You Can't Be My Dad!

He nervously entered the restaurant. It was a big place, all colored in the browns and reds that seemed to be this chain's palette. The interior was filled with wooden tables and comfortable looking chairs, but only a few of them had customers that Tuesday morning.

It was not the type of restaurant Gordon typically ate at, but from the reviews, it was one of the better places in town.

A waitress approached him.

"Good morning! Welcome to Breakfast Barn! How many folk this morning?" The young woman asked enthusiastically.

Gordon Pierce was in shock. It was her! She was wearing the same brown and red uniform that had allowed him to figure out where she worked. Seeing her in person removed all doubt. She looked so much like his sister had when she was a teenager. The family resemblance was unmistakable.

She was waiting for an answer.

"It's just me." He got out. Trying hard to conceal the waves of emotion flooding him.

"Great! Pick anywhere you like. We aren't busy this morning."

She gave no indication that she detected anything unusual.

He sat at a table by the window, and the waitress handed him an enormous menu.

"Coffee?" She asked.

"Yes. Milk, please."

He watched as she navigated the tables to get his drink. She was tall and thin. She moved with the slight awkwardness of someone still growing up. Her chestnut hair, the same color as his own, was fastened with a sensible hair clip. Her uniform was practical. Dark brown pants, and a lighter brown shirt, with the red Breakfast Barn logo on both. Even in that outfit, he felt she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Perhaps fathers always feel like that about their daughters. Now that he had seen her, he was even more convinced that was who she had to be.

--

Only weeks ago he had no idea she existed. Gordon's marriage of twelve years to Amy had ended a few months ago. One night he became curious about his other past loves and began searching the internet for where they may be.

When he got to his girlfriend of his last couple years in college, he was shocked and saddened. Harriet "Etty" Baxter née Newbridge was easy enough to find. Not many by that name, and he knew she had moved home to Tennessee after their time together in Chicago. What he found was that she had died the year before at far too young an age. Cancer.

Gordon was sorry to discover that news. They had had some great times together, and reading the online posts, it seems like Etty had remained a force for good in her community. She had also left three kids and a loving husband.

Gordon found a photo of the family from when they were still together. The five of them smiling and happy at a community event. Two boys in their early teens and then Eliza, their daughter, who looked a few years older. He was drawn to the image of the daughter. Taller than the rest of the family. Taller even than her father. Who didn't seem a very tall man.

There was something eerily familiar about the smiling teenager at the edge of the photo. Exactly how old was Eliza? He hunted for clues. He found she had graduated high school two years ago. That made her around nineteen years old today. Gordon and Etty had broken up a bit less than twenty years ago.

The math worked, and there were other clues. Eliza was so tall. Had to be close to six feet. Everyone in Gordon's family was tall. Her hair was the same chestnut brown as his. There was no one feature on her face that stood out, but it was so like those of his family.

Did he have a daughter? One he had never known about. He had always wanted kids, but his wife Amy hadn't. It was one of the regrets of his life that he hadn't become a father. Now it turned out that he had. He had a secret daughter in far away Tennessee.

He scoured the internet trying to learn everything he could about her. She had attended the county high school. She was on the basketball team, though her box scores were pretty bad. She also had some race time posted from cross-country events. She was better at those. She was in the high school band. There was a photo of her playing the trumpet.

Finally he found the clue that gave him the path to meeting her. A photo on social media from only a few weeks before of Eliza in a uniform of a restaurant named Breakfast Barn.

Two weeks later Gordon made the long cross-country drive and walked through the doors of a small-town Tennessee Breakfast Barn.

--

He had some trouble finding what to order. He tried to eat healthily. The omelet seemed the best bet. When it arrived it was the size of a stop sign. He ate as much of it as he could. Enjoying a slow meal as it gave him time to look at Eliza. She moved between the few tables, filling coffees and delivering dishes. Always with a smile on her face.

She served him with the same friendly affect as the other customers. Should he tell her? How? Can you tell a girl she is probably your daughter as she fills your coffee?

