Unexpected Gift

"I'm excited!" Paige enthused as the plane began to make its descent toward the runway. "Aren't you excited?"

Allison tore her gaze away from the window long enough to glance at her sister. It had been a long flight across the country, and everyone on the plane was tired. Everyone, it seemed, except Paige, who always seemed enthusiastic and upbeat about everything. Allison wouldn't have minded, had it not given Allison a reputation as the "negative one" in the family ever since both of them were teenagers.

"I'll be happy when we land and I can get a latte and something to eat that isn't a seven dollar tuna sandwich," she said.

Paige stuck out her tongue, brushing long pale hair behind her shoulders. Paige was twenty-one and still (as far as Allison was concerned) dressed like a teenager: jean shorts, crop top, sunglasses perched on top her head. Allison, at twenty-five, was trying to look the part of the sensible older sister: blonde hair curled and styled, sensible skirt and blouse with a light jacket. To be honest, Allison didn't understand how tiny, slender Paige wasn't freezing on the air-conditioned plane.

"Come on," Paige said. "We're getting to see Mom and Dad again. We get to see the old house. You've got to be at least a little excited for that."

"Mom and Dad are separated, Paige. They're probably getting a divorce. Dad's living in the house by himself, and God knows where Mom's living. This trip has all the makings of disaster."

"You're so fucking negative," Paige announced.

"You'd better curb that mouth around Mom. You know she doesn't like swearing."

"So, I'll get it out of the fucking way now."

Allison rolled her eyes.

Moments later, the plane hit the runway. Paige had her phone out and started texting even before the captain started talking over the intercom.

"Dad's waiting for us at the luggage claim," she said. "Come on, sis. This is going to be fun!"

"Great." Allison managed a weak smile. She wanted to be excited about this trip, but she couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. She hadn't yet told anyone, not even Paige, about losing her job at the marketing company. With their parents split, the house half-empty, and her without a job, Allison couldn't feel much to be excited about. Her vision of the future seemed uncertain, hazy, and not that encouraging. She wanted to make this birthday special for her dad, but feared it might end up a disaster.

#

Their father, Craig, stood waiting for them at the luggage claim, just as Paige had said. Allison hadn't been home in three years, and was glad to see he hadn't changed that much. Now in his early fifties, his hair had run a little to gray, but he still had the broad frame and muscular build his job in security demanded. He'd begun to grow some stubble, which wasn't a bad look for him, especially with the leather jacket and jeans. Allison wondered if he still had his motorcycles in the garage.

"Daddy!" Paige chirped as soon as she saw him, and ran into his arms. He laughed and picked her up effortlessly, giving her a bear hug. Paige kissed his stubbly cheek.

"Hey, pumpkin. How was your flight?"

"Long. Allison took the window seat. I was so bored."

"You could have had it if you wanted it, Paige," Allison said, annoyed that already she was defending herself for something. She stepped forward and pulled her father into a hug. "Hi, Dad."

"Hey, sweetheart. Are you two hungry? Do you want to eat?"

"God, yes," Allison replied.

"No," Paige said at the same time.

Craig chuckled. "Well, why don't we take a cab downtown and find somewhere to grab a bite, and then we'll head home?"

"Sounds great, Dad." As they waited to get their bags, Allison studied her father surreptitiously. He looked tired, and even though he laughed and joked with them as they waited for their bags, she could see the deep unhappiness and discontent underneath.

While Paige chattered about her experience about Coachella, Allison put her hand on her father's arm and smiled at him. He smiled back, but the pain in his eyes didn't go away.

#

"So, Dad, what's the deal with you and Mom?" Paige blurted later as they sat around a high table at a local eatery.

Allison winced and put down the wrap she'd been eating. "God, Paige, you're so inappropriate."

Paige made a face and a put-upon hand gesture. "What? I can't ask a question?"

"It's all right," Craig said. "Your mother and I are separated right now. Things are... difficult and complicated."

Paige played with the straw in her drink. "Are you going to get divorced?"

"I don't know," he said. but Allison saw his entire body slump slightly. "It's possible."

"Where is she living?" Allison asked.

"She has a little apartment," Craig said. "It's just temporary. I guess. I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen, girls, I'm sorry."

