The next day was not nearly as fun as Piper had expected though she never seemed anything other than cheerful and excited through our long travel. Four airports over many hours finally had us landing in Hyderabad that evening, two days before my assignment was to begin. I was used to issues like delayed luggage and jet lag, so I always planned to arrive at least a full day ahead of the start of the gig. Thankfully, our luggage was waiting on us at the carousel by the time we cleared customs, so I shouldered my bag, grabbed my equipment case, and Piper dragged her rolling suitcase and garment bag beside her as we caught a ride to our hotel.

The room was alright. Not the best place I'd stayed but certainly far from the worst. I tended to look for cleanliness when booking a stay, but price mattered a lot so I often went with cheaper hotels than some of my colleagues would have chosen. I would get reimbursed and the company didn't frown on upgraded locations, but I had limited credit on my cards and never liked laying out additional money and waiting for my expenses to be covered a few weeks later.

Exhausted, I had Piper shower and then I did the same. Thankfully, the child didn't tease me with her nudity, keeping her panties on, at minimum, before we crawled into bed. This one felt rather large by comparison, a queen with plenty of space for us to spread out. But Piper wanted to cuddle as usual, so she pushed herself back against me after I'd turned off the lights and settled on my side of the bed, pushing her panty-clad bottom against my groin, my sweatpants not hiding the fact that I was partially erect from the contact. I shifted enough to keep my erection from pressing against Piper's little butt, but it still managed to rest against her outer buttock, throbbing. I hoped she didn't realize what was going on.

- - -

We were up early, and the jet lag set in strong. It took several cups of coffee before I felt a little better, an Indian breakfast consisting of flatbread called roti and a scrambled egg dish with onions, chilies, carrots, peas, and spices, with a cup of Indian coffee for me, orange juice for Piper. To my surprise, the girl had no reservations eating the local dishes. She told me that she'd eaten food from all over the world. Unlike what I expected was true for most kids her age, she was willing to try most anything, it seemed.

My head feeling a little thick, something like a hangover sensation in my body, we headed out so that I could get a feel for the areas I'd be working the next day. Preparations for the celebration were well underway along the parade route with banners and tents and streamers of all colors already in place. I saw dancers and entertainers practicing on small stages nearby, food markets being hastily brought together to serve those in attendance. The area was packed with bustling locals and pale-faced tourists alike.

I checked in with the event coordinator and picked up my reserved pass, getting one for Piper as well so that we wouldn't be hassled in the private areas I needed to go. Piper seemed to really enjoy passing along the crowded streets and through similarly-packed alleys and squares. She chattered to me most of the time, pointing out a cat doing leaps through hoops, or a very tall woman wearing an elaborate red, orange, and light-green dress. She delighted at all the languages she heard. Piper told me she could speak a little Spanish but otherwise she knew no other tongues. I'd picked up a little Spanish myself, but mostly just enough to ask for a beer or access to wi-fi, so I had little understanding when she tried to tell me something in that language.

We stopped at a long, narrow market after I was satisfied I had down my locations. My pass would allow us access to a couple of raised platforms along the parade route so that I could avoid being jostled by those watching from street-level. I held onto Piper's hand right up until we came into the market area to find something to eat and drink, only letting go when she was standing directly in front of me, and even then, I kept one hand on her shoulder. There were far too many people bustling around us. It would have been very easy for us to get separated, or worse, for someone to snatch the girl in the blink of an eye and disappear into the crowd. Thankfully, Piper's cell phone and mine had international plans, so we could contact each other, though I then worried about whether, like her mother's, Piper's phone service might be shut off.

We bought bhelpuri, a rice and vegetable dish served in paper cones, as well as a couple of kati rolls, something like a burrito or a wrap stuffed with bits of lamb, chicken, carrots, sauteed onions, a sweet and spicy chutney, and sprigs of some mild green herbs. Like she had at breakfast, Piper ate the foreign food with excitement and we finished our food quickly while huddled back near the side of an alley, watching the throngs of people pushing past us. Our bellies full of delicious street treats, we made our way out of the crowds down towards a more business-oriented part of the city.

"Anything you want to do today?" I asked Piper, once more holding her hand.

She shrugged, "I'm already doing it! Hanging out with you, Uncle Patrick!"

I smiled, "I meant beside that. Don't want us out too late. Tomorrow we have to be up and out before dawn to get in position."

She thought a moment, then said, "Nah. Can't think of anything right now."

I watched as a traditionally-garbed woman walked by with a young boy of maybe six or seven. They stopped down from us a bit, on the sidewalk. To my surprise, the boy pulled down his pants, his soft, uncut little penis hanging out, and he started to urinate. The mother stood watching the street with the boy behind her.

Piper giggled, "Hey, he's peeing!"

"I see that," I replied, casting my eyes elsewhere.

"I need to pee!"

Looking around, there were no obvious shops or other places I might think to find a bathroom. "Can you hold it until we get back to the hotel? I can fetch us a ride."

"Don't think I can!"

I grumbled a bit, but given the way people passed by the young boy urinating nearby, I decided it wasn't such an usual thing here and suggested, "Well, here, get behind me and just go, okay?"

"Here?"

"I don't see any other options. Apparently," I added, "we're already standing in the bathroom."

Piper giggled, "Okay..."

