Mandy and Jim went to the daddy-daughter orgy about a month after Jackie left for college in New York. Amy was at her mother's and so could not join them. This time there were fourteen fathers and sixteen girls. Mandy had wanted to be a target girl so before everyone was assembled she spoke to Tanya about volunteering for the part.

"Well dear, this is unusual. No one has yet volunteered and insisted that she take on more than ten of the men, but if you want to, we'll be happy to fulfill your request."

Jim had his eye on the twin redheads that he saw the last time. He had hoped to fuck them that evening. They all sat at the table in the dining room of the old inn. They all wore their masks and togas. They all had their name tags on their clothing. Tanya, flanked by Jenny, her assistant, addressed the attendees.

"Welcome, everyone!" As usual she covered all the ground rules and then surprised everyone with a special announcement.

"Normally, we have a drawing to select a single target girl or two girls if there are more than ten men. This evening, however, eleven year old Tricia [Mandy's required pseudonym] has not only volunteered to be a target girl but to take on all the men willing to nail her."

The attendees erupted in applause. Mandy sat placidly, smiling.

"As usual, Jenny and I will act as fluffers. Tricia will be positioning herself on the sofa in the lobby. Well, let's get to it!"

Mandy took off her toga theatrically, holding it between her thumb and forefinger and dropping it on the floor next to the sofa. She lay on her back, lewdly spreading her legs and rubbing her pussy provocatively. Mandy was in her element.

Tanya was so impressed with Mandy's presence that she asked to be allowed to lick Mandy's cunt in preparation for the assault that she was about to undergo.

"Sure, Tanya," Mandy answered. "Eat my pussy! Get it ready for cock!"

Tanya briefly and vigorously lapped Mandy's slit, kissed the little girl, and turned to her task of fellating the rapists assembled to use the little girl for their pleasure, the usual evening's "warm up." According to the rules, the men were allowed to bang the target girl for a maximum of two minutes.

Jim was eighth in line to fuck his pretty, adopted daughter. He enjoyed watching the men mount and fuck Mandy. She responded beautifully by raising her legs and then wrapping them around the backs of her lovers. Three of them had already shot loads into the rubbers by the time he entered Mandy's soft tunnel of love. He intended to banter with her playfully as he fucked her. Without meaning to, Mandy gave him pause.

"Well, it's nice to bang your little box, Tricia. How is it going so far?"

"Fantastic, Daddy," she replied brightly but only so Jim could hear. "It's nice to get fucked by so many men at one time. Usually they like fucking Amy more than me."

Jim said to himself, my little darling! Was Mandy doing this because she felt less desirable than Amy? If that were so, Jim thought, Gloria and he would need to reassure her, as Jim did with Amy not long ago. He would have to discuss this with Mandy later. Saddened and concerned, he drilled his little adopted daughter almost perfunctorily after that. He kissed her when he finished, and whispered tenderly, "I love you," and went off in search of the redheaded twins, Patty and Polly.

Jim thought himself fortunate to have found them in the public fucking area before anyone else approached them. They were talking excitedly and drinking lemonade. He introduced himself and asked if they'd like to go to one of the private rooms with him.

"Both of us?" Patty said.

"Uh-huh," he replied. "Is that okay with you guys?"

"Sure," Polly said. "We've done a tag team thing before."

They entered the room and the girls immediately took off their togas and their masks. They were very pretty. Their alabaster complexions were augmented by a proliferation of freckles, giving them a girl-next-door-cute appearance. They both wore their hair long. To distinguish each from the other, they wore different colored chokers around their necks; Polly's was white, Patty's was black.

At fourteen years old, they had wispy auburn triangles of downy pubic hair covering their vulvas. Sitting on the bed side by side, they reminded Jim of bookends. He looked forward to getting a close-up look at their cute little adolescent cunts and assholes.

"How do you want us?" asked Patty.

"Can you do each other to start?" he asked them. Jim was starting to get a hard on just looking at them and thinking of the possibilities.

"Yeah," said Polly almost laconically. "We can do a scissors move or 69 if you want."

"Oh, let's do a 69!" cried Patty.