Paige took his hand and squeezed, her eyes full of sympathy. "It's okay, Dad. It's going to be okay. We love you."

"Yeah," Allison said, taking his other hand. "Whatever happens, we'll always love you."

He smiled, and for a moment, his spirits seemed to lift. "Thank you, girls."

#

The house turned out to be even more depressing than Allison expected. Everything was literally half-gone: the furniture, kitchen utensils, one of the televisions. It didn't seem like the stuff of a temporary separation to her... but then, Allison had never gotten serious enough with a boyfriend to move in with one.

Allison and Paige took their bags to their old bedrooms, which had since been converted into guest rooms. Their mother, Jane, wasn't one to stand on sentiment, and their teenage belongings had been stuffed into boxes and put away less than a year after they'd each moved out. Allison unpacked her clothes, hung them up in the closet, and arranged her toiletries in the bathroom, trying to settle her mind.

As she put away the last of her things, she heard Paige's raised voice in the next room, talking to someone on the phone. She couldn't make out the words, but Paige's voice grew louder and louder until it reached a crescendo of "Fuck YOU!" A few moments later, a knock sounded at her door.

"Come in," she said, and Paige walked in, face red, cheeks damp.

Allison stopped what she was doing. "Paige, what's wrong?"

"My boyfriend," Paige said. "We broke up."

"Oh no! What happened?"

"He's going to this EDM festival without me and taking my friend Breanna. My fucking ex-friend. She texted me and told me he sent her dick pics and wanted to hook up with her after the show. Like, gloating over it, sending me smilies. They can both fuck off."

"Wow," Allison said, touching Paige's arm. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Paige sniffled. "He was a piece of shit anyway. They both are. I just-"

Tears trickled down Paige's cheeks, and Allison led her over to the bed. They sat down next to each other, and Allison took her hands.

"Talk to me," she said.

"Everything's just falling apart," Paige moaned. "Mom and Dad splitting up, my boyfriend cheats on me, I didn't get the scholarship I wanted. Everything fucking sucks."

Allison smiled ruefully. "Tell me about it. Don't repeat this, but I lost my job. They laid me off."

Paige winced. "No, are you serious? What are you going to do?"

Allison shrugged. "I have enough savings that I can live for a little bit and try to find another job. But if it doesn't work out... shit, I might have to move back in here. That thought doesn't thrill me."

"God," Paige said. "What a mess."

"I know. I wish there were something we could do to fix it."

Her sister offered a wan smile and stroked her forearm. "You'll think of something. I don't just mean the job. I know you'll find a way to get Mom and Dad back together. You've always been the fixer in the family."

Allison cringed. "Paige, this isn't like fixing the family car or finding a lost dog or something. Mom and Dad are separated. There might not be any fixing it."

"No," Paige insisted, her expression desperate. "I know you will. You always do."

"Don't put that on me."

"At least try," Paige said. "I'll help in whatever way I can. Please?"

Allison sighed. "I'll do what I can, Paige, but I'm not a miracle worker."

"Thank you, sis." Paige hugged her tight and kissed her cheek. "I know you're going to solve this."

#

"Your father and I are not getting back together. I'm sorry, but there's no way."

Allison watched as her mother Jane knocked back her second gin and tonic of the night. They sat at a dark corner table at Blake's, her parents' favorite bar. Once, in their youth, it had been a dive. A change in the neighborhood had brought money and renovation, and now it apparently catered to tech entrepreneurs and hipsters. But her mother apparently still came here to drink.

She stirred her own drink, trying to think of a way to continue this conversation. She'd talked Paige into staying at the house with Dad for the night while she took Jane out for a drink. If she really was going to "fix this," as her sister insisted, she couldn't do it with Paige's raw emotional pleas happening every two minutes.

Not that she thought it would help, anyway - Allison was in marketing, not psychology, and she doubted her ability to argue a failed marriage back into being with logic and facts. But she'd promised her sister she would try.

"I know that's not what you want to hear," Jane continued. She, like her daughters, was blonde and trim, her body finely muscled from hours at the gym. She was bustier than Paige and more athletic than Allison, but the golden hair and blue eyes were the same, her elegant features accentuated by the lines of age. Allison thought, with a little jealousy, that she looked better in a basic black dress than Allison herself ever had.

