Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Nina

   Chapter 9

   We awoke on the morning of the First Annual Dan 'n' Nina Barbecue Blast.
I dressed immediately and went out to check on the smoker.  Temperature was
exactly as I'd set.  The same technology that monitors huge furnaces was
monitoring my little box smoker, cooking meat.  I opened the door, couldn't
resist an exploratory poke with a finger, and grabbed the chip tray.  I
dumped the expended wood chips and replaced them with new ones and returned
it to its position.  I noted the controller sensing the low temperature of
the chip tray and kicking in the heat to generator smoke.

   I walked back into the house and Nina was setting a bowl of cereal on
the table for each of us.  "Coffee's on, dearest!" she said.  "How's the
meat doing?"

   I gave her an exaggerated leer.

   She retorted with feigned outrage.  "Uh!  Don't be coarse!"

   "You started it!  But since I think I know what you really mean, those
briskets are doing just fine!  They're right on schedule.  And I just put
Jannie's chicken on."

   Nina giggled.  "Special treatment?"

   "You bet," I said.  "Jannie can make life miserable at work!"

   We ate our breakfast, sat out on the patio together, drinking coffee,
then I made another pass with a broom over the patio and did a police call
of the yard, watched carefully by Sam through the glass door.

   Nina and I set up folding tables to augment the patio table, and spread
plastic table covers and that was pretty much the sum of what we needed to
do, except wait.

   Wait?!?!?  With Nina?  Eighteen and eager?  Oh, well, another shower
before noon wasn't going to kill us...

   Noon!  Set out the bowls of crunchy snacks.  Haul out a couple of trash
cans to catch debris.  Invite the curious neighbor and his wife.  Make
excuses and plan something for the kids when Sandy gets here.

   Somebody had to be the first to arrive.  That was Harvey and his wife.
Harvey was pushing sixty, and had almost forty years with his wife and they
fit together, he being grey, balding and overweight, and his wife being
grey and plump and smiling Harvey introduced Nina to his wife Becky.  I
already knew her from previous socials, so I just shook her hand.

   "Well, Dan, you've done very well.  Married up, I see!" She smiled at
Nina.  "Harvey, go get your ribs.  Nina, I hope you're carnivorous.  These
guys DO like their barbecues."

   I accompanied Harvey to retrieve a big foil-covered tray.  Ribs!  I'd
never admit it in a group, but Harvey was the preparer of some fine ribs.
He was a beneficiary of my temperature controller design on his own smoker.

   The ribs went on a table, covered to keep their heat.  A few minutes
later, Dave and his wife Sherry, and then a steady stream, until the
complement was on board.  We started uncovering food and the feed was on.
And good.

   Conversation flowed well, lubricated just a teensy bit by the beer that
went missing at a wedding reception in a Baptist church's social hall.  The
summer heat wasn't too cloying and with this bunch, well, I knew everybody,
but that didn't matter.  There were no strangers.  Engineers being shy and
introspective?  Do a barbecue and add beer.  Those from outside the work
crew, my neighbors and Nina's grandmother and her (announced, now) fiancée,
they were dragged into the mix and enjoyed themselves

   The neighbors were the first to leave, amply supplied with plates to
feed their kids.  The rest of the gang hung around, nibbling, sipping and
talking and Dave dragged his guitar out and we played and sang a few songs,
talent enhanced and sensitivies dulled, no doubt, by ethanol.  Late in the
evening we shook hands with the last of the work bunch, leaving us with
Nina's grandma and her guy Ed.  It was nice having help securing the place.

   I was proud to see NOTHING left of my two briskets.  Okay, to be honest,
there wasn't any meat left.  We had a trashcan full of empty beer bottles.
No fights.  No injuries.  I count that as a success.  Next party, though,
we're gonna work on the music.  Dancing with Nina to the dulcet tones of
Dave's guitar left a bit to be desired.  Not Nina.  Dave.  Like his
barbecue, Dave's music was a whole lot of enthusiasm to make up for what
small shortage of skill that existed.  Still, there wasn't any of Dave's
sausage left, either.

   After the cursory clean-up, we retired to the living room and spent a
while doing the small talk thing.  One of the first topics was Helen's. 
"Dan, ya'll are getting your daughter this weekend, right?"

   Nina took that one.  "Yes, ma'am.  I'm looking forward to it.  You know
we talk a couple of times a week now."

