The DLG Club Ch. 04

If you haven't read chapters 1-3 yet, please go back and do that now. This is the continuation of a very narrative and character-driven story.

DLG

Chapter 4

Eve awakens to the smell of coffee and bacon. As her mind swims back to reality, she remembers the night before. She opens her bedside table drawer and takes out her toy, looking at it appreciatively. She smiles a little and places it back, shutting the drawer.

She picks up the black bag and realizes there's something else in there. Puzzled, she dumps it out on her bed. A small, silver butt plug with a light-blue heart-shaped gem on the base stares back at her.

She picks it up and examines it closely, wondering who put it in her bag. A knock on her door causes her to jump. She quickly stashes the plug under the blankets.

"Come in!" Eve says sweetly.

The door opens, and her Daddy walks in.

"Hey, Daddy, good morning."

"Good morning," Randall says. "I..." He pauses, not sure how to continue. "Becky stayed the night last night," He deflects. "She's making breakfast."

Eve giggles. "Yeah, I think the Coopers next door also know that Becky spent the night last night. Geez, Dad. Loud much?"

"Yeah, well..." Randall says a little bashfully. "Becky and I had a talk last night. She told me about the club. It sounds like you all had fun last night?"

Eve is not sure which "fun" he's referring to, the meeting at the store, or playing with her toys afterwards but she agrees -- they all definitely had fun.

"Good," he says. "I, uh, I want you to know that Becky was very impressed by you. She made a very strong case for allowing this club to meet here."

When his tone drops from matter-of-fact to regretful, Eve's original optimism starts to plummet.

"Daddy, please? We need a safe space to--"

"I agreed."

"--meet..." Eve's heart leaps into her throat. "Wait... you... you agreed?!!"

"Gotcha," he says with a smirk.

Eve jumps out of bed and into her Daddy's arms, kissing him all over.

"Thank you! Thank you, Daddy!"

"With one caveat," he says, holding her and laughing at the affectionate display.

"Anything!" Eve delightedly promises.

"You, little lady, will need to earn this privilege through yard work," Randall states. "And I don't mean some half-assed mowing, I want the sidewalk edged, the curb cleaned up, the hedges trimmed, all of it."

Eve lets go and slips down his front, "Seriously?"

"Seriously, or you can forget the whole thing."

Eve sighs, "Fine. Deal."

"Oh, and wash my car too, it's covered in pollen," he adds, smiling a bit devilishly.

"Yessir," Eve glumly responds. "Anything else, sir?"

The switch to "sir" isn't lost on Randall, and he chuckles. "Yeah. I want you to understand this is temporary for now. If at any time I find this club has become a liability, I am revoking this privilege."

Eve looks at him, surprised and a little hurt at first, but realizes he's just being a protective father.

"Yeah, okay, Daddy."

Satisfied at being promoted back to "Daddy" status, Randall turns to leave, saying, "Come on downstairs. Kaylee and Bex have made a great breakfast."

Eve quietly closes the door behind him. She strips out of her pajamas and finds her yard work clothes. As she dresses, she finds that while part of her wants to be annoyed about the chores, she's mostly just relieved. Thanks to Becky, her Daddy is giving them another chance. She'll prove to him and Becky that she can handle this additional responsibility. Even if doing chores to earn something does feel a little juvenile, it could be worse; they could be a punishment, and THAT would definitely make her feel like a little kid again.

As she ties the laces of one soiled sneaker, it occurs to her that this affects all the girls. Maybe they'd be willing to pitch in and help, after all, they're supposed to be in this together, right? She picks up her phone and begins texting the group.

****Later that morning****

Eve smirks with grim satisfaction as the loppers cut through the thick stem of a pokeberry weed. "Timber!" she thinks as the weed falls over. She relishes the purple "blood" that leaks from the ruptured berries. She and her sisters are outside doing the yardwork. It is late morning, and the day is just starting to get good and hot. The humidity gives the impression that thunderstorms could be forming later this afternoon. The birds are chirping for now, but once the temperature rises, even they will be silent, conserving energy and relaxing in the shade.

Eve's plan is to get the more miserable yard work out of the way first, while it's still relatively cool, saving the car washing for later when the heat is oppressive. This way, they can change into their swimsuits and cool off, and have fun spraying each other with the hose while they wash their Daddy's car. Right now, her t-shirt is sticking to her, and sweat is running into her eyes.

"I can't believe Dad is making us do this," Daye complains while sitting in the shade of a tree. "Like, didn't Becky convince him the club was a good thing?"

Kaylee is edging around the flowerbed with an electric trimmer and doesn't hear.

"Well, at least we can have the meeting here and uninterrupted again," Eve says. She stands and looks at Daye with a hand on her hip. "You know, the faster we get it done, the faster it'll be over."

"Yeah, for this week. Then we have to do it all over again. It's not fair," she whines.

"The others will be here soon," Eve reassures her, "so why not just get back to work and we can get it knocked out?"

Daye sighs, stands, and prepares to start the lawnmower again, mumbling, "I still say it's not fair."

Eve shakes her head as the mower roars to life and Daye continues her trip around the yard. Eve checks her phone and wonders what's taking the others so long.