Gordon didn't talk much. Especially about his feelings. At the end of the meal he hadn't worked up the courage to say anything.

"Do you have anything else planned for the day?" She asked as he paid the bill.

"I'm visiting for a few days. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Oh, welcome! Where are ya coming from?"

"All the way from Oregon."

"That's a long way. What brings you here?"

"I'm a geology professor. I hear there are some great spots in the mountains here."

"Geology--so you look at rocks?" She seemed unexpectedly excited by his profession.

"Yep."

"Oh, we have great rocks here. The mountains are full of them."

He gave her a very generous tip on the meal and left still with no plan on how to tell her what he needed to. He decided it would take time. He found a small cottage up in the hills to rent and took it for the full two weeks before he would have to head back west.

--

The next morning he returned to the Breakfast Barn. He still hadn't entirely finished digesting the meal from the day before, but it was the only way to see her.

He was delighted to see Eliza was on shift again, and she seemed happy to see him again.

"Welcome back, Mister!"

"Thanks. It's Gordon."

"Welcome back, Gordon. Great to see you again."

She seemed genuinely pleased to see him. Perhaps it was the tip, but he got the sense she was just as friendly to any customer.

He ordered another giant dish and over the course of the meal managed to exchange a few moments of chit-chat with Eliza. She remembered why he was there and quizzed him on where he had hiked yesterday. He asked if she was in school and discovered that she wanted to go to college but needed to save up some money to do so.

He again left her with a generous tip.

--

"Good morning, Mr. G!"

The third day Eliza's greeting was even more enthusiastic. She greeted several of the other customers by name, but she was especially excited to see him. He couldn't imagine too many other customers had the stamina to eat these breakfasts three days in a row.

It was the same pattern as the previous days. He endured an overly hearty breakfast, made joyful by his corner seat where he could watch Eliza as she worked. Her long frame moving from table to table. Her bright smile whenever she spoke with customers.

Most he treasured the snippets of conversation they managed as she checked up on him. She seemed excited as he recounted his hikes through the hills the day before.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked as he paid the bill.

"Afraid not, Mr. G. Tomorrow is my day off." She seemed to be looking forward to that.

He was surprised at how upset he was. He wouldn't get to see her the next day. Then he had an idea.

"You told me about some of your favorite places up in the hills. If you have some time tomorrow, would you have any interest in showing a visitor around some of them?"

"That sounds great, Mr. G!" Her response was immediate and enthusiastic.

She picked up his receipt and scribbled on the back of it.

"Here is my phone number. Text me and we can work out something for tomorrow."

She vanished to the kitchen with his dishes. He picked up the receipt like it was a holy relic. On the back of it ten digits followed by a heart.

He was excited for the day to come. Hours of time just him and Eliza alone. This would be the opportunity to tell her the truth.

Why had she agreed to come? A beautiful young girl had given him her phone number. When he was younger, that meant something very specific. Maybe she just was a friendly small-town girl. Eager to show an outsider around. Or was it more? Was she interested in him? Gordon was a decent looking middle-aged guy, but stunning nineteen-year-olds didn't tend to throw themselves at him.

Tomorrow would tell where this was going.

--

That evening he pulled out the envelope of photos. He had dug out of a box of mementos at the back of his closet. He had found the set of photos from a roll of film when he and Eliza's mother had been a couple.

He looked back through them wistfully, looking at his younger self and his friends from that era. He and Etty had only been together for 18 months, but they had been fun ones. He was still finishing his PhD. She had recently graduated and started her first job.

It paid nothing, but it seemed like a lot to them at the time. They travelled around in her beat-up used car, exploring Chicago and the areas around it.

Etty looked a lot like Eliza. The same big smile, the same eyes that always seemed happy with the world. She was much shorter than their daughter, and her hair was blonde with a hint of red. She was a looker, and Gordon was elated when she had first agreed to date him.

