The gravel crunched under the tyres as I pulled the car onto the side of the road. As the car slowed, I reached forward and turned the engine off, content to let the car coast to a halt. Once I'd stopped, and pulled the brake on, I lay back in the seat and closed my eyes. I let out a deep sigh, and wondered for the hundredth time if this visit was really such a good idea.
I opened my eyes slowly, and looked across at the entrance to the driveway leading to the house. Although it five years since I'd left for the last time, everything seemed just as I remembered it. The iron gates were still there, the high wall, the avenue of trees leading up to house. I could just make out the roof of the house in the distance. I wound the window down, and breathed in the fresh sea air that blew in from the coast only a mile away.
I shut my eyes again, and let the memories come flooding back. We'd moved here six years ago, a couple of years after Dad had died. I was very close to my Dad, until he went to work one day and didn't come back. One minute we were doing everything together, the next he was gone, his car hit by a truck driven by a drunk driver. Suddenly, my world was torn apart. Mum was great, and did her best for me, but it wasn't the same. For a while I really went off the rails, but Mum was always there for me and gradually we got our lives back together.
About nine months after Dad had died, Mum met someone else. At first I was numbed by it. How could she? But I soon saw sense, and after Mum and Jack were married, we moved to the house I was sat looking at. Mum had really landed on her feet. Jack was rich, seriously rich, with the house, cars and swimming pool to prove it. The house was only a couple of miles outside of the town were I'd grown up, but still felt pretty isolated. Although I stayed on at the same college, I gradually felt myself becoming distanced from my friends. Suddenly, things weren't the same as before.
But that wasn't the real problem. The real problem was the others. Jack was okay. He tried hard, and welcomed me into his family. In the end, we got along really well. But Jack had three children from a previous marriage. There was Mark, who was a year or so younger than me, and two girls – Emma and Lucy. They were a couple of years younger than Mark. Emma was the elder of the two by about a year. They were spoilt rotten, and only seemed happy if they were making my life a misery, and by the time I finished college I was only too happy to get away.
So, at eighteen, I had left home, travelled for a few months, and then gone to University, before settling down to some serious work. Until today, I had never returned. It had always seemed easier to stay away, to stay with friends during holidays, to find work elsewhere. I had stayed in touch, and now saw Mum every few months or so. We met in town, or she came up to see me. Mum had blossomed, and loved her new life, so I was really happy for her. She told me that the girls had grown up, and had changed, but I'd never really had the urge to go back. Until today.
Mum had asked me to come back, just for a few days, for her. Jack was throwing a big party to celebrate her forty fifth birthday. I remember smiling when Mum had told me this.
"I know," she'd said, "It sounds like a pretty weak excuse for a party, but I'd really like you to be there. For me."
How could I refuse? It turned out that there was more to it than that. It was Jacks birthday in a few weeks time as well, and he had just completed a big business deal. So, it seemed that between them they had a lot to celebrate.
Mark would be there, as would Emma and Lucy. It would be good to see Mark again. He was in his last year at University, and in the end we had got along okay. But the girls? If they were anything like the dumpy, spoilt brats they had been when I last saw them, then the next few days were going to be a real pain. I grimaced, muttered to myself about doing this for Mum, and started the engine up again.
The engine sounded throaty, just how I liked it. The car was a bit of an extravagance, but I was doing okay in my job, so I enjoyed the little two seater sports car while I could. The wheels spun as I crossed the road to the entrance to the driveway. The gates opened for me, and I drove slowly up towards the house. It seemed even bigger than I remembered. The gardens seemed to go on forever, with a tennis court off to one side. I knew that the swimming pool was out of sight, at the back of the house.
Even as I pulled up at the front of the house, the door was flung open and Mum was rushing out to meet me. I switched the engine off, and got out of the car just in time for Mum to throw herself into my arms. We hugged, and then I held her at arms length. She really did look good. Her sun tan and short blonde hair really suited her, and it was clear that she was looking after herself. Even I noticed how her tee shirt and shorts clung to her.
I grabbed my bag from the car, and let Mum lead me indoors. Jack met us in the hallway, and seemed genuinely pleased to see me. I'd seen him a couple of times a year since I'd moved away, and I knew that he was sorry for how things had worked out, and felt a bit responsible. I didn't see that it was really his fault, and had told him so on many occasions. Perhaps he just felt that if he hadn't spoilt the girls so much, things would have been easier for us all.
We went through to the kitchen and sat around chatting over a cup of coffee. Mark, Emma and Lucy were all in town, and wouldn't be back until after lunch. I guessed that this was deliberate, and I was grateful – it at least gave me time to get used to being back, before I had to face them.
After that, Mum said that she would show me around. At first I thought that her comment was a bit odd, until I realised what the "few changes" Jack and Mum had mentioned really meant. Downstairs, it looked like just about everywhere had been redecorated, and a couple of smaller rooms had been knocked through to open the area up a bit.
As we stood looking out over the pool from the huge lounge, I could see that changes had been made there as well. The pool itself was just as I remembered it – big and warm, with steps at one end, and a small diving board at the other. The pool was surrounded by a patio, with the usual collection of chairs and loungers. But off to one side, a hot tub and shower area had been added. This was behind a screen with windows cut into it.
I grabbed my bag from the hallway as we headed for the stairs. I followed Mum up, my eyes drawn straight away to the way her ass rocked from side to side in her tight shorts. It looked gorgeous. What was I thinking? I shook my head, smiling ruefully to myself. It wasn't even as if I usually went for older women. But there was something very sexy about my Mum! I glanced behind me at Jack. He grinned back at me. I blushed and turned away, panicking for a moment at the thought that he might have realised what I had been looking at.
Upstairs, the house sort of split into three parts. Mum and Jack had some rooms in the middle part of the house, overlooking the drive and gardens. These hadn't changed much – they just seemed even bigger than I remembered! At one end, Mark, Lucy and Emma had their rooms. The big change there was that Emma and Lucy had had their rooms knocked into one. It was huge now, with two big double beds and loads of wardrobes dominating the room.
My room was at the other end of the house. Mum opened the door, and then stepped aside to let me go in first. It was exactly as I had left it five years early. Mum came and stood beside me.
"Welcome home," she told me.
