My niece was staying with me while her parents went on their annual cruise to Europe. Neither of us minded the extra time together as we got along well and always had lots of fun during these shared summers. During her visit last year, Ava had developed a bit of a crush on me. Thinking little of her change in behavior, I treated it as the sort of crush young girls commonly have on their male relations and figured she'd get over it before we saw each other again.
In addition to Ava's gymnastic talents, my young niece had always been a passionate artist, which led to me buying her a digital camera for her thirteenth birthday last month. My house being quite rural, there were plenty of plants, animals, and scenery for Ava to practice her newly found interest in photography on. If only I could have known the consequences this purchase would have...
Today we were sitting on the couch watching some stupid cartoon, with Ava snuggled closer to me than I would have liked, as usual. "Hey, Ava, how come you never show me any of the photos you take with that new camera I got you?"
"Oh... They're not very good yet 'cause I'm just starting out." She always got so shy and cute when I addressed her directly like that. I just wish I didn't have to try and guess if it was a normal shyness I was allowed to adore, or remnants of a crush better left forgotten.
"I'm sure they're not that bad. Besides, everyone's gotta start somewhere; why don't you show me a couple of your favorites tomorrow? I know you've been practicing, I've seen you fiddling with that thing all week."
She blushed at realizing I had been watching her play around with her new toy. "Okay, Uncle ${Name}," she agreed after a few seconds. I thought I caught a glimpse of something mischievous in her eyes before she turned back to the TV, but soon dismissed it as my imagination.
***
Seeing how it was summer break, there was no reason for Ava to be up before noon, and this Saturday was no exception. Making my way down through the silent house, I checked the wall clock and saw that it was almost ten. Coffee first, then maybe I'd make some eggs and wake up that lazy niece of mine.
Opening up a cabinet above the sink, I reached for a coffee mug, stopping when I noticed a Polaroid photo tucked behind one of the handles. Curious, I retrieved the image and held it up to the sunlight which streamed through the kitchen window. I recognized the subject immediately as my niece. She was standing in front of the full length mirror in my guest bedroom wearing nothing but white panties and one of my just as white dress shirts, looking over her shoulder at the camera. Every single button of the shirt was undone, but Ava had turned to the side so that only her left breast was exposed—at least it would have been if not for the arm that was blocking any chance of a direct view.
The look on Ava's face was playful, almost impish; it was clear just from her expression that she had done something she wasn't supposed to do. Her blonde hair was still tousled from sleep, meaning she must have taken the picture some time yesterday morning, probably intending to hide it then before realizing she got up too late to beat me downstairs.
I flipped the photo over and saw Ava's name written across the bottom in black ink. I couldn't help but smirk at the self-indulgent signature which deferred from her normal sloppy scrawl. Turning back to the front, I took one last good look at my niece's face, doing my best not to glance down at the nubile curves of her young body. It was cute how she tried to look sexy by pouting her lips and giving the camera what she probably assumed was a smoldering stare.
Setting the photo down, I retrieved a mug and brewed my coffee, thoughts of cooking forgotten. With mug in hand, I sat at the table, not realizing how long I had spent staring at her picture until I heard Ava coming down the stairs. I shoved the Polaroid into my pocket just in time for my niece to walk in. At least now I knew why she had her parents buy her an instant camera to complement the digital one I had gifted her.
"Morning, Uncle ${Name}!"
"Good morning sleepy head," I responded with forced cheerfulness, trying to act casual despite what I had just found.
"What's for breakfast?" she asked, giving me a face of utter innocence. Oh, so that's how it is, huh, Ava? She knew damn well that her behavior was inappropriate—I could tell by the sly smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. She wanted to be called out on it, wanted to see the expression on my face when I confronted her. Well, if that's what she wanted, she was going to have to try a lot harder than this.
"I was thinking omelets, how does that sound?" I said, returning the smile. If she was disappointed at not getting a reaction from me, she didn't let on.
"Mmm, sounds good! Can I help?"
I nodded my assent, and we worked together preparing our breakfast, neither of us saying another word. While I broke the eggs and began mixing them, I felt Ava move in close behind me, reaching her arm around to grab a fork. There was no physical contact between us, but I could feel the warmth of her body only inches away; it was as if invisible energy was crackling through the air between us.
The loosely-fitting nightgown she wore was light blue and knee-length, not really showing anything off, but all I had to do was think back on her picture and suddenly Ava had transformed before my eyes into a sexual being. In an attempt to rid myself of such thoughts, I moved back a step, lightly bumping into her small frame and causing her to drop the fork with a giggle. I felt the blood rush to my cheeks, knowing she must have caught on to my distraction. "Sorry, sweetie," I said, bending over to pick up the utensil.
"It's okay, Uncle ${Name}." Her tone was deceptively innocent, but I could tell by the mischief in her eyes that she was enjoying making me uncomfortable.
We ate in relative silence, Ava grinning like the proverbial Cheshire cat and making comments about how delicious the food was. After breakfast was finished and the dishes loaded into the dishwasher, she got up and went upstairs without saying a word, leaving me to sit at the table with my coffee and attempt to figure out just what was going on.
I wasn't really angry at her, I was just... confused, and I wondered whether or not I should talk to her about the picture. But, I rationalized, as long as she doesn't take this any further, maybe I shouldn't say anything and just let things die down on their own. That way we can just forget about it and things can stay like they are.