   "I know," Helen said.  "Just step lightly, honey.  Little girls and
their daddies, you know, and divorces.  You never know how that is going to
play out."

   Nina patted my knee.  "Me an' Dan will be just fine, Grandma.  Really.
And Sandy will fit right in with us.  It'll be interesting.  And fun!"

   Ed smiled.  "Well, then that means the THREE of you will be at our
wedding.  We're getting married in a month."

   Squeal!  Nina was kissing her grandmother and I was shaking Ed's hand.
We checked the date against our calendar on Nina's cellphone and made sure
that we'd be set up for attending.  I wasn't going to miss that wedding.

   "Nina," I said.  "We need to make sure that Sandy has a dress for the
wedding!  We need to tell her mom."

   Nina smiled.  "Or me an' Grandma can take 'er to the mall and buy one!"

   I grinned.  "That might just be a better idea!"

   Ed chuckled.  "Like you need to give women a reason to shop!"

   We laughed at that, but truthfully, Nina and I seldom went shopping.  It
usually happened when she or I determined a need.  For purely recreational
purposes, we had a wide spectrum of activities we choose from.

   One of them was apparently advanced cat petting as Sam ambled into the
living room and hopped up between me and Nina.  Her strokes started him
purring.

   That changed the conversation to pets and cats versus dogs, and then ten
o'clock was here and Helen and Ed left.  We stood outside the door until
their tail-lights disappeared around the corner.

   Once back inside, Nina locked the door behind her and backed against it.
I trapped her there for a kiss, a kiss that was returned with a sigh.

   "Okay, babe," she said.  "The First Annual Dan 'n' Nina Barbecue Blast.
Success?"

   I kissed her perfect nose.  "Success.  Maybe next year, more music
though."

   Giggle.  "You surprised me when you pulled me out there to dance,
honey!" She smiled.

   "No quite as surprised as I was that you danced so well," I countered.

   She pushed her face against my chest and bit me lightly.  "Thank Grandma
for that.  She said that a young lady would be well served, her words, if
she could waltz."

   "Remind me to thank your grandma again, my sweetness," I said.

   "Honey," she retorted, "I love you to pieces, but YOU smell like smoked
meat and sweat.  I need to put your butt in the shower." And she smiled
sweetly.  "And just on the outside chance that you may need help, I will
join you." And she tiptoed to kiss me on MY nose.  Bedtime was particularly
satisfying afterward.

   Sunday morning after breakfast we finished up the post-party cleanup
then loaded up the kayaks and drove to a favorite stream for a bit of
recreational exercise.  One of the exercises involved pulling two kayaks up
on the bank while the occupants disappeared into the woods.  And came back
out smiling and adjusting their swimsuits.

   The exercise did us good, and a light dinner went a little way toward
balancing caloric intake from the big pig-out the day before.

   And then it was Monday.  Amid good-natured ribbing (about barbecue! 
Hah!) we talked about the party.

   Dave said, "You know, I must be getting' old.  I got home before sunrise
Sunday and I remember everything I did."

   "Yeah," I said.  "We're all responsible and everything."

   "Says the guy who married an eighteen year old..." he laughed.

   I leaned back in my chair, laced my fingers behind my head, and smiled.
"Yep!  VERY respectable."

   Harvey laughed.  "Dan, Dan, Dan ...  You gotta quit smiling like
that..."

   We floated through the week, facing Saturday plans to drive two hundred
miles to meet the ex-wife halfway and retrieve Sandy for her summer stay
with me.  I came in from work on Wednesday to find Nina in Sandy's room,
cleaning, dusting, setting things right.  A bowl of potpourri was on the
dresser.  I noted it, and she giggled.

   "Just makin' an effort, sweetie," she smiled.  "I really want this to
work for us.  But Sandy's almost eleven.  Some of this stuff is just a
little too, uh, LITTLE girly, I think."

   I stroked my chin.  "Maybe so.  I'm mostly clueless about what little
girls want.  Last summer was almost a disaster.  I took two weeks' vacation
and basically did everything she could think of."

   "We'll do better this time, guy," she said.  "I think I can make things
easier for all of us."

   "I hope so, sweetie," I said.

   Friday we made sure that we did the grocery shopping, adding a few
snacks and items that I remembered as Sandy's preferences.

