Seven Days at Maplewood Lane

Author's note: If you are enjoying this story or have anything to say, please leave a comment. I love reading them and it helps motivate me to keep writing. Thank you!

Previously: After a surprise hand job from Teagan in the middle of the night, Elijah apologized for taking advantage of her, but the young woman didn't regret what she did and fears his leaving. He assured he wouldn't but refused to take their relationship any further, until later in the day when Teagan confessed that she left her door open in the hope that he would see her masturbating to him. She made her argument for why they should give in to their feelings for each other, which Elijah found VERY compelling, and they made love for the first time on Mike and Lindsay's bed, during which Teagan revealed she was a virgin.

***

He dreamt of a memory.

He was young, holding a shovel, standing sentry under a large maple tree, its countless green leaves lined with the yellows and browns of early autumn.

He had volunteered to dig. While they prepared the body.

The task was an easy one; the ground was left soft from the prior day's rain. Not that he had expected it to be hard. They only needed a small hole.

He propped himself against the shovel when he was done and waited, remembering his father, and the holes he had dug for him. There had been many, and each one had left a small permanent mark on his heart.

They looked like a procession when they finally came crossing the backyard toward him. Little Teagan was holding a shoe box, her parents following close behind, looming large with wet red eyes. But the girl's were dry, her face oddly content.

Elijah held his arms out, and Teagan gingerly handed him the shoe box. He took one long look at it before setting it down into the hole, and began filling it with dirt. The lizard, a bearded dragon named Draco after the character from Harry Potter, had passed suddenly overnight. Elijah was never fond of it, but his owners had loved him. He was sadder for them than the lizard itself.

"What does it mean to be dead?" Teagan asked to no one in particular after the hole had been filled and some words had been said.

The three guardians looked to each other, waiting for one to step up and answer the child's unanswerable question.

"It means..." Mike began, "you know how you go to sleep every night?"

She nodded.

"Well, being dead is just a really, really long sleep. And you like to sleep right?"

She nodded again.

"So Draco is sleeping, and he'll sleep for a really long time. He's in a nice place, just like you are when you're asleep in your bed. His shoe box ishisbed."

"Will he dream too?" asked Teagan.

"Yes," answered Lindsay. She ran her fingers through her daughter's hair, long and sandy-brown with youth. "He'll dream of you sweet girl."

Teagan slowly turned, locking her eyes with Elijah's. They were tiny things, glowing brown and dark, stabbing into his sockets like burning hot pokers.

"No he won't," she stated coldly, filling him with an inexplicable sense of dread.

***

Elijah woke to find the bedroom cast in mid-afternoon shadow. He winced and rubbed his temples.How long was I asleep?The dream had been a heavy one, leaving his head with an ache that made reality feel like a dream all its own.

Just then he felt another more pleasant ache in his groin,and he groggily reached across the bed, expecting his hand to land on a skinny thigh or a firm breast, but found nothing.

"Teagan?" He rubbed his temples again before stepping out of bed.

Mike and Lindsay's bed.

He stared at it. A large grey splotch stained the white sheets where they had laid together, still wet. Elijah expected guilt and shame to greet him there once more, but instead he was met by more a novel feeling of... joy? Satisfaction? Whatever it was, it pleased him immensely.

Elijah redressed and headed downstairs. "Teags?" he called again. His stomach responded with a long loud groan, a reminder that he hadn't eaten anything yet that day. He put his search for Teagan on hold to pour himself a large bowl of off-brand Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and reflected on recent developments as he scooped spoonfuls of the crunchy sugar squares in his mouth. It had been alongtime since he'd had sex, and he remembered how the act had a way of putting an extra pep to his step after. But what he'd experienced with Teagan was entirely different. It was so intense; he couldn't quite put words to the sense of euphoric awe it left him with.

Every reason told him he should be feeling guilty, that he ought to hate himself for what he did. He had committed a grievous sin, betrayed the memory of his best friends and defiled their only daughter. But then he remembered the taste of her mouth and skin and cunt, and none of that mattered.We made love,he concluded as he took his last bite of cereal. He shivered recalling how good it felt spilling himself inside her, and wondered if she was on any birth control. Something told him she wasn't, and he was surprised how little he cared.

