Lucy hadn't stopped by to see her mother for nearly a month. Being an attractive young woman with a promising career, she had learned quickly that free time was a rare commodity. During the first year after she had moved out from her parent's house, Lucy had been so preoccupied with her own new life that she had precious few moments to spare. When her father Bill had passed suddenly from a heart attack, the guilt from not seeing her parents pushed Lucy much closer to her mother.
Bette, Lucy's mother, had become painfully accustomed to her daughter's gradual disappearance from her life. In her heart, Bette knew that it was simply a case of Lucy trying to establish her own life. Lucy needed a bit of time to get her career off the ground; she needed to concentrate on becoming an active adult. Their relationship had always been a close one, so she knew that sooner or later, Lucy would once again be an active part of the family. When Bill passed, Lucy had made a conscious effort to once again establish her relationship with her mother. They had grown much closer, speaking frequently on the phone. Lucy had even made a point of trying to visit at least weekly, at least until recently.
As it happened, Lucy found herself meeting with a business client late one Friday very near her mother's house. After the meeting, she met a few friends for dinner and drinks. Feeling a little too tipsy to drive, Lucy opted to take a cab to her mother's.
Unannounced and slightly buzzed, Lucy pushed her key into Bette's front door and then entered the spacious house. Making herself at home, Lucy kicked off her shoes, dropped her purse, and found her way to the kitchen. On the counter, Lucy found a half empty bottle of merlot. Giggling with the knowledge that her mother had never had a very high tolerance for alcohol, Lucy poured herself a glass and began to wander about the house, searching for her mother.
Making it up the stairs to the bedroom, Lucy heard the shower running through the closed door. Cracking the door slightly and poking her nose in, Lucy announced to the air, "hi Mom, I'm home!"
In a slightly startled voice, Bette took a moment to respond, "oh hello dear, why don't you go downstairs and help yourself to a glass of wine. I'll be right down."
Closing the door again, Lucy simply sat down on the bed, having already gotten a glass of the dark liquid. Taking a sip, she noticed that on the nightstand next to her was a small bag, approximately the size of a student's backpack. Absentmindedly she toyed with the bag, twirling the zipper in her fingers as she listened to her mother rustling about in the other room. Taking another sip, she curiously unzipped the bag, peering inside.
Opening the door a moment too late, Bette walked into the room to see her daughter Lucy curiously holding a rather menacing looking butt plug in one hand, and a glass of what appeared to be the merlot in the other. The plug was black in color and somewhat sizeable, flaring out dramatically in the middle. The base of the plug, which served to prevent it from becoming lost inside its user's body, also had a rather large suction cup attached to it. The glass of wine, equally dark in color, had been mostly consumed in one big gulp upon the discovery of the plug.
Their eyes met only briefly, expressions of shock and embarrassment obvious on both faces. Lucy hurriedly stuffed the toy into the bag as Bette simply retreated back to the safety of the bathroom, closing the door without a word being said. Unsure of what else to do, Lucy quickly found herself back in the kitchen, refilling her nearly empty glass.
After a torturously long ten minutes, Bette braved the stairs and met her daughter in the kitchen. Aside from the fact that the first bottle of wine had disappeared only to be replaced with a newly opened one, nothing seemed amiss. Lucy had filled her own glass and left another one full for her mother. Bette picked it up with a lightly shaking hand and took a small sip as she sat down at the table across from her daughter.
Lucy broke the ice by beginning to make small talk about work, and about the friends that she had just met for dinner. Bette responded by pursuing that line of conversation, eager to put the embarrassing moment behind her. After an hour of chatting, snacking, and drinking, Bette was finally comfortable in her own skin again. She had nearly forgotten the horrific embarrassment that had overtaken her when she walked out of the bathroom earlier. Her husband's sudden departure from her life had left her as an attractive woman in her early forties. Only a few years prior, she and Bill had begun to truly explore each other's sexuality with various deviant behaviors. With him gone, she had been left with a fertile imagination, a bundle of toys, and nothing else but frustration. Feeling that she wasn't ready to try to date again, Bette had little recourse but to simply try to amuse herself in private. Naturally, some of the kinks that she had discovered with Bill had kept creeping into these amusements.
Lost in thoughts about her husband, Bette nearly missed Lucy's quiet question. "What was that, dear?" she asked.