   Saturday morning we were on the road early, having arranged a rendezvous
for one o'clock at a MacDonalds just off the interstate, a little on her
side of halfway.  I knew the drill.  I'd done it before several times in
the past four years.  I hated the procedure, especially the return trip. 
Equally hurting too was the fact that I could look at Sandy and see so much
of the ex in her.  It took everything sometimes to convince myself that
Sandy was just the happy outcome of an unsuccessful phase of my life.

   Nina and I'd had the discussion at length.  Nina is my love, my soul,
and I wanted her to know everything in my life.  That included the triumphs
and tragedies, including my failed marriage, having that discussion with a
head of dark brown hair laying on my shoulder, arms wrapped around me. 
Catharsis comes in many forms and I had to find it with Nina.  It wasn't
easy, but with Nina, I couldn't imagine it being any easier.

   So on this summer Saturday morning, we were tooling down the road
listening to Haydn concertos and talking.  Two hundred miles passed easily
as time always seems to do with me and Nina on the road.  Ever the
pessimist, I made sure we had plenty of room for traffic problems, so we
were at the location with plenty of time to spare.  We ate up the excess by
taking a little loop through the countryside.

   We were in the parking lot ten minutes before the appointed time. 
Jennifer and her husband showed up in a Cadillac.  That was always the
case. He was, at his best, a used car dealer, and every time they showed
up, he was in what he thought was the part of his inventory most likely to
impress.  The dealer plates gave it away.  Sandy was waving happily as they
passed us in the parking lot.

   Nina and I got out of our car.

   "Daddydaddydaddy!" A squeal and a leap and I gathered two arms full of
ten year old energy in a t-shirt and shorts.

   "I MISS you!" Sandy said, kissing me on the cheek.

   "I miss you too, punkin'," I said.  "I think you're growing too fast!"

   "Not too fast, Daddy!" Her eyes shifted.  "Are you Nina?"

   Nina smiled.  "Hi, Sandy!" I think that Nina was uncharacteristically
nervous.

   Sandy fixed that.  Another squeal and a bounce and she was wrapped
around Nina like a long-lost friend.  "You're pretty!"

   I looked past that scene, one that was producing happiness, to see my
ex-wife Jennifer and her husband Harry.  Harry had two suitcases and
Jennifer had a cardboard box, headed our way.

   "Hi, Jenn, Harry," I said.  I opened the hatch on my SUV to accept
Sandy's baggage.  When Harry freed his hands, I extended mine to shake.  I
always thought he was a smarmy bastard, as evidenced by his handshake, like
he'd gone to "shake hands like a REAL man" class, and needed remedial
training.

   "Hey, bud," Harry said, putting on his "Have I got a deal for you"
smile.

   "Anything else she needs to bring?" I asked.  I didn't like the bastard
when he was in high school with me and Jennifer, and I wasn't going to
start now.  Civil.  That's all, the best I could work up.

   Jenn said, "No, that's about it, Dan.  She's been excited for a week
now. I hope you and Nina live up to her expectations."

   By this time Nina was at my side, Sandy next to her.  Nina was half a
head taller than Jennifer, and in the last year or two, Jennifer had taken
on a decided bell shape.  This trip her hair was mostly blonde, teased, and
nailed into place solidly.  I'm glad I didn't have to deal with that.  I
rebelled against hairspray while we were married, and I guess ol' Harry was
impervious to it.  When she turned her head, her hair didn't move.

   I introduced Nina formally.  "Jennifer, this is my wife, Nina.  Nina,
this is Jennifer, Sandy's mom."

   "Hello, Mizz Jennifer," Nina said.  "Sandy's dressed really cute!" If
you can't say something nice, don't say anything.  Jennifer wasn't smiling.

   "Hello, Nina," Jennifer said.  "My friends' description didn't do you
justice.  Dan, she's quite striking."

   "Thank you, Mizz Jennifer," Nina said.

   "Oh, Nina, please drop the 'Mizz" thing." Her face finally broke the
beginnings of the smile that I once found so charming.  "Sandy's been going
on about you.  She likes talking to you."

   Nina looked down at Sandy, who was grinning.  "Thank you, Sandy.  I
enjoy talking to you, too.  I never had a little sister, you know..."

   "Come on, gang," I said.  "We have four hours of driving to do." I
turned back to Jenn and Harry.  "We're going to be at the beach starting
Monday, for a week." I noticed Sandy tugging Nina closer to me.  She
succeeded.  We made one of those modern 'blended' family units.  "Sandy'll
call you often.  Or you can call her."

   Harry spoke up.  "You folks have a good time."

