girl who enjoyed sexing and being orgasmed.

- - -

Monaco was a place worth taking the time to walk around aimlessly. We'd done a bit of that the previous morning, but on Monday, it felt right to have little agenda. Secretly, I hoped to stay close to the hotel so that the girls and I might easily and quickly return to a private place for some intimate fun. Though I hadn't said a word to her, I got the impression that Piper agreed, especially when she asked if I wanted to go back to the room around lunch time so that she could ask me some things she knew couldn't be asked in public. Grace was her polite and cautiously cheerful self, though with a special glow after the fun we'd shared the night before.

Aimless wandering, as I described it, was fairly self-contained in Monaco. There wasn't a whole lot of room to move around, all things considered. Perhaps a couple of miles long and maybe half-a-mile wide, the tiny country was densely packed with high-end shopping, scooters, and fashionable people of many genders, races, and cultural appearances. We saw African princes just steps from Alpine bimbos, or so I quietly laughed to the girls after we passed two beautiful young women with brilliantly-golden hair dressed as if ready for a beach day at some hedonistic locale, each wearing hip-hugging shorts which rose tight into crotches with tops which only barely contained bouncing, augmented breasts tipped with obvious hard nipples.

I was quick to point out to the girls I was only making a small, private joke and that, in reality, it was clear slut shaming I was doing. It wasn't okay, I told them, and I apologized for the slur. I think the girls understood what I was explaining, at least a little, and the more I thought about it, the more I regretted calling the women bimbos.

We stopped in a cafe for coffee and danishes, surrounded by the low sounds of conversations being held by tourists starting out a Monday in such an affluent location. I heard plans for boat trips and car rides up into the mountains, high-end restaurant reservations and chauffeured sight-seeing. The more I listened, the less I connected with those around me. Oh, perhaps there was just a bit of envy, to be honest. I wished I had the means which would allow me the leisure many of those people knew, possessing both time and money to jet to Monaco for half a week then catch a ferry to a Greek island for a few days more. "We might head back next week, or we might spend a few days in Capri, we don't really know!" I heard a British-accented woman tell someone at her table.

I suppose what I had was still a great deal more than most people, certainly so since Piper started going with me. Having someone to share my travel with was becoming an important part of staying balanced and feeling energetic and happy about my life. I was okay before, but since my daughter came to me, everything held a little more color, and trips which might have been utterly boring and dreadful, like the conference we did in Boston recently, were bearable and even afforded me many moments of enjoyment in Piper's company, whether sexually-charged or wholly innocent.

My work took me all over the world. I knew I was pretty young to have visited so many different countries. I tried to do the math and couldn't remember exactly what my total might be by that point. Few people in the United States or anywhere had the opportunities I had. Granted, I was expected to work when in such places, but like that day in Monaco, there were often a few hours, or, if I was lucky, a day or two, to sightsee and visit the places my gigs took me.

But one day, I hoped to be positioned like the woman who had yet to decide if she might stay on vacation a few extra days. I wondered if I might be able to earn enough to get there. My regular salary would never get me to that point, no question. But the extra gigs I'd been picking up, such as those for Heidi and Lena, and the private shows, were certainly making my income grow dramatically. Plus, Piper was earning money from the ModelLight competitions, something I'd only really understood when looking at the girl's savings account after Veronica had opened it up to me. Not only did my daughter have a decent income, her nest egg was far bigger than mine. I still hadn't wrapped my head around that number or where it might have come from. Certainly, there were questions to throw at Veronica the next time I saw her.

Regardless, it was a fantastic morning to be walking around Monaco, holding hands with my daughter on one side, our new partner-in-crime Grace on my other. The teen and preteen chattered across me and I listened, enjoying the way the girls had so quickly bonded. Both were excited to think about what might happen. I'd already tried to get them to temper their hopes a bit that morning, but it had done little to stop the two from dreaming about future experiences.

Walking in Monaco felt something like strolling through a theme park, though more dense and no rides. In some places, buildings towered over us along narrow strips of road, interesting colors and shapes to them all. In other spots, it was more like the nostalgic village areas of a theme park, cafes and soft sounds playing around us. Really, if I ignored the horrendous amount of affluent waste in the place, I really rather enjoyed my time there.

Of course, it hadn't hurt to have Grace show us around. She took us into an art gallery with paintings and sculptures featuring gothic and mediterranean fantasy themes, then on to a place to buy fresh cinnamon ice cream in cones still slightly warm from being baked. It was well after noon by the time Piper suggested returning to our hotel, and both Grace and I agreed we'd like a break.