A kid with her wouldn't be so bad.He tilted the bowl over his mouth to suck down the milk, coated with cinnamon sugar. It was sweet, but not near as sweet as her.The risk is worth it.

Suddenly he remembered the dream, and the maple tree heavy with autumn leaves. He sat the empty bowl in the kitchen sink and looked out the window above to the backyard, and there she was, redressed and swinging on a play set where they had been standing all those years ago.

He wondered if she had remembered too as he crossed the backyard toward her. "Hey you."

Teagan looked up on her ascent and greeted him with a melancholic smile. "Hey."

Elijah smiled back and gestured to the empty swing beside her. "I'd join you but I think I might break it."

"You're probably right. Guess that means you'll just have to push me."

"You got it."

She slowed herself just enough so he could slip in behind her. He rested both hands on her back and pushed with all his might, sending Teagan soaring high into the air.

"Harder!" she bellowed from above. He braced himself in place on her descent and pushed her back up with as much strength as he could muster, all without slowing her momentum. By the sound of her giggles, he had succeeded.

A wave of nostalgia flooded Elijah's as he watched her fly. She had always loved swinging, to go as high as possible, but she could never reach those heights herself, so it had often fallen upon him or her dad to lend her their arms and make her dream come true. Now there was only his arms, and that made him sad.

"Watch this!" Teagan waited until the swing reached its peak and leapt off, and for a moment Elijah's heart dropped as gravity pulled her fast to the ground. The young woman set it at ease when she landed solid on her feet, stumbling only a second before straightening herself.

"Nicely done," said Elijah with a golfer's clap. "Bravo. Ten out of ten."

"Thank you, thank you." She bowed before sprinting back to the swing.

"Again?" asked Elijah.

"Yes, but slow this time."

Elijah drew his fingers down Teagan's skinny back and planted them at her waist, stopping to feel her muscles tense under her shirt before he resumed pushing. He propelled her upward with a deft touch, enough to launch her just a few feet off the ground. They swung in silence for a while, the only sound between them the creak of the chain scrapping against the steel bar above.

"Where do you think mom and dad are right now?" she asked, suddenly and soft.

Elijah had asked himself this same question often, now, and long before Mike and Lindsay had died. It was what every person asks themselves.Where do we go when we die?Unfortunately he had yet to find an answer in his short life, at least not one he thought would satisfy the girl without ringing of false promises. And the last thing he wanted to do was lie to her.

"Why don't you tell me what you think first."

"Not fair," said Teagan, sounding slightly annoyed. "I asked you first."

"I want to know whatyouthink before I tell you whatIthink."

"Okay," she conceded. "I guess...I guess I don't know what I think. I figure the utopian heaven most people believe is probably too good to be true. Same for all the religions. In all likelihood we go back to the nothing that we were born from. But at the same time...I don't want that to be true. I'm afraid at the idea that mom and dad are just...gone. That we all just disappear."

Elijah remembered the dream again, remembered Draco, and looked to where he had buried him all those years ago. Long grass and dandelions now grew over top, along with a single mushroom, its tiny brown disc shaped head peeking out amidst the green.You wouldn't know a grave was there just by looking at it.

"I don't think their gone Teags," said Elijah. "I think that they're still around somewhere, just...different. Changed. If energy can't be destroyed then they have to be, right? They are back to being a part of everything now, and might even return as something else. Maybe a single blade of grass, or a mouse, or a tree, or a bird, or a bear, or the wind or rain, even another person. It's easy to think that death is an end, but maybe it's just another beginning. A cycle, you know?"

"I suppose that makes sense," she replied. "A lot more sense than a lot of other things I've heard."

"I'm not saying I know. I don't, and I don't believe anyone else does either. Not truly. It's all just best guesses and wishes."

"Yeah. Guess we all find out one way or another."

Suddenly Teagan winced and clutched her stomach.

"Teagan!" Elijah stopped the swing in place and bent down in front of her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded and shot him a knowing look. "I'm okay. My tummy hurts a little, that's all. From that hard fucking you gave me with that big cock of yours."