"Okay, Mom," she said, putting her best diplomatic voice to work. "I hear you. But why, though?"

Jane sighed softly. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

"It's complicated, and it involves things you may want to hear."

"I'm not a kid, anymore, Mom. I can handle complex ideas and unpleasant things."

Jane finished her drink and silently signaled the waiter for another. "Fine. But just remember you asked."

Allison nodded. "Go ahead."

Jane pushed her drink glass away and sat back in the leather booth. "Your father and I broke up because of sex."

"Okay," Allison said hesitantly. "What about sex? Not enough of it? Too much?"

"There's no easy way to put this. Your father's sex drive is voracious, and his propensity for outlandish fantasies is endless. I thought he would settle down as he got older, but he hasn't. It only became more... severe."

Allison still felt a few steps behind, but took a moment to process this. Okay, she thought. So Dad's a perv. Not the worst thing a father could be. "Severe how? Did something happen?"

The waiter came with Jane's drink. She took a healthy slug as soon as it was in her hands. "Nothing 'happened,' Allison. He didn't cheat on me, as far as I know. Although there were some activities..."

"What?"

Jane sighed again. "There was this girl, a year ago. About the same age as Paige. In college. She came to the door fundraising for some political thing or other. Apparently she was quite taken with him. Had a thing for older men. She got his email from the petition and started talking to him. He didn't hide it from me. In fact, he was very up front about it. He asked me what I would think if they had sex. I said I didn't care."

"Mom!"

"Well? I didn't. I love your father, Allison, but I'm just not that interested in sex anymore. Not interested at all, really. And that was making your father very unhappy. I thought maybe if he got it out of his system with this girl, things would get better. But they didn't."

"So, he went through with it? They had sex?"

Jane waved a hand. "Oh, yes, many times. He took vacation time, for God's sake. She'd come to the house after her classes and they'd do it all over the house. He'd tell me about it afterward, like I wanted to hear it. From what I understand, she was very fond of calling him 'Daddy.' She'd go naked around the house while he was fully clothed, which your father is very fond of. There's a name for that, I forget what it is. She'd also break things in the house so he would punish her-"

"Okay, maybe I don't need all the details," Allison said.

"They had sex in Paige's bed a number of times," Jane continued. "I guess she spent a number of encounters tied to it."

Allison put her hands over her ears. "Mom! I get it."

Jane shrugged and took another drink. "Anyway, it didn't last. She enjoyed her time with him, and then she was done. That was when things started to go downhill, Allison. First, he turned all his attention back onto me, and was angry and sad when I wasn't interested. He became obsessed with that girl for awhile. Then he became so dejected... I just couldn't take it anymore."

Allison stared at the table, trying to take this all in. "So, that's it? Your marriage is going to end because he wants to have sex with you?"

Jane's expression turned weary and sad. "It's not quite as simple as that. But that's the core of it, yes. I told him he could go find someone else, several someones if he wanted. But he doesn't want to date or see escorts. He says he wants something 'real,' whatever that is. I think he's going through some sort of crisis where he has to feel, I don't know... virile or vital. And I can't give him what he needs."

"But is that worth breaking up over?"

"I"m sorry, sweetheart. If I knew how to fix it, I would. It's not that I don't love him. But I can't satisfy his physical needs, and he doesn't want to try to meet someone else, even with my permission. I don't know what else I can do."

Allison finished off her own drink, feeling dejected and frustrated.

"Maybe Paige should have sex with him," she said. As soon as the words came out, she clapped her hand over her mouth. Her mother was staring at her with an expression that was part stern, part thoughtful.

"Mom, I'm sorry. It's the alcohol talking."

"It's fine, Allison. To tell the truth, you may not be entirely wrong."

Allison sat in silence for a long moment, trying to figure out if she'd just misheard. "Sorry, what?"

Jane sipped her drink slowly, as if pondering. "I mean to say, your father has certain fetishes. He likes younger women - although I suppose most men do. A romp with Paige might be the thing to shake him out of his depression."

"You're talking about Dad. That's his daughter. What the fuck?"

"Don't swear in front of me, Allison," Jane chided. "You know I don't like it."

"Sorry, Mom. But still-"

"Yes, I know. I didn't say it was a good idea. But you know he loves you girls, and Paige is an adult. As long as they're careful and no one finds out, I don't see the harm, necessarily."