Patty looked as if she was really into the spirit of the occasion. Jim got a sense that she liked sex with different partners, both male and female. He had yet to gauge whether or not she was really into her sister or if it was merely a prelude to other things.

"Okay," he said. "Get into the 69 position. I'm very oral and I'd really like to eat your pussies and assholes when you're done."

"Hmm ... maybe we should start with you eating us out," said Polly thoughtfully. "That way we can 69 after your first cum to help you get hard again."

Jim was impressed with her reasoning. Polly had thought this out pretty carefully and really knew her stuff. He reassessed the girl in light of this. What he had initially taken as boredom was really thoughtfulness. In that she was like his darling Mandy. (Speaking of whom, he hoped she was doing all right.)

"Excellent suggestion, Polly! Okay girls; get on your elbows and knees side by side."

They lined up quickly as if this were a playground drill. They lifted their cute little tushes up in the air for Jim's inspection. He looked at both their butt cheeks and anuses and loved what he saw. Their anal flesh was a dark pinkish brown while their hairy pussies were dark pink on the outside and redder toward the center. He noticed that Patty had a little mole an inch or so to the right of her anus. Otherwise, they were carbon copies of each other.

Now it was time to get down to business. Jim placed a couple of condoms and some lubricant on the big bed within reach. He bent over to sniff Patty's pussy. It was the warm, buttery smell of a clean, young, healthy vagina. He planted a kiss on her pretty asshole, which caused her to giggle. He brushed her pubic hair aside and started to lick her cunt lips from behind. Jim pulled on her labia with his lips. He then held them open with his fingers and shoved his tongue into the pink wetness of her slit.

"Oh! That feels good!" Patty said.

Next, he gave my full attention to Patty's butthole.

Jim gripped her ass cheeks and licked the entire length of her crack from the opening of the vagina all the way up to her tailbone. He then bore down hard with his tongue onto her opening. He liked the feeling of the puckered anal flesh. Having warmed up Patty sufficiently, he moved on to service the taciturn Polly.

Polly's butt stuck up higher in the air as she had dropped to her chest and shoulders, giving Jim easy access to both of her sweet openings. He rubbed his hands over her buttocks and started kissing and licking her asshole. He then ran his tongue all around the hole, up and down the crack, and paid particular attention to the wrinkled skin of her anus. For Jim, there were few sensations more pleasant than the feeling of an underage girl's butt cheeks and asshole under his tongue; except maybe the taste, smell, and feel of her pussy!

Jim gave Polly's snatch the same going over that he had given to Patty. Polly was even wetter, confirming his assumption that Polly was just as horny as Patty. She just wasn't as expressive, at least before she was being fucked.

He was now ready to bang their little boxes. Jim put a rubber on his cock and positioned himself just behind Patty.

"Okay, Patty, here it comes!" he said as he entered her pussy from the back.

"Ohhh! Uhhh! Ohhh!" said Patty as her lover penetrated her deep, hard, and fast.

"Is that all right, honey?" Jim asked her.

"Oh, yessss! Keep going! Keep going! Please don't stop!" Patty was clearly enjoying the drilling he was administering.

Polly was lying on her belly facing them, her head propped up on her elbows. She was studying Jim's moves, no doubt, and preparing herself for the fucking she was soon to receive.

Patty's cunt felt quite pliable to Jim. He thought it was a beautiful sight to see her quivering buttocks and hips lurch forward with each of his deep thrusts. Her dark pink asshole nestled between creamy white ass cheeks winked up at him as he fucked her fourteen year old pussy. Her pubic hair was wet now from her love juices.

"Oh, God! I'm cumming!" Jim hadn't expected Patty to go off so soon but he thought it was nice to see. He made up his mind then to shoot when inside the increasingly intriguing Polly.

He held the pretty teen's hips as she drove back to further pleasure herself as she came.

"Uhn! Uhn! Uhn! Uhn!" she whimpered as she came down from her orgasm. What a darling! he thought. He withdrew his cock gently and kissed her still exposed wet asshole.

