will you be mine

23

Penelope looks like shes seen a ghost when she sees Me standing hand and hand with her father. Ark takes her suitcase with his spare hand and throws it in the back of the jeep. Peneope looks the car over and raises an eyebrow.

"not really your style dad"

"thats because its yours" Ark throws the key to her and shes so surprised that she almost misses them

"for me, you remembered" Penelope squeals.

Ark looks at me and shrugs.

"remembered what" i ask.

"when i was a kid dad got me a barbie jeep for Christmas , i told him it was my dream car and he promised if i was good he would get me one when i grew up" 

Ark obviously doesn't remember that conversation but he plays along. They hug tightly before she jumps i the car and starts the ignition.

"happy birthday sunshine" Ark sings.

"so you were serious about the zoo" Penelope asks as she holds up the printed tickets that had been sitting on the passengers seat.

"do you not want to" Ark sounds disappointed.

"no of course i do, what woman doesnt want to go to the zoo with their dad and his teenage girlfriend"

"hey im 21 now"

"oh yes , still a year younger than me" its a jab but its playful shes not being malicious.

"its your birthday we can go wherever you want"  Ark clarifies.

Penelope thinks for a moment. "actually the zoo sounds good, lets go"

...........................................

"what is it with him and animals" Penelope asks as we watch the snakes through the glass. Ark is living a dream, he loves pointing out the ones that are tattooed on his body. 

I look up at the giraffe shaped balloon Ark had insisted on buying her and smile " he wants to make up for your childhood, give you the things he should have when you were a chid"

"i didnt have a bad childhood and when he was there he was great he was just more like a friend, im happy he has you. He really has changed since he met you"

"ive changed too, i really do love him" 

"i know"

"Look at the lizard i have one on my calf" Ark calls over to us.

"i was with him when he had that done, he cried like a baby" i laugh.

"ive only ever seen my dad cry once"

"The day after you left , he came to my house and he cried. He said he had ruined everything, that he had ruined my life and that he was sorry. He said he didnt have the chance to make it up you but that he would do everything he could to make it up to me and he really has. Hes been a great dad so thank you"

"why are you thanking me"

"you had the balls to leave, if you hadnt he would still be using and he wouldn't be the man he is today"

I start to cry, Penelope pulls me in for a hug.

"look at my two girls getting on, your making my day" Ark is so oblivious.

"were just having such a great time dad"

we continue walking through the reptiles when i see an ice cream stand, what a birthday celebration without ice cream. I point and Penelope laughs before nodding with enthusiasm.

"not for me im not hungry, ill just have a water" 

"you not eating again" Penelope asks.

"Im just not into desserts"

"i thought you would have worked up an appetite last night and twice this morning" i whisper , he bites his lip and smiles at me knowingly.

"ewww i can hear you, you may be my age but hes my dad i don't want to hear about his sex life"

                                                                                FLASHBACK

I slap his hand away, ive already told him im not having sex with him while his daughter and mother are in the same house. Its been awkward enough spending time with Penelope especially when she's a year older than i am, i wouldn't like my dad dating someone younger than me so i dont blame her. 

"their asleep, no one will ever know" hes practically begging.

"Noah ive said no"

"So you wont have sex in the house because their here" he clarifies.

I nod, he doesnt realise it but im finding it just as difficult as he is. I yearn for his body just as much as he does mine.

Ark leaps from the bed and pulls me up with him, he leads me out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

"where are we going"

"be quiet, you will wake them"

We head outside, before i can ask any questions he jumps into the pool.

"remember what you said at Maggie's party, when we were in the pool"

Hes referencing when i made him believe i was going to have sex with him in the crowded water.

"maybe"

"this isnt the house so your not breaking any rules plus you promised me sex in a pool and im still waiting"

I dont need much convincing, i step out of my night clothes and jump in beside him, the waters warm. I swim to him and throw my arms and lets around him, he pushes me back until im against the pools walls. Before long hes inside me, its desperate like he needs me to breathe. He covers my mouth with his to muffle my screams. Its paradise, will i ever tire of making love with this man. I could never go back to my life how it was before him, i realise now how empty it all was.

Ark stills and points up at the window, the light in his mothers bedroom is on. We quickly get out of the pool and hide behind the bushes before we hear her window open. I manage to move so i can just see her, she lets Arks cat in through the window then closes it behind her.

"she was letting Felix in" i explain.

"that was too close, lets go back to bed before she catches us" 

"Tomorrow we will check in a hotel, it will be easier" i advise,

Ark laughs "or we could just screw i my room, ive already told you its soundproof" 

i pull my night dress over my naked body and throw Ark a towel, he run hand in hand back to the bedroom, theirs something to be said about the thrill of almost being caught.

"it may be safer" 

"i knew you wouldn't be able to last one night " Ark sounds victorious, he loves that he has such an affect on me. Im not the good girl i was when we met , im a woman now. We fall asleep in each others arms, im ber happier than when im with him.

....  

When we join Betty and Penelope for breakfast by the pool they are too focuses on the fighting cats to register our arrival. Betty shouts at them to stops before going to split them up , they are pulling something between them. Betty takes it from their grasp and brings it back to the table with her.

"yours i presume" she says throwing my black thong at him.

"it was one time, when will you let it go"

Penelope and i exchange glances.

" she once caught me wearing her thong as an eye patch"

"i was 7" he adds.

"why is their a thong in the garden" Penelope asks before looking over at me, i must look guilty because her eyes grow wide. penelope looks at her dad then back at me, i look away but ark just dons his usual smirk. 

"ewwwwww"