It started well, but six months in they moved in together, and they started fighting all the time. Over nothing important. He would stay out and fail to tell her. She would be furious when he got home; he protested he had the right to see his friends. He never cheated on her, but her father had walked out on the family, and she had issues there. She also got mad any time he tried to psychoanalyze her.

He also wasn't a great boyfriend. At 26 he felt he knew the answer to everything. If they disagreed on anything, she was simply wrong. It was not permissible for her to have different tastes in movies or music. He tried to correct her on all these matters of culture. He was an ass.

The fighting was bad, but the sex made up for it. She was a tiger. She always dressed very well, which was unusual for anyone of her age then. Her outfits were stylish and demure, which made it even more fun for him at the end of one of their fights to tear them off her and relieve each other's anger through wild lovemaking.

That kept them until the next summer, but eventually it was too much, and it all fell apart. She packed her stuff into the back of her car and drove away. Leaving him and the big city forever.

Did she know she was pregnant when she left? Was that part of why she had gone? Why hadn't she told him? Why had she kept the child from a failed relationship to raise on her own? He didn't know, and never could now. The only way to learn a bit more about Etty was to get to know her daughter. The child she and him had created.

--

He picked her up in his jeep. The address she had given him was a typical suburban home. It looked nice enough.

"Good morning, Mr. G!"

She was waiting outside as he pulled up. It was the first time he had seen her in anything but her uniform. Her long brown hair was in a ponytail that went through the back of a baseball cap. She was wearing a pair of shorts that left a lot of acreage between them and her hiking boots. Her legs were long and smooth. Her t-shirt was a fair bit tighter than her uniform, exposing a very pleasant figure. She really was a stunner.

She got in the car, and they chatted as they hit the road up into the hills.

"So do you live there with your family?"

"Yep, my dad and my two brothers."

"Not your mom?" He felt dishonest asking a question he knew the answer to.

"No." For the first time since meeting her, she seemed sad. "She died about a year ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, she was great. We were really close."

"Do you get on with your dad?"

"No. He's an asshole. He's also not really my dad. Well, he is legally, but Mom only married him when I was a kid. He treats my brothers much better than me. He's going to pay for them to go to college, I'm sure of it. But I have to pay for it all myself."

"Do you know your biological father?"

"No, Mom never told me who he was. Some guy she was at school with in Chicago. Mom says he was a horrible jerk."

Gordon gulped. Her mom wasn't wrong. If he could have relived his life, there was a lot he would have done differently in that relationship. He had been young and made a lot of dumb mistakes.

This was the time to admit that he was in fact that jerk from two decades ago.

"Turn here, Mr. G. Follow this road up to the radio tower. We can park up there and follow a secret path that isn't on any of the maps. It's my favorite."

The moment was lost. Gordon failed to tell her. He failed to tell her all the rest of the day as they hiked.

It was a beautiful place. They saw waterfalls, cliffs, and views that stretched out for miles beneath them, but none of it was a match for the joy of chatting with Eliza.

They talked for hours as they hiked. There was a comfort and ease to the conversation as though he had known her his whole life.

He told her all that he knew about these areas. How the Appalachian Mountains had once been snow-capped peaks towering as high as the Rocky Mountains, but billions of years of rain and wind had slowly worn them down to what we have today. Eliza listened with rapt attention as he told her these tales of eons past.

"Wow. No one has ever told me all that."

"They didn't teach you that in school?"

"Not really. We went to places like this as a class, but even the science teacher was mostly on about 'isn't it amazing what lovely things God made.' No one here talks much about billions of years. Some people would get upset by that. Do you believe in God, Mr. G?"

"No, I don't. I'm a scientist."

"I'm pretty sure I don't either. Barry, that's the man my mom married, made us all go to church each Sunday. I always found the whole thing silly."

After the hike they went to dinner. A small Mexican place the next town over from hers. Their conversation continued through the meal. He did most of the talking. She seemed captivated by everything he said about his work, his life back home, and his travels.

She had never been much beyond Eastern Tennessee, and she was especially interested in hearing about all the places he had been to.

She was a fast learner. She processed everything he told her. She was more quick-witted than many of his grad students. He could happily see her in one of his classes someday.

