Chapter 20

Kendall laid in Jeffs' arms, staring at the wall. His
warm breath on her neck did little to comfort her. She
had watched all the candles burn themselves out. After
he told her he would be leaving, she'd barely slept.
Away from him for days? She'd rather have all her
teeth pulled without novocaine. She couldn't tell him
how she felt, he felt bad enough for the both of them.
She felt him stir, bending his knees behind hers.

She was an independent girl and all but he was her
safety. He made everything possible now. Without him
or his love, she wouldn't have dreamed of taking on
her father. The love she felt for him gave her
strength.

'Don't be silly Kendall. You still have him; he just
won't be there physically. You can handle that.' She
thought to herself. She carefully rolled herself over
to watch him sleep. So content in his slumber. Not a
care in the world right. She grinned devilishly to him
and slipped out of bed.


       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Michael rubbed his tired eyes. He'd stayed up all
night worried about his little girl, who wasn't so
little anymore.

'She was right. I am a monster.' He thought to
himself, 'I drove my own daughter out of my life
because she was afraid of what I would do to her. What
kind of father am I?'

He watched the dawn peek through the window wondering
if she was still asleep or already bustling about like
she always did. His child could go to bed at 2a.m and
still rise at 6a.m and still be bright as the
sunshine. Her own trait.

He looked around her empty room. Everything was gone,
even her pictures on the walls. She left nothing
behind so she would have nothing to come back for. He
let out a ragged sigh and began to cry. The tears
flowed freely down his cheeks.

"What have I done?" he buried his face in his hands.



     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Jeff saw the bright flash even through his closed
eyes. Again, again and again.

'What a freaky dream.' He thought until he felt
someone walking on the bed. He opened one eye to see
Kendall standing over him, camera in hand.

"Morning hon." She grinned and flashed the camera at
him again.

"What are you doing?" he giggled, caressing her leg
under her pj bottoms.

"Well I was lying there in bed and I realized that I
had no photos of you yet. So since I had the camera
handy, meaning it was not packed away in one of those
damn boxes, I decided to take pictures of you. Since
you look so gosh darn adorable when you're sleeping,
why not start there." She sat down on his stomach.

He shook his head, yawning as he spoke.

She covered his mouth, "I don't understand gibberish,
try again."

"Smart ass."

"That I understood."

"I said what am I going to do with you?"

She pouted staring into his sleepy eyes. His blonde
hair in a wild mess on the pillows, "I don't know.
Take me as I am?"

"I can do that. Let me see that camera." He reached
for it, "Hey come on now."

"No, no, no. This is your photo session my honey." She
flashed the camera in his face, laughing hysterically,
"Your hand was in the way. Stop it." She tried yanking
his hands away.

"No." he covered his entire face with his hands.

"Fine." She reached behind her, pulling the covers off
him.

"You're going to shoot my feet?"

She chuckled, "Not just your feet, although they are
pretty sexy." She climbed off the bed, kneeling beside
it, resting her elbows on it.

He peeked between his fingers watching her.

She reached across, grabbing his sweats, "Roll over
onto your side."

He obeyed, raising up on his elbow, "What are you
doing?"

"Shush artist at work here."

He grinned, rolling his eyes, "You're not even a pro
and you already have an attitude."

She glared at him over the camera then scooted back
against the wall and took the picture, "Ah perfect. A
full body shot and I even got your face so nah." She
stuck her tongue, "Now when you're famous and girls
are swooning for you, I'll sell it the highest bidder
for extra money."

"And what would that extra money be for? It's not like
you don't have a ton already, god knows your dad
yammered that down my throat enough times."

She placed the camera on the floor and crawled up
beside him, leaning on his hip. She traced the elastic
of his sweat pants; "I don't want to talk about my
father. The extra money will be for the future."

"Does this future include an us?"

"Duh hello? The money is for our future. I'm gonna
need you there for more photos anyway."

"Oh I get it. When you see me, you see dollar signs?"
he pinched her on the arm.

"Owe! No when I see you, I see. my heart." She leaned
on his arm with her chin, watching the tears form in
his eyes.

"I never thought I could fall in love so fast in my
life. I love you so much Kendall. I see forever when I
look into our eyes. You're my forever baby." He pulled
her in for a hug, never wanting to let go.

She kissed his chest, "We better get up. I have so
much to do. Seeing how my stuff won't magically put
itself away, I need a Lucy."

"Kendall."

"I know, I know. I hate to bring this up but what time
do you have to leave for California?" she scooted to
the end of the bed, rummaging through a suitcase.

Jeff watched the muscles in her back flexing as she
moved. He licked his lips at the smooth skin on the
small of her back. Her pajama bottoms pushed down
enough to reveal the edge of her panties. "Um sometime
this afternoon. I still have to pack." He crawled
quickly across the bed.

Kendall gasped as she felt his tongue glide across her
back, "Jeff!"

He kissed up her back to her neck, "Sorry. I just
couldn't help myself."

She reached back, pressing his face into hers, "That's
ok."

Chapter 21

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