She moved behind me and dropped down after shifting her leggings and panties to her knees, squatting low. I heard the sizzle of her spray hitting the sidewalk. "Gah!" she exclaimed, "it's getting on me!"

There was really nothing I could do but wait and try to block the view of Piper's bottom from those passing by. If anyone noticed her bared backside as they walked past, no one made it obvious.

"I need to wipe my coochie!" she told me, looking up in mild desperation, "It's got pee on it!"

"I don't have anything to use," I confessed, "just pull up your pants and we'll go back to the room."

Piper grumbled but did as I suggested, rolling up her panties and leggings and making it clear that she really didn't much like not being able to wipe herself.

I tracked down a cab and soon had us on our way back to the hotel.

- - -

Indian traffic is notoriously chaotic. At first, the cab drove through what could have been traffic anywhere, drivers mostly keeping in their lanes, but soon we passed into a part of the city where lanes were barely suggestions and vehicles navigating through intersections looked more like bumper cars or marbles scattering all around us. My pulse was racing after only one of those, and we had to work our way through several more on our route.

The whole time, Piper kept her hand on her crotch, sometimes scratching it. "Still irritated?"

"It was okay before," she told me, "but it itches again."

"Maybe the urine is doing that," I suggested, "we'll be at the hotel in a moment." I checked the navigation on my phone to confirm we'd been taken to the correct place, the driver's grasp of English not so great as to inspire confidence that he understood the name of the hotel I'd given him.

We arrived and I rushed with the girl up to our room on the tenth floor. She quickly started tearing off her leggings and panties before reaching the bathroom and closing the door behind her. I sprawled out on the bed to relax.

"Uncle Patrick?" I heard Piper call from inside the bathroom.

"Hmm?"

"Can you come here a minute?"

"Err... Okay..."

I went to the door and paused, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I guess. Can you look at this for me?"

"Err... What, Piper?"

"Just come in, please!"

I sighed and opened the door.

Piper was sitting on the toilet, bottom half completely naked, her legs spread, one hand slowly scratching along her privates. "It looks kinda red," she told me.

Ignoring the way the display tried to draw in my arousal, I knelt down and stared between Piper's legs. Her vulva did look red again, though not as bad as the day before in her home in Miami. "Still a little irritated," I told her, the scent of her urine and warm genitals wafting up from below me. I tried my best to ignore the odors. "Did you bring the cream with you?"

Piper shook her head, "I forgot."

I nodded and said, "Alright. Why don't you get a shower and I'll go down and see if I can get you something to help. Don't leave the room, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed, one of her fingers dragging slowly along her dark-pink labia, causing her immature slit to open slightly and letting me see directly into her vagina, a thin, sheer crescent membrane covering a small part of the opening on the lower side. It was Piper's hymen, I knew immediately, and I had to stumble back to my feet to avoid the terribly dangerous thoughts starting to brew and boil in my brain.

"Be right back..."

- - -

The desk clerk spoke English, thankfully. "Do you have any... uh... itch cream? Something for irritated skin?"

"Itch cream?" the woman asked. She was pretty, dressed in a head scarf and rich, silky looking red and yellow fabrics. "Like for a rash?"

"Sort of," I said, then lowered my voice, "Like... my niece... has some irritation... in her... uh... lady parts... it's really bothering her..."

"Oh," the woman said, answering me quite professionally, "I understand. We don't sell any here, but... I keep some for that purpose in my purse. Maybe I can give you some?"

"Thank you, that would be great."

"One moment."

The woman left me alone at the counter, just a couple of others in the lobby area, pale-skinned Westerners like myself. One woman, perhaps in her fifties, nodded at me from the other side of the room, then returned to her conversation with a similarly aged man.

The clerk returned with her purse, then took a moment to find a small plastic bottle of white or light-green lotion. "This works for me, uh... Hmm..." She looked around the counter, then dug in her purse again, pulling out a small plastic baggie with two earrings inside. She dumped the jewelry into a small pocket in the purse, then squeezed the bottle until several thick globs were in the baggie, twisting the end of the baggie until it was reasonably sealed. She handed to me. "Hope that works for her."

"Thank you so much," I replied.

- - -

I knocked on the door to the bathroom, "Piper? I've got some lotion for you."

"It's open," the girl replied.

I opened the door and started to hand the baggie in. Piper was facing the sink and mirror, watching herself, her pose that of a dancer, similar to ones she'd struck when walking the runway in Tokyo. She moved again, shifting her hips and pausing to see her own reflection. I realized she was completely naked and sat the baggie onto the counter, stepping back out and telling the girl, "The woman at the desk uses this and it works for her. Just use a little bit, try it out first, okay? If it works, we'll go buy you a bottle of your own."

"Thanks, Uncle Patrick. Will you put it on for me?"

I shook my head, already closing the door, "Sorry, no. Please do it yourself..."

- - -

I was on my back on the bed, waiting for Piper to come out, really growing weary. My jet lag had been alright most of the day when keeping busy, but I felt the odd time shift quite heavily when idle. Though I was tired, my mind raced as if it was noon and not nearing bedtime. I fought myself on remembering how small and immature Piper's vulva had appeared. It was really pretty, I thought, for a child. I wondered what it might look like years later when the girl hit puberty, her genitals swelling into that of a young woman, hairs sprouting and giving her body the look of one capable of copulating and conceiving.

Idly, I stroked my cock through my slacks, off balance enough not to notice that Piper had opened the bathroom door and stood watching me a moment. "Does yours itch, too?"