"Hmm ... " said Polly. "That was good fucking. Can you do that to me?" she asked, cocking her head to the left. "I like it best on my back, but I like to start from behind. Is that okay for you?"

"Of course, Polly. I'll do whatever you want me to." Jim liked Polly more and more.

"Thanks," she said in what was to be her trademark flat monotone.

Polly positioned herself on her knees and chest, allowing Jim to penetrate her easily and fully. He placed his cock at her entrance and slowly pushed into her. He pumped her warm, beautiful cunt deeply and gently, wiggling a little at the bottom. Jim was having fun with Polly!

As Jim fucked the pretty redhead from the back, he reached underneath and diddled her clit. This made Polly twitch and gasp. Jim continued, listening to her soft almost inaudible moans as he rubbed her moist, warm love button.

Patty got to her knees next to Jim and watched him fuck her older sister. (Polly had been born one minute before Patty.) "Your cock is pretty big!" Patty observed. "How is it feeling, Polly?"

"It's good, Patty," Polly said in a faint husky voice. "I'm ready to go onto my back, if that's okay," Polly said softly and evenly.

"Okay, sweetheart; position yourself," he said to the little minx as he removed his wet cock.

Polly lay there for a moment catching her breath. She then flipped over and spread her legs, offering Jim access to her wet and reddened pussy. "Okay," she said, "I'm ready."

He placed his cockhead between her labia, pushed gently, and lay on top of the lovely redhead as her twin sister lay next them on her side facing Polly. Jim was joined to the underage girl's body now and it remained only to fuck her and himself to orgasm. He fully intended to shoot his cream while in Polly's fur pie.

Polly put her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his back as Jim drilled her tight pussy. She ground her pubic bone against him, desperately trying to achieve maximum stimulation on the way to her climax. He thought, the girl certainly knew what she wanted and how to get it! He was moved to kiss her tenderly on the lips. Polly responded by opening her mouth and swishing her tongue against his as her hips bucked. Her whole body was animated!

"Umm-ph! Umm-ph! Umm-ph!" Polly grunted as she came. She arched her back and tossed her head as she climaxed. Her lithe young schoolgirl body tensed and wriggled beneath him. He could feel the spasming in her pussy as he shot his cum.

"Polly has a great pussy," Patty said as her sister and Jim came down from their orgasms. "All the guys say so."

"Yeah, but you get the most kudos for your blow jobs," Polly said between deep breaths. "Patty gives the best head."

Jim said, "You are both unbelievable. When did you guys start fucking and sucking?"

Patty replied, "My dad raped me when I was 12; Polly was fucked by him about a week later."

"We actually both liked it and he never forced us. I'd seen my father fucking my mother and his girlfriend together one night when I sneaked back into the house when they thought I was with Patty at a sleepover," Polly said. "I was shocked at first, and then I got more turned on as I thought more about it. I'll bet most mothers don't know that their daughters and husbands do this. My mom is proud of the way her daughters fuck. She wishes she could come to this."

"Actually, Pol, she shacks up with dad's girlfriend the evenings that we're here." Patty said, matter-of-factly.

"Huh! I didn't know that!" Polly replied in astonishment. She then asked Jim, "Does your wife know that your little girls come here?"

"Yes, she actually suggested it," Jim replied.

"That's cool," Polly said.

"Yeah, I'm glad our mom lets us fuck," Patty said.

"So am I!" Jim said and they all laughed together.

He cuddled with Patty as Polly snuggled up behind them. She put her arm around Jim's waist and sort of absent-mindedly stroked his cock. He was playing with Patty's hair as they discussed their respective family's sex lives.

"We have an older brother," Patty said. "He's sixteen and he fucks us, too." Jim was very interested to hear that! He thought, their family is about as unusual as ours!

"Tricia and Sophie are your daughters, right?" Polly observed.

"Yes, that's right," he said. "Sophie is the child of my first marriage and Tricia is my adopted daughter from my current marriage. How did you know?"

"I can usually match up the dads and the daughters," Polly said simply in her almost bored monotone. "Part of it's the body language when they fuck the target girls, part of it's watching them exchange glances during the negotiations part, and who they don't fuck week after week."

