Judge Harris looked over as Jim took the stand. "Mr. Stevenson, you do understand that you aren't required to say anything that might incriminate yourself, don't you?"

Jim nodded, "I do, Your Honor. There is no excuse for what I did, but Nancy suggested that if I was determined to admit guilt, that I should explain the surrounding circumstances." He paused and cleared his throat, before continuing.

"Carole and I adopted Angel two years ago, shortly after she turned five. It was obvious to us and to the state home that she had been raped and abused during her previous stays in the various foster homes, but when we tried to bring charges, we were told it was merely circumstantial evidence, and there was no way of knowing which home did those things to her. Several of the foster parents had banded together to hire some sleazy lawyer, and he managed to convince the court that any allegations Angel made would be those of a disturbed child who had only been abused by her birth parents, so the court sealed the records to prevent a shadow of guilt from affecting any of the foster parents."

The judge looked at him kindly, and said, "You should be pleased to know, I ordered those records unsealed, and there is a THOROUGH investigation looking into ALL of those foster homes, we have some information from Angel, but we are also interviewing any other children who were placed in those homes. Rest assured, we WILL discover those responsible, and bring them to trial."

"Thank you, Your Honor!" Jim smiled gratefully, and continued with his testimony. "The first few months were rough, Angel expected us to hit her if she did anything bad, and couldn't seem to understand that she was with us forever."

The prosecutor raised his finger, and asked, "Pardon me, Mr. Stevenson. Did you or your wife ever hit Angel?"

Shocked, Jim looked at him angrily, and yelled, "OF COURSE NOT! I've loved that child with all of my heart since the first day I saw her in the orphanage, and my wife was the same way!"

The prosecutor smiled in a disarming fashion, and said, "Mr. Stevenson, I'm not talking about abusive hitting, surely you must have given her a swat on some occasion, most parents do! What about grabbing her arm if she was behaving badly?"

Jim frowned and said, "I already told you, we NEVER laid a hand on her. Physical punishment is just not something we'd consider after what she had been through! It was rare that we had to punish her at all, and that was done by talking to her. She was initially a very submissive child, and I suppose we spoiled her a bit, although she never behaved like a brat. We tried to draw her out of her shell, and encourage her independence. She started becoming more confident and outgoing, and was able to begin making friends at school." He paused a moment, then continued.

"It went on this way, and we became a family, Angel loving us as much as we loved her. She became very affectionate, almost NEEDING physical contact, which is understandable, since the only previous contact she had was rape or physical abuse. Everything was fine until... until..." Jim stopped talking and stared numbly at the judge, as a tear trickled slowly down his face.

Judge Harris gave him a moment, then motioned to the bailiff, who brought a box of tissues over to the witness stand. The judge waited patiently as Jim blew his nose and looked at the judge gratefully.

The judge asked, "Do you feel you are able to resume your testimony, Mr. Stevenson?"

Jim nodded, and smiled. "I apologize, Your Honor, sometimes it just hurts so much to think about her. I can go on." He wiped another tear from his eye, and continued, "We'd had Angel for about a year, when we got the news that... that Carole was sick. We tried everything, but she passed away six months later. It hit both Angel and I pretty hard, but Angel was fairly strong about it, and tried to be there for me. She became even more affectionate towards me, demanding constant physical contact, which I was only too happy to give her."

The prosecutor looked up at that, and said, "So, you admit that you enjoyed touching your daughter! Is this when you began touching her sexually?"

Amid Jim's strangled shout of "NO!! There was nothing sexual about it!" Nancy stood up and shouted, "Objection, Your Honor! The prosecution is badgering my client!"

Smirking at her, the prosecutor said, "I withdraw my question, Your Honor." Judge Harris nodded, and motioned for Jim to continue.

"Even though Angel wasn't genetically our daughter, I felt that a part of Carole was in her. My wife and I had taken her from a frightened little girl to a happy, confident child, and I enjoyed giving my love to our daughter, nothing more. Your Honor, I'm NOT a child molester or pedophile! The touching was in no way sexual, it was just normal hugs and kisses, and piggy-back rides, and so on," Jim said.

Continuing, he stated, "Three months ago, I guess Carole's death really started to hit me the hardest. The bills were coming in, the insurance money was gone, and I was struggling to be the sole bread-winner, as well as trying to take the place of Carole as a 'mother' to Angel. I took her to school, made sure she had her meals and ate her vegetables, ensured that she brushed her teeth and took her bath, and did all the other things a parent does for their child. I was working ten hours a day, as well as doing all the cooking, cleaning, and everything that needed done around the house."

"One day, Angel and I were watching some movie on TV while we ate dinner, and a romantic scene came on... Nothing dirty, just some heavy kissing between two fully-clothed people. It just hit me all of the sudden that I'd never have that with Carole again, and I... I slammed my plate on the floor and turned the TV off. Of course, that scared Angel, so I apologized for scaring my little Angel like that, and I told her how I missed her mother so terribly much."

