Life Changing Your Plans Ch. 01

Please note: If you are looking for sex right off the bat, look no further. There isn't any in this portion of the story. There will be, but when a reason other than just sex presents itself.

*****

The summer was winding down and Gabby was getting ready to head back to college to resume her studies to become a teacher. I had been sitting under a patio umbrella we had on the wooden deck overlooking our above ground pool, trying to keep out of the late August sun, and the unbearable heat of its dog day afternoons. It had always been a pursuit of mine to afford and build an in ground pool for my daughter, myself, and her friends. But it had been this pool and having her friends over, that helped her ease slowly back into the world, after she had retreated from it six years ago. That was when her Mother left us to pursue her career, and another's man's cock to the west coast. Raising my daughter without her extra income was hard and I refused to ask for help, and she never offered it, nor tried to contact her daughter. But I was able to afford this pool and build a large deck around half of it with the help of my friends. It seemed to have been more than enough.

I had been bummed about the lack of time that she had to spend on me of late, but I understood and wanted her to enjoy life.

Sometime had passed, as I was lost in my thoughts, and the glass of ice water had lost the condensation that had rolled down its sides and was now warm. I held it in my hand, absently looking at it after taking a large drink, when I heard her voice, "Dad! Dad, we're back!"

I turned my head and saw the three of them emerge from the house in their bikinis with towels over their shoulders and lemonade in their hands. I stood, glass in hand, and hugged Gabby once she had climbed the stairs and nearly jumped into my waiting arms. "Hey, honey, glad you're back. I am going into the house and rest, the sun has been hot today. Be sure to put sunscreen on."

"Sure Dad," she said, then asked, "Are you okay? I can have them go home if you need it."

"No, Hun, its not necessary. I just got a little over heated and perhaps a bit dehydrated," I raised my nearly full glass and showed her, "see, its warm and a lot left. I guess I got lost in thought again."

She leaned back into me and gave me a hug and looked into my eyes to see if I was lying to her. It was something she had become good at detecting over the years once I tried to shelter her world in the absence of her Mother. "Okay, go lie down. We'll keep it short and I'll come in to make dinner."

She turned and pushed Lily into the pool, and then charged at Jennifer, hitting her in the midsection like the good linebacker I taught her to be, and the force carried them backwards into the pool. I laughed and then turned to descend the stairs and head into the rec room in the basement where it was always cool and relaxing.

I must have fallen asleep, because sometime later I heard the girls stampede into the house and up the stairs to change. The light had changed to a lower angle on the wall. I decided to say hell with anyone cooking today. I called Antonio's and ordered three pizzas, one deluxe supreme, one pepperoni, and a meat lover for myself. I then stretched and headed up the stairs to the kitchen. I grabbed four glasses, four plates and silverware, and some napkins. I made myself a Jim Beam and Coke and then walked into the living room and yelled upstairs, "Gabby, I hope your friends don't have to head home yet, I ordered pizza for us." I heard them talk for a moment then, "Thank you Dad, they said thank you as well and that they'd love to stay.

I turned on the TV and sat down as I tried to find a game on this late Saturday afternoon. But as I thought, there was still just the same amount of nothing on as there was earlier. A few moments later the girls all came down similarly dressed. White or pastel colored tank tops or T-shirts, and cotton boxers made for girls.

"Does this mean they are spending the night?"

"Yeah Dad, is it okay?"

"Sure, " I chuckled, "That is why I ordered the pizza."

She hugged me and then asked, "Do we really have to watch football?"

"Nope, not one damn good game on."

"Cool, Lily, here," she said after switching the tv over and turning on the PS3, "enter your password."

Lily switched to Netflix and and put in her password. I had offered to sign us up, but last year Lilly said no, we could piggyback her account. So, we had been since then. Why Gabby had not entered the information I had not a clue, as everyone in the room knew it. I had to turn away from the screen as the furious rate she flipped through the offerings began to make me dizzy and lightheaded. How these kids managed this without side effects was beyond me. Finally she found the movie she had been looking for, Homefront, a movie about a Dad, drug gangs, and a horse. Lily loved all things horse related, even if they were not part of the story line.

"Aw, Lily. Come on, not an action flick." whined Gabby.

