"You got all that from looking at her reflection in the rear-view mirror on occasion and her comment about clothes? Can one girl please write a book on how to understand your species?! There's too many nuances for guys to pick up on and still be expected to understand you like we can read your minds," I exasperated.
"We can't reveal all our secrets," she giggled, "that would give you the advantage in dating. There are many things that guys do that baffle us that we think you should publish." We laughed at our mutual annoyance with the opposite sex for a bit. "So, why were you up at four? Surely you weren't rolling in your sheets debating on coming and telling me how you felt, after all this time, last night."
I rolled my eyes internally, as I couldn't believe how many times over the past week I'd had to lie to answer questions people were asking me. "No, that isn't why I was up at four. I was unconscious all but ten minutes of Saturday and four was when I finally came around."
"You were unconscious? Why were you unconscious?" Hailey asked in a worried voice with an even more worried expression.
"It's nothing, Baby." I hoped my new pet name for her would calm her down. "I just hit my head when I tripped coming down the stairs. Scared my mother to death though." I don't think my explaining helped with calming her down.
"Don't down play this, Christian, please. Don't spare me pain, if it means you're not ok. Your well-being is more important than my peace of mind. Do you understand?"
"Hailey, I know you're trying to make sure I'm ok, which I am, but I don't need to be treated like a spoiled brat to be ok. I appreciate your, and my mother's, concern, but it makes me feel... like a child when you're smothering me. I'm 18 and I can take care of myself and I know when I'm ok or not. I made a promise to myself and you that I would never let anything hurt you; and I intend to keep that promise. I love you." I leaned into her and took her lips into mine. We rolled until she was on top and she broke the kiss.
"And I love you. And I'll hold you to that promise," she said, as she leaned back down.
But just as she was about to kiss me, there was a hem-hem from the door. "What did I say about having sex in this house?" my mother asked in a falsely stern voice. "I believe it was there was to be none."
"We weren't having sex, mom. We were just making out. Now will you please go away!" I informed her.
"If you're just making out, why are Hailey's pants undone?" What was she talking about?
Then I saw that Hailey's pants were, in fact, undone. I gave Hailey a look like Why did you do that, today? "Sorry, I must've gotten carried away. I swear though, your son could make a statue of Mary get hot with the way he kisses."
I beamed at my girlfriend with this praise, but worried about what mom would say to it. "Yes, he actually gets that from both his father and me. And I know he's handsome and everything, but please Hailey let's not have sex in front of all your parents in one day. You guys are lucky we aren't grounding you both for months for that. Now, will you please get off my son; your weight on top of him can't be good for his back." Clearly I had a jealousy problem on my hands, but mom's making my health a reason for Hailey's getting off me would make sure it got done.
"Mother, really? Why are you being so frank?" I demanded. "And my back's fine, thanks to the Tylenol," I said, seeing that Hailey had started to get off me."Your mom's right, Christian; we've pushed our luck enough for one day," said the girl that wanted to have another go five minutes after we screamed our passion for her entire neighbourhood to hear. I sighed as she got off me and did her pants up. But not before I noticed she wasn't wearing any panties.
"Thank you," mom said. "Now, what do you love birds want for lunch?"
"I don't know, what do you guys have?" Hailey asked as she took a seat in my desk chair.
"Whatever you want, we can get," mom said, probably to make up for her frankness earlier.
"KD will be fine, mom. Now go away!" I yelled at her, knowing that Hailey loved KD as much as myself.
"Fine, fine; I'll go. I call you when it's ready. Keep this door fully opened." She walked away after seeing me point. Hailey just giggled.
"Thanks. I'm never gonna hear the end of this. How and why did you undo your pants when you knew she would come and check on us?"
"Oh, please; you're mom's cool with all this. As for how and why, years of practice and because you get me so hot with the slightest touch," she said as she came and sat back down on the bed. She was lucky I was sidetracked by that comment.
"The slightest touch, really?" I asked as I reached out and took my pinky to her elbow. She probably over-emphasized the look of horniness and heavy breathing that followed. I smirked. "Where are your panties, Ms. Fields? I didn't see any when I took a look and found your pants undone."
This made her blush and avoid my gaze. "I was hoping when you saw I was commando, your animal would wake up again," she said with a sexy shyness.
"Are you always this horny, or is this a culmination of us finally being together and the awesome sex we had?"
"Both, the culmination really adds to it though," she stated in a matter of fact tone. "Plus, I like the added thrill of being caught; it makes it seem naughtier." This was said with a devilish smirk, clearly meant to 're-awaken my animal.'
"That's very good to know, as it gives me an idea for tomorrow." She looked at me curiously as she probably hoped I would explain. "No, you don't get to find out until the time comes."