Inside our room, Piper was in my arms immediately and we kissed a long time together, Grace joining us after a bathroom visit. Clothes shed easily for all of us, and before long, I had the girls once more on the bed, legs spread, knees bent, my face swapping between them as I licked and stroked each of them to orgasm. God, I loved doing that, both with my little sexy eleven-year old daughter, licking and fingering her immature, hairless pussy which was so small and tight around my fingers, and tasting and petting the blossoming teen whose trimmed cunt was fragrant and slippery, the girl cumming easily even without fully penetrating her virgin hole. Bringing those two to orgasm was my favorite thing ever.

What was different this time, though, different than the night before, was that Grace and Piper began to kiss as I ate their young pussies. Just a little joining of lips. I wasn't sure which girl started the lovely kissing, but by the time Piper orgasmed on my face, she had her mouth open and locked onto Grace's, moaning into the teen's mouth while her cunt spasmed and clenched my finger as she came.

I simply loved seeing them kissing. My sexy, prepubescent daughter locking wet lips and moaning with the budding teen we'd quickly come to love. What an amazing sight, and when I rose over Piper and began to slide my leaking dick inside her tight hairless cunny, I said to Grace, "Kiss her, please... oh, yes... kiss my daughter... touch her, Grace... touch her nipples."

Grace did as I asked, a smile on her face, fingers gently massaging Piper's flat chest. My daughter took no prompting to slide one hand over to caress Grace's soft, swollen breasts. I came so hard and fast that I didn't slow down even after my ejaculation peaked. I was barely aware I was spurting I was so caught up in that moment. My second climax of the day was churned in Piper's slippery pussy for long moments while the girls kissed and caressed each other, and my third, much smaller load was soon pumped into my daughter as I strained and swelled and felt blissfully-complete for long, long wonderful seconds. God, seeing those two touching each other was such an amazing turn on! I joined them in kisses and touches and we lounged together long enough to nap, the smell of young, aroused wet pussies filling my nose as I began to fall under.

- - -

I was incredibly glad I'd set up a notification about meeting Johanna for an early dinner. Lost in the sensual, sexual moments I'd shared with Piper and Grace was the memory of our call that morning. My phone, thankfully, buzzed right at three in the afternoon and I jolted awake, quickly getting the girls and I up and moving. I ran down and grabbed a complimentary black coffee from the hotel barista and returned to find both girls dressed and mostly ready to head out.

Piper looked stunning. I have no idea how she did it, but I suspected Grace had helped. Her hair was tied back in thick braids which ran down her neck and over a lovely dark-blue dress, the lines of her clothing a bit more conservative than her usual, an outfit any well-off eleven-year old might wear, the lower edge ending around mid-calf. I carefully kissed my daughter, not wishing to disturb the light cosmetics on her lips and cheeks.

Grace, too, was ready for an evening out, a lovely silver blouse meeting at her waist with a black, knee-length skirt, off-white hose down to heels completing her look. Like Piper, her hair had thick braids and hung down her back. Grace's breasts were just an impression under the blouse, but I knew what was there and, despite my three orgasms that day, throbbed gently to think about touching the teen's beautiful young tits.

Together, they looked fantastic and I rushed to put on a pair of dark slacks and a light-blue dress shirt and tie. I hoped I was up to snuff compared to what the girls were wearing. The three of us dashed out a few minutes before four, and I was thankful that the restaurant Johanna had chosen was just a five minute walk from the hotel.

- - -

Inside, we found Johanna already seated near the back of the place, waiting for us with a glass of red wine in hand. The woman wore a sleek golden dress with slashes of silvery-white as if to closely match the tones in her silky, flowing strands. She stood and smiled, greeting us with, "Wonderful to see you again, Patrick, and Miss Piper, always a delight to witness your beauty." The woman held out her hand and I kissed it before she offered me her cheeks with a typical affluent European flair. Johanna turned to Grace after a brief hug with Piper and asked, "And this is . . . ?"

"Grace," the teen said before I could introduce her, "I'm from Nice."

"What a wonderful place to be from, I'm sure." The woman looked Grace over with an expression which walked a fine line between discerning and objectifying. "Too bad you weren't joining the circuit a few years ago... you are a doll!" Before anyone could react, Johanna waved her hand over the round table and we sat down. A waitress hovered until we were seated and took our drink orders, in English, then disappeared behind a shimmering curtained opening nearby.

"I'm not one to waste time on small talk when there is business to discuss," Johanna said, leaning forward, glass of wine nearly empty after a long swallow, "let us get to it. I have a job for you, Patrick."

"Okay," I replied, "what's the gig?"

"Ever been to Crimea?"