   Sandy made a quick bolt to give her mom a kiss.  "'Bye, Mom!  Love ya!"
She gave Harry a cursory hug, and bounce-skipped back to between me and
Nina.  And waved.

   We mounted up.  Nina was starting to get in the back seat and Sandy
stopped her.  "Nuh-uh, Nina!  You're Daddy's wife.  You're s'posed ta sit
by 'im."

   Nina smiled.  "You sure, sweetie?  I can ride in the back seat so you
can sit by your dad."

   "Nope.  That's okay!" A whole five feet of ten-year old blonde girlchild
got in the back seat and buckled herself in.  We pulled out of the parking
lot and onto the road home.  Once on the highway, I allowed Sandy to
unbuckle her seatbelt so she could hover between Nina and me.  Sandy's blue
eyes were mine, as was the blondish hair.  And listening to her talk, I
wanted to take credit for the intelligence, too.  She and Nina chatted
along.

   "Does Dad still listen to the GOOD music, Nina?"

   "You mean like this?" Nina punched the power button on the stereo and
restarted the Haydn concerto CD.

   "Uh-huh!  Mom calls that 'your dad's music' but I like it.  I've been
trying to get Mom to let me take piano lessons, but she wants me to do
softball instead."

   "I wish I'd taken a musical instrument," Nina answered.  "It just never
got off the ground when I was living with my Mom.  And when I moved in with
Grandma, I was almost sixteen, and I thought I was too old to start."

   "That's why I want to start now.  I got this friend at school an' she's
been doin' it since she was eight." Sandy was smiling.  She leaned over a
bit further and kissed me on the shoulder.  "I've been waitin' for this for
so long, Dad.  An' since you married Nina..." her hand stroked Nina's
short, dark pageboy.  "I like your hair, Nina.  Dad, can I get mine cut
like Nina's?"

   'Oh, here we go, ' I thought.  I wasn't going to make move like that
without her mom's approval.  "Baby," I said to Sandy, "You'll have to ask
your mom."

   "'Kay," Sandy said matter of factly.  "Can I use your phone?"

   "Okay," I answered, passing her my cellphone.  "But if she says no,
don't start fussing."

   "I won't," Sandy smiled.  She sat back in the seat and dialed.  I looked
at Nina, who was smiling.  She winked at me.

   "Hi, Mom!" Sandy said.  "I wanna get my hair cut for the summer!" Pause.
"Like Nina's." Pause.  "Nooooo, Mommmm.  It's MY idea!  Nobody said
nothin'!" Pause.  "Just a second..." My trepidation was validated when she
passed me the phone.

   "Hi, Jenn," I said.

   "So it starts already, huh, Dan!" Jenn was that way about Sandy because
she could get away with jerking my chain.  It was one of her small
'control' pleasures.

   I sighed audibly.  "Jenn, nothing's starting.  Sandy said she liked
Nina's short haircut and wanted to get hers cut like that.  I told her that
she needed your permission.  You know how I feel about that." She knew
exactly how I felt.  Jenn was one of those moms who wanted their daughters
to be little extensions of their doll-play years.  I wanted my little girl
to be able to play and live without the tedium of caring for masses of long
hair messed up by swinging upside down from a swing set or a tree branch.

   "Her hair's just getting long enough so I can do things with it, Dan."

   "And I'm going to take a ten year old girl to the beach, in salt water
and sailing and kayaking and she's not going to have time to work on long
hair.  It makes sense to me to cut it.  And SHE asked.  I think we oughtta
do it."

   Jenn's breath was a hiss.  I could picture the face.  "Okay, Dan.  She's
with you, and I'm not going to fight with you about it."

   "So that's a yes, then?" I asked.

   "Yes.  Let me talk to her."

   "Okay, Jenn.  Thanks." I passed the phone back to my daughter.

   "Thanks, Mom!" Sandy squealed.  "Yeah, I know ...  but Nina's hair is so
NEAT!  It's soft an' pretty!"

   I was adding "and doesn't look like Satan's Brillo pad" but I kept my
thoughts to myself.  I glanced at Nina.  She was smiling through a little
bit of 'smug'.

   "Okay, Mom!  Love ya!  Bye!" and Sandy handed me back my phone.

   My daughter was grinning.  "So can we get me cut today?  Before we go to
the beach?"

   "We can see if they can take you at where I go at the mall, Sandy!  I'm
sure we can!"

   Squeal!  "The mall?  That's great!"