It was only when I went back upstairs to put on some clothes that I realized that wasn't going to happen. There, sitting in plain sight in the center of my bed, was another Polaroid. In the picture, Ava lay stretched out on her stomach with her arms above her head, wearing nothing but a pair of pink panties that seemed to be just a little too tight. The look on her face was playful as usual, but there was also an element of challenge visible, almost as though she was daring whoever saw this picture to try and touch her.
To top things off, it wasn't her bed that Ava posed for me on, but my own. At some point Ava had snuck into my room and staged this photo for me. She obviously wanted me to find this one since she hadn't gone through the trouble of hiding it anywhere.
I looked at the picture again, this time taking in the details of my niece's beautiful young body. My eyes moved along the curve of her waist, drinking in the perfection of her skin. The way her breasts pressed against the sheets made them look fuller than they actually were. Unable to look away from the picture, I found my eyes drawn once more to Ava's face. Her expression was so sweet and demure, and it was this that captured me the most—the juxtaposition of innocence and sexual invitation. When had my little Ava turned into a woman?
***
"I'm gonna go shoot some pictures of stuff outside, Uncle ${Name}," Ava announced, interrupting my reading later that afternoon.
"Alright, have fun! Maybe try that spot in the back by the pond?" I had to raise my voice for it to reach her, because Ava was already out the screen door by the time she finished speaking.
"Ooh, yeah! Thanks for the idea!" Ava called back, her voice growing fainter as she disappeared into the backyard. My house was on several acres of land surrounded by forest, meaning Ava could wander about shooting photos for hours and still not reach the property line. I was confident she wouldn't get lost, so I returned to my book. Or at least, I tried to return to my book. Ava kept popping into my mind for some reason; those seductive poses she struck for her photographs kept invading my thoughts no matter how hard I fought them off...
Ava seemed in high spirits when she came in from the backyard a couple of hours later, eager to show me the photos she'd taken. "Uncle ${Name}, wanna see some of my pictures?" she asked, flopping down on the couch next to me.
"Of course I do."
Sitting next to each other with our legs almost touching, we flipped through the photographs one by one. As I sat there and listened to Ava's soft voice telling me how she had achieved each shot, I became hyper-aware of her presence next to me, and of the fact that she was dressed only in a tank top and a pair of shorts that revealed quite a bit of bare leg.
We looked through so many pictures she had taken of the nature around my yard that I almost missed the one of her kneeling in the garden, bending over and looking back at the camera with a playful smirk. My heart thudded in my chest, but Ava continued straight to the next picture—a shot of a butterfly that had landed on a leaf—and I started to think that maybe she didn't intend for me to see that last one. But, only a dozen or so photos later, there was another that caused my breath to catch in my throat.
This too was of Ava in my backyard. She was lying on her back, her legs bent at the knees and slightly spread, one hand hiding her crotch while the other covered her small breasts. The size of her hand prevented complete coverage however, and I could see just enough of both nipple and areola to cause my pants to tighten. This time Ava didn't skip past it quickly, nor did she mention any techniques used. While I thought my heart was going to explode, Ava seemed calm and relaxed, setting the camera on her knee to stretch her arms, giving me ample time to study the provocative pose in detail.
"So... what do you think of the ones I took in the yard? Are they any good?" She turned to look at me, her face betraying no trace of guilt whatsoever.
"You, um..." I said, still looking at the picture, "You sure do have an eye for composition."
"Here, look at this one," she said, flipping to a photo of a hummingbird hovering in front of a flower. "That's my favorite, I think."
"It's really good, Ava. You've got a talent."
She gave me a bright smile, skimming through a handful of nature pictures before pausing on a close-up shot. It was taken of her lower abdomen. Though all her important bits were obscured by a hand, the most shocking part of the picture was the placement of her fingers—one of them was partially hidden between the lips of her pussy. I gulped, unable to respond.
"Look at this one," she said, holding it closer to my face. "I'm not sure if it turned out the way I wanted it to. What do you think?"
At this point I was terrified, yet unwilling to confront my niece about this behavior. She was asking me to comment on a photo of her fingering herself, and I was too flustered to know what to do. "I... I guess it looks good to me. I don't really know much about photography." I was painfully aware of Ava's shoulder and thigh touching mine.
"What about this one? I love the lighting here," she said, the tone of her voice raising a little in excitement. I glanced down at the screen, noting that the new photograph seemed to be a companion piece to the last, showing a close-up of Ava's face and chest, her lips slightly parted and her expression one of ecstasy.
"Yeah, that one's good. Very artsy." The picture was clearly taken when Ava was in the middle of an orgasm. By now, the tent in my pants was impossible to miss, and my erection throbbed as Ava rested her chin on my shoulder and pointed the camera screen toward me.
"Now look at this one of the pond. Isn't that the most amazing reflection you've ever seen?" Sure enough, the late afternoon sun creating a mirror-like surface that was broken only by a ring of ripples. Those ripples were spreading out around an unexpected addition of liquid from the shore of the pond. In frame, all that could be seen of its source were two small feet, but their owner was very obviously urinating into the water.
"Wow," I responded, unsure of what else to say. "You really did get some great shots today."