"Huh?" I said, yanking my hand to my side.

"Your wiener. Is that why you had it out the other night? When you were sneezing? Does it itch?"

"Uh... Err... yeah... In a way. Just an itch, that's all it was."

Piper walked over to the bed, thankfully wearing a nightshirt and fully covered below. She held out the baggie. "Do you want to put some lotion on it?"

"Umm, no, thanks," I told her, "that's lotion for women to use."

"Oh, it just goes on my coochie," she said with a straight face. "I didn't know you couldn't put it on wieners."

"Yeah, just for your... Listen, Piper. You keep using that word. Do you even know what it's really called?" Something about her continuing to say 'coochie' struck me the wrong way. Piper was immature and clearly clueless about sexuality, but she was plenty old enough to know the names for parts of her body.

"Umm... I dunno," she said, crawling onto the bed and giving me just a half-second confirmation that she wasn't wearing panties.

"Your mother never told you the names of your... parts?"

Piper shrugged, "I dunno," she repeated, "she always just called it my coochie."

"All of that down there," I said, pointing in the general location between her legs, "is called your vulva..."

"Vul-va," Piper repeated, testing the word. "Why?"

"I don't know," I replied, "it just is. It has a lot of names, but that's the right one to use. Stop calling it your coochie."

"Okay..." Instead of letting it drop, Piper sat back against the headboard, spread her legs, and hiked up her nightshirt, looking down between her legs and letting one hand move gently over her irritated flesh. "Vul-va..."

"Right," I said, groaning and looking away. "And you really shouldn't be showing me your vulva, Piper..."

"Why not? Because it's naughty?" she giggled.

"Exactly. Just like you seeing my wiener... err... my penis. It's called a penis, what boys and men have instead of a vulva."

"Pe-nis." Piper giggled again. "Yours is a lot bigger than that boy's we saw when he was peeing."

I swallowed hard, already regretting starting this conversation. "That's because I'm an adult and he is a child."

"Why's it bigger, though?"

"Because I'm adult..." I repeated.

"Is it because you have to pee more? It has to be bigger for all your pee?"

"Sure," I replied, shaking my head and ignoring that Piper's legs were still spread wide open, "why not."

"Oh," she said, then added, "so will my coo—-vul-va get bigger cause I have to pee more?"

"Err... something like that..."

"Hmmm."

I thought she'd dropped it, the girl growing silent while I kept my legs crossed to hide the erection tenting my slacks.

Instead, I'd clearly caught Piper's attention. "Mommy told me babies come out of here. Is that true?"

I assumed she was directing me towards her vulva, but I didn't look to confirm it. "Yes... babies come out of your vulva... actually, out of your vagina."

"Va-gi-uh-na?"

"Yeah," I groaned again, "that's the hole inside your vulva. It goes back to where babies come from."

"Oh," she said quietly. "So... will a baby come out of my... va-gin-eea?"

"Vagina... and... not yet, no."

"Why not?"

"Because you're too young to have babies."

"Oh," Piper sighed, sounding disappointed, "but when I'm old enough, babies will come out of there?"

I shook my head, staring at the far wall and ignoring the burning temptation to look back at Piper, "No, not unless you have sex with someone..."

"Sex, oh. Naughty stuff, right?"

"Naughty, yes."

Piper giggled, "But if I do that, I might have babies come out of my... va-gi-na?"

"Maybe... look, Piper... This is a rather... awkward... subject to discuss... Your moth—" I stopped myself, realizing that bringing up Veronica would only make the girl upset, "your body is kinda of... you know... private... just for you until you want to share it with someone. When you're older," I added hastily. "It's... not really something that I should see or talk about with you?"

"Why?"

"Because you're a girl, and I'm a man, and... I shouldn't be able to look at your privates, okay? Can you please... please... close your legs?"

I heard her grumble, "Fine..."

I stewed in arousal and shame in the silence, not daring to look back to see if Piper had actually complied. Moments later, she slid down the bed next to me, putting her head on my arm and placing the other on my stomach. "Sorry, Uncle Patrick. I didn't mean to make you mad..."

"I'm not mad," I said quietly, gently, "it's just... there are reasons little girls shouldn't be showing grown men their bodies like that..."

"Cause of naughty things?"

"Yes, because of naughty thoughts they might have..."

"Like what?" she said so sweetly I indulged her curiosity just a little further.

I replied, "Like what men and women do to make babies..."

"Oh," Piper replied, still resting her head on my arm. My legs stayed crossed but the bulge in my slacks was still fairly obvious. I hoped Piper didn't know enough to really notice. "So, like... what kind of things make babies?"

"Well," I sighed, "a man and a woman... you know... like each other... and they do things together... with their bodies... and it makes a baby inside the woman."

"Inside her va-gi-na?"

"Sort of. In her womb... which is where her vagina goes to..."

I could see Piper thinking about things a moment, then she asked, "But what makes the babies go in there? Are they really small?"

"In a way," I replied.

Something about her sweet, sincere tone, and her innocent naivete made me want to help her understand. It seemed unfair that she was having to ask a man who was essentially a stranger about the birds and the bees, but if she was old enough to ask mature questions, I thought she deserved an honest answer. I'd have to deal with my own arousal on my own and not let that affect the situation more than it already had.