"Its not. There is more to it than that. Just shut up and watch."

"Yeah," Jennifer joined in, "Just shut up."

Gabby turned and looked at me with her cute little six year old pouty face. "Oh, jeeze Gabs, just shut up and watch."

She crossed her arms in a fake huff and everyone laughed.

The pizza arrived and the movie had become very entertaining as everyone ate in relative silence. Nearing the end of the movie it had gotten tense and the movie was put on pause. Popcorn had to be made. I said I was tired and excused myself and headed upstairs to my room.

I woke with morning wood and hurried in my underwear and no t-shirt to the bathroom. As I stood leaning with my back to the wall struggling to push my dick down to the toilet to keep from making a mess, the door opened. My head snapped to the door to where Jennifer stood wide eyed, frozen in the open doorway.

"Jennifer move."

I tried to hide my hard on, but could not stop my morning piss.

"I uh, um, I . . ."

My daughter's head came around from behind Jennifer, "Oh SHIT! Dad!"

Jennifer, still a deer in headlights was yanked backward and the door harshly slammed shut.

Oh, man. I thought trying to finish this horse piss. What do I do? Say? In my hurry I had forgotten to lock the door. I finally finished and looked into an empty hallway, then rushed into my room. In a way I was glad it had been Jennifer. She was two years older than Gabby and the two had only met at college last year. They had gone to the same High school, but had not met until Gabby had needed to find a carpool ride home. I had not seen her grow from childhood to adult like Lily, and evidently I had no guilt in checking her out poolside.

In fact, despite the heat, she had been the real reason I had not stayed and swam with the girls. She was taller than the other two girls at 5'10" with roughly a 34c-22-34 figure. Her long blonde hair, when in a French braid, stopped at the top of the crack of her lovely spade shaped ass. She had a tight body and a well defined stomach with one small, diamond, belly button piercing. She had the loveliest, well toned, long legs that I had ever obsessed over. She kept in shape as a requirement for her volleyball scholarship and loved to show her body off. While her swimsuits were never inappropriate, I believe I had been caught more than once, checking her out with a side glance or two. Fortunately, as far as I knew she had never brought it up to my daughter.

Had she, I would have been mortified. It had become my sole purpose in life to keep my daughter from harm's way after her Mother had left. Checking out her friend, and getting caught doing so, was never an option.

After dressing in a pair of cargo shorts, a white t-shirt under a short sleeve button up khaki shirt, a pair of ankle socks, and a pair of sandals I headed downstairs. Yes, I am part dork, but I hate people seeing my toes. Weird, but fuck it!

I went to the kitchen, grabbed a couple of pieces of pizza from the fridge, placed them on a plate and into the microwave. As I mechanically watched the pizza slowly spin I heard steps enter the kitchen.

"Mr. Meeker?"

Oh, hell. It was Jennifer. I slowly turned with my back to the counter.

"I just want to apologize for, well, for not knocking, and, and for not looking away." she stopped, but I felt there was more forthcoming. "Its just that, well," she stopped and looked over her shoulder, "I . . . nevermind." She turned and fled the room picking up her overnight bag on the way out the front door.

Gabby entered the room, "Dad, what was that about?"

"I think she wanted to apologize, which she did, but it seemed as if she wanted, or rather needed to say something more. I am sorry, but I never got the chance to apologize for my not having locked the door in my hurried state."

"Well, I wish she would have. She has been acting distant lately, and she hasn't been talking about the upcoming year like she did at the end of last year. Its as if she no longer wants to go back."

"Gabby, I hope that is not the case, she is a wonderful, intelligent, and lovely girl. She has so much ahead of her."

Gabby closed in for a hug.

"Don't worry honey, she'll be alright."

She looked up and faintly smiled, and then released me saying, "Well, I need the keys so I can take Lily home." She had her hand out waiting for them.

"On the counter under the phone." I looked over to the wall phone (yes, we still had one on the wall in the kitchen).

"Okay Dad. I'll be back soon."

The morning passed and Gabby returned shortly afternoon.

"Dad! Dad!" she yelled frantically from the kitchen.

"Down here in the basement! What's wrong?"

Gabby was crying. "Dad, they kicked her out! They kicked her out!"

