Disclaimer: All sexual activity described in this story is between fictional characters over the age of 18.
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I awoke in the morning to the sensation of my arm being trapped between two bodies, another body behind me, firm breasts pressing into my back through a layer of fabric.
I opened my eyes, and recognized Annie's blond hair in front of Mom's brown hair, a nightshirt covering her body. That meant that Marissa was the one behind me. I turned my head to confirm it, seeing Marissa's dark wavy hair first, then recognizing one of my old tshirts that Annie had taken from me when I had outgrown it.
From that glance, Marissa certainly looked better in it. As beautiful as I think Annie is, Marissa had her beat in the curves department during their teenage years. Marissa had one of those bodies that develops early and you worry will get plump once puberty ends. She had already taken to workouts to combat that, once her height topped out at 5'6". Now she was just gorgeous in the curvy-fit way that comes from both aerobics and weight training.
I was trying to figure out in my head whether I might have asked Marissa out for a date on my own, when she whispered, "Good morning, Tyler. I hope you don't mind that we joined you."
I whispered back, "I don't mind. I rather think I could get used to this."
"I hope so," she said. "I love Annie already, it won't take much for me to fall for you and Shelby, too."
I said, "Let me see if I can get my arm free without waking these two up, then we'll go get breakfast started for them."
"Your blueberry pancakes?" she asked, as I managed to slide my hand free from under Mom's boobs without waking her. Marissa had been our overnight guest many times and had eaten my favorite food several times when I'd made a batch on a Saturday or Sunday morning.
"If my mom has the ingredients," I responded, as first Marissa and then me rolled towards the side of the bed and off of it. I was glad I still had my underwear on. Having Marissa see me naked again didn't seem appropriate for the morning before a first date with her.
There weren't any blueberries in the refrigerator, but there were chocolate chips in the pantry, so I decided to make chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage. I got the sausage in the skillet first, started a pot of coffee, then started cracking eggs, both into the pancake mix and separately for the scrambled eggs.
Marissa just sat at the kitchen table and watched me work. I could tell her eyes were taking in my physique and felt flattered by it. Even a day before, I probably would have felt embarrassed to be standing in my underwear in front of her. A lot had changed.
Somewhere during simultaneously cooking the pancakes and stirring the scrambled eggs, Mom and Annie joined us, pouring themselves mugs of coffee and joining Marissa in watching me cook. "Not going to help out at all?" I asked.
"Nope," replied a grinning Annie. "I haven't had one of your breakfasts since the morning of my birthday. Yesterday, my birthday wish came true."
Marissa giggled. "Last night, mine did."
"A couple of horny girls, blowing out candles, wishing for sex," I said.
Annie said, "Actually, my wish wasn't for sex, it was simply for you to love me the way I love you. As a prerequisite for asking you to be my lover, I admit."
"I already did love you, sweetie," I said. "I just needed to admit it to myself and to you."
"My wish was the same, except it was for Annie to love me," Marissa said. "I thought sex was too big a wish to make. Maybe if I had made it and made a move on Annie earlier, getting involved with Gary could have been avoided."
Mom said, "A couple times yesterday, the point was made that sometimes things turn out the way they're meant to, even if there are some hard things to take along the path to it. If I had known the way my marriage would end, not getting married to John would have meant Tyler wouldn't exist, and probably not Annie, either. You getting tricked by Gary led to Annie and I becoming lovers. Then Tyler coming home early led to the three of us making love yesterday and you confessing your feelings about Annie after walking in on us when you did. Would the four of us have been sleeping in the same bed this morning, if things had gone any other way?"
"I just regret it, Shelby," Marissa said.
Mom reached across the table to put her hand over Marissa's. "In my experience, regrets and resentments result from not letting go of an expectation that didn't get met, whether or not the expectation was reasonable to begin with. You expected sex with Gary to lead to sex with Annie, the same day. Instead, it took almost another month for the two of you to hook up, because of a chain of events that started with Gary, pushing Annie and me together, then Tyler with both of us before leading you and Annie back together. If you can let go of the original expectation you had, I bet the regret will disappear with it. In the end, you did get what you wanted, just on a different day and with some heartache and betrayal by Gary mixed in. Would the same things have happened if you had turned Gary down?"
Marissa sighed, then said, "You're right, Shelby. Thanks for making that clearer."
I flipped the last of the pancakes onto half of a serving platter and pushed the scrambled eggs onto the other half, then put the sausages in between.
"Breakfast is served, mademoiselles," I said, in a horrible French accent, as I placed the platter on the table, before refreshing my coffee cup and sitting down. Syrup and extra chocolate chips were already at the table. Everyone dug in and soon the only sounds were forks scraping against plates and chewing.
"I think I like the blueberry pancakes better," Marissa said, as she finished a small serving first.
Mom teased me, "Somebody came home early, before I could buy him any blueberries. I was planning on a shopping trip later this morning."
"I wouldn't have walked in on the three of you, otherwise, so I won't complain," Marissa said.
"The door was locked, before Tyler opened it," Annie said. "So, you wouldn't have walked in on the two of us, either. I'm glad it turned out the way it did. I just hope the rest turns out the way I envision, between you and Tyler and eventually you and Mom. It feels right."
Mom said, "While we can't know the future, intention and expectations do matter. Optimism will get you closer to the future you want than pessimism ever will. Believing you will fail can trick you into meeting that negative expectation. Rather than protecting you from something you fear, it's self-sabotage."
"Wow, that's pretty deep, Mom," Annie said.
"Too much for breakfast banter?" Mom asked, laughing at herself.
"Maybe a little," Annie answered. "I do know what you mean, though. I came to basically the same realization last year, during the whole guardianship process. I swore to myself to stay optimistic. It's helped in a lot of areas. I doubt I would have dared talk to the judge like I did, or kissed you a month ago, if I had let pessimism stop me."
