Kate studied the picture of the pretty little girl with dark brown hair and her father's eyes and smile. She didn't know whether to be insulted or hurt or just indifferent to the fact that he'd never mentioned he had a daughter in all the time she'd known him.
"All the times we've talked Jack and you never mentioned you had a daughter. Why would keep that from me?" She asked.
"I wasn't keeping it from you Kate and I was going to tell you about her. Maggie is a part of my life that is very personal and very private. I'm an absentee father that pays child support and sees his kid a few times a year. It's not something I'm proud of or feel like talking about most of the time." Jack said.
"She's beautiful Jack, you should be proud and bragging as often as possible." Kate said and smiled at him.
"Thanks. She's been quite a handful lately." Jack sighed and put the picture back in his wallet.
"How so?" Kate asked.
"She showed up at my front door a couple of days after you and I went our separate ways or whatever that was we did." Jack said.
"That's bad?" Kate asked.
"She lives in San Diego with her mom so it was very bad. Stacy called me in hysterics when she didn't come home from school and had called the police. I didn't know whether to hug her or beat her when I opened the door and saw her standing there." Jack explained.
"Ran away to daddy's all the way from San Diego huh? That's pretty brave for a 12 year old. She must be pretty upset about something." Kate said.
"Maggie's mom and I, we never got married or anything. Maggie was just a surprise that we both decided we wanted to keep. We share custody of her, but I don't make it difficult for Stacy and demand equal time or anything and Stacy lets me see her when I can. It's hard with them living so far away, but I take what I can get so Maggie isn't constantly shuffled back and forth. Stacy got married when Maggie was about two and the guy was really good with Maggie and they had a nice little family and I allowed myself to get pushed out of the picture just a little bit more each year by lying to myself and pretending it was better for Maggie, when in reality it was just easier for me emotionally and time wise. Still think I'm a prince Kate?" He asked.
"So you've struggled with being a long distance father? It doesn't mean you don't love your daughter Jack. So what happened?" Kate asked.
"What do you mean?" Jack asked.
"You said they had a nice little family, as in they don't anymore. What happened?" Kate asked.
"Stacy and Mike split up and it's been tough for Maggie and suddenly good ole stand-by dad in Los Angeles who is always happy to see her and buy her anything her heart desires has taken on a much more prominent parenting role. Stacy remarried and the child is very unhappy." Jack said.
"Why?" Kate asked.
"Do you really want to hear all of this Kate?" Jack asked.
"Of course I do. I'm just sorry you never felt like you could share this stuff with me before." She said.
"Stacy cheated on Mike with this guy she's married to now and according to Maggie she never pays any attention to her because she is too busy with the new husband's two little boys and the new baby they just had together or at least that was the sob story I got when she showed up at my door. I don't think Stacy is neglecting her, but I do think Maggie is really struggling to adjust to her new situation and that's why she wants to come live with me." He explained.
"What did you tell her?" Kate asked.
"I told her I didn't think it was a good idea, let her stay with me a few days and drove her back to San Diego . She was with me when I went to check on Michelle, that's how she knew about her." Jack said.
"Why isn't it a good idea?" Kate asked.
"What?" Jack asked.
"Why isn't it a good idea for Maggie to live with you?" Kate asked.
"You want the whole laundry list or just the really important reasons, like the fact that I work 100 hours a week and that it would hurt her mother terribly." Jack said.
"Those are just excuses Jack." Kate said.
"Kate, I appreciate that you're interested enough to care, but you don't know what you're talking about." Jack defended himself.
"Last night you asked me who convinced me I didn't matter. Do you still want to know?" She asked.
"Yes." Jack answered, happy to change the subject to her for awhile.
"When I was ten, my dad came into my bedroom, read me a bedtime story and told me he was leaving and then he just left. He made time to see me on the weekends at first, but as time went on he just stopped caring. He had a new wife and a new baby and he didn't care about me anymore. When he left my mom started drinking and by the time I was 12 she was drunk all the time. I begged my dad to let me come live with him and he told me I couldn't because his new wife didn't like me and then he told me that we couldn't see each other anymore.
By the time I was 14, I'd managed to lie about my age and got a job waiting tables at night because my mom had a new boyfriend and she didn't want me around when he was over, which was pretty much all the time. I spent the next couple of years staying at friend's houses and when I was 16 I moved in with another waitress from the restaurant. She was 18 and needed a roommate. I haven't talked to my dad since I was 12 and I don't even know where my mom is or if she's alive." Kate told him, the hurt and anger of being rejected by the two people she was supposed to matter to still very raw.
