The Kings Princess

Chapter 27: The Father and Daughter Talk

Jareth and Desiree sat on the bench still not talking; Jareth stared at the ground a lot, while Desiree looked around the backyard at the flowers blooming.

Jareth cleared his throat; Desiree quickly looked over at him, he looked at her then down at the ground again, then back up at her "I know you never had a mother to talk to this stuff about, but I will try as best I can"

She could tell her father is nervous, but didn't know what about, and then she thought about it "uh… Papa is this about sex"

He looked sharply at her his eyes wide, he swallowed hard, and then he replied "yes it is"

Desiree giggled "I know all about sex"

He was taken aback by her answer "WHAT!"

She smiled at his reaction "don't worry, I never done it. I just read stories about it and talked to Sarah"

"Sarah was a virgin right?"

"Yes she was until you; I just meant that Sarah learned about sex in school. So she taught me"

"Has any guy ever pressured you about sex?" he asked in a fatherly protective tone

"Not here, when I lived with Sarah" she told him

"Who?" Jareth demanded

"I don't remember Sarah went to school with him, his name was Ted or Todd not sure" she tells him

"I will kill this Ted or Todd" he tells her getting angry

"No, dad you won't..." he was about to say something when she held her hand up to stop him "it was two years ago, and I used those defense moves you taught me as a kid"

Jareth beamed "I know those would come in handy"

Desiree smiled softly at him "papa, you don't have to worry about me"

Jareth put his arm around her, bringing her closer to him "I will always worry about you, you are my little girl"

Desiree's eyes started to water "Papa, you did a great job with me, now it's time for me, to go and move on and start my own family"

Jareth smiled sadly and kissed her head lovingly "you really think I did a good job?" he asked as he rested his head on top of hers

"Yes I do, I know grandmother would be very proud of you" she told him

They both thought mournfully of Arlene, she was big part of both their lives and she was gone, and they had to survive without her.

"I just want you to know that if jackal ever hurts you, or pressures you to do something you don't want to do. That I will be here for you" he told her

"I know that" smiles fondly at him "what would you do to him, if he was mean to me?"

"I would send him in the oubliette for eternity"

"Papa" Desiree said with laughter in her voice

"I mean it my princess; no one hurts my little girl"

"So any other advice you have for me?" she asked curiously

"To make a marriage work, don't let anyone interfere" he tells her

"You mean like Stella did with you" she said

"Yes, but she had me under a spell, so I had no choice"

"That bitch"

"Before you met Sarah, you were a good girl. Now you swear a lot"

"Sorry Papa, but Sarah is a good role model" she told him

"With some things" he said

Desiree laughed "I promise never to let anything or anyone come between me and Jackal. I also promise that I will not let him hurt me or treat me bad, and if he does you will punish him" she said as she held her hand up as she made her pledge

"Damn right" Jareth said laughing

They both stood up and hugged he whispered in her ear "I love you princess"

"I love you too Papa" she whispered back

Unknown to them that Sarah was watching the whole thing from their bedroom window crying at the scene before her, she watched them break apart and go their separate ways. Desiree met up with Jackal, Jareth headed back to his room.

Jareth walked in the room looking gloomy. Sarah had her back towards him hiding her face "how did your talk go?"

"You should know you watched the whole thing" he said

Sarah turned around to face him, her face red her eyes puffy "that's not fair, you weren't supposed to know that"

Jareth smiled lovingly at her and strolled up to her, wrapping his arms around her pulling her close to him, she giggled wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Our talk went fine, she told me that you taught her about sex" he said

"Yes, well I was taking sex ed and she was curious about what I was learning so I told her some stuff" she said

"How old was she?" he asked curiously

"Eleven or twelve, I'm not sure" she told him

"Isn't that a little young to know about that" he replied

"Kids learn about it a lot earlier these days, and even have it at that age too" she tells him

"So who is Ted or Todd?"

Sarah looked confused for a moment then thought about it "oh Ted, he was a bit forceful with Desiree"

"Yes, I heard about that, who is he?" he says

"I took Desiree to my friend's house two years ago for a party, and Ted would not take no for an answer from Desiree. He forced himself on her, and she was great, she started to fight him, he left the party with a broken nose."

"Yes I heard about that too, I am glad my daughter, wanted to learn those self-defense moves"

"You taught her self-defense" she said in shocked tone

"Yes, she is my daughter and a princess; I wanted her to be able to defend herself, if she ever found herself in a threatening situation. I even taught her how to use a sword"

"Can you teach me self-defense?" she asked playfully

Jareth knew she meant it but was also asking in a sexual way "sure, I should anyway, you are queen"

"When can we start?" she asked a little too eager

"How about tomorrow" he said

"Great" she said

Desiree met up with Jackal, wiping the tears from her face.

"Are you okay?" Jackal asked worried

"Yes, I'm fine" she said

"Then why are you crying?"

"My father loves me" she told him

"Yes, I know that, everyone does" he told her

"Yes, but I never knew he truly did, I thought he did just because I am his daughter" she said pitifully

"What made you finally realize that he truly loves you?" he wondered

"He threatened to punish you, if you ever hurt me, if he truly didn't love me. He never would have did that" she says sniffling

Jackal swallowed hard "he threatened to punish me"

"yep don't worry, he won't though" she comforted him

He studied her "what else is bothering you?"

She sighed loudly and spoke "I think I am breaking my father's heart, by getting married and leaving him"

"He will get over it; he will have to realize someday, that you are a big girl. And you need to get on with your life" he tells her

"I think he knows that, but he is not ready to let me go yet" she said

"I understand you are a big part of his life, it has been only the two of you for a very long time" he said

"And my dad has been the only man in my life, and now you are" she started to cry

Jackal put his arms around her "are you saying you don't want to marry me because of your father"

Desiree looked up at him wiping her eyes, she wrapped her arms around his neck "no, I just wish it was easy to leave my father"

Jackal kissed her and hugged her tight, she cried against him. He understood how hard it is for both Desiree and Jareth, they were all they had for years, since Desiree was two. Even though Jareth has Sarah and their son, Desiree is still a really big part of his life, he missed her childhood, and he made up for it when she was two, and now here she is engaged. She will be married soon, living with her husband and starting a family, and they would both have to deal with not seeing each other a lot, which would be hard to do, since they were both a constant in each other's lives, always there for each other.