When would it end? I wasn't this lucky. One constant-lucky man would soon run out of it. What happened to the girls once they realized in what type of relation they were in? Would she care? Would I be able to teach her to look past social stigmas and boundaries? Then again, being what I was, would I be disturbed by newly sprouting breasts, pubic hair, broader hips?

I hated women. They were double-udder cows to be, fat and ruminating on gossip. How could I ever love Beatrice older? I wouldn't. Of course, all of this had been planned for short-term use, and I couldn't help but feel incredibly bad about it. She was still sleeping next to me and I reached for her behind and caressed her smooth, virgin skin. Yeah... she was a virgin. She would, had to be, only a virgin to me. Did I like boys, then? Was I really gay? No. I liked pussy, to put it vulgarly, just... young ones. I couldn't help it, but smiled as I held my Bee to my chest. She grumbled and put her little arm on my thigh. I took her hand and lowered it to my morning wood, and instead of stopping there, I -and this taking was a total risk- placed it on my scrotum.

"Bee," I whispered. "You caress me, and I'll caress you. Deal?"

She tiredly nodded and I exulted in the sweet caress as much as she did. She opened her eyes and when she realized where her hand was, she sat up and looked at me. I had wondered if she had ever really noticed that I had balls.

"So... you've never seen your father naked?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "You're the... only one who's a boy who I saw naked," she said, between a yawn.

"Bee, you're almost eleven, right?"

"In one month."

"Do you really... I mean... all this... you had no idea before? I remember at your age I was curious about sex, and although I didn't know that much until high school..."

She remained silent and continued to rub my balls. I took her hand and interrupted our process to look at her in the eyes. She averted her gaze.

"Bee, I know you're cute, but you're not stupid, and people may treat you more like a baby than a child, but know that I see you as more than that. Tell me if you knew something."

"I... I know some things," she whispered. "But..." She blushed.

"Have you been playing me, Bee?" My heart started to pound.

"And you've not?" she responded, looking up at me, her head down, her eyes in prominence, making her stare piercing, almost dangerous. I didn't know what to respond. She couldn't have meant it like that.

"But what?"

"But... I know about... making babies."

"Okay... but you know you can't make babies until you bleed."

She nodded. "But then why did you try to make a baby with me..."

"I did not."

"You did. Your penis goes in my vagina and a baby... um..."

"You have no idea what you're talking about," I told her, deadpan.

She looked around and then smiled and shook her head.

"I'm not going to ever make a baby with you."

"You can't. You're my uncle."

"Thanks for reminding me. Tell me, do you... this is a bit strange because we've never really spoken much like this. I knew you were a smart kid, but you were very quiet."

"My parents died. I was quiet because I was sad."

"You're not sad now?"

So strange and bizarre how the mind of a child worked. Did it just click in one evening? Then again, I had been teaching her things, but I had just started. And then it hit me. She had listened and learned. Unlike the people of the world who try so hard to get their little slice of it, she had receded into my shadow and had followed my lead. In a moment where her heart had been broken my her mother's death, she had found comfort in novelty, in me. I smiled. She had played with me as much as I had with her.

"I'm not sad, because I'm with you. I love you."

"Did you love me that one time..."

"Yes. I always loved you."

"Loved me enough to let me touch you and kiss you?"

She nodded.

"Would you touch and kiss another boy? Someone your age?"

She shook her head. "I'm not ready to have a boyfriend."

What? I opened my mouth, but then closed it again. I had to ask it out of her, not assume.

"What do you mean, Bee?"

She shrugged. "Some... some girls at school had boyfriends and they would kiss like... we kissed once, and they were always together and stuff."

"And we're not like that?"

"Well... you're my uncle."

"Right. I can't be both?"

She shrugged, seemed to be doing that a lot. I sighed and got up and went to my desk. Shit. My room and my office were now merged spaces. I would have to take it easy with what I would look at, since this was our sexual space, and she was free to enter it. That made me... void of a safe space. It would have to be the bathroom, and her safe-zone would then have to be her room. I was fine with that. I opened my PDF and she crawled over and asked:

"What's that?"