Elijah felt his cheeks grow hot. "Oh, uh, sorry about that."

She giggled and rested his hand atop hers. "It's okay. It means you left your mark. I like it."

I like it too,he told her with a quick kiss, airy and light. The way her little body trembled as he lingered his lips over hers made him hard. The girl was an aphrodisiac, he was quickly realizing; she made him feel nineteen again, all balls and little brains. He had half a mind to take her again right there in the grass, at risk of the entire neighborhood seeing.

"Now I'm even more confused why you haven't been hitched." Teagan rubbed her tummy while affectionately scratching his silver pocked whiskers. "After how good you fucked me, I'm very tempted to marry you and lock you down for myself."

Elijah couldn't tell if the girl was serious or not; her face gave nothing away.She is still so young,he was reminded.She has the impulsivity of youth and is prone to obsession and can't think five feet ahead of her.He could only laugh; he didn't know how else to respond.

She ran her fingers through his hair and nuzzled her nose over his, mania in her almond eyes. "Would you? Marry me?"

Please don't, don't make me regret this."That's a weird question Teags..."

"Is it?" She tilted her head curiously.

"Yes, it is." Elijah tried replying with as much fatherly authority in his voice as possible. "And you know it is. Stop playing dumb. This isn't a game."

"I know that, seems to me you're the one who doesn't." She stood up from the swing and pushed past him with enough force that he almost toppled over. Elijah rose and began to follow, only taking a few steps before she spun around to face him with wet eyes. "What am I to you?"

"You..." he paused, searching for the right words.You're my best friends' daughter. You're all that's left of them."You're everything to me--"

"Then why can't you answer a simple question? It's not like I'm proposing to you or anything. It was just a thought. I was just curious to know where we stand now. How...serious you are..."

"Teags, we just..." Elijah struggled to say the word, but he forced it out. "Wejusthad sex, and you're already bringing up marriage. Serious or not, do I need to explain how crazy that is?"

"I..." She looked to say more but stopped herself, bringing her fingers to her mouth. "No. No you don't. It's just..."

Elijah closed the distance to slide a comforting arm around her waist. "Hey. It's okay. Tell me what's on your mind kiddo."

"You," she answered. "Us. Mom and dad. Death, life, everything. But mostly I keep thinking back to how good we felt together. I just want to keep doing that, to stay in that place, where you're inside and around me and I feel safe and warm. I'mscaredUncle. One day mom and dad were here, and then next they weren't, and now I can't stop thinking about how that could happen to us. How any day could be our last, and I don't want what we shared today to beourlast."

"Who says it has to be? I told you, I'm not going anywhere. If you're afraid this was a one-time thing, it won't be. Not if I can help it." He pulled her in closer, letting his wanting breath confirm the truth of his words. "I'm only saying that you bringing up marriage is a little silly, that's all."

"I know that," she conceded with a hand on his chest. "But then, what are we? What isthis?If neither of us wants to stop, what is our future?"

She's spiraling."Listen to me." Elijah ran a knuckle over Teagan's cheek and lifted her to him by the chin. "I'm not saying no. I'm not saying yes. I'm not sayinganything. You need to slow down. You're getting ahead of yourself. I know it's easy to think about the future and all the possibilities and try to grab onto one and hold on, but that's not helpful right now. Remember what we talked about?"

Teagan nodded. "One day at a time."

"Right. One day at a time."

Elijah saw her lip begin to quiver, and before the tears could start he was hugging her, as tight as he could.

"I just want my mom and dad back," she sobbed into his chest. "I want us all together again."

"I know baby girl, I know. Me too."

"I don't want to feel sad anymore. And I feel less sad when I'm with you. That's why I was thinking...I just don't want this to end..."

"It won't. Look at me sweet girl." He brought her eyes back to his, puffy and red and wet, and kissed away her tears once more.One day at a time."Have you eaten anything yet today?"

She shook her head.

"Let's get something in that belly of yours. You're already skinny enough." He slipped a hand underneath her shirt and ran a light finger over her stomach, tickling a giggle out of her.

"Will you carry me inside?"