"A man has these little things called sperm inside him, okay? Really small. He and a woman have sex together and he deposits the sperm inside the woman's vagina. If the sperm meet up with an egg deep inside the woman, in her womb, then a baby is made. Nine months later... the baby is born... usually through the woman's vagina."

"Oh, that's cool," Piper replied, "I didn't know that."

I nodded and waited for the obvious next question.

"But how do the... sperm?... sperm... how do they get inside her? Like... a shot or something?"

"No," I explained, "A man puts his penis into a woman's vagina... and they sort of move around a while until he shoots the sperm inside her."

"Oh, neat." Piper turned onto her back, drew her legs into the air, pulling her nightshirt up, then looked down between her legs while I turned away, shaking my head. "But it can't fit!"

"It will when you get older. It probably could fit now, but you're much too young to have sex, Piper. Much too young."

"Oh. That sucks."

I felt my cock throb to hear her disappointment.

"Yeah, sorry. Please cover yourself, Piper..."

"Oh, sorry," she replied, doing as I requested, "I forgot it makes naughty thoughts in your head."

I nodded and she returned her head to my arm.

"So... does that mean it makes you think of sexing with me?"

"Err..." I really didn't want to admit the truth.

"Just seeing my coo—vul-va does that?"

"Sometimes, yes," I replied, growing rapidly uncomfortable.

"Oh." Piper said, "I didn't know. Does it make you mad when you think about sexing with me?"

"Mad? Errr... no... not mad..."

"You seem mad when you see my vulva. You make me feel bad when I look at it."

"I'm not mad, Piper," I assured her, actually getting a little mad from the frustration, "it's just that... I can't allow myself to think about... you... and sex... at the same time. It's wrong."

"Oh," she sighed, "I didn't know. But when you saw girls in the magazine and looked at their vul-vas, do you think of them and sexing, too?"

I nodded, "Yes... but those are adults."

"I know. I just don't get it, I guess... What's wrong if its okay to look at them but not at me?"

"Because you are too young, Piper."

"I know," she repeated, "but it's just in your head, right?"

"It is. I would never do anything with you."

"Oh," the disappointment was so clear I actually raised my hand to hold Piper's shoulder.

"I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that... I'm suppose to keep you safe, right? And... you know... adults who... have sex with little girls... that's not keeping them safe..."

She looked up at me, a mild pout on her lips, "But you said when a man and a woman like each other, right? That's when they have sex and he makes babies with her?"

"Yes..."

"Well, I like you, you know. I was just thinking you kinda like me, too..."

"I do..."

"Then why won't you want to think about me and sexing and stuff? We like each other..."

I was done discussing the subject. We'd already walked far beyond any line I should have drawn regarding the conversation, and we were veering directly into some pretty troubling ideas. Not veering. We'd crashed into those ideas and the debris from the impact was flying all around us. My cock was drooling precum to the point that I could see a damp spot forming in my slacks.

"Let's rest this a bit, okay? This is all... very confusing... for both of us. I promise," I told her, unsure if I was actually telling her the truth, "we can talk about all this again tomorrow, or soon, at least. Okay? I promise."

I felt her sigh, then she smiled at me, "Okay."

We rested together a moment, me abuzz with arousal and guilt and too many images of Piper's genitals tempting me to do more than talk with her about sex. Somehow, I managed to get a shower and returned to find Piper already asleep. I flicked off the lights and crawled in. For a moment, I just leaned on my elbow and watched her sleep from a couple of feet away. I smiled at the sweet girl, unable to shake my guilt but also unwilling to push her away in order to avoid the temptations. It was my problem to deal with, not hers. Piper deserved to not feel rejected, innocent or otherwise, and I didn't want to make her think I disliked having her around. It led me to slide over and put my arm around her body as usual.

Piper sighed and smiled. I leaned forward and gently kissed her cheek. "Uncle Patrick?" she said in a whisper.

"Yeah?"

"Do you really like me?"

"I do."

"Good," the girl told me, "cause I really like you, too."

- - -

I had no time the next day to worry about the conversation I'd had with Piper the night before. It lingered along the edges of my thoughts, but I managed to get myself into work mode and set up before dawn for the parade to come. Piper was at my side and I didn't let her wander off even when she needed to pee. I made her hold it, unsure exactly how I would find time to escort her to a bathroom given the parade would last several hours and I was expected to take a couple thousand shots of the event, capturing every float and band and entertainer passing by several times over.

She squirmed a bit at first, but settled down once the procession began.

The crowd was packed in around the small, raised platform Piper and I were on, and I expected there were hundreds of thousands of people along the entire route. The noise was almost deafening and to talk to the girl, I had to lean down and practically shout in her ear to be heard.

One after another came dancers and bands and floats. I dutifully snapped a few dozen photographs, then dozens more before letting my arms hang down a moment, the tripod snuggly holding my camera. I picked up again and for a couple of hours, there was nothing but the repeated pressing of a button. I barely registered the details of the parade itself, concentrating only on capturing the entire procession and only that.

Piper tugged at my hand at one point. I paused my photography and leaned down. "I really need to go!" she shouted.

I sighed, looking around. It would take half an hour or more to get through the crowd, find a bathroom, and then make our way back, if not longer. And I couldn't leave my equipment behind to be stolen, making it even more difficult to pass through the cheering, tightly-packed bodies. I surely wasn't going to let Piper head out on her own. No way would I risk that. It left really only one option.