I minimized it quickly. "Nothing. Work. I'm a bit late."

She couldn't see this. She could NEVER see this. What if she would understand that all this wasn't really because of love, or because I was charming or charismatic, it was a construct that worked for me, and randomly, for her. The guide had said it would work on her until fingering, because it did go to sexual penetration, but then shit became complicated. It would get even more so now that I was not only her guardian, but indeed, her uncle. I heard her small voice as an echo repeat over and over again that horrid statement. For true, I would have never had her if I hadn't been her uncle, and perhaps that was, in the end, going to keep me from raping her, or... taking her virginity would be nicer to say.

"Cole?" she asked.

At least I still liked it when she called my name. However, I couldn't respond. She knew. She knew more than I had thought. Bathroom time. I closed my screen and looked at her.

"You should eat something or drink some milk."

"Almond milk!" She had reverted to a younger voice.

"Yeah, there's some in the fridge!"

I watched her bound up and I took my laptop for safety and brought it to the bathroom with me. I sat on the toilet cover and sighed profoundly. She wasn't ready to have a boyfriend... I was the slow one this morning! Of course! The spaces were working so perfectly, her subconscious was separating the outside world and the 'us' world. Having a boyfriend and acting romantically with someone else was a concept she had learned at school. I had never approached her like this. The guide was magic, really, written by a demon goddess. Oh sweet Lilith...

Maybe she just liked the sexual things we did. Should I had been unlucky or clumsy at the start of my great seduction, things could have never happened. I could have been in jail at this moment, holding myself together for warmth instead of this thousand-dollar laptop. My boss Skyped me a message. I responded very quickly and realized that I really had been slacking, with all the moving and getting used to the transportation.

"Cooole!" called out Bee, wanting.

I zoned into reality and I responded that I would be out. I washed my hands and face and noticed that yeah, I was good-looking. Blue eyes, dark hair, a bit of a scruff. Shaving everyday was boring. I would have to ask Bee if she liked it. I was naked, and although I had been cutting back on exercise, being so preoccupied, I still kept a nice cut. I got out of the bathroom and found Bee at the table, looking up at me. She pointed at the door. I frowned.

"Someone's there," she whispered.

"What?"

"Someone knocked."

I hurried into my room, my heart thrashing uncomfortably. I slipped on some pajama pants and a t-shirt as I breathed and checked Bee. Good, she was dressed. I pressed my index in front of my lips and she rolled her eyes and continued to eat some cereal, cutely propping herself up with her legs so she could reach the bowl properly. I opened the door and found the landlord. I put on a shitty smile of utter falsehood and he looked at me seriously.

"Good morning," I said.

"Morning. I... I was wondering if everything was all right." He tried to peer inside and although I wanted to scream at him, to poke his eyes out and slam the door, I let him look at her.

"Yes. Is there a problem with the water?" I enquired, stoic. "No? Why, is it running badly?"

"No, no. I was just wondering if there was a problem?"

Be manipulative, Cole. Keep your cool, but be bright about this. You don't want to push him away, or sound evasive. You have to genuinely sound like you're surprised to see him, and then accept him. Fuck.

"Well, actually, how is your daughter?"

I turned to Bee, who frowned a bit. I gave her a severe glare and she crinkled her nose.

"She's doing just fine. Why do you ask?"

"Honestly..." He trembled on the spot slightly and reached for his hands and then sighed. "I heard her last night..."

Keep cool, Cole. The guide told you what to do in this situation. You're ready for noise.

"You heard her, sir? Was she walking too loud?"

"No... Cole..." said Beatrice, sweetly. "He probably means last night when I was sick."

She's going with it! I looked up and she got off her chair and walked over. She smiled at the man and looked up at me. "But that was only a few minutes. Did you hear that, sir?"

"What happened to you, child?" the landlord said, bending down to her level.