"I'm sorry Kate." He said.
"Jack, I'm not suggesting that your daughter is in the same type of situation, but I am suggesting that she could be feeling like she doesn't matter." Kate said.
"She knows that I love her Kate and so does her mother. She's just having adjustment issues. I promised her she could spend her whole Christmas break with me and Stacy agreed so we're hoping that will get her to let up on the 'I want to live with my dad' demand for awhile." Jack said.
"That's almost three months away Jack." Kate said.
"It was the best I could do Kate. I'll try to get down there and spend a weekend here and there with her before." He said.
"I'm sorry. I hope things start looking up for her and for you." She said.
"Things are looking great for me from where I'm sitting, unless my baggage is going to scare you off." He said and smiled at her.
"Scare me off? Honestly Jack, finding out that you have baggage and are just as human as the rest of us only makes you that much more attractive to me." She told him.
He lay below her, eyes closed and heart racing as he released inside of her for the second time that morning, his 12 hour wait period cut way short. Her hot, sweaty body was draped over his, her mouth sucking gently on the skin on the top of his shoulder. She'd been insatiable and judging by the way she had him trapped inside of her, the moans and heavy breathing coming from her and the large hickey she was going to leave on his shoulder she wasn't done with him yet.
"Kate, are you trying to kill me?" He asked softly when he felt her hips begin to gyrate over him again.
"I know you need to recharge, but I feel like I can't get enough. I could stay in this bed with you all day and all night Jack." She sighed and covered his mouth with her own, drawing him into another wet, passionate kiss.
He rolled her onto her back, kissing her deeply, still inside of her and pumping into her slowly. He held to the outside of her leg and watched her as he continued the gentle thrusts. She was so wet and slippery and responsive that he began to wish pills that could cause four hour erections really existed, found himself chuckling lightly at the thought and brought her to another orgasm.
When she stopped squealing and squirming he leaned in, kissed her softly on the mouth and brushed the hair away from her face while he allowed himself to slip out of her. She groaned in protest of the disconnect making him kiss her again.
"Ever hear the phrase 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'?" He teased, still lying between her legs, her soft, warm body trapped beneath his.
"You know what I think?" She asked.
"No, tell me." He said.
"I think we must've wanted this for a really long time and it's like we've unleashed some crazed, hungry animal that can't be satisfied because we starved it for too long." She said.
"I think you're probably right, but I bet if we actually got out of bed and got dressed the desire to commit suicide by sex might subside some." He chuckled and rolled off of her onto his back.
She crawled onto him, straddling his waist and rubbing her wetness as well his own all over his stomach. She sat up straight and gently traced an imaginary line down the center of his chest.
"We could take a shower and I'll put a fresh bandage on your head afterward." She suggested as she traced around the outer edge of his nipple with her fingertip.
"And then maybe take another walk on the beach and let the fur ball out of his cage for awhile?" He asked, eyeing the breasts perched in front of him and licking his lips.
"And then it might be time for a nice, long, afternoon nap." She said in a seductive tone, reaching behind her and caressing his penis.
"Kate, you are so making me wish I were 21 again. Baby I can't, but I promise you are going to enjoy the shower we're getting ready to take." He told her and sat up, sliding her back, pressing their chests together and kissing her passionately.
She walked around the bedroom, a towel wrapped around her head and one around her body, her mind in a pleasant fog. He was sitting on the bed in his jeans, watching her and finally grabbing her and pulling her into his lap.
"Hey, you okay?" He asked and kissed her neck lightly.
"Mmm, yeah. I think you finally satisfied the beast or at the very least tamed it. Who knew one could pull off so many neat tricks with a hand held shower nozzle." She said with a grin and kissed him.
"The trick is the eight adjustable sprays of water." He told her.
"No, I think the trick was the man holding the nozzle knowing exactly where to direct those sprays of water." She said.
"No, the real trick is having a hot, sexy, responsive woman that enjoys the attention as much as I enjoy giving it to her." He said and kissed her some more.
"Is that so? And what exactly do you get out of that?" She asked, feeling a little guilty for having been the only one getting satisfied in the shower.
"Oh Jack, you're so good, eat my pu……." He imitated her stopping when she clamped a hand over his mouth, both of them giggling.
"Okay, I get it. It's all about the ego." She continued to laugh.
He looked at her seriously, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply, pulling back and looking into her eyes.
"It's all about making you feel good because that makes me feel good because you matter to me Kate, a lot." He said, his tone and his eyes sincere.