"Honey, calm down. Please," I held her in my arms as her sobs slowly subsided and her shaking calmed. I held her out at arm's length and looked at her and said, "Now, who was kicked out?"

"Jennifer! They kicked her out!"

"Who?"

"Her parents! They kicked her out of their house two weeks ago! She's been living out of her car. They would have taken that from her as well but it is in her name. Dad! She's living in the streets."

"Why?" I asked in disbelief.

"Something about her and the internet. She got expelled from college and kicked off the volleyball team!"

"Dad where is she? Why didn't she tell us? Why . . . " she melted back into her tears and I sat her down on the sofa where we sat for the next thirty two minutes as I waited for her to cry herself out.

"Do you have any idea where she would go?"

She stopped sobbing and wiped the tears from her eyes, "No . . . "

"Well," I said, "Let's go see if we can find her."

We drove around the city for about three hours and thought we had spotted her car two different times. Finally, tired and dejected, we picked up a few burgers and fries from a fast food joint and headed home. As we rounded the corner and neared our house there in the driveway was Jennifer's car. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were bloodshot from crying. As we got out of the car she began to apologize, "I'm sorry Mr. Meeker, I just didn't know where else to go. I was driving looking for somewhere to sleep, but I was getting low on gas and . . . and . . . " she was trying to breathe in and catch her breath, "I'm broke." With that, the dam burst and her tears flowed freely.

"Gabby, take the food and I'll bring her in, then grab her bags from the car, and check to see if there are any that need to be brought in from the trunk."

"Yes Dad. Does it mean -"

"Lets get her inside first, then we'll talk."

I sat her on the living room couch and held her close. I did not feel any awkwardness after this morning's incident, nor anything else untowards this young woman in my arms. All I wanted in that moment was to reassure her that everything would be fine, that it will all work out in the end. We all in life just need to find a way to pick ourselves up from the ground, shake off the dirt, and look life in the face and then go from there.

"Yeah, right. I have no place to live. I have lost my scholarship, and been expelled, and I have no job. What the HE -"

I placed my finger to her lips to quiet her, "There is a guest room across from Gabby, correct?"

She looked at me through red puffy eyes, "Yeah," she nodded not quite understanding my implication.

"Well," I said looking at Gabby, "It's yours as long as you need it."

Jennifer looked from me to Gabby and back, "Are, are you sure?"

"Yes Jennifer!" Gabby interjected loudly, "Yes! You can live with us!" Gabby hugged me violently and kissed me on the cheek. "OMG! Thank you Daddy! See, this is why everyone loves you."

"C'mon Jen, let's get your stuff upstairs."

They grabbed her bags and headed upstairs to her new room and were gone for a couple of hours. In the meantime I went over the numbers in my head and figured that while it would be close we would be able to make ends meet. I sighed and leaned back on the sofa trying to ease the tension headache I felt rapidly gaining ground in the back of my head.

Sometime later I heard movement in the kitchen. I got up and walked into the kitchen expecting to find Gabby starting dinner. Instead there was Jennifer shifting pans on the stove and getting butter and milk from the fridge. She was frying hamburger looking to be at ease in the kitchen. I asked where Gabby was.

"She's upstairs getting some of her stuff packed for next weekend. I asked what I should make for dinner, so here I am making Hamburger Helper," she said smiling at me before turning her still reddened eyes back to the task at hand.

"Thank you Jennifer. I want to apologize for this morning, I should have locked the door so you needn't have seen that."

She turned to look at me over her shoulder, "Its okay. I didn't mind." Then returned to chopping up the hamburger as it cooked.

"Hmm, okay then."

I thought I heard a little giggle escape from her as I left the kitchen.

I went upstairs to change into a pair swimming trunks and a tropical themed t-shirt and headed back downstairs. I had hoped I could get a quick swim in, but dinner was finished and the two girls were side by side talking in whispers. I'm sure it was something they did not want me to hear because they kept looking to see where I was and if I had gotten close enough to hear. When I did, as I went to get a glass of lemonade and ice they fell silent.

We ate, with talk centering around Gabby's need to find another ride back to the University. Jennifer said she knew someone from the other side of Illinois that had

to pass through this way and said she'd give him a call after dinner. Other than that Gabby, while upset that Jennifer would not be there to hang out with, was happy that she had a safe place to stay.