"I ate something bad, and I felt very sick, and I threw up."

Oh blazing size 0! You devil! My heart flamed as I watched her lie, watched the almost-truth in her eyes.

"Did you?"

"We're really sorry for having..." I started.

"But I heard it... what are you doing to this girl every night?" he said, his voice and whole body shaking. For sure it would be difficult to speak about.

"What do you mean, sir?" I asked him.

Say it all you fucker. You old, sick fucker who is probably jealous that I have a little princess and he has a hand.

"I mean..."

He looked down at Bee, who was looking around impatiently now. He lowered his voice because you know, if I'm raping her, she shouldn't hear sexuality out of his mouth. "I know moaning when I hear it."

"Bee, do you hear moaning at night?"

"I sometimes cry in my sleep," she said.

Man, she was good! She didn't show any sign of hesitation either. It was so believable. Then again, I had always been a bad liar. It came almost naturally. Maybe it ran in the family...

"Are you brainwashing her?"

Yes.

"Brainwashing her, sir?"

"Maybe if I take her with me..."

"So what... you can molest her? Are you trying to be alone with my daughter? I'm her father, all right, do you think she would be bright and kipper right now if I was raping her every night? Would she look like this? I don't think so. I'm very offended by your accusations, and I believe that you're the only imagining things that are based perhaps on your own fantasies."

Careful, Cole, he's your landlord.

He looked stunned and he frowned. "Can I look around the-"

Act quick! Think quick!

"Béa, bébé, tu sais le jouet. Subtilement, va le caché, le shnok veux faire un tour. " (Trans: Bee, baby, you know the toy? Subtly, go hide it, the old crone wants to tour the place).

"Ké," she responded in her cute Franco accent.

I turned to the man and said, as Beatrice did what was told of her. Hide the vibrator. Children were good at hiding things, because they went low, where old men couldn't bend.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" I asked, as if I hadn't heard that he had mention a tour.

"What did you tell her?" his broken English asked. I knew they didn't speak much French, if any at all, especially not our awesome Québécois dialect.

"Oh! I asked her to check my room if I had any dirty clothes." I said it loudly. "We're going to make a wash."

"Well, can I see what she's doing?"

"Sir, I'm not following you. Didn't I already tell you that I'm not... Do you want to speak to her privately, to snoop around?"

"Yes. I would like to do both of those."

"All right." I opened the door for him and he came in. No. He was in the space. He couldn't walk into my room. Shit, he couldn't do this.

"Béa! Va dans le salon pi fait une osti d'grosse crise!" (Trans: Bee, go in the living room and make a fucking huge tantrum!)

She came out of my room with a bit of my clothes and dropped them in front of the my door.

"Here's all the clothes, dad!" she said. She looked up at the man and then at me. "Why did you let the man inside?"

"He wants to speak to you alone."

"I don't want to speak to him!" she said, her voice elevating. "I don't want to!"

She jumped onto the couch and started flailing and screaming. It was probably the most hilarious thing I had ever witnessed, but I had to be the good father and calm her down. I couldn't believe how much she was playing with it though. She knew the spaces, she likes the spaces, and her acting probably had a touch of reality in it. She wanted the old shit out of here.

"Bee, calm down. Let the man speak to you, okay? Answer all of his questions with the truth."

She looked at me, pouting, but also wondering. As the man looked at her I shook my head and she looked down, telling me that she got it. Of course not the real truth! He sat on the couch next to her and I grabbed my laptop and went into my room, telling them:

"I'll leave you two alone. If you need to take Bee away for more pointless questioning, just tell me please. She's my only daughter."

I heard their voices and I worried, but at once, I had a certain amount of faith. Unless she was really unhappy, which she wasn't, she would actually take the opportunity to get out of here. She had admitted it herself. I had scraped her out of the dirt, had given her a new home, a new life. I had showed her pleasure when all she had known was pain. It was crazy, almost touching to think about it like that. Finally, the door was knocked on and the man sighed.

