Weeks after David's apology and "Act of Contrition" with Miss Ann, as Mary's mother liked to be called in discipline sessions, his physical marks were gone, but mentally he was still struggling with what happened. In addition to coming to grips with how brutally he was punished, he was also unsure about what, if anything, he should tell Mary; and he was intensely curious if Mary was aware of how extremely one sided her parents' sexual relationship was after she was born.
"Honey," he began tentatively, "you never asked about what happened at your mother's."
"Darling, I know what happened. You made things alright with my mom, and now the kids have their grandmother in their lives again and I'm happy to be reunited with my mother. What more do I need to know?"
"I don't know. I just feel like I'm keeping a secret from you and I don't want to be doing anything wrong."
"I saw your backside, remember? I know she beat you very hard, I nursed your bruises. Was there more?"
"Yes, there was, after." David was looking down, shame clearly visible on his face.
A small smile touched the corner of Mary's mouth. "And that's what you are unsure about telling me?"
"Yes," David could hardly turn back now, but before he could say more Mary was speaking.
"Look, darling," she began in a soothing tone, "I know mother has some, let's say unusual, ideas about punishment rituals. I know from my brother that they often involved sexual humiliation. There's no need to tell me the details," then with a characteristic wicked smile, "unless you want me to do some of them to you?"
The seductive humor didn't put David at much ease, so she quickly changed directions. "You did what she told you to do, which is what I told you to do, and it all worked out fine. So don't worry about it, OK? I'm OK with whatever you had to do for her."
Relieved about this he decided to push on into a couple of other areas, and just blurted it out. "She made me promise to accept discipline from her in the future, whenever she felt I needed it."
Mary didn't seem too surprised, but did put on a look of concern thinking about David's battered bottom. "Then you will just have to be very careful not to offend her. I'll try to intercede for you when I can, but you already know when her mind is made up no one can change it." She made a few teasing rubs across his thighs, just to emphasize the advantages of them being together. "I realize that this isn't ideal, or what you signed on for when we got together, but it's the way it has to be to keep her in my life, and the lives of my kids. You understand that's important to me, don't you?"
"Yes, OK," was all David could say. He was thinking about the great sex he and Mary had after his punishment, and that experience still muddied his feelings about the whole affair, making it not a simple issue of black or white.
"Is that all?" Mary asked.
"I was just wondering what your impression was of your parents' relationship growing up?" He was on the same track of blundering curiosity that had caused him to ask Momma Ann those questions when he had discovered her surgery.
Mary looked surprised as if the conversation had just taken an unrelated turn, but she rolled with it. "Are you asking if she punished my father?" But before David could answer she continued. "It was clear that she was in charge, so I would guess so. I just never knew for sure and never thought much about it. What brought that up?"
"Oh, I don't know. I was just wondering if they were happy, had a good sex life and all."
Mary gave David a funny, puzzled smile. "Well it wasn't really any of my business, but I could tell my dad was devoted to her. I assume they were happy in all of those ways. David, you really have me wondering why you're asking these things."
"It's just something I learned at your mom's," David answered still trying to avoid being quite so blunt about what happened.
"Oh," Mary said as if a light had suddenly gone on. "You must be referring to her hysterectomy. Well, yes I remember her telling me that it was a little bit of a challenge but they got through it. Is that all?"
David nodded, getting the same feeling he had with her mother that they had reached the end of the conversation and it would not be wise to probe further. The conversation provided him with enough justification for believing that Mary knew what happened and as her mother said, would have explicitly agreed if pushed. But at the same time, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was more, something he didn't know, but ought to.