"Just go!"

"What?" she shouted.

"Pee. Right here. Or down there. Just squat down and go. We'll get you cleaned up later, okay?"

She looked at me like I was insane. "Here?!"

"Do you have any better ideas?"

She looked around. The platform was set back just a little, somewhat away from the packed crowd, but just barely. "I should just go down there?"

The girl was pointing below us and I nodded, "Yes. Hurry up! Climb right back here when you're done!"

Piper jumped down and I was too worried about someone snatching her to turn back to the camera. She ducked under the platform and was lost from sight. I felt nervous not being able to see her. I was relieved when she climbed back up a moment later, leaned up and shouted, "Better!"

I had no time to worry about whether anyone had watched Piper peeing. I hoped the parade had kept any nearby pervert voyeurs from sneaking a peek at a pretty young girl urinating.

- - -

I finished folding my equipment case after the parade had finally finished waltzing by us. I had to be at a ceremony in about three hours, so I had a little downtime. Of course, it would take half that to get there with all the people still laughing and jostling about, but at least I could go find a bathroom of my own. I'd been bursting from all the coffee it had taken to wake me up and keep me sharp all morning.

We made our way through the crowd while I tried not to let my camera case get bumped too hard. Not easily accomplished, but I felt reasonably assured I'd gotten it through safely by the time we found a row of portable toilets. The line waiting to use them probably stretched a few hundred yards.

Most people had decided to use a much more accessible alternative.

The alley beside the main street was full of people, men and women, pissing freely. I groaned to think how disgusting the pavement must be by then, but I was out of options. It was piss there, or piss my pants. I pointed the way and led Piper down towards the alley.

The smell made me gag before I'd even stepped between the two old buildings forming its walls. I pulled my shirt up to cover my nose and Piper did the same. We had to go some distance down to find a place to pee against the wall, right between two older women who were squatting down and relieving themselves.

It was clear from the horrible dense odor that it wasn't just pee being deposited in that alley. Gagging, I unzipped my pants and pulled out my penis, pushing my flow out as fast as possible. I knew some of my urine was likely splashing on the women to either side, but there was nothing I could do but try to aim low and keep the splashing mostly contained. I could see urine splashing down from the woman on the right, some of it clearly getting on my shoes.

I held Piper's hand behind me, not even then willing to let her go, my other hand holding my cock as my flow finally slowed to a dribble. As fast as I could, I tucked my dick back into my slacks and rushed us out the alley and into relatively cleaner air.

"That was so gross!" Piper exclaimed after we burst forth and took a few deep breathes.

"Gross," I agreed. "If you need to go again, now's the time," I told her.

"I'm okay," she said, "I don't need to go." Piper pinched her nose when she looked back down the alley.

I took us a few streets away from the commotion so that I could catch a taxi to take us to the ceremony. The driver spoke almost no English, so I used a translator app to tell him where I needed to go. He finally understood and Piper and I leaned back and held onto the handles over the door as the chaotic ride began.

"Uncle Patrick?" Piper said quietly, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why are they so different looking?"

"Hmmm?"

"Wieners... err... I mean... a pe-nis."

I groaned. "Every one is different. That's normal."

"Yeah, but why?"

"Are two people different looking? Like you and me, for instance?"

Piper giggled, "We're not penises!"

"No," I laughed, "but we don't look that much alike, right? You have black hair, I have brown. You're shorter than me. You have... girl parts, like your vulva. We both look like people, but not the same in many ways. Different right? It's basically the same with penises, and vulvas, for that matter. Some are bigger, some shorter, different colors, different shapes. That's normal." Oddly enough, the way Piper turned her head slightly reminding me of my mother a little. Something about the shape of her nose and the way her ears poked out through her hair.

"Oh, okay. I think I like yours best."

I looked at her, somewhat horrified, "Uh... that's not really something to say in public, Piper..."

"Oh, sorry," she looked contrite, "I didn't know."

"And besides," I told her, "you really shouldn't be looking at my penis. Or any penis. Maybe in a few years."

"But they are weird looking!"

I laughed, "Yes, but you shouldn't tell a boy you like that, it might hurt his feelings."

It was Piper's turn to look horrified, "I didn't mean yours, Uncle Patrick!" She lowered her voice, "Your pe-nis doesn't look weird... just... uh... the ones in the alley. The ones peeing."

"Ah," I thought I understood what she meant, "well," I whispered, "see, there are some cultures, some places, where a little boy's penis gets... well... cut..."

"Ouch!"

"Yeah, I bet it hurts. But it happens all over the place. In America, many infant boys have this happen. It's called circumcision. Perfectly normal, but admittedly, a strange custom."

"Hmm..."

"Mine was done that way."

"Did it hurt?" she asked.

"I don't recall. I was only a new baby, I think. Long before my first memories. By the time I first saw myself down there, the skin they cut off was long gone."

"Wow, that sounds crazy!"

I nodded, "Agreed. The point being, in other places, other cultures, they don't do that, so what you probably saw were penises which were uncut. Uncircumcised. They have the original extra skin which changes the way it looks. It's only weird to you because you've not seen a lot of penises... right?" I actually wondered how she might respond.

"Mmm," she thought, "no, not many, I guess. Yours, that boy who was peeing yesterday. Maybe another one once, some time. Then all of them just now!"

"Well... please don't make a habit out of it."

"Out of what?"