Suddenly, hands squeeze her just below the ribs.

"Gotcha!" Lily yells.

"AH!!!", Eve squeals, startled, but laughing.

Eve spins to confront her attacker. "Hey! I didn't think you were coming!" She gives Lily a light hug, trying not to get her wet with sweat.

"Meh... I got my shift covered. I figured, what the hell, right?"

"Right! Wow, thanks, Lily. You didn't have to do that," Eve says.

"Well, I figured, your Dad isn't beating my door down YET, so I figure any chance to see him is a good one." Lily smiles mischievously, "I also wanted to see if you got my little surprise."

At first Eve is puzzled, then she remembers the butt plug, "Oh... haha... yeah. I didn't notice it until this morning. Thanks."

"You didn't like it?" Lily seems genuinely hurt.

"No! It's not that... I just... you know... haven't gotten a chance to try it out yet, you know?" Eve glances around furtively, "But I did try the other one you pointed out." She shows Lily her hands open, palms out, "Ten out of ten, would definitely recommend!" and giggles.

"I bet!" Lily says, "We get great reviews on that one all the time."

"So, um, if you want to, you can take those shears and help me with pruning," Eve suggests. "If you need gloves, I'll go get you some."

"Hey, hey, hey!!" Shelby calls from across the yard. Kaylee stops edging long enough to hug her and Chelsea on their way past her.

Now that more of the girls are here, the work goes much faster. Eve directs the broader focus of the project while Daye and Kaylee help with managing the smaller groups and tasks. By the time the sun has reached its apex and the heat is at its most unrelenting, the yard work is done.

"Ugh... I think I wanna puke," Daye says.

"No shit," Li'l Bit echoes.

It looks so good though!" Kaylee says.

"Show hot... show shweaty," Chelsea adds.

Eve and Shelby nod in agreement. The air is heavy. The sky is a steel blue, and the brutally hot sun is beating down on them, making Eve feel like an ant, and someone above has a giant magnifying glass.

"You know what time it is?" Eve says, sweat running down her cheek.

"Miller time?" Shelby asks, trying to smile.

"Swimsuit time."

The girls' eyes light up. "Yesssssshhhhh!" Chelsea whispers.

As if being somehow recharged, the girls hop up and strip off their dirty, grey-brown and green-stained yard work clothes, revealing their skimpy, multicolored swimwear.

Just as they are trotting down the driveway with a bucket and sponges, Amy's mom pulls up, and Amy and Mila get out of the pollen-covered car.

"Geez," Eve thinks, seeing the oak tags and yellow-green powder coating Amy's Mom's car, "it looks even worse than Daddy's."

Amy and Mila see the rest of the girls already in their swimsuits and immediately begin removing their own outerwear.

"Okay, girls! I'll be back in a little while." Amy's mom smiles and waves. "Have fun... unless..." She pauses, considering. "Hey, you know what? My car is filthy," she digs through her purse for a second. "I'll give you girls thirty bucks if you'll wash my car. I mean you're already set up for it. Will thirty dollars be enough to get a couple of pizzas later?"

"Sure, Mom. Thanks!" Amy says, not asking the others.

"Fine by me," Daye says, "I like pizza."

Suddenly, Eve feels as if she's been transported to somewhere above this entire situation, watching as it unfolds in slow motion. For weeks, she's had a major concern about the club: how to keep it afloat monetarily. She's spent almost all of her cosplay contest reward money already. What happens when they need more charms or chokers? The idea hits her like a truck... or a car in this instance. She sees the need -- pollen-covered cars in driveways up and down the block, she sees the appeal -- pretty girls in bikinis, she looks over and sees her dad peeking at them through the window, and sees the obvious market...

"What about a car wash fundraiser??!!" she thinks.

Eve's mind is suddenly running a mile a minute.

- Gus, the owner of the service station up the street would probably let us do it there, it would attract business for him, and we wouldn't bring any unwanted attention to Daddy

- We can charge $30 for cars, $40 for larger vehicles

- We can say that a portion of the proceeds goes to some charity -- we can decide which one later

- And DLG gets the rest!

A spray of cold water breaks her out of her trance.

"Did you hear me??" Daye asks, laughing.

"Huh?" Eve responds in a dreamy voice.

"I said, let's get to work, I'm hungry!" Daye reiterates and begins hosing down Ms. Davenport's car.

Eve smiles and trots over to the car. "You guys work on this one, and me and Lily and Kay will work on Daddy's," Eve says.

"Whatever works!" Daye says enthusiastically.

From inside, Randall watches with a mix of pride, love, and more than a little lust as the group of sexy, young girls work and play, frolic and spray each other, dancing and prancing as they wash the cars. Soap bubbles float around, and their giggles and squeals seem to fuel their antics. He has half a mind to sit in his car and enjoy the show, but decides that it might not go over very well with Amy's mom. He shakes his head and walks back to his small home office and gets back to work. When he reaches his desk, he finds an envelope resting on his laptop. One word is written on it in Daye's unmistakable scrawl. "Daddy", it says.