"That's no fair; you can't just drop something like that and not tell me. Especially something sexy like that!" she instructed. "No secrets between us, ok?"
I knew this was dangerous. "Ok, no secrets. But surprises are allowed. And boy, do I have surprises for you."
"Cheater," she muttered. I think she was about to say more but just as she was about to, mom called up and said the KD was ready. "We'll finish this later; you're lucky the food is ready and I'm hungry." She got up off the bed and went to the door, turned and pulled her shirt up, exposing her bare chest. "You cumming, or not?" she teased.
"Who's the cheater now?" I muttered as I got up and followed her out.
Mom was waiting impatiently at the bottom of the stairs, tapping her foot and all. "Take your time, I know how much you love cold pasta," she said with a voice that sounded as if it was about to make another squawk about us having sex.
"Relax mother, you called us less than a minute ago. And no, we weren't doing anything sexual-just finishing a private conversation. Weren't we, baby?"
"He's telling the truth, Ms. Frost," she said with an annoyed voice, clearly upset that nothing sexual had happened. We were in the kitchen now and Mom had set two places for us on opposite ends of the table. We sat and started to eat as mom put the dishes away. "So, Ms. Frost, you seeing anyone? Because I was thinking that if you weren't, maybe we could try and set you up with someone."
"No Hailey, I'm not. Besides, who would want to go out with me; I'm 38 and a single mom. Not exactly the greatest combo for getting a man interested."
"Don't sell yourself short, Anne. You're gorgeous and tons of men would love to date you. Your son, included," Hailey said, with a wicked smile to me-clearly payback.
I dropped my spoon and looked at her. "Ok, how do you know that and why are you saying it out loud?!" I was curious as to how she had figured this out since she told mom last year.
"Please Christian, I can read you like a book. And you know exactly why I'm saying it out loud... to show your mother she's a MILF." Oh, it is so on woman.
"Thank you, Hailey. But I think you've told me enough about my son for the month today. And don't worry Oedipus, I understand and have known for a while."
"Where's Cory when you need him?" I muttered as I placed my hands on my head and started to bang it on the table. The two of them looked at me like I was crazy, so I explained. "Him killing me would be quicker and less painful than the embarrassment you two just gave me." They gave identical looks of 'what a drama queen' and understanding as I finished.
"Don't be such a baby, Christian," mom droned. "I, too, can read you like a book and have known that for a while; I just acted shocked for your benefit. Now finish your lunch, I've slaved over it forever."
"I have an idea, why don't we just lay everything on the table, as it were," I threatened mom, with a smile.
"I'd be ok with that," Hailey immediately said.
But it was mom's response that I was gauging. I could tell she was sizing me up as well as she said, "I can live with the consequences. The question is, can you?" She was clearly seeing how far I'd take my threat of mass exposure.
"I have something to confess, Hailey. There's a way my oh, so innocent mother convinced me to come and tell you how I feel today." I looked at my mother to see how she would react to my ratting us out. Her face was impassive and gave no idea of the thoughts beneath. Hailey, on the other hand, was easy to read: a nervous curiousness. "You remember your fantasy assignment?"
The simple question made her look at both of us with a slightly angered expression. "You showed him? Why Anne? I specifically asked you not to!" Her words were angrier than her expression. Why was she acting?
"I didn't mean to, it sorta slipped out," mom confessed, head bowed in shame. "And I was feeling guilty for when his father died, because of his."
"What?!" Hailey asked as I had never really told her about my dad's death and the following year's events.
I needed to take control of the conversation again before too much was revealed. "What do you remember about what I've said about my dad's death?" I asked her.
"You said he died in a car crash when you were ten and that you don't really remember that time very well. But what does your dad's death have to do with your fantasy assignment?" she asked, still confused.
"Well, I lied: I remember that time in my life very well. To help herself cope with his passing, my mom dove severely into religion. I had to get her permission to do everything, and I mean everything. And every time I didn't, which was almost every other day, she would haul me off to confession. So, my fantasy was to switch our roles in that time: her having to get my permission for every single thing she did for a month. To justify myself, I added embellishment, but she thought it was all straight.
"When she read it, she came to me and asked me if I really felt the way my paper made it seem like I did. After convincing her that I embellished for justification, I asked if anyone had wrote anything I'd be interested in. She lied but I caught her and asked her again when she said she morally couldn't because she never be able to look you in the eye. She stopped in horror, realizing she'd given your name, and ran from my room. Not two minutes later, she returned and gave me your assignment and made me the happiest person on the planet." I left out what followed as this would anger Hailey enough.
"How long? How long have you known, Christian?" She was glaring only at me now, my mother's betrayal all but forgotten.
"I just found out Wednesday night." This seemed to calm her down a bit.
But then she flared again. "Is that why you didn't talk to me Thursday?" she demanded with a look that told me she wanted the truth.
