Close knit family

She immediately started to look indignant, then realized I was teasing her. After a tolerably good 'why do I put up with you?' sigh, she told me 'Well, I guess I can do that…', trying to tease me back. I just smiled, and held my arm out to her; it didn't take but a few moments before she was standing next to me, with my arm around her. Holding each other close, we went into my bathroom and shared a quick and very friendly shower. Dried off, we went back into the bedroom to get dressed; I was sitting on the edge of the bed when she was done, and she let me pull her over to stand in front of me. She put her hands on my shoulders, and I held her butt in my hands as I looked up at her and said 'I had a nice time with you and your sisters today — not because of the things we did, but just because I always like having all of you around. If I'm not busy with my work, any of you is welcome to come down here and visit, for however long you want, for whatever reason you want. You're all pretty, and fun to be with, and it makes me happy when you're with me. Okay?'

Donna gave me a delighted smile as she nodded her head. Without prompting, she leaned forward so the two of us could share a soft, loving kiss; when it was over, she told me 'I had a nice time today, too, Uncle Ted — and I know Karen and Wendy did, too. I'll tell them you said it was okay to come visit you more often.'

'Thanks, sweetheart.', I told her, giving her ass a little pat on one cheek. Still smiling, she took her hands off my shoulders, turned, and went back upstairs.

The following Friday, we'd finished supper and the girls had all gotten their schoolwork taken care of so that we could have a movie night. Teresa had stopped off at the video store and picked one up — something that I'd seen before. I'd been less than impressed with it, but was willing to stay and watch it with them when I noticed that Karen seemed to be less than wild about it, too.

Recognizing the opportunity, I told all of them that I'd seen it before, and thought that I'd watch one that I'd bought — then told Karen 'If you'd like to, you're welcome to come down and watch it with me; it's something that I think you'd like — it's called 'batteries not included''.

As I'd hoped, she welcomed the chance to see something else, and stood up. I stood, too, and held her hand in mine as the two of us made our way downstairs. She stood patiently as I got everything set up and ready to go; when I stood up from in front of my TV, she asked 'Would it be okay if I sat on your lap?'

'Of course it would, dear', I assured her.

After a brief hesitation, she wanted to know 'Would… would it be okay if we were both naked, too?'

I just smiled, and told her 'I'd like that.' before starting to take my clothes off. By the time I was finished, Karen was standing there nude, waiting for me with a pleased expression on her face. I got myself parked at the end of the couch, and she quickly settled herself on my lap; I put one arm around her, and after starting the movie, got the other one similarly located. The movie was a little slow getting started, but once things started happening, it made for a nice, non-violent, entertaining story. As I'd expected, Karen was delighted with it, and I could see how happy she was as the credits started to roll.

I was happy to hold her on my lap for as long as she wanted to stay there, but she finally told me

'I guess I'd better be going to bed, now. That was a really nice movie, Uncle Ted, and I'm glad I got to watch it with you.'

When she started to get up, I told her 'Karen, if you want to, you're welcome to stay down here tonight. And if you think you'd like to, I'd be glad to have you sleep in my bed, with me.'

She looked at me uncertainly as she asked 'Really? It's okay? You'd let me do that?'

Smiling, I answered 'Yes, really. I just asked you to, so of course I'd let you do that.'

A trifle chastened, she smiled broadly as she answered 'I'd like that — sleeping with you tonight.

It always makes me feel warm and happy when I'm sitting with you, and I know it would be even better to do that.'

She looked at me in confusion when I put my arms under her knees and behind her back, then let out a surprised (and delighted) shriek when I managed to stand up while holding her in my arms.

I carried her to my bed and gently deposited her on it before moving to lay next to her. It was a comfortable evening, and I didn't feel any need to sleep under blankets — or even a sheet. I rolled onto my side, and with minimal direction, Karen got herself spooned against my front. I put my arm around her, and cupped her breast in my hand accompanied by her happy and contented sigh.

As I softly stroked the warm smoothness of her breast with my fingertips, I told her 'Honey, I want to make sure I tell you that I love you. I know that sometimes it must seem like Donna and Wendy get all the attention and everything, but I want you to know that I never, ever forget about you. You're just as special to me as either of your sisters, even if I don't always remember to let you know that. So that's why I was glad to be able to spend time with you tonight — watching the movie together, just the two of us, and having you here with me like this. And I want to make sure you understand that I'm always here for you, no matter what you need or want, or when. If you want to come down and just sit with me sometimes, I'd like that — having you close always makes me happy, and feel better. You know that I didn't have any brothers or sisters, but I think I can imagine what it's like, being in the middle. You're not the oldest, but you're not the youngest, either; and it must seem like you're always being left out of things because of things like that. So I'm telling you that you don't have to feel that way, or think that you're alone. I expect Donna told you this, but I want to make sure that I tell you — you are MORE than welcome to come down here to see me any time you want, for however long you want to stay, and for any reason, or no reason. I like it when you're with me, no matter when or why. If you're happy about something, I'd like to be happy with you; if you're sad, or mad, or hurt, or anything else, I'm here for you.

I'll listen to anything you want to say to me, and I'll answer any question that you want to ask. If you need or want my help with something, then you've got it — that easy, and that simple.

Okay?'

A couple of seconds went by, then she quickly turned over so that she was facing me — and when I saw the tears in her eyes, it nearly broke my heart. I pulled her close to me, then rolled over onto my back, bringing her with me so that she was laying on top of me — and I could put my arms around her and hold her as her warm tears fell onto my chest.

Some time later, I felt her try to push herself off of me; rather than let her go, I asked 'What is it?'

I could hear the embarrassment in her voice as she told me 'I want to dry my eyes… and I need to blow my nose.'

Reaching out to the corner of the bed, I managed to pull the corner of the top sheet up, then over to where we were. Putting it in her hand, I told her 'Here — use this, so you don't have to get up if you don't want to.'

It took her a second to realize what I'd given her to use, but she raised up enough to dry her eyes, and mop up the puddle of her tears on my chest. When she started to move to blow her nose, she stopped, and looked at me. Trying to cheer her up a little bit, I turned my head and made a show of blocking my view of her with one hand. She laughed, and a moment later I heard as she got her sinuses cleared out. Once she was done, she tossed the corner of the sheet back toward where it had been; after laying down on me again, I heard her tell me 'Thank you, Uncle Ted.'

'That's okay, dear. Do you want to talk to me about it?'

A few seconds went by before I heard her answer 'Yeah, I do.'

When she realized that I was patiently waiting to hear what she had to say, she told me 'You were right — sometimes I do feel alone, and left out, and all that. It's not like I'm being ignored, either; it's worse than that, because it feels like I'm being forgotten! If people were ignoring me, then they'd at least have to know that I was there; but the other way, it's like I don't even exist. I know that Donna has to do a lot of things that she doesn't like because she's the oldest; but she also gets to be the first one to do new things or something different, too — and there's plenty of times that I wish that I could be like that. Yeah, the being told to do all that stuff can't be fun -

but the getting to go first can't be bad, either.'

After taking a breath, she continued 'Wendy used to get out of a lot of stuff just because she was the littlest, but not so much, now. But she's still the youngest, and there's plenty of times that she doesn't have to do something Donna and I do because of it — even though there really isn't any reason she should. Sometimes it feels like I have to do everything I don't want to, and don't get to do any of the stuff that I would — it's like, if it's good, I can't have any; and if it's bad, I'm automatically included… and it sucks!'

I just had to smile at hearing what she thought of it, but managed not to actually laugh. I was still paying