Allison stared, feeling like she'd just been punched in the face. Was her mother serious? No harm? They were talking about incest. Was that one of her dad's fantasies?

And if so, had he ever thought about her, Allison, that way?

She pushed the thought aside for the moment. "You think Dad would do that?"

Jane made an amused face. "Oh, Allison, sweetheart, I'm fairly sure he'd take only a little convincing."

So that answered the question of his fetishes, she was pretty sure. She tried to absorb it fully, found she couldn't. "What makes you think Paige would do something like that?"

"Honey, your younger sister has the sexual morals of an alley cat. Not that I mind. But I read her blog. I know what she gets up to."

"You know about her blog?"

"I know about a lot of things, sweetheart. To tell you the truth, I think Paige would think of it as just another 'interesting experience.' Although I suppose it's unlikely she'd blog about it."

Allison sat back in the booth, her head spinning. This was not how she'd expected the conversation to go. She wasn't sure how to process any of what she'd just heard. Part of her thought her mother was crazy... but another part of her wondered if her mother might be right. But a question bubbled up in her mind and refused to go away until she gave voice to it.

"Mom... if you think Paige would go for something like... what we said... what makes you think I wouldn't?"

Jane smiled. "Oh, sweetie, you were always the sensible one. Paige is impulsive and wild. You like to play it safe. And there's no shame in that."

"Right," Allison said. She tried not to look irritated. Play it safe? Her mother said those words, and Allison only heard "boring and predictable." It rankled her, even though she knew it shouldn't. There was nothing wrong with being sensible and planning ahead. Besides, what her mother was talking about was flat-out insane.

And yet...

Growing up, Craig had always taken good care of both of them. He'd always been gentle and respectful, only being firm when their behavior called for it. He'd been an amazing father: kind, sweet, a man who set a good example. It pained Allison to see him in such low spirits, to see him so defeated and dejected. If there was something his daughters could do help bring him out of his funk, and show their love at the same time, didn't they have a responsibility...?

Um, no, the sensible part of her brain answered. There's familial responsibility, and then there's whatever this is. There are certain lines one just did not cross.

"You're thinking awfully hard," Jane said. "I've probably scarred you for life, haven't I? I'm sorry, sweetie. Maybe some things should just remain secret."

"No, it's all right," Allison said. "I didn't expect this, but you've given me a lot to think about."

#

When Allison returned to the house, she found Paige and her father curled up on the sofa, watching some cooking show on television. Dad sat in the center, slouched down in the cushions, a bowl of popcorn in his lap. Paige occupied the right side of the sofa, her head resting on his chest, his hand on her shoulder. She was dressed in nothing more than a white tank top and shorts.

Before tonight, Allison might have found this scene innocent and not at all suspect. Now her mind assigned all sorts of carnal undertones to it, and she had to work to push them away.

"Hey, sis," Paige said, stuffing a handful of popcorn into her mouth. "You want to watch this with us?"

"I'll watch a little," Allison said, sitting down opposite Paige on the couch. Her dad smiled at her, looking a little less defeated than before, but still down.

"How's your mother?" he asked, and she could hear the undertone of pain in his voice.

"She's okay," Allison said, not wanting to go into detail. It would only hurt him. She tried not to wince at the awkwardness of it. To cover her emotions, she reached for some popcorn, touching his shoulder as she did so.

As she leaned in, Allison was struck by the smell of him: a melange of cologne, a faint whiff of sweat, and a woody scent from the fuel he'd collected for the fireplace. She found it extremely pleasant, and didn't want to pull away once she'd grown close.

Her mother's voice floated through her mind: you always play it safe.

With a mental middle finger to her mother, Allison squirmed closer to her father and snuggled in. He looked a little surprised, but put his arm around her, rough fingers brushing against the bare flesh of her arm.

"I've missed you girls," he said. "I'm really glad you came to visit. This birthday would probably have been miserable without you two being here."

"Don't worry, Dad," Paige said, her eyes meeting Allison's for a brief moment. She smiled a conspiratorial smile. "We're going to make it awesome for you."

Allison's heart jumped. It was almost as if her little sister knew...

But her concern was brushed away as her father squeezed them both into a tight hug.