   I resigned myself to the mall.  Solved one problem, though.  Dinner at
the Food Court.

   "Then we'll hit the mall when we get back to town," I said.  "Sandy,
your mom wasn't jumping for joy, though..."

   "I know," Sandy said.  "She's always wanting me to do stuff to my hair,
and I want it to be pretty and all that, but she makes such a production.
And I hate hairspray."

   She touched Nina's hair again.  Nina smiled.  "Your dad says he likes my
hair just like it is, Sandy."

   So there was step one on a journey that I didn't even recognize as a
journey yet.

   The rest of the trip home was all about kayaking and sailing and
bicycling and music and I remember what it was like talking with a
precocious ten year old with a quick mind, but I had recent practice with
an intelligent eighteen year old, and it was some amount of preparation. 
Besides, Sandy was just as happy talking to Nina as she was to me.  This
was shaping up nicely.

   We pulled into the mall parking lot at dusk on a summer Saturday.  I
expected to find the place packed, and I wasn't disappointed.  We were
pleasantly surprised that the hair salon was able to work Sandy in as a
walk-in as soon as we arrived.  Half an hour later we were seated at a
table in the food court, each with our own idea of a meal, and Sandy was a
blonde, abbreviated image of Nina, bangs and all.

   "Dad, what'd'ya think?" Sandy shook her head.

   "Perfect, little girl," I said.  "Nina?"

   Nina shook her own head and smiled.  "See, Sandy?  It just goes back
where it's supposed to go!"

   "I like it," Sandy said.  She and Nina stuffed down a pair of hamburgers
and I did a dose of mediocre Chinese: meat of indeterminate origin in brown
sauce.  We went to the car and went home.

   Nina and Sandy unloaded the suitcases and between the two of them they
did an inventory while I took care of some laundry.  I was just coming up
the hall when they popped out of Sandy's room.

   "Dad, Nina and I think we need a few things for our trip." Sandy's grin
was reinforced when she turned to Nina and Nina was nodding.

   Nina said, "She needs another bathing suit.  This one is okay, but it's
getting small.  And another couple of shorts and shirt outfits.  And
another pair of shoes.  And some flip-flops for the beach.  We can go get
all that tomorrow."

   The junior set of blue eyes asked, "Dad!  Cook us something tomorrow.  I
miss your cooking.  Really."

   "What do you have in mind, sweetie?" I asked.

   "Oh, some of that stuff like YOUR mom used to cook.  You know."

   "Gotcha, punkin," I said.  "Nina, you think you and Sandy can do the
mall tomorrow while I cook?"

   "Not a problem," Nina said.

   Shower time.  I wasn't going to shower with Nina tonight.  I mean, we
were going to do that.  After all, we were married, but this was Sandy's
first night in the house in months, and I just thought that either Nina or
I ought to be there with her.  Sandy was the first in the shower, then
Nina, and Nina took care of drying Sandy's hair along with her own.  Then
it was my turn.

   When I came out of the bathroom, the two of them were sitting
cross-legged in the middle of the living room floor playing cards.

   "Three-handed rummy, now, sweetie," Nina said.  And we did.  Had fun.  I
think they conspired against me, because I came in last.  And they were
giggling and exchanging glances the whole time.  We finished the game of
rummy and it was a little late to start another, so we all sat on the sofa
to see what was on TV.  I had my feet propped up and had my young, happy
wife on one side and my happy daughter on the other, and life was good.

   An hour of TV and we'd watched whales migrate and talked about why we
never saw whales in the Gulf of Mexico, but I promised we'd see a lot of
dolphins while we were out on the water in the upcoming week.

   Bedtime.  Nina and I tucked Sandy into her bed and each kissed her on
the cheek and then we retired to our own bed.

   Nina giggled and whispered, "This is the most clothes you've worn to bed
since you and I ...  you know, the first time..."

   "I know," I said, "and you ...  sexy in your panties and nightshirt..."
Our lips met.  "Mmmmmm," I moaned.  My hands slid underneath that silly
cotton nightshirt.

   "Mmmmmm, yourself, guy!" She rolled me onto my back and lay on top of
me. She crossed her arms and rested her chin on them.  "So, did we do okay
today, babe?"

   "Perfect, I think.  You and Sandy, you seem to connect pretty good." I
kissed her forehead.

   "She's a neat kid, Dan.  And she's more than half YOU."

   "More than half?" I asked.