Patty asked Jim, "Do you love your real daughter more than the adopted one?"

Jim answered quickly and decisively. "No, I love them equally. I made that clear to both of them once I adopted Tricia. I care just as deeply for both of them."

"How come Sophie isn't here tonight?" Polly asked.

"She's with her mother," he replied. "I miss her and so does Tricia."

Patty said eagerly, "Polly and I fuck. Do your daughters?"

"I'll say they do! They're both very horny and sexually very compatible. They are very attached, though Tricia fell in love with another girl, an older girl. I met her here a while back but she's too old to come any more."

"I know who you mean," Patty said. "It's Tara, right?"

"Yes," he said, astonished at how observant the two young girls were. "How did you figure that out?"

"I watched her go with you the last two months. I saw that she waited for you and the two of you would go to room 3. She used to be so unhappy looking. None of the men seemed to want to fuck her," Patty said. "I felt sorry for her but I didn't know what to say or if I should even talk to her."

Polly said, "Yeah, we made up our minds to talk to her together the next time but then she started going with you. She looked a lot happier. What happened?"

Jim told them the story of Jackie and how he fell in love with her. He told them about taking her home and introducing her to Gloria and the girls.

"That's how my youngest fell in love with her," he said.

"That's so cool, Trent," said Patty who impulsively kissed him. "That was really nice of you."

"Yeah, most guys just want pussy and don't notice or don't care much about the girls. How is she doing now?" Polly inquired.

Jim gave them the Jackie update and they both were glad to hear she was doing well.

"When you talk to her next time, tell her we were thinking about her," Patty said.

"I think that would mean a lot to her. Jackie said she always felt so alone, so unable to speak to anyone about how she was feeling. I'll certainly tell her that you were concerned." He hugged them in turn. He thought, these two girls were so nice to be with!

Then Polly said, "C'mon, Patty; I feel like eating some pussy!"

Patty said, "Cool, let's go for it!"

The girls got into the 69 position with Polly on the bottom. It was amazing to see these twin fourteen year olds go at it. Patty brushed her long auburn hair aside so Jim could see her lick her sister's snatch from on top. When he moved down to see how Polly was doing, he saw her insert her finger into Patty's slick asshole and move it in and out. She simultaneously licked her sister's reddened clit.

This went on for a few minutes when Patty saw that Jim was hard again.

"Okay, An -er, Polly," she giggled, "let's do the double blow job."

Jim knelt in front of them as they took turns sucking his cock. After a few minutes of back and forth, Polly left the sucking to Patty, the cocksucking expert, and came up to start French kissing Jim. He could taste her sister's pussy juices on her lips.

Polly said to him, "When you're ready to shoot, will you do it in my face?"

"Sure, honey," he replied. He thought, this was going to be hot! He let Patty work on his cock for a few more minutes before he concentrated on cumming.

"Okay, Polly; I'm getting ready," Jim called to her.

Patty speeded up her sucking and stroking as she took him over the edge. He withdrew his cock from her mouth and aimed it at Polly who closed her eyes and opened her mouth.

"Here I come!" he yelled and fired a bone blast that hit Polly in the nose and forehead. He fired off two more that landed on her right eye and cheek and into her mouth.

"Yay!" Patty shouted. As she and Polly started laughing, Jim wiped the cream off Polly's eye. Patty jumped in and started licking the cum from her sister's face. Polly opened one eye and started to lick the jizz off Jim's cockhead. He stroked her lovely long hair and bent down to kiss her cum-smeared lips. She eagerly Frenched him.

They three of them lay down together. Jim took one girl in each arm and kissed their foreheads.

"You girls are marvelous! I can't believe how good you both are. And Patty, Polly wasn't kidding about your oral talents, was she?"

"Thanks," Patty said. "We like you."

"Yeah," said Polly, "you're nice. Some guys just like to get off with us. That's okay but we liked that you talked to us about your daughters and about Tara."

Polly said, "My real name is Anna, which Patty almost said."

Patty blushed. "Sorry!" and hunched her shoulders. "And my real name is Kelly. Our parents didn't want to have twins with similar names. They thought we should develop separately as much as possible."