"No, the reason I told you Friday was the truth; your assignment was all but gone from my mind until I saw you were relieved by the reason I gave." I hoped she would see I was telling the truth. With her being able to read me like a book, that shouldn't be hard.
"Your leaving something out. Tell me the full truth, Christian." My mom started to leave at this, probably sensing that a fight was brewing. I was of the same mind, but knew I couldn't leave. "Sit down, Anne!" Hailey ordered when she saw mom leaving. "I still have questions for you, too."
Mom sat back down without a word, utterly stunned at Hailey's authoritative voice. I gave a small smile at seeing this. Then Hailey looked at me, saw me smile, and got pissed. "The truth, Christian, Now!"
I swallowed audibly in the dead silence that followed. "I've told you everything of relevance from the point of my reading your assignment until I arrived at your house this morning. In all honesty, I never even expected you to say you loved me; what did happen was beyond anything I could have ever hoped to take place." I hoped the reminder that she loved me and of the events of my visit would soften her. But she probably knew I thought that.
She did soften, though. "You don't need to say things to soften me, Christian. I was only making sure you were telling the truth. And while I know you are, I also know you're hiding something from me that's happened since Wednesday night. Don't tell me, I respect your privacy and wish to keep this to yourself. Just remember, no secrets."
"Only surprises, and trust me, you'll be surprised." At my saying this, mother gave me a supremely obvious look that Hailey saw, but said nothing to. I started back into my KD.
"Am I free to go, too?" mom asked.
"No. I have two questions that I want the answers to. First, what happened between you and Christian after he read my assignment? And second, why was he unconscious all of yesterday until four this morning?" She asked these to mom, but judged my reaction to them. I just stared her down, and prayed she couldn't sense my distress at these questions.
"What has he told you?" Mom was playing it smart, seeing what Hailey knew before answering.
Unfortunately, Hailey knew this too. "Only what I revealed in the questions; and that he finds the topic awkward in my presence. He doesn't want me to know the details." Oh, she was good; a little too good for my current comfort.
"Well... after he stopped jumping like a school girl playing hopscotch after reading your paper, I tried to convince him to act on what he read, force the truth out of you. But, being the smart and compassionate man he is, he refused to blackmail the truth from you; he insisted that he could never act on what he knew and that he was shocked that I'd suggest such a thing. A verbal fight ensued, and as we haven't fought like that since he was a child, it surprised us both. That's probably what he meant by things getting heated between us."
"And how did he come to be unconscious yesterday?" Hailey asked, never taking her penetrating grey eyes off me as mom answered her questions.
"I think I startled him that morning. He hit his head. I ca-"
"How did he hit his head?"
"He fell... down the stairs. I snuck up behind him and scared him and he fell down the stairs. I was so scared. When I made sure he wasn't bleeding or dead, I called an old friend-she's a doctor. She told me not to worry, if he woke up within 24 hours, he'd be fine, but that I'd should call the hospital if he didn't. When he finally did wake, I was so relieved. That's when I apologized for all that had happened between us since Wednesday and told him that he should tell you how he feels. I've suspected that you loved him for a while and thought you would be dying to let someone, especially him, know, if provided with the right circumstances. Writing was not a good enough form for you to let this be known, considering you'd nearly told me you loved him last year." This is where Hailey was finally no longer able to gauge my reaction as she was drawn into mother's tale. I was surprised that mom had told the truth, only eliminating all the sexual stuff. "You know exactly when I'm talking about," mom answered in response to Hailey's unasked question.
To continue the charade, I asked, "What are you talking about, mom? When did this happen and why didn't you tell me?" We'd already had this conversation, but some things needed to be replayed to keep our illusion.
"One day when you were at rehearsal last year. Hailey came and confessed she knew you loved her. And when she barely let me suggest she set you up with someone."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked in acted anger.
"Because I didn't want you to destroy your relationship. I thought it would kill you inside if you knew; and besides, it was only a suspicion I had-I didn't know the truth until I read her assignment."
"Oh, I didn't think of that; thanks mom, you always know what's best for me."
"And don't you forget it, mister."
The atmosphere had cooled down from the charged one it had been a few minutes ago. Both Hailey and me had finished our lunch now and we were holding hands. Mom got up and took our dishes to the sink to be washed. When I felt Hailey tug on my hand, we got up and headed for the stairs. We got about three steps before mom held us up. "And where do you think you're going?"
"Back upstairs, mom. Will you relax; will keep it PG-13, ok?" I know we were supposed to be acting normal and all, but this was really getting annoying. "We're legal, anyways; we can do what we want."
"Just try, mister. I'll kick you out so fast you two won't even be finished undressing. No more than PG-13, and that's a Disney PG-13."
