Yeah! Daddy/Daughter Date! Actually this isn't the chapter where they have their daddy/daughter date, that's next chapter but this chapter is good too. This is the one where we get to hear more about Brandon, the absent father. Enjoy

Oh and thanks to everyone for expressing their love and excitement for the story. I love hearing people get excited and that makes me want to write more (hint hint) I hope everyone continues to read and be excited about it. Share the story with a friend so they can get excited with you. :)

DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me they belong to Stephanie Meyer's author of the wonderful book 'The Host'

Chapter 11: Daddy

I looked in the mirror and tried to fluff the ruffles of my shirt. It was strange to be nervous about going places with my father…. Well my bodies father. He wasn't really my father, souls didn't have fathers. But this body still loved him no matter how absent he had been with Pet after the invasion. I took a deep breath and walked down the hall and down the stairs.

Brandon was tying a jacket around his waist and smiled at me when I reached the bottom of the stairs. "Ready to go?" I nodded and we went through the door to the right of the stairs into the garage.

Pet had never really been into the garage a lot. It was dark till he turned on the light then I saw lots of tools hung up on the opposite wall. There was the back wall to my right that had things that looked like they were used for hunting. I looked back at the wall that was entirely covered by the tools I'd seen first; some looked like they were for cars others looked like gardening, woodshop and there was even something that looked like a blowtorch that sat next to a table.

I frowned as I stepped carefully down the stairs and looked at the other wall there wasn't much on this wall except a bunch of photographs. I stepped closer and looked at each one. They seemed to be of the same two people; a tall buff man with green eyes and a little girl with blonde curls and gray eyes.

"That's my favorite part of this room too." Brandon said behind me. "Brandon misses that little girl, so I do."

I turned to look at him, "I don't remember those times." I was kind of sad that I didn't. We looked so happy.

He sighed, "Yea. Pet didn't either."

I stiffened, "Wh…. What?"

He smiled, "Get in the truck please." He walked over and opened the passenger door for me.

I was panicking on the inside…. He knew I wasn't Pet? He was going to take me somewhere else and talk to me about this? I took a deep breath. I just had to live until Ian got here; refusing to go with Brandon didn't seem like a good idea, he seemed so strong, but it also didn't seem like the safest idea to go with him either.

He noticed my internal panic, "It's alright. I promise I won't hurt you."

Souls usually always told the truth so that did make me feel a bit better. I walked over and Brandon helped to lift me into the truck. I put on the seat belt and sat there nervously while he opened the garage door and pulled out.

I noticed that he didn't have his seatbelt on and he didn't reach for it as he pulled out and started driving away from the house.

"Aren't you going to put your seat belt on?" I asked in a small voice.

He chuckled, "The seatbelt irritates me while I drive." He smiled winked at me, "And sometimes it's fun to break the rules."

I stared at him, dumbfounded. Fun to break the rules?

"You'd know a little about breaking rules right?" he said still smiling, "I mean you didn't just go to a healer and get Pet extracted and you put in." I bit my lip, "I bet that you didn't even get abducted by humans."

I shook my head. "I was abducted." It was but wasn't a lie. My body had been abducted but my soul had gladly walked into the caves where the humans were.

"I'm sure that's the story you'll stick to." He said turning left at a light. Brandon drove out of the city and after a few minutes we turned onto a dirt road.

I started to wonder if maybe he was taking me away to kill me. Or he was going to just drop me off in the middle of nowhere. A million different scary scenario's ran through my head. Of course he was a soul and souls didn't do the things that I was afraid was going to happen to me; that was my human side coming out.

I think he sensed my panic because he said, "I said I wouldn't hurt you. I told you, we're going on a daddy/daughter date."

I took some deep breaths as he drove and stopped at what looked to be a cliff. He turned the truck around and made it so we could sit in the bed of the truck and have a great view of off the cliff.

He walked around and opened my door as I watched the seat belt be sucked back into its place. Brandon helped me out of the truck and helped me to sit on the edge of the tailgate. He grabbed a blanket from in the truck and laid it so we could lay down and not feel the hard bed of the truck.

I didn't lay down, "So why'd you bring me all the way out here?"

He looked over at me, "I want to get to know my new daughter, and ask her some questions."

I nodded, "I'm sure."

"First off…. What happened to Pet?" He asked staring at me, "I may have been an absent father to her after implantation but I still care about her."

I smiled, "I sent her, personally, to another planet. A good planet."

He nodded looking over the cliff at the valley. The valley was beautiful with brown roofs against the immense green. It was beautiful and I was happy that I was here to see this kind of an environment.

"What's your name?" Brandon asked turning towards me.

I looked at my feet in the white sandals, "Wanderer. But my family calls me Wanda."

"Your family?"

I nodded, "My human family."

"So you weren't taken, you left."

I looked up at him and shook my head. "No. This body was taken by force but the story of my soul is a rather long one." I looked out over the valley to avoid his gaze, "And any regular soul couldn't understand."