"Looking at penises."

She giggled, "Like you look at coo—vul-vas? In the magazine?"

I shook my head, "When you're older, I promise you'll understand..."

"Misser," the cabbie's voice called back, "Err. Here."

I paid the man and we got out, showing our passes to get through the security at the grand conference center where the ceremony was to be held.

- - -

We'd arrived early, but already plenty of people were inside. The room where the event would be held was a voluminous space, easily capable of handling a few thousand in the floor seats and the rows of tiered seating around three sides of where a large stage had been set up. I found the perfect spot to do my work, then sat down with Piper to upload the morning's photographs. I couldn't connect to their wifi, so I just emptied the camera's contents onto my laptop, made a copy of them just in case, then put away the computer and tried to relax a moment.

"I'm hungry," Piper said, leaning over to look right in my face, "like, super hungry."

I felt my stomach rumbling and wished I'd thought to bring us snacks. I saw people milling about holding drinks and plates of food. I debated what to do. I was already set up, my camera in place, and I didn't particularly want to have to tear it all down just to lug it back a few minutes later.

I looked at Piper. "There's food somewhere nearby. In this building, okay?" I pressed rupees into the girl's hand and made her put it in her small purse. "Go only to the food stand. Pick something for me, as well. Come right back, okay? Don't talk to anyone but the clerk, and don't let anyone distract you. Come get me if anything seems odd, okay?"

Piper's expression said she was humoring me by letting me finish my warning. "I'll be okay. I'm used to traveling." I wasn't exactly mollified, especially given how she'd told me just days earlier that her mother had rarely left her side when they traveled. But I let her go, nervous the whole time she was gone. When had I taken it so personally that Piper be safe? Sure, it seemed the reasonable thing to do. I was her guardian, essentially, and it was my responsibility to see her protected. But I was really starting to feel something stronger, an affection for Piper that was not just that of a caregiver. I'm not saying it was a crush or anything romantic, but a pull to ensure her safety, her comfort, her every need, was always met. I suppose it was something like what the girl's mother had felt for her. At least before Veronica had decided it was better to abandon her daughter with a man she barely knew. After I'd started feeling those strings draw tight between me and Piper, I had a very difficult time understanding how Veronica had left without her daughter.

Thankfully, Piper returned in short order, carrying styrofoam boxes and bottles of water. She sat down and handed me one of the containers. "What'd you get us?"

Piper shrugged, "It was all in Indian or something. They didn't speak English, so, uh, I just sorta... pointed at something."

I laughed, "Well, I'm not going to be picky. I'm super hungry, myself."

I pushed back the top and to my delight I saw what looked like a spicy curry, perhaps lamb or pork, the gravy and meats slathered over a healthy serving of steamed rice, pieces of freshly-baked naan tucked into the side of the tray. "Oh, nice," I told Piper, "this looks fantastic!"

She agreed and it took no time at all to empty our plates. I was half tempted to send her for more, but we were getting close to the event and I wanted to double check my setup. Piper kicked her feet a while, watching me, then she stood up and asked, "Is it easy to be a photographer?"

I shrugged, "Not too difficult, no. You mostly just point and shoot."

"I could do that."

I smiled. "I have no doubt."

Piper rested her arm on my back, standing on her toes to look closer at the camera. "Will you teach me?"

"To take photographs?"

"Uh-huh."

I nodded, "Sure. I can do that."

"I really wanna learn."

"Maybe," I told her, "when we've got a couple of down days between India and Germany, I can show you a few things."

Piper grinned, "Okay. Thanks, Uncle Patrick."

"Any time," I replied. Piper's smiles were starting to warm my heart. It wasn't exactly an unwelcome sensation.

- - -

The ceremony was festive but rather formal. Dresses, both elegant and traditional, were worn by the women, modern and traditional suits by the men. Sarees and sarongs were the norm, it seemed, and it made me feel a little out of place in my Western slacks and collared shirt. Once seated, the ceremony consisted mostly of speeches, presentations of awards, and a few entertainers. Two dancers, one singer, and a couple of others who I thought were doing some sort of dramatic poetry presentation were interspersed within the more stoic monologues.

It was all done in one of the Indian languages. I thought maybe Telugu since I heard a couple of phrases I'd picked up from a colleague when I was in India the year before, but I didn't know enough about other common languages, such as Urdu, to know for sure.

It dragged into the late afternoon before I felt I could finally take a break. I wasn't sure the ceremony's afterparty was on my list of requirements, so I pulled up the email Marilyn had sent me and found that only the main event was part of the job. Thankful that I was finally free, I turned back to see Piper sleeping in her seat. She'd done basically that throughout, though she'd shown some keen interest in watching the women in pretty wraps dancing on stage early in the ceremony.

I got my gear stashed and ready to travel, then knelt down, putting my hand on Piper's knee, "Hey, Sweetie."

Piper woke quickly and grinned, "Fell asleep, I guess."

"I guess," I agreed, "I'm all done for the day. You ready to head back? Maybe see if we can score some more of that curry to take back with us?"

Piper nodded, and we found the concession table still serving from big kettles of curry and rice, naan being carried in from somewhere behind the stand. I ordered us double servings. Or, at least I think that's what she understood. The woman piled it on nicely. I paid and soon we were in a cab and on our way back to the hotel.

