Lauren -- Tag-Teamed in Taiwan
"Dad, I think there are some things we ought to talk about."
That's what my daughter, Lauren, said to me, five days after she returned home from her seven-month business assignment in Taiwan.
"Or rather, I think there are some things that I need to tell you about."
That sounded more serious. As her father, it put me on alert. My immediate response was concern for my daughter, who is the most precious thing in the world to me. In fact, I remember -- remember
very well
-- some of the phone conversations we had while she was away. And I remember that more than a few of those conversations related to some sexual behavior she'd found herself involved in and her concern over what that behavior was doing to her.
A bit of background, so you'll understand what I'm about to tell you. Lauren and I have been a "couple" for over ten years now, since a few years after her mother-my wife, Sofia, died and left us alone, together. It -- we -- began one rainy night when she was feeling particularly sad and lonely and she asked if she could get in bed with me. After nearly a year of that, the inevitable happened, and we have been "together" since then, in every way. Throughout all these years my precious Lauren has been my wife, my love and my lover, my whore, my piece of ass, my friend, my companion, my confident -- and my daughter.
And I guess she'd have to tell you herself, but during all those years, I have been her husband, her love and her lover, her piece of ass, her friend, her companion, her confident -- and her Dad.
We -- Lauren and I -- share a roomy condo with Jane -- "Janey" -- Lauren's college roommate -- and Matt, Jane's father. They are a couple, too, and have been since my daughter became concerned about Janey's mental well-being and we shared our "secret" with them -- the secret to our happiness, I guess you could say. Based on our "confession," Janey seduced her dad, and since that time they have been together, as a couple, like Lauren and me.
Also, they and we are "close" in most other ways, too; and when the girls graduated college almost three years ago, we decided that we should get a place together and continue the shared life we'd begun when the girls were still in college.
Also, Lauren decided, long ago, that Matt was going to be her man. From the second time she met her roommate's father, she decided that "Matthew" was the only other man in the world who was as good as her Dad, and that they were -- are -- going to end up together. Period.
And that's how my daughter and I happened to be sitting in bed --
our
bed -- when she said those words, about how we had to talk, about things she needed to tell me.
As I said, Lauren was back home after the huge international accounting firm she works for offered her the "opportunity" for a 12-month assignment in their Taipei, Taiwan, office. It was a terrific career opportunity, of course. But it also meant that she would be away from our "family" -- Jane and Matthew -- and me -- for a whole year. With our support and promises of constant contact, she accepted the assignment.
It turned out to be a lot harder -- on all of us -- than we'd ever imagined. The promised trips home never materialized -- the company always seemed to need her for something urgent, always with the explanation, "Perhaps next month."
I was not doing well at all. And when Georgia, my late wife's mother and Lauren's grandmother, invited me to come and stay with her in Houston, Lauren was ecstatic and urged me in no uncertain terms to go and be with her.
And that's exactly what it was -- to "be with her." You see, Georgia and I have a bit of history. Actually, we have a lot of history. I've known her since I was 15 and her daughter Sofia and I were high school classmates; and of course, when Sofia and I got married, she became my mother-in-law.
My hot mother-in-law.
Georgia is a stunningly beautiful woman. Maybe even more beautiful now, over 60, than she was when I first met her in her 30's. I had always been attracted to her, but I didn't know that through all those years she'd had an eye on me, too.
Then about a year and a half ago she had come up to visit us in our new condo. But after she'd been with us only a week, Lauren's company sent her on an urgent assignment to their Rome, Italy, affiliate, and Lauren told -- ordered -- Georgia and me to move in together, in my -- our -- bedroom and to "be with me" and take care of me all during the time that Lauren couldn't. And in so doing, my amazing daughter made sure that her beloved Dad and her remarkable, beautiful grandmother finally got the chance to act on our mutual attraction, and on the deep care and affection we'd held for each other for nearly three decades.
Well, once again, Lauren's employer had sent her away, much farther away, and for a much longer time, leaving me, her Dad, without his -- without his
everything
.
And that's how we got to where we are today -- tonight.
Lauren's first night home was just rest-and-recovery -- from the long flight, and from the long months away from everything that was her life. So that night we cuddled and talked, about how strange it was being without each other, and how good it is to be together again.
I woke up that night feeling a longing for my daughter, but she was simply too exhausted to want anything but sleep.
The third night, Lauren asked if it would be alright if she spent the next nights with Matt -- Matthew. Right now, Matthew is devoted to his daughter, Jane, just as Lauren is devoted to me. But Matthew is Lauren's future. He has no idea that this is the case, of course, because he's just so damned decent and modest. But Lauren knows, just as surely as she knows anything in this world...
But now she is back with me, in our room, in our bed. And it's time for us to talk.
"Dad, I guess there are some things I need to tell you. And by 'need,' I mean, really
need
to tell you.
"Things got a little weird for me when I was in Taipei."
You can't even imagine -- or perhaps you can imagine -- how this hit me. It was like a punch in the gut. But I controlled myself and I waited, because I knew that my daughter would tell me what she needed to tell me, in the way that she needed to tell it.