"Mr. Meeker, I just want you to know how thankful I am that you took me in. I'll start looking for a job Monday to help with the bills until I can afford an apartment on my own," she explained, "because I need to live somewhere for a year other than under my parents care to apply for financial aid on my own. So I'll need to take a year off. I simply can not afford it on my own." She was looking at her food, but no longer eating.

I could see she was holding back more tears. "Jennifer, don't worry, we are in no rush here. We'll make ends meet for the time being, you just get your head back on your shoulders and go from there."

Gabby smiled and mouthed, "thank you."

The week passed rather quickly. Jennifer and Gabby seemed closer than before and talked, sometimes deep into the night. Soon, Friday morning arrived. Just before eight as we were finishing our breakfast there was a knock on the front door. I walked to it and opened it apprehensively. There before me stood a tall, slim, neatly attired young black man. "Hello, you must be Trey," as I offered my hand to him in greeting.

He smiled, took it and gave it a strong manly shake, "Yes, sir. They call me that, but my real name is Terrance Williams."

His smile was warm and genuine, and for some reason all of the apprehension I had built inside me during the week, of a stranger taking my daughter to college, evaporated. "Come, Come in. They are upstairs bringing the last of Gabby's bags down. So I hear you are a senior finishing up your architectural engineering degree?"

"Yes Sir, I have been enamored with building things since I was a young child. I would beg my parents to take me into Chicago so I could see the different eras, figures, an adornments on the edifices of the buildings. It was my equivalent of Disneyland."

"Nice. You are a lucky young man."

"How so sir?"

"To have found what you love, and to end up doing it for a living."

"Ah, yes, but I have not obtained employ . . . "

I turned to see what what had stopped him in mid sentence. It was Gabby. She was emanating beauty from every pore. Her light Auburn hair floated as she bounced gracefully down the stairs. She was wearing a light, flowered summer dress that ended just below her knees. She was simply radiant. She walked towards us and extended her hand to Terrence.

He hesitated then took her hand and brought it slowly up to his lips and kissed it lightly. "My," he said with a tinge of awe, "You, you are simply so much more beautiful than Jennifer could ever have explained," he stopped and looked towards me, "I am sorry Sir if I have said too much."

"No, you are fine. Just take care of my little girl."

He answered with a determined look in his eyes, and stood straight before saying, "I will Sir."

They left shortly thereafter. I was certain beyond reason that he would do as he had said.

***************************

The next month went well with the two of us settling into a rhythm around the house. Jennifer had found a receptionist's job for a small accounting firm. I had gotten a small raise from the insurance company I had worked for, these last twenty two years. I would have left sometime ago, perhaps before Gabby's Mother had left, if it had not been for the benefits, the yearly bonuses, and the fact that I was out of there at five everyday and home by 5:30. It was my life, dull and boring as it was. Jennifer though was a ray of sunshine for this plant who had been in the shadows for years.

We often talked, but I never inquired or made her feel that she needed to tell me what happened to get her expelled, and kicked from her parents home. Gabby and I either talked on the phone, or via Skype nearly every day. When we didn't, or couldn't, I got texts. She was happy and I felt from the looks on her face when we Skyped, that I knew there was someone she had fallen for.

Two weeks before Gabby's planned visit for thanksgiving break, Jennifer came through the door with her mascara smeared across her face. It was apparent she had been crying on her way home from work.

She came to me and cuddled in next to me on the couch, something she had been doing of late when we watched movies, but I thought nothing of it other than fatherly need on her part. She wrapped her arms around me and cried into my chest. I tried to turn to adjust my hold, but she clung ever tighter to my side. I slowly began to stroke her hair in a calming manner, but she adjusted her hold and her left elbow made contact with my penis. I tried to pay no attention, but her sobs caused her body to jostle her arm and it began to massage my rapidly growing penis. I tried to sit up and adjust her at the same time.

"Please don't," she begged. I need someone to hold me. I NEED someone to care." she said as she looked up making eye contact.

I tried to look away, to avoid what thoughts were growing in me, "I do care Jen, I care more than you know."