- - -

Not yet ready to eat again, so after Piper used the toilet, I took a shower and cooled down. I'd been standing most of the day, coated in sweat from the heat inside and outside at the events. I had urine, my own and likely some anonymous woman's, splashed on my slacks, leaving noticeable stains behind. I shucked out of my clothes and started the long wait for the water in the shower to finally heat up.

"Uncle Patrick?" I heard Piper call through the door.

"Yeah?"

"I can't connect to the internet."

"I'll be out in a bit."

"But I want to find something," Piper replied.

"It can wait."

"Ugh. Okay."

She left me alone and I found the water finally warm enough to get in.

- - -

"Alright, let me see your tablet."

Piper handed it to me as we sprawled side-by-side on the bed. It took just a moment to figure out the issue and I handed the device back to her and started hooking up my camera to the laptop to finish my day's uploads.

A few moments later, I looked down to see images of penises tiled across Piper's screen. "Uh.. what're you doin'?" I asked tentatively.

"Looking at pe-nises," the girl told me matter-of-factly, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised that a woman who let her daughter compete in outfits which allowed the child's genitals to be visible wouldn't have bothered to set up basic safe searching software on the girl's tablet.

"Why?" I asked slowly.

"Cause they look weird and I wanted to see different ones."

I just shook my head and tried to ignore the pretty, curious child beside me.

"Oh, I see," she said.

"Hmmm?"

"This one isn't... errm... subscribed?"

"Circumcised... and yes, that's right."

She nodded, "Kinda looks like the ones earlier. But this one is... cirscumscized."

"Circumcised," I repeated and again agreed that she'd correctly identified the penis.

I was thankful nothing she had on her screen at that moment showed one of the penises erect, each of the images showing only flaccid ones, anonymously displayed.

"This one looks like yours," she laughed.

I didn't bother looking over.

Piper grew quiet a while and I tried to not think about the arousing nature of the girl's sexual curiosity, getting back to finishing my day's log.

"None of these look like mine, not really," she said softly.

I groaned, understanding immediately what she was now looking at. On the screen, five or six similarly-anonymous vulvas were displayed in clear detail, all of them with hair and looking like those of mature women of a variety of ages. "Erm, that's because you're still a girl. Yours will look something like those one day..."

Piper looked at me, "Mine will get hair on it?"

I nodded, "When you start puberty, yes. Only little girls have no hair there. Well," I corrected myself, "many women shave the hair off and make it look kinda like yours."

"Oh... why?"

I shrugged, "They like the way it looks, I guess."

"So," she giggled, "they want it to look like mine?"

I grinned, unable to stop my spreading smile, "I suppose they do."

"That's neat." She scrolled, then said, "Oh, I remember. Like the girls in the magazine. I remember." The vulvas now showing on her screen were shaved or waxed, as had been many of the models in the copy of Barely Legal which Piper had picked up at my apartment. "Uncle Patrick?"

"Yeah?"

"When will I get my hair?"

"When you hit puberty. A few months or years, maybe more, maybe less."

"Oh... What's puberty?"

"Well," I explained, "that's when boys and girls start experiencing changes in their bodies. They grow taller. Boys grow hair on their faces. Both get hair under their arms and between their legs. Girls grow breasts and their vulvas mature to be ready for sex. Boys' penises get longer and thicker so that they can be big enough to be put inside girls. It's when your body says it basically ready to have sex and make babies."

"Neat," Piper replied. She lowered her head, arching her back, looking down her body, "Do you think I'll have big boobs?"

I shook my head, still smiling, "I have no idea. Way too early to say."

"I kinda like mine, don't you?"

"Err... what?"

Piper grinned, "I know they're little and all, but I kinda like them."

"Yes, uh... they're fine." I swallowed hard a time or two.

"I dunno about my vul-va, though. I haven't really looked at it much."

I gulped.

She flipped over onto her back and started to reach under her nightshirt, then froze, "Oh... sorry... I'll go look at it in the bathroom."

Piper leapt from bed and shut the door behind her.

My dick throbbed precum into my sweats.

- - -

"So I was thinking about something," Piper told me after returning to the bed from her ten-minute private viewing in the bathroom. I hadn't asked her what she'd done, and she didn't immediately tell me, rolling onto the bed and just laying there a few minutes, head near where I was just about to close my laptop.

"Hmm?"

"What's sex like?"

I choked on my saliva. "Uh... I don't think I can answer that..."

"Have you done it before?"

I blinked. "Well, yes."

"With who?"

Not particularly wanting to say her mother's name, I told Piper, "Women. A few women."

Few was right. Other than Veronica, in high school, and a brief girlfriend I had my junior year of college, my only other sexual contact, excepting dancers in strip clubs, was with a prostitute in Thailand the year before. It hadn't been all that enjoyable of an experience and I'd not again sought out a sex worker. I didn't really socialize, either, and other than a couple of friends around LA who I rarely saw, I traveled too much to get to know someone.

I really didn't want anonymous or casual sex. Perhaps I needed the romance first, the love and trust, and I felt little arousal for situations where those weren't in place. The prostitute had been very pretty, clean, and friendly, but she'd barely managed to keep me hard long enough to ride me a minute or so before jerking me off in a condom. Like I said, it wasn't that great.