He found an excuse to ask for her birthday. July 17. Only a couple weeks ago she had turned nineteen. He did the math. She would have been conceived about six weeks before her mother and he last saw each other. That removed all doubt. She was his daughter.

"Do you like living here?" He asked.

"No, I hate it! Everyone here judges everyone else. No one can do anything that breaks their narrow rules. My mom hated it too. She was the school librarian, and she got into this awful fight with some of the parents about what books should be in the library. They wanted to fire her. It went on for years, and even when she was sick, they kept going. It helped kill her."

This was a side of Eliza he had never seen before. There was real rage beneath that ever-present smile.

"You know what this town is most famous for?" She continued. "A hundred years ago they lynched an elephant. It was accused of killing its trainer, so they hanged it from a construction crane. Everyone here is really proud of that. I'm desperate to escape from here."

Gordon resolved to fix this. He had a good salary and plenty of money in the bank. He would easily be able to help support his daughter through college. By the end of this time here he would figure out a plan to get her out of this town she hated.

Dinner ended and he drove her home. He did the gentlemanly thing and walked her up to her front door.

"I had a lovely time today."

"So did I."

They posed on the doorstep. The evening was over, but neither of them wanted it to end. He gazed into his daughter's eyes. He could tell her the truth right then. Instead, he leaned forward to peck her on the mouth. Nothing dramatic, just a quick kiss.

He thought she might recoil in horror at the old man giving her a kiss. She didn't. Instead, her face glowed with a happy smile. Did she want more? He felt he could pull her in for another deeper kiss. If he invited her home to his place, would she accept?

He had enough self-control to resist that. With a mighty force of will, he stepped away from her and down the step.

"Are you back at work tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yep."

"I guess I will see you there for breakfast then."

He turned to walk down the path, still looking behind him. Unable to tear his eyes away from her.

A few steps away, she called out to him.

"Do you really like the food there, Mr. G?"

He paused. "I have to say I go there more for the service than the food."

"How about instead of you coming to the restaurant, I come by your place after my shift and cook you a proper dinner?"

"I'd like that."

"Great! I will see you tomorrow then!"

She ran over to him. Gave him a quick hug and another peck on the mouth. Then she vanished into her home.

--

He didn't go straight home. He had too much to think about. He took a long winding route back. Giving him time to think.

What was he doing? Self-control had never been his problem. At work their was one absolute rule: don't fuck the undergrads. Several times over the years very pretty girls of Eliza's age hade made clear that they were keen to break that rule with him. Gordon had always firmly evicted them from his office. He may have fantasized about their young bodies afterwards, but he had the self-control to never get in trouble.

The only rule even firmer, known to everyone in society, is that fathers absolutely under no circumstances should fuck their daughters.

Eliza was coming over to his place tomorrow. They would be alone. What would happen? What did he want to happen?

The problem was Eliza wasn't some bubble headed student looking for an A. The moment he had met her he loved her. He wanted her in his life, but would it be possible to be with her and not reveal what he really wanted. What he felt every time he glanced at her tall thin body? Every time her bright beautiful smile turned in his direction.

Surrender seemed easier than fighting the inevitable.

--

She came over the next day. Appearing at his place with a couple bags of groceries. She looked lovely as always. More elegantly dressed than he had seen her so far. In a white blouse and a short black dress.

He helped her chop vegetables as they worked together to prepare a simple but delicious meal that they ate at the small table in his rented cabin.

They finished dinner. The food was great, and the company even better, and he continued to find the conversation with Eliza delightful. She was clever and eager to learn as she quizzed him about his life and profession.

It was time for dessert. It had been clear all dinner what that would be. She had come over to his place. She was expecting this evening would end with more than a kiss.

The correct thing to do was to take this time to confess. Tell her the truth about everything. The kiss from the night before could be forgiven, and they could start anew.