I heard him chuckle, "Good think I'm no ordinary soul." I looked at him with a questioning look. "I'm domesticated." He smiled.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

He shrugged frowning slightly, "I'm not sure exactly. All I know is that I feel more human that soul. I want things to go back to the way it was when the humans were the dominate species." He smiled at me, "I like to think of myself as a wild cat that had been domesticated…. Or maybe the right word is converted." He ran his hands through his hair, "See my host didn't disappear until he found out that Carmon had disappeared. He lived and breathed for that little girl but when he found out she was gone he lost his will to stick around." He frowned and looked at his hands, "That kind of love changes a person…. Or a soul."

I nodded, "The bond between parent and child, brother and sister and the bond between lovers is very strong on this planet."

"Cloud Spinner and I had a talk shortly after implantation." He said offering his hand to me. I wasn't sure what made me do it but I took his hand. "See her host, Melissa, and my host were contemplating divorce before the invasion." I gasped, I knew what that was, "Yea. They didn't love each other anymore." and he found out something that he deemed unforgivable."

"What was it?" I whispered almost afraid to hear it.

He took a deep breath, "She cheated on him…. And he had a very strong opinion about cheating on a spouse."

I gasped. What?

He closed his eyes and I saw his nose get red, his nostrils flair and his jaw tighten. "Yes. It was more pain than he thought he could bare. So after implantation I confessed to her how much my host was hurt but I thought that maybe us two souls could salvage some kind of love from what they once felt. And for the sake of Pet, keep it a secret."

My heart was breaking. My brain couldn't place the word divorce for two souls, let alone the parents of this body.

"But I couldn't take it. I got to know Cloud Spinner and even though she is sweet, she doesn't seem like someone I could love. But I couldn't leave Carmon…. Well Pet. I guess it was the sentimentality that my host held for his daughter. He loved her even when she was gone."

I nodded. I didn't know what to say or even what to do. I almost wished that I had some memories from Carmon so that I could remember some of her happy times with Brandon. From what he was saying his host had loved the girl he had raised, so much that he hadn't faded until he knew that Carmon wasn't there. Love like that is hard to top. The only love that could possibly equal that would be Mel's love for Jared and Jamie. And Ian's love for you. A voice in my head said. It wasn't Mel. I knew she wasn't there. Maybe I really had come to accept that Ian didn't just like me for the bodies I wore.

"So, Wanda." Brandon said and I looked at him, he had his eyes open and was smiling at me. "I want to know about you. Tell me something about you; the soul that control's Carmon's body."

I got a bit shy and looked down at my lap, "Well I…." What was I suppose to say? "I'm not really sure what you want me to say."

He put his fingers under my chin and lifted it so I looked at him, "Let's start with your previous lives. Pet lived on the Flower planet. What one or ones did you live on?"

I half smiled. "Quite a few. I've lived on the mists planet, with the sea weeds, on the flower planet, the singing world; I'm from the Origin. Being reborn into Pet's body is my 10th life."

I smiled and almost laughed when his hand dropped eyes popped and his mouth fell open, "10 life times?" I nodded and he grabbed my hands, "I see where the name Wanderer comes from."

I nodded and looked out towards to valley, "Though I'd rather be with my partner right now."

I knew immediately that I'd said something that was wrong. He gripped my hands more firmly, "Partner?" he said through his teeth.

I flinched a bit at his tight hands. Stupid. A voice that was almost like Mel said in my head, He's a father. Your father. "I'm sorry." I said trying to pull my hands free of his, "I shouldn't have told you that."

He closed his eyes turning towards the valley and letting go of my hands. It took him a moment and a few deep breaths to steady himself. "I suppose I should have seen it coming. I know Pet was interested in a boy at school and god knows that Carmon's body is attractive to the male eye. I was concerned at first with having Landon in the house for that exact reason but he and Cloud Spinner convinced me that a physical relationship is not his intentions."

I frowned remembering their conversation in the car, "No. That's not his intention. And I would not allow it."

He turned back towards me, "Tell me. Is your partner human?"

I nodded.

"How old is he?"

I took a deep breath, "A round the age of…." I made it so it'd look like I was thinking, I had to lie about this…. Just in case. "20"

He raised an eye brow, "And you two have had a physical relationship?"

I took a deep breath and held it; I nodded.

His face got red with anger but he nodded, "Cloud Spinner said something about a human touching you inappropriately while you were held captive."

"All consensual." I said exhaling.

He nodded slowly, "I suppose after 9 life times and living a 10th you can't really be held to the normal age restrictions…." He said, "Does he know?" I blushed and looked at my lap. "Does he know that your only 17?"

I took a deep breath and shook my head, "I lied to him…. And to everyone. I said that I was going to be 18 when I was going to be 17."

He nodded again, "I suppose that's to be expected." He paused and shuddered, "If you want to be his partner in every way then you would need to lie."

I exhaled again. I was glad; he was taking it better than I thought he would; him being more like a human than a soul…. And being a father.

He hopped off of the tailgate and stood in front of me, "Can I ask you one more question before we get this show on the road?" I nodded, "Did you lie to me about your partner's age?"

I gulped audibly and that seemed to answer his question. "I don't need to know." He said firmly as he helped me down and back into the truck.

So I decided that I was going to bother you guys a little more and make this daddy/daughter date a two parter. Just a while longer before Ian makes it to Seattle. Then there will be so much fun to read. :D