I swallowed, "Err... no... isn't that a rather dangerous place to be right now?" I knew a little about the ongoing conflict in the region with Russia and Ukraine fighting over the small area which jutted out into the Black Sea.

Johanna shrugged and tossed her head as if to dismiss my concerns, "Not if you pay attention, Patrick. The job is there, regardless."

I glanced at the girls, realizing fully how much their safety depended on me making good decisions. I hadn't been on my own for some time with Piper in tow, but it really struck home how much responsibility I had for my daughter, and, perhaps, soon Grace as well. "Go on . . ."

"Ever heard of Russian Bare?" After I shook my head, Johanna continued, "They're a naturist company, um, sponsoring nudists in various parts of eastern and central Europe."

"Sponsoring nudists . . ." I mused. "What exactly does that mean?"

Johanna smiled, "Generally," she said, leaning forward, "it means they send families to nude beaches or resorts, sometimes private properties, then take photographs and videos of them doing normal things like swimming or playing in the sand or what have you." The woman finished her wine and sat the glass down on the table, meeting my curious gaze. "And, much like ModelLight, they sell the media afterwards. Legally. Openly, on the Internet."

I did the math and replied quietly, recognizing what Johanna was not saying, "So... they found some loophole around child pornography laws due to it being . . . nudists?"

Johanna nodded, "Essentially, yes. Many countries, including yours, allow photographs and videos of those who otherwise would not be photographable, so long as the context is clearly non-sexual. Russian Bare images are not remotely sexual."

"So... the gig is, what, exactly? Sounds like the company has it already covered."

She shook her head. "No, I asked about Russian Bare because there is a new competitor... A new company. I am a cofounder, with a couple of partners, and we believe you might be the perfect lead for our shoots. So, I'm here in Monaco, offering you the first opportunity to shoot for us. Our first event."

I thought a moment before responding. Stalling, I asked, "What's your company?"

"Nature Bare."

"That's creative . . ." I replied with obvious sarcasm.

Johanna shrugged but didn't voice her thoughts.

"This gig... how often do you expect to do shoots? I'm already tied up with a regular job and the ModelLight events..." I didn't mention that I was concerned about my real job with Marilyn likely sending my jobs to the new hires or other staff photographers.

"Every month or so... We will carefully schedule around ModelLight shows, or perhaps in unison with them... for reasons which will become obvious..."

I nodded, expecting those sentiments seconds before she said them, "You're recruiting from the models and their families."

"We are, among other sources."

The waitress returned with our drinks, juices for the girls and a glass of French chardonnay for me, along with a fresh glass of whatever red Johanna had ordered. We gave the waitress our meal requests quickly, my head spinning around the new opportunity being offered. When the woman retreated again, I said, "That still leaves my job's other gigs... Might be tough to schedule around that, especially since I'm not certain until a week or two ahead, sometimes..."

Johanna's pause told me something, but in that moment, I wasn't sure exactly what. She finally replied, "We will work something out with you and your company, I am certain."

Whatever Johanna wasn't telling me, I let it pass, a little caught up in eager excitement at the idea of the shots. "Let's say I agree to try this out... what's the compensation?"

She smiled and laughed lightly, "Hooked already, I see."

"Not yet, just covering my bases."

"Compensation will be something like what you get now for the private shows. Plus travel and what have you. You won't want for pay or privilege or comfort, I assure you, Patrick. We'll even cover your daughter's expenses, and, if Sweet Grace will be with you, hers as well."

I swallowed hard. "My... daughter?" How had Johanna learned that fact?

The woman smiled in a way which suggested she was not about to reveal her methods. "I assure you, Patrick, I will not let on about you and Piper. The point is," she said, ignoring my bubbling resistance, "we'll cover you in a way which ensures you will not worry about your expenses or bank account. I need a professional, someone discrete and capable, and someone who thrives on this unique opportunity. I've seen your work, Patrick, and I've seen how quickly you have grown comfortable in this world. I am offering you this chance, take it or leave it. We have our first event in about two weeks. Are you in?"

"Two weeks?" I spat, "shouldn't you have picked out a photographer before today?"

"I have two hired already, I assure you, but I need a lead. Someone capable of directing things. The woman I had thought might be the right one has declined late, and so... I am here, before you, Patrick. I cannot wait for your answer beyond today. I must have an answer. Before I leave Monaco."

It was like she'd shut down all conversation with her ultimatum. Food arrived at almost the same moment, and I was left with my head spinning even faster, trying to decide what was best for me and for Piper. In that moment, I wasn't really sure. Did I even still have a real job outside of the ModelLight competitions? Sure, those were still done through my company, but that seemed to be the only assured gigs I was to get with whatever Marilyn was up to. Did I take a chance and join Johanna's new venture, risking turning down gigs my company might offer in order to go to exotic places so that I could photograph naked families, including children? My penis throbbed at the thought, but my nerves kept it from rising.