Instead, after they cleared the table, he pulled her close to him. She wrapped her arms around him, and they kissed. No quick peck this time. A deep and sensual kiss. They explored each other's mouths as he held her close. He was enjoying the experience of kissing a girl who was only a few inches shorter than him. It felt right.

With his hands he began to explore her body. Running up and down her. Exploring the smooth of her back through her shirt, and then down to cup her cute little ass. She enjoyed that. He was rock hard, and she had to be able to feel that as they held each other closely.

Then she broke their embrace. Pushing away from him. She had a wicked little grin on her face as she pulled away from him and then folded her body down so she was kneeling in front of him.

This was the final moment he could have stopped things. Should have stopped things. Pushed her away and told her the truth. But would any man be able to resist the most beautiful woman in the world kneeling in front of him and reaching forward to unzip his fly?

Gordon couldn't, and in a moment she pulled down his zipper, and her hand was fishing inside his pants to pull out what she had felt earlier. He felt her hand wrap around him, and then gently pull it out. His penis popped free. Filling the space between them.

"Oh, it's beautiful, Mr. G!"

He wasn't sure it was, but he was delighted that Eliza seemed to think so.

She ran her hand up and down his length. Sending shivers of pleasure through him. Then she got in position and popped it in her mouth. It felt incredible as she began to bob her head up and down his length. He looked down at her, locking eyes with the beautiful girl as his length disappeared into her mouth. Her eyes were filled with excitement as she pleasured him. As she sucked on the dick that she had no idea was the one that had created her.

He wanted to see more of her. He reached down to unbutton her blouse. She understood what he wanted and did the rest of the work for him. She discarded first her shirt and then her bra so that he got the full view of her perfect breasts as she continued to fellate him.

The image below him was so beautiful, the feeling of her tongue against him so pleasurable, that he was on the verge of finishing only a few minutes in. He didn't want that. He wanted more.

He pulled his daughter's mouth off him and lifted her to her feet. Kissing her deeply. Then he guided them to the bedroom. She eagerly complied.

He shed his clothes, and so did she. She shimmied out of her little dress, and then her black panties quickly followed them to the floor. She was totally naked.

Her body was perfect. Every line, every curve was for him the most beautiful he had ever seen. So was the shy little smile on her face as she watched his lustful eyes devour her.

He took her in his arms, and they kissed again. His hands delighting in exploring the full expanse of her naked flesh.

He pushed her backwards onto the bed; she fell onto it with a giggle. His eyes focused on the area between her legs. That was the most beautiful part of all. Two perfectly round half moons demurely covering what was inside. He gently pushed her knees apart, and her treasure opened. Exposing her glistening pink jewel.

He needed to taste it. He knelt in front of his princess and kissed his way up her legs. She squealed in delight as his tongue first made contact. He wondered if any of the local boys had ever deigned to do this. His tongue explored every crevice and fold and as soon as he began to pay proper attention he heard to glorious cries of a young girl exploding in pleasure.

He pulled from her and stood up. His member pointing proudly towards her waiting channel.

It was time to fuck his little girl.

He pulled out a condom and prepared to put it on.

"You don't need that." She cooed at him.

He was unsure. Back in his day it was required. Were things different now? Had young people like Eliza gone back to relying on simply the pill for protection? He wasn't sure, but if she wanted him not to wear one, he wasn't going to insist.

He didn't waste any more time. He mounted her on the bed. She reached down and took him in hand. Guiding him to her entrance. With one smooth thrust he slid inside her. She cried out in delight as he penetrated her.

He slid his full length into her. She wrapped her long legs around him, pulling him in even deeper. He pounded her hard and fast. He could tell it was what she wanted. What she needed.

Any guilt that he was doing this to his own daughter without her knowledge was wiped away by the pure pleasure of their coupling. He had slept with plenty of women over the years, and the first time had always had a level of awkwardness as he and his partner tried to figure out each other's bodies.

There was none of that with Eliza. From the moment he was inside her they were in total harmony. Each move he made she responded to, and in turn each of her moves served to increase his ever-mounting pleasure.