Meanwhile, Eve keeps thinking about her brief epiphany. Could a car wash really work? She's seen plenty of other organizations pull it off, so why not theirs? She just needs some credibility. Maybe if she had a sponsor. Who would sponsor a bikini car wash? What about that girl, Sabrina, she works at Shooterz? Maybe Shooterz could sponsor them... but, wouldn't they want their own girls to do it? No, that wouldn't work. Who else would sponsor a bikini car wash? When the answer comes to her, she almost smacks herself on the forehead with a soapy sponge.

"Hey Lils, can we swing by SunDaze sometime this week? I have a question for Kim."

"Sure, boss. Whatevs," Lily responds.

As they wash the car, Eve sidles up next to Lily and says, "Hey, um, this is sorta fun, right? Washing my Dad's car, I mean?"

"Sure, I guess. Sorta," Lily replies. "I'd rather be washing your Dad," she adds with a wink.

Eve rolls her eyes. "I'm sure," she says, smiling. "Anyway," she continues while scrubbing a tire, "I was thinking about doing this as like a fundraiser thing for the club, you know?"

"Hmmm... I mean, I guess. You think your dad will pay us to wash his car?" Lily asks.

"No, silly! Other people's cars. I'm thinking about maybe having it at Gus's Gas down the street."

"Oooooh. Yeah, that makes more sense, sorry." Lily says. Eve is a little surprised by honest humility coming from Lily, but ignores it and continues.

"So, I was thinking, no one knows who we are, right? So, like, maybe you could ask your sister to like, sponsor us or whatever? Like, we could be like, 'DLG' brought to you by SunDaze Beach and Bikini store and like, we all wear SunDaze bikinis, to advertise for the store or whatever."

Lily stops cleaning and looks at Eve, perplexed. "That's... that's really, really smart, Eve. Did you just think of that?"

"Heh, I guess so. I mean, yeah. It just stands to reason, you know?" Eve replies, embarrassed by the praise.

"Well, yeah. I'll ask her."

"You will? Thanks, Lily. I really owe you," Eve says and touches Lily's cheek. Some suds remain after she drops her hand away and Lily giggles fiendishly.

"Oh, yeah you do. I'll remember that next time your Dad is around."

The girls share a laugh and continue cleaning.

Meanwhile, Randall is in his office, staring at the letter from his daughter, Dayton, not knowing how to feel or what to do.

"I know Becky's at work, but I need to call her," he thinks, "This is important."

He takes out his cell phone and calls Becky. On the fourth or fifth ring, she finally picks up.

"Hello, mister stud man, miss me already?" She answers in a cheerfully flirty voice.

"Hey Bex," he chuckles at her small flirt, "yeah, I guess," he responds. "Hey, I have a quick question. Do you have a few minutes?"

"Sure, my next appointment isn't for ten or fifteen. What's up?"

"I just received a letter from Daye. It's... pretty surprising, especially from our Little Glow-worm." He says, "Would you like to hear it?"

"Oh god, is she okay? It's nothing too serious, is it?" Becky says nervously.

"No, it's not like that, it's good... here, lemme just read it."

"Jesus, don't scare me like that. You know how worried I get."

"I know. Sorry, here goes..."

"Dear Daddy,"

"Okay, I'm about to get really gross and sappy here, so prepare yourself. I know I always say I hate gooshy stuff, but sometimes a girl's gotta get gooshy, you know?"

"I love you SO MUCH it's actually embarrassing. Like, if anyone ever reads this, I'll probably die of mortification and you'll have to bury me in the backyard next to Mom's rose bushes. But whatever, here goes..."

"Basically, you're the best dad in the entire universe and probably in alternate universes too. When I was little and had nightmares, you'd let me crawl into bed with you, and I felt like nothing bad could ever happen because you were there. I still feel that way, by the way when we're in bed together. Safe, I mean. When you hug me, kiss me, or when we have sex, it's like the whole world makes sense."

"Remember after Mom died, how we all kind of fell apart for a while? But then somehow, we figured out how to take care of each other. You took care of me and Eve, but we took care of you, too. It's like Mom left all her love behind, and we just... absorbed it or something. Made us stronger together. I know that sounds weird, but sometimes I swear I can feel her love in the way you hug us, or when we wake you up in your favorite way ????"

"I know I act like a brat sometimes (okay, a lot of times), but I hope someday I find someone who loves me exactly the way you love me and Eve. Someone who thinks I'm amazing even when I'm being competitive and annoying. Basically, I want to marry you, Daddy. Will you marry me? Circle yes or no.

YES NO

Just kidding. Don't do that."

"Anyway, you probably think I'm being dramatic, but I'm serious. You're my hero, Daddy. Even when I'm mad at you or acting like I don't care, I do. I care SO MUCH."

"Ugh, this is so embarrassing. I think I might barf. I can't believe I'm writing this. If you ever show this to anyone, I'll never speak to you again.

... or at least not for a little while."

"I hate the gooshy stuff, Daddy, but today I mean every word."

"Your disgustingly sentimental daughter, Daye"

"P. S. - See? Didn't I tell you this was gonna be gross? Gross but true. I'll make room at the toilet if you need to barf, too.