- - -

Dinner was dominated by Johanna asking Piper and Grace about little girl things. Dreams of growing up, movies with princesses, special friends. When Johanna caught on that Grace was related to the Prince of Monaco, her attention was focused, asking all about the man and his world. Grace answered as if she had been queried in such a way many times in her life, offering only shadows of the man's life from her distant perspective. I barely recall my chicken cutlet or the third glass of wine which took me from tipsy to buzzed.

After the waitress cleared our plates, Johanna snapped her attention back to me. "I need a decision, Patrick."

There was not much going on in my head as my mouth and tongue and throat worked to expel, "I'm in."

She smiled and tipped her glass in my direction before swallowing the remains. "I expected so." Johanna reached into her purse and pulled out a folded envelope. "Inside is your access to our private portal. You'll use it to book travel and other necessities, we'll pay it directly. You are free to stay most anywhere you wish and you may travel first class if you so choose. Your work will upload into the same portal when you finish each shoot. Don't bother bringing your equipment, we'll have that waiting for you each time. Compensation for the work will be in cash, currency of your choice, paid the last day of each event. Bring no one but Piper with you."

"What... what about Grace?" I offered evenly.

Johanna eyed her a moment, then nodded, "She may come, but no others. Not without clearance first, okay? I'll have passes sent overnight to your address in California in three days. You'll need those to access the events. I'm trusting you Patrick. This is an exciting thing for me, more than just a moneymaking venture."

I leaned across the table and smiled at Johanna in the same knowing way she'd done to me moments earlier, "You love seeing children naked, don't you?"

Her voice was breathy, "More than anything..."

I couldn't blame her, honestly. I'd come to accept that about myself only recently, first with Piper but then with others. It was almost an addiction. I wanted to see more and more immature flesh, or budding chests and ripening genitals. The idea of photographing nude families fed my desire in a way I couldn't control, and there was no doubt, looking back, that I was going to accept Johanna's offer.

Her hugs and parting words were lost soon after as the girls and I walked back to our room. The two were excited, especially Piper, my daughter caught up in the idea of getting to do even more special shoots with me. I admit I was incredibly excited to think about sharing a nudist beach day again with my girl. I wondered if Grace might be with us again at that point.

The flight out the next morning was going to be incredibly early, and though it was painful and brought tears, we decided it would be best to say our goodbyes to Grace after sharing gelato and coffee later that evening. "I'm going to miss you so much!" Piper told her after a fourth goodbye hug in our room. A car was already waiting to take the teen back to her house, but it was difficult to let her go.

"I know!" Grace said, eyes red but tears slowing a bit, "I've had so much fun!"

"We'll see each other again soon," I offered, hoping it was true, "hang in there, Grace."

"I love you both so much!" the teen told us, pulling me in beside Piper and squeezing us tight.

"I love you," my daughter and I said in unison, holding on as long as possible, Grace's warmth so lovely against my body.

She was gone moments later, and Piper and I cuddled together on the hotel room couch, feeling just a little empty.

It had been a real whirlwind, Grace coming into our lives. We surely hadn't planned for it, first seeing the pretty teen just days earlier, soon sharing a day naked together and then so much more. She'd fit in with Piper and me so quickly, so perfectly. I knew it was a rosy view of things and that we were surely overlooking more complicated parts of our new relationship, but for the moment, with Grace on her way back to her home and a long distance between us for the next few days or weeks or months, I felt the loss of the girl quite acutely. Piper was feeling it too, my daughter crying softly against me long after Grace was gone. I shushed her and eventually Piper fell asleep against me.

Before the hour was too late, I shifted from under her, packed our things to prepare for our early checkout, then carried the sleeping eleven-year old to our bed. Leaving her to snore quietly, I settled into the bathroom and closed myself inside, tapping Marilyn's personal number on my cell.

"Patrick?" the woman answered immediately.

"Marilyn... make it home safe?" I asked evenly, still unsure what to think about the woman's surprise appearance in Sydney and doubly uncertain about what games she might be playing with my gigs.

"I did, still trying to catch up from the jet lag, though... how are things? Still in Monaco or did you fly home already?"

"Monaco, leaving tomorrow... got a next job for me yet? I sent you email and haven't seen anything..."

She paused, then said, "Working on it, Patrick. Nothing for now..."

Instead of launching into a well-justified tirade about my lack of scheduled work, I decided to be frank with the woman. "I've been offered a steady gig by Johanna, and I'm thinking I need to work with you to ensure I can get to them..."