As a younger man he could never have withstood such pleasures, but an advantage of age was he managed to hold off the avalanche of pleasure for a good while. Giving her long minutes of writhing in pleasure beneath him.

Finally he was close. He let her know.

"Where should I finish?"

"Inside me!" She panted.

"That's okay?"

"Yesss," she gasped.

He wasn't going to argue. He pulled her close. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her into him, as with a groan he released. A giant spray exiting him and flooding into his daughter's womb.

--

He woke up early the next morning as the sun crept into his bedroom. He rolled over to see Eliza sleeping nude next to him. Her back was to him, and her long brown hair lay in waves against the smoothness of her back. She was impossibly beautiful.

He watched her sleep. Pondering what had happened. What had he done? He had spent the night making love to this girl, who was almost certainly his daughter. Without her knowing. In the light of the morning, the guilt returned.

They had done the deed three different times. It had been decades since he had last managed such a performance, but Eliza got it from him.

She woke up and rolled over to face him. As soon as she saw he was awake, her face broke into a smile. Her bright white teeth inches from him as her eyes shone with delight.

"Good morning, handsome." She darted forward to peck him on the lips.

Her joy at waking up next to him made him happy. He would never be able to resist that smile. Never not able to do what she wanted.

"Oh, I'm going to be late! I have to be at the restaurant at 8:00!"

She jumped out of bed. Her nude lithe body jumped around the room gathering her bags before vanishing into the washroom. A few minutes later she emerged wearing her Breakfast Barn uniform. She leaned down to give him a goodbye peck on the lips.

He knew what he had done was wrong, but it had happened, and it had been incredible. There was no way he would resist taking his daughter back into his bed.

--

He picked her up from work at the end of her shift. Neither of them could wait to finish the drive back to his place to make love again. He pulled over onto a laneway in the woods. His daughter started with one of her magnificent blowjobs. Pulling his member free before descending on it from the passenger seat. Still in her uniform, she bobbed her head up and down.

Then she contorted herself to remove her pants while still in the car and then mounted him. Sinking her kitty down onto him with a contented sigh. Being back inside her felt like he was back home. She did the work moving up and down against him until they both filled his car with their delighted gasps as he again finished inside of her.

The next days were some of the happiest of his life. She spent all her free time with him. They cooked meals together, went for more hikes, talked, and over and over again made love. She was insatiable for him. Even as his old bones began to ache from the extra workouts, he could never resist her. It never took more than a naughty smile on her face for him to bolt to attention, ready to deposit another load of his seed inside her.

Everything was perfect. Except he knew it had to end. There was only one way for this to finish. He could never tell her he was her father. Could never tell anyone. Not only would he be in legal trouble, but her discovering his betrayal would be devastating.

He had made clear this was a vacation. That he had to return to his normal life far away at the end of this. This was a one-time thing. Ten days of wild abandon where he let his lust overrun all reason. It could never happen again. As hard as it would be for both of them, he would have to leave her. Travel home and never see her again.

He would lighten the load by giving her a generous loan to enable her dream of going to college. That was how he could help his daughter.

That was his plan. It did not work.

--

"What is this!" Two days before he had to leave, he woke up to a furious Eliza towering over him holding a photo. Naked but for a pair of panties, she was holding one of the set from the years when he and Eliza's mother had been a couple. He had hidden them in a drawer, but not well enough.

"That's you! And that's my mom! Who are you?"

It was the moment he had feared. He had destroyed everything! He sat up in bed. He was wearing only his boxers.

"I'm sorry. I kept meaning to tell you. I should have." He stammered. "Eliza. I think you are my daughter."

Her rage turned instantly to tears. She sat on the end of the bed and began sobbing.

"How could you?" She accused him.

"It was wrong. I know, but you are so beautiful. When things went in that direction. I couldn't resist you." He sat next to her on the bed. He tried wrapping his arms around her, but she angrily pushed him away.

"I'm sorry. I don't know how to make this better, but I love you, Eliza." He could think of nothing else to say.