   "Yeah.  I see YOU in her smile, the eyes, her attitude, her mannerisms."
Nina smiled at me.

   "Uh-huh.  And you ...  That whole, 'I want my hair like Nina's' thing. I
thought Jenn was going to go ballistic, but she backed off.  And Sandy just
seems to attach herself to you."

   "Yeah," Nina said.  "That was sweet.  Maybe she just wants a big sister
sort of thing..." I got another kiss as she slid up on me to put our faces
together.  "And we've talked.  About me and you being married."

   "Uh-huh, you told me about some of that." I said.

   "I told her that you and I became an 'us', and that you and her were
already an 'us', so now there's three of 'us'.  She said that made her
happy, thinking about her dad being happy."

   "Her dad is very happy, Nina.  Very." My hands explored and savored the
feel of her butt through her panties.

   "Pull 'em off," she whispered.  "I want you."

   "I want you, too," I said, sliding her panties down, feeling her kick
them off.  Her hands started sliding my shorts down.  I was erect.

   "We can be quiet, baby," she said, her lips landing on my face.

   "Why would we want to be quiet, sweetness?"

   Giggle.  "Don't want to wake your daughter.  Uh ...  OUR daughter." She
slid down, her head disappearing under the covers.  What happened next was
happily familiar yet never ceased to take my breath away.  She purred.  I
felt it like it registered on the Richter scale.

   That brown head popped back up, smiling and I kissed her like we were
exchanging souls.  Her back arched and I found myself entering her to the
sounds of her purrs punctuated by little giggles.

   "Just a little bit, baby," she whispered.  "I would like to be eaten, if
you don't mind." Giggle.

   "I would love to, sweetness," I groaned as her pelvis writhed, moving me
in and out of her.  She pulled away from me and twirled around to put us in
a sweet sixty-nine.  In a few delicious minutes I had her softly whimpering
through an orgasm.  When she recovered her composure, she treated me to
one, her sassy head bobbing in my lap, giggling as my muscles lost control.

   After I was drained, she cuddled into my side and we drifted into sleep
together.

   Her gentle kisses woke me the next morning.  My eyes focused to see her
face.  "Babe," she said, "We need to feed Sandy."

   We got up and got dressed and Nina gently pushed open Sandy's door.  My
little blonde child was laying half on her stomach, her butt pushed up at
an improbable angle.

   "Sandy," Nina said, just above a whisper.  "Let's go get breakfast."

   Sandy twisted and sat up, rubbing her eyes.  She saw Nina and me and
smiled.  "Oh, yeah.  I'm here!  Good morning!"

   I let Nina deal with Sandy's wardrobe selection and was rewarded with
seeing the two females I loved most in the world presenting themselves in
shorts and cotton blouses and athletic shoes.  No, the colors weren't
identical, but they definitely belonged together.  We loaded up in my SUV
and headed off to a little restaurant that I knew would do a good job on
our breakfast.

   "Whose car is that?" Sandy asked, looking at Nina's little Honda.

   "That's mine," Nina said.  "My grandma bought it for me when I lived
with her.  Before I met your dad."

   "Oh, that's neat!  It's really yours?  No dealer plates?" Sandy said. 
"Can we use it to go to the mall today?"

   "Sure," Nina said.

   We arrived at the little restaurant and I watched Sandy demolish a stack
of pancakes as I and Nina ate omelets and drank coffee.

   Returning to the house, I started packing for the upcoming week.  Nina
worked on her own preparation and we both pitched in to help Sandy.  I
spent a bit of time in the kitchen, too, but we did sandwiches for lunch.

   Nina sidled up to me in the kitchen.  "You don't mind us going shopping
without you, do you?"

   "Nope!  I think Sandy wants this to be just you two." I smiled.  "I
think that's wonderful!  Get what she needs."

   Nina smiled.

   "And if you see something you like for yourself, get that too." I
smiled. A month into marriage, Nina hadn't shown herself to be extravagant.
She had our credit cards now, but we worked on the household finances
together, too, and talked about how things worked when it was just me, and
how it ought to be with the new 'us'.

   Sandy walked into the kitchen, looking to see what I was doing.

   "Working on a special dinner for my special girl," I said.

   She tossed an arm around my waist and squeezed me.  "I like being
special to you, Dad!  Me an' Nina are going shopping." Her cool blue eyes
met mine.  She smiled.  "We're bonding."

   "What do you know about bonding, little girl?" I asked, laughing.

