"Are you fucking kidding me," I asked. "It was one thing with you. We grew up together and shared a lot of experiences. Mom, well, that's totally different, Stace."
"Okay, jeez, sorry. I was just brainstorming," she said.
"So, really our options are we use Mel to keep up appearances, I try to fuck Mom, or we give up," I reiterated.
"Shawn, don't be so harsh," she said.
"I'm trying, but I love you and I'm not going to give you up," I insisted.
"I know you do and I love you, too," she said.
"Let's just think things over," I said. "Maybe we can go back home this afternoon and we won't feel pressured to make a decision."
"I don't know if we should go home yet. I don't want Mom here in this empty house drinking herself senseless," Stacey replied.
"I guess that's true," I replied. "She got pretty shitfaced last night."
"Yeah, she did. We should get up and make breakfast for her. She'd like that," Stacey suggested.
"Okay, we can do that," I agreed.
We went to our separate bathrooms to get ready for the day. After I finished dressing, I went downstairs and saw that Mom's door was still closed. I continued to the kitchen to see what there was to cook for breakfast. There were eggs and ham, so I decided to make a breakfast scramble. Mom also had a melon that I could cut up. Stacey joined me and we soon had everything prepared. I left her to finish and went to knock on Mom's door. She didn't answer so I opened the door and peered inside. She wasn't in her bed and I was just about to call to her and tell her that we'd made breakfast when she walked out of the bathroom, naked. She was drying her short, dark hair and oblivious to my presence. She entered her walk-in closet and disappeared from sight. I quietly closed the door and stood outside.
I realized I was still holding my breath. There was no doubt in my mind where Stacey had gotten her sexy body from. There was the obvious age difference between the two of them, but Mom's figure was still firm and shapely. Jesus, I had been ogling my own Mom. Fuck! I knocked on the door and heard her reply.
"Yes?"
"Mom, we made breakfast," I called through the door.
"Okay," she said. "I'll be out in a little bit."
I walked back to the kitchen and saw Stacey look at me.
"What happened to you? You look like you saw a ghost or something," she smiled.
"I just saw Mom naked," I replied.
"Oh, really," she asked, her smile intensifying.
"Hey, stop that. I opened the door to see if she was still asleep and then she just walked out of her bathroom," I explained.
"Do you see what I mean," Stacey asked.
"Stacey, please," I said.
"Okay," she said, rolling her eyes. We picked up the food and moved it to the dining room. Stacey had already set the table, so we sat and waited for Mom to join us. When she did she sat at the end of the table as was her custom with Stacey and I on either side of her.
"This looks good. Thanks. I need to get something in my stomach immediately," she said.
"You're welcome," I said.
Mom spooned some eggs on her plate and forked a few slices of melon. Stacey had poured Mom a cup of coffee, but it sat untouched as she ate. She stood to get up.
"What do you need, Mom," I asked.
"Some water," she replied.
"No, sit down. I'll get it," I said. I walked to the kitchen and got her a glass before I made up a carafe of ice water. With as much wine as she drank the day before, I was sure she was parched. I returned to the dining room to see the two of them eating in silence. Mom took a long drink of the water and thanked me.
When I sat back down, I looked across the table at Stacey. Her expression spoke volumes about the collective mood in the room. I glanced at Mom who hadn't lifted her eyes from her plate as she ate in silence. When I looked back at Stacey I could see the sadness in her eyes and could see she was on the verge of tears. Finally, the silence was broken by the sound of Mom's chair sliding back across the stone tile floor.
"Thank you, but I think I'm full," Mom said quietly. She reached for her plate, but I reached to stop her.
"Mom, it's okay. I'll get it. Don't worry about it," I said. She looked up at me briefly, her face emotionless, before she stood and left the room. I looked back across the table and saw tears beginning to stream down Stacey's cheeks.
Mom: I walked back into my room after breakfast and laid on the bed. I needed the ibuprofen to work as my head felt like it was about to explode. I'd drank too much the night before, which was never my habit, but I felt like I'd needed it to block out the continued downward spiral of my life.