"I'll carry you anywhere." He scooped her up into his arms without effort, triggering a childlike squeak of satisfaction from her.

"I love you Uncle Eli," she whispered. Her breath stroked his neck with warm promises that thrilled his manhood to life.

"I love you too Teags." He seized her right hand and kissed it and rested it over his groin. "Can't you feel how much?"

"Mhmm..." She left her hand still, absorbing his growing hardness under his jeans as they walked. "I don't think I'll ever get over how big you are Uncle," she said, tracing her fingers over the shape of him.

"It's only big because you're so small."

"I want it so bad. Can we do it again tonight?" She nibbled his ear. "Please?"

"Anything for my little Teagan."

He felt her shiver in his arms. "Don't stop calling me that," she said. "Don't youeverstop calling me that..."

Elijah let Teagan use his arms like a slide again once they were inside, and together decided to finish off the pizza left over from last night. They gathered side by side at the kitchen table and ate both of them cold, straight from the box.

They ended the day with another movie,Kung Pow: Enter the Fist,a much,muchlighter viewing that had been one of Elijah and Mike's favorites, an enthusiasm they had made sure to pass down to Teagan.

"Mom never liked this movie," she said as it started. "She didn't think it was the least bit funny."

"Yeah, it's an acquired taste," replied Elijah.

They had both slipped into pajamas and pulled out the sleeper to lay together, fully embracing they're new dynamic. Teagan dressed herself in the same pink top from the prior night, still stained with his seed.She knows what she's doing,Elijah thought. His eyes flicked to it numerous times throughout the night, reminding him of the way she had touched him for the first time and made him squirm and explode.

Halfway through, Teagan shifted herself lower and rested her head in his lap. The position granted Elijah a tantalizing view down her chest, making both her breasts look like two tasty white marshmallows squished together by light pink frosting. Every so often the girl would squirm, in subtle not so subtle ways that, combined with her hot wanting breath passing over, stirred his cock to life. It knocked against his pajama pants, eager for her touch, and Teagan greeted it with an equally eager hand.

She never said a word as she drew him out. She kissed the head of his cock and stroked it a few times, moaning quiet as she did, before placing it in her mouth, all while never lifting her head from his lap. She kept him there for the rest of the movie, gently suckling on him, like a child sucks a pacifier. Every so often she'd lick him or move her lips, but mostly she left him still, to rest in her wet warmth as they watched. All throughout he alternated between soft and hard, while the tide of his orgasm steadily rose. By the time the movie was over it was up to his neck, and it only took a few precise movements of her tongue to make him sink.

With muted moans Elijah spilled himself in Teagan's mouth, and she silently accepted. The girl swallowed as much as she could, but still some dripped from her mouth, and for a moment he feared she would gag but she never did. She continued suckling him after he finished, licking up as much of him as she could, and watching her made him love her even more.

"You're yummier than I expected," she said when she was finally done with him. She looked up as him and smiled and licked her lips.

"I'm glad you like." Elijah reached down and petted her head in approval. "Feel free to have as much as you want."

"I'll hold you to that." She crawled her way up his body, giving him another sweet view down her top before she rested herself on him, bringing her face to his so close he could smell his seed on her breath. "Did you like that? I know I did it without asking..."

"You did good baby girl," he assured her. "Real good. I don't think I can go back to normal movie watching again."

"Me neither. At least not with you." Teagan turned her head sideways and rested her ear atop his heart, and for a while she listened to it beat while he stroked her hair.

"Uncle Eli?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you happy?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean with your life. Your apartment, your job. All that stuff. What exactly do you do again?" She ran a hand up and down his chest, snaking her fingers through the brown and gray forest growing over top.

Elijah chuckled to himself under his breath. This wasn't the first time he'd had to explain his profession to the girl. "I help develop software for solar power integration. Bennu Solar is the name of the company I work for."

"Do you like it?" she asked, playfully tugging at a single hair on the edge of his right nipple.

Elijah answered her back with a well-placed hand under her tank top. He skimmed his fingers up and down her back, causing her muscles to tense and skin to prickle with goosebumps. "Well enough. It pays the bills. It's a bit monotonous but I could do worse."