Prologue
Sally leaned back as best she could in the airplane seat thinking about sex. Particularly sex with Kyle. She had met him with his kids at a waterpark while trolling for sexual partners. But she had gotten something completely unexpected. He was the only man who made her feel truly loved when he had sex with her. He made her understand why they called sex, "making love", and sex with him was the only sexual activity she would call, "making love". She was more than ready for some of that.
It was hard to imagine that it had been almost three months since she'd had sex with any man. Her summer before going to Stanford seemed like a dream. She'd averaged sex over twice a day during the summer. And it had ended with that ... "gang bang"? It was hard to know exactly what to call it. It was supposedly a going away party and had involved almost 50 guys she knew fucking her. It had sounded so exciting when her friend, Sarah, proposed it, but in fact having guys just stick their cock in her for a couple of minutes was mostly a bore and it had left her sore. She reflected briefly on the rhyme, "
bore that left me sore
," chuckling at the double meaning of "bore", both accurate, before continuing her thoughts.
Entr'acte
She was met at the airport by her parents and 14 year old brother, Richard. Her mom and dad both hugged her. She hugged Richard who was doing his best to act like he wanted nothing to do with being there.
On the drive home her parents grilled her about what Stanford was like and her classes and whether it was difficult. She'd talked with them every week about all the same things but she gladly went over the same answers.
At home, they talked about the upcoming holiday and weekend.
"It was so nice of Kyle to invite us for dinner," her mom said. "Are you sure it will be okay?"
"Yes, mom, he wants to spend time with you."
"You didn't ask him to do it?"
That question had been asked repeatedly. "No, mom, I've told you he suggested it to me and I didn't accept until after I talked to you."
"You said I didn't need to bring anything but I made some pies. I hope that's okay. How many people are going to be there? Maybe I need to make a couple more."
"I'm sure whatever pies you have will be fine and you make great ones so they will be appreciated. And besides us there will be Kyle, his three kids and his mom. Then his wife's mom ... " She hesitated and shuddered a bit. Kyle's mother-in-law made it obvious she didn't approve of the relationship. Sally was sure that it came from a fear that her daughter would be forgotten and didn't want anyone else taking her place. Not so much with Kyle but in the minds and hearts of her grandchildren whom Jill had clearly loved. The resentment and fear were especially strong with the youngest, Charlette, who had taken a real shine to Sally and who had only been one when her mother died. Charli had no recollection of her mother at all. And the problem was exacerbated by the fact that Charli was named after her grandmother.
"Kyle is married?" her dad interjected.
"NO dear, he's a widower," her mom told him.
Despite being less than 50, her father was showing signs of memory loss and she knew it had her mother worried. For that matter it worried Sally too and the look on her father's face showed that he had his own concerns. She stepped in with an attempt at reassurance, "Maybe I never told you dad. I think I've only mentioned it to Mom." That may have been true, she couldn't remember actually telling him.
She went back to listing the dinner guests. "And there will be members of his wife's family, brother, sister, their spouses and, I think, four kids. I don't think any of those kids is more than five or six. She looked at Richard who was clearly not looking forward to an afternoon of adults and kids much younger than he.
Interlude
Kyle Peterson was naturally thinking of Sally as he and his mother prepared Thanksgiving dinner. Sally was the only woman he had spent any time with since Jill had died. He reflected on what his mother had told him shortly after Sally had left for Stanford. She had been very supportive of his spending time with Sally. It had picked up his spirits to be spending time with the younger woman and his three kids adored her. But when she was away at school his mother told him that Sally would likely be meeting plenty of young, single men, more her age, and that he should be prepared for her to move on. But Sally had kept in touch with him, texting or e-mailing twice a week or more. Asking about the kids and what he was doing. Then they arranged for her family to have Thanksgiving dinner at his home.
Kyle thought about the day before she had left. They had been planning a night together and, as always, Kyle had been looking forward to the evening of conversation and sex. Besides that, it was such a joy to see the kids with her. There was something about her easy manner that led to the way they took to her. Then she had to call off the evening due to some sort of illness. She had explained that she had some sort of vaginal infection that even made it hard to walk or sit normally. Kyle missed having had that final night together.