"I'm sorry for accusing you wrongly. I... guess I must have been interpreting certain situations wrongly. I won't return for this again."

I nodded and he took his leave, waving to Bee, who didn't wave back. He was gone and I checked the peep hole. I waved her into my room and we sat on my bed and looked at each other. Well... our bed really, because she barely slept in her own anymore. Yes, it was almost every night now that we would perform sexual activities. So the fuck what? We didn't speak, because we didn't know what to say. I took my stand as the adult in the room and said:

"You... saved my ass, Bee."

"It's our secret. I know that I have to keep it a secret."

"Bee, it's more than just a secret... I have to tell you."

She blinked and put her little bare feet on the bed and folded her legs gracefully. I would have been so turned on by her mere body, her beautiful, silky limbs, but I was so worried and determined to let her in on some of the secret's dark corners. This wasn't in the guide, but I loved her too much now to continue lying to her. She was smarter than I had thought. Of course, I had been so indoctrinated myself in the guide, in my own sex.

"Bee, if someone knew about our secret... I would be put into prison and you would never see me again."

"What? Why?"

"Because... people don't think that we should be..."

I got up and felt like punching something. How many of us were there? Consenting individuals with a different age, unable to live outside because of stigma, because some psychologist said it was wrong to bring a child into the world of sexuality bit by bit, without an ounce of violence? Most sixteen-year-olds in Canada lost their virginities because they were drunk and the douchebag in the corner had decided to have fun with her roofied body. If that's not destructive, if that's not violence, then send me to hell.

"Cole? You're angry."

"I'm glad that you're noticing. I'm not angry at you and I shouldn't show anger in this room, but fuck! It's unfair! It's unfair that I can't have you. I love you, Bee, I really do and I want you make you feel all that your human body can feel, give you everything you have the potential to take. You like it when I suck you?"

"Yes."

"You like it when I finger you?"

She nodded, and even smiled.

"And do you like sucking me? Playing with my penis?"

She nodded again. I calmed down and sighed out powerfully.

"So you like pleasuring me?"

"Yes, Cole. So... the man thinks you're my dad?"

"I told him I was your dad because it's a lot less suspicious, because some people automatically have the idea that uncles... touch their nieces, but we're different. See, when you hear of adults doing sexual things to children, they just don't know how to... do it. They end up hurting the child because they are acting too quickly. You know how your vagina's really tight?"

She nodded.

"I took my very sweet time to make sure that it never hurt you when I fingered you or used the vibrator, because I care about you, and I want you to have the best sexual experiences of yours life. I... I'm not asking you to be with me forever, but I feel like if I would separate from you, I would lose a part of myself. I don't know if this is all too much for you to understand..."

"It's a secret because..."

"I'm not allowed by law to touch you sexually."

"By law?"

"Yeah. Touching you like I touch you is pretty much equal to killing someone."

"What?" she frowned. "Because...?"

"You don't have to understand right away, but... I'm telling you. I hate to make you lie to others, but if I we don't devise a few lies and tactics, we'll be separated. You'd have to live in Australia with Aunt Jess, and I would... I would be extremely hurt and I would lose everything, especially you."

"Cole... I'm scared."

"Don't be. We've been totally fine because I'm careful. You don't have to worry a bit about it. When we're in public, just don't mention it or anything and be yourself. Be happy, run and play and we'll go to the park so you can be with other children and play. I want you... Beatrice, I want you to be happy. I would give you the moon if that's what you wanted, but... I wouldn't want to spoil you in that way. I'll make you come over and over again until you can't fight sleep anymore and you drop exhausted on my chest."

She smiled and nodded slowly. "Like now?"

"Are you tired?" I asked her, really naively, for once, it was me who was lost and dazed.

"No..." She reached for the hem of her dress and pulled it off her from the top, revealing her slim, child body. I peeled my eyes over her and desired her with an ever-burning fire. "You're going to make me come over and over again?"

I smirked. "Yeah. I will."

-End of Part 9-