She sat on the end of the bed. Her body wracked by mighty sobs. Gordon sat staring at the carpet, feeling miserable and not coming up with anything that could help.

Eventually, as her crying slowed, he offered a solution.

"We can go back to the beginning. Pretend this never happened. Start afresh as father and daughter?"

She sobbed again loudly. "It's so much worse than that." She burbled. "I love you so much. I couldn't stand the idea that you would disappear back to your home. I lied to you. I'm not protected. I've been feeling weird these last few days. I'm probably having your baby! My own father's baby!" She bent over with the pain of her confession.

He was shocked. Not only had he made love again and again with his own flesh and blood daughter, but he had likely conceived his own grandchild! He was momentarily at a loss.

Then he realized there was only one thing to do.

He got on his knees in front of her, still in only his boxers. He took her hands. Eliza looked down at him, her eyes still filled with tears.

"Eliza. I love you more than any woman I've ever met. I know it has not been very long since we met, but from the moment I met you I understood we were meant to be together. There has always been a part of my life missing and you were the missing piece.

No one besides us knows our history. I want you to come back home with me. Not as my daughter but as my wife.

Eliza, will you marry me?"

Her cries suddenly stopped. She was too stunned to respond for a moment. Then her face broke into that beautiful smile he loved so much.

"Yes, I will. I love you. I don't ever want to be apart from you."

He leapt up beside her and took his daughter in his arms. They kissed. He tasted the salt of her tears and tried to clear them from her face. She was still crying, but now it was tears of joy.

The kisses escalated, and soon he was once again on top of her as they made love. It felt even better than before. All the lies had been cleared. Their burden was lifted from them both. She was his daughter, and they both knew it. They were working on creating a child, and they both wanted that.

"I'm close, Eliza." He grunted.

"Do it, Dad! Put a baby inside your little girl!" She begged him.

"Here it comes!"

She wrapped her arms and legs tightly around him. Holding him against her as he unloaded his life-making seed inside of her, assuring that if it hadn't happened yet, she would soon be bearing his child.

They lay in each other's arms. Exhausted but happy.

"I used to dream about my real dad. I knew he was out there somewhere. I knew he was strong, and kind, and smart. What I didn't realize, Dad, was just how handsome you would be." She giggled.

"You really can't call me that. Back home your being my daughter has to be a secret." He cautioned.

"I know, but when it is just the two of us alone, is it okay if I sometimes call you Dad?"

"I guess so."

She squealed with delight and gave him a hug. "You're the best dad any girl could ever want."

--

The next day he pulled up at her place. She was already waiting outside with a pair of cardboard boxes.

"This is all your stuff?"

"Yep."

She helped him load it into the back of his jeep, and they were off on the three-day drive home to Oregon.

"You told your dad you were leaving?"

"Yes, I did so last night."

"How did he react?"

"He wasn't happy, but eventually he accepted that I was no longer his problem, and he accepted that."

"What did you tell him?"

"The truth. That I met a guy and was leaving town to be with him."

"Not the whole truth."

"Nope." She smiled conspiratorially at him.

They headed out of town. Both gave a quick wave goodbye to the Breakfast Barn as he turned onto the interstate.

"Are you sure you are okay with this? Leaving this place you've lived your whole life?"

"I've never been so happy. I never want to come back to this place as long as I live." She sat forward in her seat, not looking back as the town disappeared from view.

They drove quickly across the country. In Nebraska he bought her a ring. The moment they were across the Oregon border, they headed to a courthouse and got married.

Husband and wife, they held each other as they sped through the darkness of the final stretch before home.

"Eliza Pierce. I like the sound of that." She said reading their marriage license.

"If things had gone differently you might have always had that name."

She nuzzled against him as he drove. "Yes, maybe that's what you coming to find me was all about. Something went wrong with the universe and it had to be set right. I was always meant to be Eliza Pierce. You, well you were always meant to be a father. Our little one is going to get all of the fatherly love I never had, and you were never able to give."

She took his hand and put it against her belly where their child was growing, and held it there as they drove west into their new life together.