"That night, after I'd put Angel to bed, I began thinking of Carole again, and I.. I tried to masturbate to the thought of my wife, but it felt like it cheapened her memories, so I stopped. I went to sleep with an erection, and I dreamed about Carole during the night. I... I woke up to some wonderful sensations, and my wife was there in the room, straddling my penis and moving up and down. I... I grabbed her hips and pulled her down onto me as I yelled, 'OH CAROLE!!' After I ejaculated, I became fully awake and realized that my wife had died three months prior, and it was actually... Angel... on me! She smiled at me, and asked me if she had helped me to not miss her mommy so much. I was aghast, of course, and quickly pulled her off me and cleaned her up."

"The next morning, I tried to explain to her that it was wrong, and I shouldn't have done that with her. I thought she understood, and I gave her a quick hug and sent her to school. I was wracked with guilt, and over the next few weeks I began drastically curtailing any physical interactions with her. If she'd run around the house in her panties, I'd almost yell at her to go put some clothes on, and I found myself barely able to give her a peck on the cheek when I tucked her in at night. She started becoming more and more withdrawn, and I convinced myself it was because I had become a monster who had raped her, just like the people at the foster homes."

"They called me into her school about a month after that night, and told me that she had been acting up in school, talking back to the teachers and even hitting some of her fellow students. They had a counselor there, and I told her about Carole's death, then she brought my little Angel in, and asked her why she was acting up. She told them it was because I didn't love her any more, and I was going to take her back to the orphanage."

"I was in complete shock at that, and I fell to my knees and pulled her into my arms. 'Sweetie, I love you with all my heart!' I cried, and told her that when Carole and I adopted her, that was because we wanted her to be a part of our lives forever, and nothing would ever change that! She burst into tears at that, and said I hadn't been hugging or kissing her any more. The counselor told me to go home and talk it over with Angel, and show more affection towards her."

"Of course, Angel didn't say anything to the school about that night when we had sex, and I obviously wasn't going to bring it up. I took her home, and we began to talk. I told her it was very wrong for me to have let her do that, but I tried to stress that I wasn't mad at her. I apologized for not hugging and kiss her anymore, but that I hadn't wanted to hurt her."

"She said I had never hurt her at all except when I stopped loving her, and that about broke my heart. I promised her that I had NEVER stopped loving her, and then she asked why she couldn't make love with me like her mommy did, since I said I loved her."

"I tried telling her again that making love was only something for mommies and daddies and people who love each other very much. She began sobbing, and said 'Daddy, I love you very much, but you don't love me anymore! You think I'm bad for doing that with you, you were so sad and I just wanted to make you feel good like when I saw mommy making love with you!' You see, she had come in and seen us one time, and afterwards she asked if we were 'fucking.' We told her no, that word was impolite, and that we were making love."

"Her tears and sobs were wrenching at me, and the thought that I had made my little Angel think that I didn't love her was more than I could bear. Against... against my better judgment, I told her... I said that it was very wrong for a daddy to do that with his daughter, but that I DID love her very very much, and that if she thought the only way I could show her that was by making love with her, then I would!"

"Even then, I wasn't doing it for my own pleasure, although I won't deny that what happened was pleasurable. I... I never meant to hurt her!" Jim paused and stared hard at the floor of the courtroom, then gathered his composure and continued.

"I... I felt that any damage was already done from the years of abuse, and I... I stupidly thought that what I was about to do would give her positive sexual experiences to balance the negative, for when she was older and... and wanting to date someone."

"I told her that if she wanted to make love, we could, but it would have to stay a secret. She immediately stopped sobbing, and leapt into my arms. As she did, she squealed, 'OH DADDY! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!' and she began to plant childish little kisses all over my face. I asked her if she was absolutely sure, and she just ground her hips against my stomach and kept kissing me, so I... I took her in my bedroom and set her on the bed."

"She quickly pulled off her dress and panties, and started grabbing at my pants. I told her to slow down, and had her lay down on the bed. I wasn't sure if a child her age could have an orgasm, although before Carole died, she had mentioned that she found Angel masturbating on a couple of occasions."

"I talked to Angel a bit before I started, and told her the basics about sex, and named some of the parts for her. I asked her to tell me if I hurt her anywhere or did something she didn't like, and she just smiled and said, 'Oh Daddy, you're silly! You could never hurt me!' I got a lump in my throat at that, because she was right. I could never do anything to hurt my little Angel."

"So... I started by gently rubbing her privates, and she just sighed and opened her legs wider for me. After a couple of minutes, she started panting, and I noticed she was getting wet, so I asked her how she felt. She gave me the biggest grin you've ever seen, and said 'Keep going, Daddy!' I rubbed her a while longer, then decided to try something different."

"I kissed her, then let my lips wander down to her chest, where I gave her nipples a few licks and swirls. She giggled at that and told me it tickled, so I moved my mouth on down to her privates. She watched me go, then just said 'Mmm!' when I made contact, and she shut her eyes."