Jim told them he thought that was wise. He said to them, "My real name is Jim. My daughters are Mandy, that's Tricia, and Amy, who was given the name Sophie."

Anna and Kelly looked at each other. Anna said, "Jim, can we fuck your daughters some time? We like guys but we like pussy, too. Your girls are really cute."

"Yeah, the girls are allowed to get it on together especially if they do it in the public area. I guess the guys all like watching the lesbian thing," Kelly shrugged.

"Well," he replied, "I'll certainly ask them. Maybe we should find Mandy and ask her. I'll bet she'd love to be done by the both of you tonight."

"Awesome!" Kelly said. "Let's go!"

They all dressed and tidied up the room and went off in search of Mandy.

They found Mandy in the public area on her hands and knees. She was being fucked from behind by one guy while another guy was receiving a blow job from her at the same time.

Jim and the girls watched with another dozen of the men and ten of the girls until the fucker shot his load and the man getting the blow job cummed in Mandy's mouth. As Mandy effortlessly swallowed his load they heard murmurs of approval all around. Jim and everyone around him thought that Mandy's performance was very impressive.

He waved for her to come over to them. Mandy sat down and Jim introduced her to Anna and Kelly. They greeted her and he explained what the girls had suggested. He asked Mandy if she would like to do that. She enthusiastically replied that she would.

"Just give me a minute to wipe the lube from my pussy. I'll be right back." She skipped off to clean herself up. Anna and Kelly discussed a strategy that they would put to Mandy for her approval.

When Mandy returned, the girls huddled. Jim heard Mandy say, "Sure, let's do it!"

The three girls lay down on their sides and built a daisy chain. Mandy put her face in Anna's cunt as Anna put hers in Kelly's. Kelly completed the scene by putting her face in Mandy's pussy. All three girls started eating snatch. This brought applause from the men and girls watching.

It was exciting for everyone to watch such beautiful naked young girls licking, sucking, and fingering each other. Jim could tell that Anna loved anal play. She rimmed her sister, stuck a finger into her asshole, and pushed hard into her back door. Kelly must have been used to getting such attention from her.

Mandy, for her part, was licking Anna passionately. She really got into girls! Right now, Mandy was in a strong lesbian phase. Jim was the only male with whom she could be truly intimate. The rest just fucked her and used her for pleasure. She never had a chance to get to know them. That would come, he thought, when she got a little bit older.

Kelly, with her sweet disposition, was enthusiastically licking Mandy. Jim thought then that Kelly was enjoying Mandy's hairless pussy because of its novelty. Anna, her primary lover, had a hairy cunt. He could see Kelly falling for Mandy. Mandy was so lovely it sometimes took his breath away. She had those pretty green eyes and that long, fine brunette hair. And her body was so little girl sexy!

Watching them gave Jim the inevitable hard on. He started stroking it while taking in the scene of underage lesbian lust. Noticing his erection, little Lindsey, the eight year old, came over to him.

"Hi! Do you remember me? You fucked me at the last orgy."

"Lindsey, honey, how could I forget such a beautiful little girl and such a great lay?" he answered her.

She laughed delightedly. Then she said, "Can I suck your cock?"

He pointed it at her. "You certainly can, you sweet little thing!"

Lindsey started giving him head. She did very well for such a young girl. Jim later found out that her mother and father taught her to suck cocks when she was seven years old. It seems she walked in on her mother giving her father a blow job and wanted to know what was going on. Her mother very patiently explained sex to her and invited the little girl to suck on her father's penis along with her. Together they got him to spurt. "It went all over the place!" Lindsey said as she recalled the moment. She then watched her mother lick it up, which introduced little Lindsey to cum eating.

Lindsey told Jim that the next day her mother arranged for her to watch her parents fuck. From there, it was but a short distance to having actual intercourse with her father. Her mother prepared her by gently and lovingly taking her cherry with a dildo. When it came time for her father to ball her, her pussy was ready. After that she had been secretly passed around to selected parents in their neighborhood network of pedophiles. Jim was surprised to learn that the group also included a number of the mothers, which introduced Lindsey to lesbian love. Before Lindsey came to the daddy-daughter orgies she had extensive experience with group sex.

