Chapter 21

My major concern was what would I do? I should have said something right away to let them know I was in the kitchen, but when I heard Lisa confess she had a crush on me out of the blue, I could hardly pop my head up and say hello. And now that Lisa had mentioned how she loved to check out my "hard stiffy" it would be doubly embarrassing for me to make my presence known.

But on the other hand, I couldn't just stay where I was. I was in an incredibly exposed position. The kitchen in our house is like that of most suburban houses. It's a big, rectangular room with appliances and cabinets on all sides, except one side opens out to the dining room with only a long, high counter between the two rooms. They were on one side of the counter and I was on the other. The odds were good they were looking to get a snack and/or drink, so they were likely to walk around the counter at any moment and see me crouching there! How could I get away without being seen? If they were sitting on the high stools by the counter, they'd be able to see most of the kitchen. If I tried to crawl away through a back door that led into a hallway, there was a great chance they could see me.

However, I heard Lisa start to say, "Remember that day? Out there by the pool…" and I realized I had a chance. The odds were certain that both of them were looking out the windows and/or screen door towards the pool, and I only had a short distance to cover.

I made my move, scuttling low until I was safely in the hallway. I was too excited making my escape to pay attention to what they'd been saying, but Lisa was continuing to talk in a perfectly normal voice and Michelle was responding and giggling. If they'd seen me, certainly there would have been screams, or silence, or something.

Breathing a big (but quiet!) sigh of relief, I continued down the hall.

The bottom floor of our house is essentially laid out like an oval. You can walk from the foyer at the front door through the living room, briefly into the dining room, through the kitchen, and then down a hallway leading back to the foyer, without having to open any doors. Additionally, there are some rooms leading off from that general open oval shape, including a computer room and bathroom coming off the hallway.

I just kept on walking down the hallway and around through the foyer and living room until I showed up walking into the dining room/ kitchen area, where Michelle and Lisa were sitting.

Both of them were wearing bikinis. I noticed Michelle's wasn't the ridiculously skimpy one she'd worn earlier. With Lisa there, she wore a normal, respectable one, just like Lisa's.

Michelle looked incredulous. "Dad! What are you doing THERE?!" I was honestly puzzled. "What? I live here."

She huffed and crossed her arms, "I know that, but… We're talking private, personal stuff. I wasn't expecting you to sneak up on us like that."

I found this very odd. For one thing, I was hardly sneaking up on them, they could and did see me coming from a ways away, enough so that they could've stopped talking before I came close and overheard, if they'd wanted to. Furthermore, I knew from the past that when Michelle was caught doing something she wasn't supposed to do, she usually took the "best defense is a good offense" strategy.

She was being strangely huffy about me simply coming near.

Then it hit me: She didn't say "Dad! What are you doing HERE?!" or "Dad! What are YOU doing here?!" Her shock was that I was standing where I was and not in some other spot. She had known I was in the kitchen underneath the counter, and she was expecting that I was still there!

Maybe she'd seen my reflection through a window or perfectly timed her arrival or something else, I don't know. But it seemed likely to me that she was taking advantage of the situation to have me 'accidentally overhear' something that she wanted me to know.

I deduced that the main reason she looked really pissed off was that I had managed to evade her trap and she couldn't get the message she wanted to convey to me in time.

I looked at Lisa. She simply looked confused. I knew her well enough to know that she was easily embarrassed. If she knew that I'd been hiding in the kitchen, then she would have easily figured out that I'd overheard her confessing her crush on me, and there's no way she could have possibly hid the resulting blush of shame. So whatever Michelle was up to, Lisa wasn't in on it. That made sense, because usually Ruby was the only one in on Michelle's far-too-frequent crazy schemes.

I chatted a little bit with Lisa, while Michelle continued to huff and simmer.

Then I went back upstairs to do some writing. I didn't like being around Michelle when she was being like that. I'd tried to be friendly, even after the craziness earlier in the day. But if she was going to try to play games with me, it was better I stayed away from her.

However, all in all, I was pleased with how my efforts were working out. Getting Ruby out of the house and replacing her with another friend had gotten Michelle back to normal, it seemed. It was strange hearing Lisa confess to having a crush on me, but then again I'd basically known that already. I don't understand the appeal, but many of my daughter's friends seem to have a crush on me.

I waited until Lisa had gone home later that afternoon, and then found Michelle in her room. She hadn't been expecting me and was dressed in relatively normal clothes.

As I came in, she said, "Hi, Daddy!" and started pulling her dark blue shirt over her head.

"Whoa! Stop that! What do you think you're doing? No, don't answer that. I'm talking here. You're gonna sit still and answer my questions and that's it. No teasing, no back talking. Do you understand?"

"Oooh, Daddy! I like it when you get all forceful and make me do things against my will!"

I groaned inwardly. She was already giving me a tremendous boner – thank goodness I'd caught her with at least some clothes on. She'd even listened to me, for once, and kept her shirt on. It was interesting though watching her nipples quickly harden simply because I'd entered the room.

Ignoring her provocative comment, I sat down in a chair a good deal away from where she was sitting. "Okay, listen. I know you were up to something today, earlier with Lisa. When I walked in and found you and Lisa sitting at the counter, you were surprised because you expected me to be somewhere else, didn't you?"

"I don't know what you mean."

I didn't believe that for even an instant. "Sure you do. You thought I was bent under the counter. You were hoping to trap me there by saying confessional things right off the bat, making me too

Embarrassed by the situation to get up."

She huffed, folded her arms under her expansive chest, and looked away. "I REALLY don't know what you're talking about."

I was realizing she wasn't wearing a bra underneath, and her dark blue shirt was quite tight. It looked almost like someone had simply painted her upper torso that color. But I wasn't going to let that get to me. "You do too, and you know it. And you know that I know. You can't even look me in the eyes.

Look me in the eyes!"

"I don't wanna!" She continued to stare at the ceiling, and then closed her eyes tightly for good measure.

"The thing I can't figure out is what kind of game you were playing. You wanted me to overhear something, but what?"

She remained silent and defiant.

I probed, "I don't think it's that Lisa has a crush on me, because you knew I basically knew that already."

She stayed quiet.

I went on, "Shelle, I'm your father. I don't want you to be plotting against me. I thought we were a team in this family. We stick together and support each other, and love each other. Don't we?"

"Yeah," she confessed in a small voice. "Do you love this family?"

She opened her eyes and exclaimed with great passion, "You know I do! I LOVE this family! It's my whole life! If you include Ruby, that is, and even Cindy. It's the best family in the world! All my friends are jealous. Don't you EVER doubt my love for my family!"

I knew she was being sincere, and it warmed my heart to hear it. I also was tremendously proud of our close-knit family, and how much we loved and supported each other.

I asked, "Don't you love me?"

"You know I do!" she said louder, more exasperated. She gestured with her hands to express her frustration. I don't know that it helped her feelings, but it sure set her F-cups in motion!

I watched all the titty bouncing until her chest was still. Then I caught myself and forced my gaze back to her face. "Then why do you keep trying to stab me in the back?"