"Ah, really?" Something in her tone was off. Her words weren't quite as surprised as they should have sounded. She knew already.

"Really," I went on without asking about her foreknowledge. "Once a month, central and eastern Europe. First one's in a couple weeks in Crimea." I'd glanced at the documents Johanna had given me but not yet done anything about them given the extended goodbyes with Grace. "I'll need to be sure I can get to those gigs regularly."

"Uh, yeah, sure, uh, sure, Patrick," she mumbled.

I waited a moment in silence, then decided to continue being upfront. "How'd you know, Marilyn? You've been ducking the next assignment problem for some days. You knew already that Johanna was going to offer me a gig. How?"

Silence greeted me a moment, "We've been talking..."

"So you and her... friends?"

"No... not directly... just... common interests I suppose. I met her a year ago, but only briefly, when she flew out to LA to do something with Milton. But then in Sydney... we talked and I asked about all sorts of ModelLight things and she let on that she needed someone for a new venture... someone with photography skills and when she mentioned that you might be someone of interest, I... I suppose I kinda hoped you might do it."

"Why? Why does it matter to you, Marilyn?"

I heard her sigh, "I suppose... I dunno, Patrick... I kinda want to see you before I say more... this is... this is odd, okay? Like... I don't like doing this on the phone..."

"Is this about... our common interests?"

"Yes... but not wholly..."

I began to believe it was both Piper and me the woman was interested in. I still couldn't quite puzzle out what her attraction to me and my daughter had to do with Johanna's gig, but there was a seed of connection becoming obvious to me then. "Fine... we'll talk when I get back, but... for now... what's this mean, Marilyn? I'm doing ModelLight gigs for work and nothing else?"

"I think so... if that's what you want, Patrick. I... I suppose I could hook you back up to the regular jobs, but... from what Johanna said, you probably won't need them..."

I nodded to myself. "She gave me that impression, too... But... I'm okay with the company this way?"

"Yeah, we have plenty of light-duty agents."

"I mean... is anyone going to push me out of the ModelLight events?"

"No, no," the woman told me firmly, "why are you so worried?"

"Because," I told her honestly, "I love doing them. I love taking Piper, and my daughter really wants to keep modeling at the events. I need to be at them, and I want to keep working the ModelLight gigs."

There was more silence a moment, then Marilyn replied, "I... I thought Piper was your niece..."

"Shit," I muttered, tired and forgetting exactly who knew what about Piper at that point. "It's complicated... Piper's my daughter, Marilyn... It's complicated..."

"Okay..."

"Point is... I want to keep the ModelLight jobs. Only those."

"You will, I promise."

"Thank you."

More silence.

"I should get some sleep," I said softly, feeling like all the energy I'd had that day had finally been exhausted.

"Home tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, tomorrow."

"I'll see you when you get back, then, Patrick... we should talk in person, okay?"

"Fine."

- - -

I watched Piper a few minutes as she slept, just standing beside the bed and smiling down at my beautiful, peaceful daughter. God, so much had changed in my life in the past couple of weeks. Not only had my young lover turned out to be be my own flesh and blood, but we'd welcomed into our lives a pretty and sweet teen who, soon, might be joining us as we traveled the world. I was going to be in Crimea in a couple of weeks to photograph nudist families, and Piper would be there with me. The next ModelLight competition was a few days later in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, a city I'd never visited previously and a nation I'd only been in briefly once before. That alone would have been exciting in my recent past.

Now, the excitement was in getting to spend every minute with my daughter, in thinking about Grace catching up with us at some point soon, in seeing things like nudist celebrations and sensual private shows where little girls bared themselves for me and my daughter to see. My life, which had been rather enjoyable before, was now arousing and fulfilling and throughly enticing. I knew I'd have trouble sleeping that night but I needed to try regardless. I wrapped myself around my daughter after flicking the light switch, whispered my love for her into the darkness, then tried to get at least a few hours of sleep before our long trip home to Los Angeles.

Patrick, Male, 25

	- Narrator, professional photographer, father of Piper

	- 5'9, beige skin, 160lbs, muted-brown bangs

Piper, Female, 11

	- Child model, apprentice photographer, daughter of Veronica and Patrick

	- 4'8, tanned beige skin, 90lbs, blue-green eyes, straight raven-black hair

Grace, Female, 15

	- Great-niece of the Prince of Monaco

	- 5'3, pale-beige skin, 105lbs, blue-green eyes, chocolate-brown hair past shoulders

Johanna, Female, late-50s

	- Private event hostess

	- 5'9, 135lbs, pale white skin, golden-brown hair with streaks of white