"I've been gang banged twenty-three times!" she told him proudly later on.

He stroked her hair as she fellated him. She suddenly lifted her head and smiling sweetly up at him asked, "Do you want to fuck me?"

"Well, yes, Lindsey, as a matter of fact I do!" he replied.

"Great!" she said as she mounted him and sat on his cock without waiting for him to put on a rubber. Facing him, she started moving up and down. The sensation of the tiny child's cunt fucking his cock in this position was amazing! It was tight but very slippery. He felt he wouldn't last very long and that was the case. He shot his load into her bare pussy in violation of all the rules.

(Tanya had observed them and took Jim to task for fucking the little vixen without a rubber. She understood how they had gotten carried away but she was concerned to keep the girls safe. He apologized and told her it wouldn't happen again.)

Lindsey hopped off Jim's prick and stood in front of him. She began to push the cum out of her little cunt and watch it drip to the floor. She looked down at the puddle of jizz and then up at Jim and said with a big smile, "My mommy taught me how to do that!"

In the center of the public area, the girls were cumming. Kelly was the first to go. She stopped eating Mandy and cried out as her slim, pale body shook in orgasm. Anna kept her mouth on her twin sister's pudenda until she was finished climaxing. She then lay on her back to allow Mandy to finish her. Mandy speeded up her cunt lapping and took Anna over the edge. Less vocal than her ebullient sister, Anna's body thrashed with the pleasure of her cum. Mandy smiled at the conclusion of a job well done!

By this time, Kelly was recovered and bid Mandy come sit on her face. Jim watched as his beloved adoptive daughter sat with her pussy and asshole in Kelly's face in a reverse cowgirl position. Kelly licked Mandy's anus just because it was there and "Because I love girls' assholes!" as she said to Jim afterward. Then she concentrated on sucking Mandy's clitoris as if it were a little cock. The effect on Mandy was tremendous. The little darling came on the cute redhead's face and rubbed her pussy on it until she was completely satisfied.

This brought a standing ovation from the crowd of spectators and requests to fuck the performers. All three girls consented. They took up positions next to each other lying on their backs and allowed the men to fuck them. It was an incredible sight to see the three little girls being banged simultaneously until they had satisfied 12 of the fathers. The girls hugged and kissed each other at the conclusion. By then, it was time to shower and go home. They bid each other farewell and said how they looked forward to seeing each other the next time.

On the way home, Jim asked Mandy about her evening.

"It was fun, Daddy. I got to be a target girl, like I wanted. I'm sorry Amy wasn't with us. She wanted to be a target girl, too."

She was excited to recall the evening's events.

"And I liked meeting Anna and Kelly! They were so nice to me, Daddy. I think they liked me."

Jim frowned.

"Mandy, honey, everyone who knows you likes you or loves you. Why are you so surprised at that, sweetheart?" He gently touched her arm.

She shrugged her shoulders but didn't say anything. Jim thought it might be that she didn't completely believe what she was hearing.

"When you said that you thought that men like fucking Amy more than you, I was reminded of the time I had to lift Amy's spirits about that same issue. Do you remember one time when you and your Mom went to service that client that only wanted you and not Amy?"

"Yeah, I do! I thought that was weird that he didn't want Amy. She's so much prettier."

"Darling, she's not prettier than you. You are gorgeous. Didn't you see how the men reacted to you tonight? They love you! You were so popular tonight as the target girl! Didn't you tell me that 5 men cummed with you? That's unusual for such a short fuck."

She appeared thoughtful and then said almost in amazement, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Well, Amy felt very down about being excluded. I had to explain to her that people are attracted to different things about other people. Sometimes it's their hair color or their size or their personality. It could be anything, dear."

She looked at him in wonder. "Really, Daddy? Amy thought she wasn't as pretty as me?"

"Yes, Mandy, she did. You are a beautiful girl, honey. You will grow into a beautiful woman. But the best thing about you is your goodness."

"My what?" she said quizzically and with her face scrunched up.