"I kept giving her oral sex for a few minutes, and then she looked at me lovingly and begged, 'Daddy! Please make love with me!' I'm... I'm ashamed to admit that by that point I was rock hard, and when she asked me that, I... I couldn't resist her!"

"I took off my pants, and I asked her if she was absolutely sure. When she nodded, I slowly slid my penis in her, not meeting any resistance. She smiled up at me and said, 'That feels good, Daddy!' so I gently pushed in as deep as I could go, watching her reactions the whole time. She just kept smiling at me, so I... I started having sex with my seven-year-old daughter!"

"I was completely wracked with guilt the whole time, but her smiles of encouragement and little childish moans told me I wasn't physically harming her, so I continued. She was breathing quicker and quicker, and her tightness was bringing me close as well. I told her 'Oh, Angel, you're making me feel so good!', and she giggled and grinned up at me."

"I knew I couldn't hold out much longer, and I reached a hand down to rub her clitoris, causing her to gasp loudly. I... I knew I was going to... to cum, and instead of pulling out, I... thrust deeply into my little daughter, and I... I shot my whole load deep inside her!" Jim paused for a moment, his face burning, then started talking again.

"When... When I ejaculated in her, that must have triggered her own orgasm, and she screamed, 'OH DADDY! It feels so good!' I was amazed that a child her age could orgasm, and I just watched in awe as she convulsed around my penis, her little vagina clenching on it tightly. It almost overwhelmed her, and she just lay there with a dreamy smile on her face as I finally pulled out, and went to get a washcloth to clean her up."

"When I finished cleaning her, she said, 'Thank you, Daddy, when I felt your stuff go in me, I knew I'd made you happy, and that made me feel really happy!' and she jumped up to give me a bear hug."

"I gave her a kiss, and said, 'I will always love my little Angel VERY VERY MUCH, whether we ever do anything again like this or not.' I returned her bear hug, and blew some raspberries on her belly, causing her to giggle."

"Afterwards, I had a long talk with Angel, and told her that making love was a special thing just between us and should never be mentioned to anyone else, or I could go to prison. I also said I wouldn't ever make her do something she didn't want to do, but that I would make love with her any time that SHE wanted to do so. I also told her that I'd be sure and give her hugs and kisses just like I had done before that night she came into my bedroom."

"Amazingly, I got a call from Angel's school the very next day, telling me that she had completely changed, like a switch had been thrown. They said she was back to the happy cheerful child the way she had been before, and that whatever I was doing, I should keep it up! Angel had even gone to the teachers she'd sassed and children she'd hit, and apologized to them! Of course, I didn't tell them what I had done, but I felt like they could sense that I had done it right over the phone lines, and I thought I was going to sink through the floor."

"Excuse me, Mr. Stevenson," the prosecutor interjected, "Could you tell the court how many times you've had sexual relations with your daughter since that time two months ago?"

"Objection!" called Nancy. "My client can refuse to answer that, as it would be self-incrimination!"

Judge Harris looked thoughtful for a moment, and then said, "Mr. Stevenson, it's up to you. At this point, I can say with fair confidence that since you've already confessed to willfully having sex with Angel, the number of times you did so isn't likely to affect the outcome of this trial."

"Thank you, Your Honor," Jim said. "I have nothing to hide, and I don't mind answering the question. Angel seemed content since the hugs and kisses had resumed, and she was doing well in school. I tried to be happier for Angel so that she wouldn't feel obligated to 'make me happy', and in truth I was happier. I was getting a handle on various things, I received a promotion at work that gave me more money and more time with Angel, I had paid some of the medical bills off, or they had even been forgiven by some of the more generous companies, and I had a happy, loving daughter who was making more friends at school."

"Angel came to me about three weeks after that first time, and said she wanted to make love again. She told me that even if I said no, that she knew I still loved her, but she wanted to do it anyway, since it made both of us feel happy. I... I couldn't refuse her, so things progressed about like the first time. Again, she had an orgasm right after I ejaculated."

"This happened two more times, each about two weeks after the previous time. The last one was a couple of days before that teacher overheard Angel's remark. So I guess that's five times total, counting the first time when Angel came in while I was asleep."

"I see," mused the prosecutor, "And how many other times did you initiate sexual contact with her?"

"NONE!" Jim fumed for a moment, then brought his voice down to a reasonable level. "I've already told you, every time was when Angel came to me. That doesn't excuse my actions, of course!"

"You're right, it doesn't!" the prosecutor smirked. "Your Honor, as you've heard, this man has admitted to willfully having sex with his adopted daughter for at least four times in the past two months. I have no further witnesses at this time."

The judge looked inquiringly at Nancy, who said, "I have no questions for my client, Your Honor. I believe that hearing from the child herself may clear a few things up."

"Agreed." Judge Harris looked at the clock and said, "It's getting late, I think it would be best to hear from Angel in the morning. Court is adjourned!"

End of Chapter 03