   "'S when you strengthen a relationship," she said.  "Right?"

   "Right," I admitted.

   "See!" she said.  "You don't want me bein' dumb.  And me an' Nina are
bonding." She swung her hip to bump Nina who was standing there amused by
the exchange.  "Right, Nina?"

   "You betcha, Sandy.  Let's go to the mall!"

   Squeal!  And off they went.

   By the time they got back, I'd already put two kayaks on top of our SUV,
one single and one two-holer, and I'd loaded up my own bags.  I was sitting
on the sofa watching TV in between visits to the kitchen to tend the pots
when the door opened and the pair bounced in carrying a rainbow of plastic
bags.

   "Wait'll you see what we got, Dad!" Sandy chirped.

   Nina stopped long enough to bend over and kiss me.  "We didn't go
overboard, but wait'll you see HER idea!  We'll be back."

   "We're modeling, Dad," I heard from up the hall.

   Nina disappeared and in five minutes they both returned, looking like
bookends, matching shorts and t-shirts and shoes.

   "Oh, that's nice," I said.

   "My idea, Daddy," Sandy said.  "But Nina thought it was neat."

   "I did, baby.  And look!" she held up another matching T-shirt.  "We got
one for you, too."

   Sandy bounced up on my lap, hugging me.  So everybody can see we're a
family."

   "Yes we are, darlin'," I said.  Nina smiled, adding to the hug.  "Yes we
are."

   The pair showed off a few more outfits, including a couple of bathing
suits each, one conservative one-piece, one bikini.  I'd seen Nina in a
bikini on our kayaking forays.  It was a pleasant sight.  Seeing my ten
year old (Almost ELEVEN, Dad!) daughter in one...

   Apparently God designed dads with parts made to be torn off, because I
was torn.  Five feet tall, sassy blonde, blue-eyed, she was a cutie.  I
knew that I'd have to kill a few young men in the coming years.  No, no
breasts yet, and curves were strictly straight pre-teen variety, but the
foundation was there.

   I swallowed.  Nina caught the expression on my face.  "We'll be careful
where we wear these, Dan."

   "Uh-huh," I said.  "Wear 'em near where I have a gun."

   "Da-aadddd!" Sandy whined.  "Everybody wears these."

   "Yeah," Nina giggled.  "Everybody!"

   I sighed.  Such is the lot of the man who has daughters.

   Nina said, "We saw Mizz Jannie at the mall, too, babe!  We talked a
little bit.  She said Sandy has grown."

   "You have, punkin," I said.

   The fashion show completed, they packed their bags for the vacation.

   Dinner was a success, at least according to Sandy.  "Mom never cooks
like this any more," she said.

   I remembered Jennifer as being an adequate, if somewhat unadventurous
cook, but she was always ready to let me take over the kitchen.  Sandy told
us about fast food and boxed meals and quick prep foods that seemed to be
staples of life with her mom.  A day into my daughter's visit, I was
beginning to see a pattern developing.

   After dinner, Nina told Sandy, "Since your dad cooked, it's our job to
clean up."

   "'Kay," Sandy said, and the pair made short work of turning the kitchen
pristine while I got my shower out of the way.  Sandy was waiting at the
door when I walked out.

   "Mmmm, you smell good, Dad!" she smiled.  The door closed and I heard
the water running.

   "So everything's still going okay, babe?" I asked Nina.

   Nina's eyes laughed.  "She's a hoot, Dan.  I mean it.  I'm glad she's a
sweetie, because with that mind, she could be a holy terror."

   "Like somebody else I know," I laughed.

   Nina poked me in the ribs.  "Uh-huh," she giggled.  "I know a guy like
that!" She straddled me on the sofa and we lavished kisses on one another.

   "Plus," Nina stated, "I'm finding out stuff."

   "What kind of stuff?" I questioned.

   "Like, her mom and step-dad fight quite a bit.  She asked if you and I
ever fight.  I told her that we haven't yet, that we talk about things
instead of fighting."

   "Oh, yeah?" I said.  "Her mom was famous for getting crossways over
something and storing it for an opportune moment."

   Nina continued.  "And her mom has to go to the doctor a lot, too.  Sandy
doesn't know what she's going for."

   "Oh," I said.  "Jenn hasn't said anything to me.  I don't know how to
ask, either, without jeopardizing Sandy's confiding in you."
   We heard the shower stop.  Nina said, "My turn."