Things began to change not long after Stacey's 17
th
birthday. She had grown up to be a lovely young woman. I was so proud of who she'd become and her aspirations. Thomas was proud of her as well. When Shawn had rejected the life that Thomas had planned for him, he focused on doing everything possible to ensure that Stacey didn't err off the course he had planned for her. He was always overbearing with both of the kids, but it became much more with Stacey.
There were several events over the next few months that troubled me. He'd scheduled a visit with Stacey to a prospective university on a weekend that he knew I would be busy with one of my charity events. He did it again a few weeks later. I confronted him when he'd announced this second trip that seemed to have been planned spur of the moment. He'd tried to lay the blame on me since my schedule was so busy. I reminded him of the many times I'd waited for him, the many times he'd ruined plans because of his schedule. He then said that he'd never really had much one-on-one time with Stacey growing up since he'd been working such long hours. I reminded him that he didn't "need" to work those long hours. My brother's Joe and Robert had taken him on as a partner at the law firm practically the moment he'd passed his bar exam. They'd done it in spite of our father telling them that Thomas was an idiot and if he would have been able to persuade me otherwise, he'd never accepted my marriage to him. Thomas responded that night with his usual bluster that he needed to prove to everyone he was capable. I knew differently. He was useless, but I'd made the mistake and married him. I'd just tried to stay sane until the kids were on their own.
Then, I began to notice the way he'd started looking at Stacey. It was subtle at first, but he became more brazen. He looked at her with a hunger in her eyes. I could see it. When she was out by the pool in swimsuit he would just glare at her. Despite myself, I felt helpless. I could see him undressing her with his eyes, but how would I confront him?
Thankfully, after she graduated from high school, Stacey got an internship with a law firm out of state. It was a college friend of my brother Joe. Thomas had been disappointed to say the least. He'd wanted Stacey in his own office, but I'd impressed upon Joe the need for Stacey to spread her wings and Joe did what he could to sell her on what a great opportunity it was. She'd had a wonderful time and seemed to learn so much during her brief tenure.
I suppose I could have remained quiet when Stacey returned home for two weeks before she left for Harvard. I could have ignored the obvious, but I couldn't. Thomas started going out of his way to spend time with her, but not in the normal way though. He'd make plans with her that she didn't know about and then if she'd already made plans with her friends, he'd try to shame her into spending time with him. One night after he'd pulled that, I asked him if he needed female companionship, why not spend time with his wife. He got very angry and asked what I was talking about. I laid it all out to him and he became even more furious. I ended up telling him to pack a bag and come back when he could be rational and not yell. He was gone two nights and everything was fine the remainder of the time before Stacey left for college.
Still, despite everything with Thomas, nothing could've prepared me for the sight of Stacey and Shawn in the pool the previous day. They hadn't been having sex, they'd been making love. The passionate sort of lovemaking that only people that have a deep love and familiarity with one another shared. I'd stood staring out the patio door for far too long as they'd coupled. As much as I tried, I could not push the images from my mind. It was like they were etched there. Stacey's shapely figure pressed against Shawn. His broad shoulders and back holding and supporting his little sister as he ravaged her. The look on Stacey's face as she'd obviously climaxed.
What could I do about it, though? In my heart, I knew I had to find a way to make them stop. What if someone at school found out? Could they get arrested? What if Melanie found out? Her mother was one of my closest friends. What had happened with Thomas was bad enough, but I always knew that once the kids were grown and gone I would divorce him. I'd never imagined this. My friends had always commented on how great my kids were. What would they think if they'd witnesses what I'd seen the day before? Siblings making love in broad daylight.
I could feel the ibuprofen finally begin to work as I laid there. As my head cleared, I knew I needed advice from someone I could trust. It would have to be Joe. Not only was he my attorney, he was my brother and I knew I could trust him. I reached for the phone and dialed his number.
--
I was still sitting at the dining room table when Mom walked back in. She had her purse and it looked like she was going somewhere. She looked at me quickly and said she was going to meet Uncle Joe about the divorce.