"Your goodness, Mandy. You are a good girl. You are thoughtful and kind and sensitive. You are concerned about other people and you're always nice to them. I admire you so much. I wish I was your real father and I'm grateful every day that you're my adopted daughter."

Mandy's eyes widened as he said that to her.

"Really, Daddy? Is that true? You think I'm a good girl?"

When Mandy said that, it made Jim feel very sad for her. Not wanting to wait until they got home to assure her, he parked the car on the side of the road and turned to her. He unbuckled her seat belt and took little Mandy in his arms. He hugged her and kissed her cheek and told her,

"Mandy, my sweet little girl, you are wonderful. Ever since you came into my life, I've been happier than I've ever been before. It's because of you. You are precious to me!"

"Thanks, Daddy." She smiled and hugged him back.

Then she said, "My real daddy used to tell me I was bad. He used to call me names and hit me."

When she said that, Jim's mouth fell open in surprise and alarm.

"He made me have sex with his friends. I didn't like that. Mommy tried to stop him but he hit her, too. He wasn't very nice near the end, just before he got arrested."

My poor little darling! he thought. That anyone would hurt this lovely defenseless little girl was almost beyond belief. He felt tears running down his face.

Then Mandy said, brightly, "Don't cry, Daddy, I'm all right now. You never hit me or yell at me. I'm glad. You're so nice to me!"

He held his little adopted daughter close.

"Mandy; no one will ever hurt you again. I promise. You are a good child and a wonderful daughter. Your mother, Amy, and I love you more than you'll ever know. Jackie loves you, doesn't she? That should tell you how wonderful you are."

"Yes! Jackie is so nice and so smart. I guess if she loves me then I can't be too bad!" Mandy started to laugh.

It broke Jim's heart to realize how little she thought of herself and to be fully aware of her seeming inability to take seriously the thought that people other than her mother loved her. Her father, Gloria's first husband, and the terrible people associated with him had made her feel as if she were a nuisance, useful only as a sex object. They had made her feel bad about herself to a much greater extent than he had thought. At that moment, he wanted more than anything for her to know how much they all loved her.

"You're not bad at all, Mandy. You know I love my Amy and I love your mommy ... well, in some ways, I love you more than any other person in the world, even them."

"You love me the best, Daddy?" she said almost uncomprehendingly. "Really? More than Amy?"

"I love Amy in a different way and I would never compare the two of you like that but I love you in a special way that I don't anyone else." It was true; she had come to mean so much to him.

"Wow! I didn't know anyone could love me that much, except for my mommy."

"Mandy, anyone who gets to know you will love you."

She looked amazed by what he said. Then she smiled broadly. "Thanks, Daddy." And she kissed his cheek. Jim clutched her to him tightly. She didn't squirm or pull away, but let herself be loved and caressed. He held her for a full ten minutes, just rocking her and kissing her cheek.

Finally, Jim sat her upright, stroked her hair, kissed her lips and said, "C'mon, honey; buckle your seat belt; let's go home."

As they readied for bed the next Saturday evening, Jim told Gloria what he was thinking about 11 year old Mandy, her daughter and his adopted step-daughter. What the little girl had told him about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her birth father made him concerned for her. In some ways she had seemed so mature for her age and so happy. Now, he understood the darker side; he saw the vulnerability he hadn't noticed before.

"She's a tough little girl, but she's still a little girl," said Gloria. "One of the first things you notice about her is she's not rough around the edges as you might expect she would be. I'm not sure where she gets that niceness from; certainly not from me!" and she laughed.

Then she said, seriously, "I tried my best to protect her, Jim, but I couldn't always. I had to teach her to adapt. I think that's why Mandy is so alert to other people's moods, why she reads people so well."

"And maybe why she's so sympathetic, "Jim added.

"Maybe so," Gloria answered. With a note of sadness in her voice, she said,

"I wish I could have done more for her."

They sat silently; each lost in his or her thoughts about the child. Wanting to cheer her up, Jim broke the silence,

"We'll make it better for her, Gloria. We'll take good care of her."

He took Gloria in his arms and held her close.