This weekend promised to make up for the disappointment. Thanksgiving dinner and then she'd be here all night. Then tomorrow his mother would,watch the kids. Sally had arranged for them to spend a couple of nights at a nice, high rise apartment downtown, apparently arranged by the father of Sally's friend, Sarah. Sally had seen the place and talked about it in glowing terms. His cock was rising at the thought of two nights and what they would be doing. He excused himself and went into the living room to think. His mother and his older daughter, Holly, who was 5 but acted like 10 or 11 had preparations in hand.
His younger daughter, Charli, 2, almost 3 but going on 10, was in the living room. She had been dancing and swirling and singing since she'd gotten up in the morning. The song was a continuous repetition of two words, "Sally Coming," with continually changing notes and beats. Kyle's son, Jared, 7, had started moaning about it and asked his father to tell her to shut up but Kyle had declined. He was happy his children all liked Sally so much. Thankfully Charli's song and dance had degenerated into just asking "When Sally get here?" to anyone in her hearing. Kyle answered "Very soon," to the question and sat down. Charli resumed what ever she was drawing surrounded by a cadre of her favorite dolls and stuffed animals, "This is Sally," she said, very seriously to the attentive grouping, making an indecipherable scribble on her pad.
Did he just want Sally for the sex? Kyle was thinking. Or did he genuinely care for her? And what about Sally? There was no doubt she was sexually active. She had told him so and even occasionally mentioned her sexual encounters in conversation. He didn't know whether to be jealous or happy that she would discuss everything about her life with him. Maybe she wanted him to be jealous. He did know he was more than 10 years her senior. "
Is that too much,
" he asked himself.
His mother had told him not to worry so much about it and just enjoy himself. But the kids ... He thought how they would be devastated by the loss of Sally if this turned out to be just a sexual fling. Marriage passed though his mind but he knew this wasn't the time for that. He wasn't ready for such a commitment, especially to an 18 year old. Sally had her schooling to complete and was too young for marriage. And he still wasn't completely over the loss of Jill.
Act 1, Scene 1
The doorbell rang. Charli shouted, "SALLY!" in her loudest, most shrill voice, and ran to the door. Holly rushed in and Jared casually sauntered in, though Kyle knew he was as anxious to see Sally as the other two. Kyle put his thoughts aside, repeating his mother's words to himself, "
Just enjoy yourself,
" as Holly opened the door.
As soon as Sally entered, Charli hugged her by the legs. Sally limped into the room, Charli clinging to one leg, to make room for her parents and brother. As soon as Charli saw the others, she released her hold and demanded, "Who are you?" in the sort of rude, yet endearing, tone that only toddlers can master.
"This is my mother and my father," Sally told her.''
"And who's this?" Charli demanded to know, pointing at Sally's 14 year old brother.
"This is my brother, Richard," Sally told her.
Satisfied, Charli was no longer interested in the new guests and pulled Sally to the circle of dolls and stuffed animals, "Look what we're doing," she said, holding up the pad covered with colored scribbles, "making a pikshur of you."
Sally felt obliged to join Charli's circle of friends and answer their questions as voiced by Charli. Sally's parents sat and talked with Kyle. Richard was banished to play Lego's with Jared. He'd have preferred to be playing on-line but he'd been forced to leave both his phone and tablet at home.
Sally steeled herself when the doorbell rang, knowing it would be Kyle's deceased wife's family. She dreaded the thought of being confronted by Kyle's mother-in-law who had never even tried to hide her distaste for his relationship with Sally. Sally had no idea what the rest of the family was like but her interactions with Charlotte had always been uncomfortable and Sally was concerned her distaste might have been conveyed to the others in the family.
And Charli never helped. When she saw her grandmother wasn't alone, Charli took it upon herself to introduce Sally, "This is my Mommy-Sally," she announced loudly.
'Nana', as the kids called her, responded predictably, "Sally isn't your mother."
"Is too," Charli responded.
"No she isn't, child," Nana Charlotte said in as gentle a tone as she could muster.
"She is!" Charli insisted. She wasn't old enough to remember her mother but Kyle, Jared, and even Holly had told her enough that she had a definite picture in her mind. She lept to "Mommy-Sally's" defense like an expert in the law "Sally tucks me in like mommy. Sally reads me stories like mommy. Sally hugs me when I'm sad like mommy. Sally hugs me when I'm not sad like mommy, Sally kisses me when I'm hurt like mommy. Sally kisses daddy too, like mommy. Sally sleeps in the same bed as Daddy like mommy."