That was one reason I found myself so aroused by Piper. I was starting, at that point, to consciously acknowledge that fact. That I found the ten-year old sexually interesting. I'd not really gone beyond an awareness of her immature sexuality, not to the point of actively imagining scenarios involving her, but the weight of what it meant hit me hard. I sucked in my breath when I heard my inner monologue tell me, I bet Piper's pussy is really tight.

It came unbidden but it hit me like a sack of potatoes. She was looking at me oddly. "Did you hear me?" she asked.

I clearly had not.

"I saaaiid," she drew out, "so what was sex with them like?"

"Uh..." I was starting to sweat, sensations of movement imagined, gentle rocking of a young body on mine. Tightness. Wetness. Little sighs and moans. "Uhhhh..."

I rushed to the bathroom, overwhelmed, closing myself inside. What the hell was going on?

I leaned over the sink and beat off furiously to the taboo sensations I had drawn up in my mind. It wasn't completely a fantasy about Piper, but it sure as hell wasn't not about her, either.

My cum sprayed all over the sink, all over the mirror, all over all over. I let it go wildly, grunting, moaning, my eyes closed, my mind pulsing with vivid images of Piper's immature pussy. Her tight little pussy!

I came to, aware that I was being watched. Still breathing hard, I turned my head, the cock in my hand still spurting out drooling cum. Piper's eyes were wide, her mouth open, as she stared at me.

"Piper," I breathed, "please close the door."

She was frozen, so I repeated my request. Finally, her legs moved and she did as I told her, leaving me to slump down on the toilet and wash in shame and guilt and arousing, horrible thoughts of the tight pussy between the ten-year old's legs.

- - -

I tried to explain myself a few times after returning to the bed. Piper was watching some movie on her tablet and watched me climb on with eyes pleading for such an explanation. But the words didn't flow out and I just lay there a while, staring at the ceiling.

Piper put away her tablet and rested her head on my arm. "What's wrong, Uncle Patrick?"

I shook my head, not trusting my voice in that moment.

"Did I make you mad, earlier? I'm sorry..."

"No," I said with effort, "No, it... it wasn't you..." Not strictly true, but close enough for the question she asked.

"So," the girl said softly, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just... felt a little... off..."

Piper became quiet again. I looked down at her expecting some mix of horror and confusion, instead I could see her thinking hard about something. The girl looked up at me and asked, "Was that the baby stuff? The stuff coming out of your pe-nis?"

I nodded, "Yeah... that was my baby stuff..."

"I wondered." Piper replied, "Did you make it come out or is that why you had to run off, cause it comes out on its own?"

"No, I did it... I made it come out..."

"Oh. Why?"

I breathed heavily for a moment, "Because it feels good..."

"But you can't make babies in the sink, can you?"

"No... it just... feels good... to shoot it out."

"Oh. Neat."

"Neat?" I mused, still mostly horrified.

"Yeah. I saw you shooting it and wondered what it was. I didn't know it felt good, too."

"Well," I sighed, "it does."

"Do you make it shoot out a lot?"

"Sometimes," I replied.

"Why did you make it come out tonight?"

"Because, Piper," I told her, "I was stressed and I needed some relief. It feels good to jerk off."

"Ohhhh," the girl said, "that was jerking off?"

I nodded.

"I remember. You said you look at the girls in the magazines and jerk off, right?"

I nodded again.

The look of mild confusion spread over Piper's face, "But... you weren't looking at girls. Oh! Wait. We were looking at vul-vas! Did you see the ones like mine? The ones with no hair on them?"

I nodded a third time.

Piper grinned, "So it was kinda like you were looking at mine!"

"Piper," I groaned, "look. I'm a little off balance, that's all, I wasn't... thinking about your vulva," I lied, "I just... needed some relief, that's all."

The girl looked hurt, "Oh."

"It's not meant to hurt your feelings, I just... I can't think about your vagina while I jerk off!"

"Oh," she repeated. "Is it cause I'm a girl?"

"Yes," I agreed, "because you are ten years old. I'm not supposed to be thinking about little girl parts."

"Says who?"

"Everyone!"

"Hmm. I've never heard anyone say that."

"Trust me, they would, but don't go asking them. They'll think I'm sexually abusing you. No, they'll be sure I am."

"Abusing? How? I don't feel bad if you think about my va-gi-na and jerk off."

"God, Piper, please... just stop, okay? I can't take any more of this right now." She started to move away from me and I stopped her, holding her head against my arm and side, "Look, Sweetheart. This is kinda confusing. For both of us. This is my problem to deal with, okay? I'm sorry I'm hurting your feelings. I only want you be safe and feel loved, okay?"

"Okay," came her soft, muffled voice from against my chest, "I just don't understand everything, I guess."

"That makes two of us."

We were quiet a while as I stroked Piper's beautiful, silky black hair. "Did you mean it, Uncle Patrick?"

"Mean what?"

"That you love me?"

I don't recall having said exactly that, but there was no sense splitting hairs, "Yes, Piper. I love you." I felt her smile and giggle against me. "What?" I asked.

"Does that make you my boyfriend?"

It seemed really odd for an ten-year old to make that leap. I would have thought this should have felt like a rather normal uncle-niece or step-step situation, two people who care about her with a power dynamic of an adult and child. It should have been the default way a child Piper's age should have viewed things.

Instead, she thought of me as her boyfriend, despite calling me Uncle Patrick.

To my surprise, I really liked the notion. "Yeah, I suppose it does."

She giggled again, "Good. Cause... I love you, too, Uncle Patrick."

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