"Fine," I muttered and tried to take another step but was held up again.
"Get over here and give me hug," mom insisted.
"No."
"Go on, Oedipus; I can wait a minute."
"Great, that's just what I need: my girlfriend encouraging me to have feelings for my mother. I didn't know we lived in the South," I sarcastically droned as I went to give my mom a hug. "You are so dead, tomorrow," I whispered in her ear.
"I love you, too," she said loud enough for Hailey to hear.
Back up in my room, door still open, we were lying on the bed and making out again. We were taking our time as we didn't need to rush, we had all afternoon to enjoy each other.
"Ok, Christian," Hailey said when she took a break to breathe. "Tell me the truth."
"What do you mean?" I asked, leaning back in for another kiss. She didn't give it.
"What really happened, what's really going on, between you and your mom?" Her eyes were gauging my every movement and reaction. "You wouldn't have slept with her, but the tension downstairs was from more than just an argument." I tried so hard not to react to this comment. "No secrets, Christian."
"Do you love me?"
"What? Of course, I do! Why would you even ask that?" She was so offended by the question, not realizing where it came from.
"I ask just so I know this isn't a dream. But this isn't completely my tale to tell. Yo-"
"Then, let's get your mom up here, so you two can tell me together." She wasn't going to let this go.
I heaved a sigh. "Fine, but once you start to hear this, you can tell no one and must let us finish before you react." She got a quizzical look on her face, but just nodded her agreement. "Mom, can you come up here please?" I called out to the house.
In less than thirty seconds, mom was at my door. "What's up?" she asked innocently.
"Hailey wants the truth, the full truth. And as I've agreed that there was going to no secrets between the two of us, I'm going to tell her. She's agreed to keep quiet until all is revealed and not tell anyone about it. I'd like you to tell your side of the story."
"Are you sure?" mom asked. I nodded my affirmation. "Well, we're throwing all the rules out aren't we?"
"You guys had sex, didn't you?" Hailey asked in a calmer voice than I thought she'd have at having this revealed.
"Yes, I took my son to my bed," mom admitted with her head bowed in shame as she sat in my desk chair. I couldn't look at Hailey, for fear she might find me unworthy of her.
"Now, why couldn't we admit this an hour ago?" Why and how was she so calm with this?
"Because I asked him not to tell you, or anyone."
"And how long has this been going on for?" I had to look at her, she was too calm for this conversation. What I saw was even more shocking: she was smiling.
"How are you smiling at this?!" I demanded, ignoring her question.
"Answer my questions, sweetheart. Then I'll answer yours."
"Friday, or Wednesday, depending on how you look at it," I said. "We had sex Friday, but that's only because I kissed her Wednesday."
"Why the wait, Anne?"
"I-I have a kink. For me, complete satisfaction comes when my lover opens up to me emotionally and and then treating me like their whore. The wait was because my fantasy wasn't fulfilled Wednesday, but Friday." Her head was still bowed and she had started to cry.
Hailey sat up and rubbed her hand on my mom's leg. "Don't cry, Anne. It's my fault, isn't it? It's my fault you chose Christian, isn't it?"
Both my mom's and my breath caught as we heard this. What was Hailey talking about? But then I saw mom nod her head. "WHAT?! What are you two talking about? What's going on?" I demanded.
"You know this part Christian, I told you it this morning," mom said to me, still not looking up. But I now remembered her story: Hailey brought her back to sex by saying that I wanted to fuck her, my mom.
"You planned this?" I asked Hailey with incredulity.
"Not completely. I gave your mother the idea, I had no idea she would follow through."
"Ok, can we please make sense of this. My mind's been blown way too many times today to follow this." I wasn't lying, I was barely hanging on to the continuity of this conversation.
"Your mom's thinking of you in a sexual way is partly my fault, as I told her about your similarity to Oedipus. And as such, I'm ok with you having slept with her, and continuing to do so. As long as I know about the encounters and you take no one else to your bed. That I will most certainly not be ok with."
"Ok. Good to know. Anything to add, mother?"
"If you wish to end our arrangement so as to love only the love of your life, I'll understand. I'll treasure Friday night for as long as I live and will never forget it. I love you and will not begrudge you what you want." She'd finally lifted her head to look up at me. At some point in time I must have gotten up off the bed.
"Ok. So my girlfriend is aware and ok with my intimate relationship with my mother and will not object if it continues; and my mother will not get all jealous like she was when Hailey first came home with us today if I decide to end things with her and focus solely on loving Hailey?"
They nodded that I had summed that up right. "But I will not be pleased if you take another to your bed, sweetheart. The two of us will be enough for you to handle," Hailey said.
"Right, two lovers that are OK with each other; what more could a guy want?" I really had to remember this day: March 15th, for it clearly was the best day anyone had ever lived.