"Sara, can you help me take the food out of the fridge?" my stepmom yelled from the kitchen. We were having a small gathering, with my younger stepsister visiting from college. When I arrived, she pulled me close to her face, angrily whispering, "what nonsense have you been feeding Makenzie?"
"What are you talking about?" I was bewildered, I really hadn't talked to my stepsister much since she last went back to college about a month ago.
"So, it's just a coincidence she suddenly thinks she's a lesbian?" I guess Makenzie bringing home a girl is somehow my fault.
To give some context to all of this, my name is Sara, as mentioned. I'm 27 years old, long blonde hair, blue eyes, athletic shape, 5'4". A bit of a tomboy, I like wearing a backwards baseball cap despite how typical of a look it's grown to be. I've been happily married to my sexy wife, Joanie, for almost three years, dated about 4 years before that. She's 38, has shorter, curly brown hair, and about an inch taller than me. She's a real earthy, granola type. I love her, and I love her breasts- much bigger than my little ones. We have a good marriage, but it has grown just a little stale in recent years. Getting older, we don't stay out as late and we don't make love as intensely as we once did when we first met.
My dad Dave was married to my stepmom, Angie. My dad is 51, my stepmom is 47- a white woman with straight shoulder-length brown hair. Skinny, but not in the best shape, about 5'6". She never seemed super thrilled about me being a lesbian, but she didn't exactly have a right to be picky. Besides, Joanie and I were already dating well before we ever met her. We were tolerant of each other, for the most part. She certainly welcomed Joanie as part of the family, and she was super helpful during the wedding celebrations.
She was fine with me being a lesbian, but her own 21-year-old daughter was a different story. Angie was hosting a small get-together on a Thursday evening to welcome Makenzie home. Dad was working, as he often was. She was visiting for spring break, and asked if she could bring a friend. She brought home Brandy, and the fact that they were dating wasn't revealed until Brandy had asked, "Joanie, how young were you when you started dating? Being in a lesbian relationship in college comes with a lot of pressure." Angie's eyes lit up, but she did what she could to remain calm. I'm sure the fact that Brandy was black did not help matters. A few moments later is when she summoned me into the kitchen.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Angie," I responded to her accusation. I truly didn't. I had barely talked to Makenzie since she last left to return to college in the spring semester, and we never explicitly discussed sex, let alone lesbian stuff.
"Forget it," Angie insisted, passive aggressively. "I've always been accepting of you and Joanie. I don't need you infecting my own daughter as well." I was extremely hurt by my stepmom's words, and tried to act normally the rest of the evening to avoid ruining it for everyone else. I especially did not want to ruin it for Makenzie, and give Brandy a horrible first impression of the family. Beyond that, I wanted to see if Angie had the balls to confront her own daughter about this, or continue to hide behind her cowardice.
Joanie and I lived about twenty minutes away. I tried to keep the interaction a secret, but I couldn't resist. "Do you promise not to repeat it?" I asked my wife.
"I promise," she insisted. "Who would I tell?" She teased.
"I'm serious!" I insisted. I trusted her, but I don't think she could anticipate something of this gravity. "You can't tell *anybody*."
"Okay, okay," she conceded, "I won't tell anybody."
"Okay," I breathed in in anticipation. "Angie had no idea Makenzie and Brandy were a thing. She accused me of infecting her."
"What!?" Joanie gasped, "What exactly did she say?"
I repeated the exact timing and scenario of Angie summoning me to the kitchen, repeating her line, "I don't need you infecting my own daughter as well."
"Fuck her," she responded. After a moment of silence, she followed up, "maybe you should 'infect' her."
"What do you mean?"
"Take the situation and run with it. If Makenzie is happy with her, do what you can to support her."
At home, we discussed how we could hang out with my stepsister and her new girlfriend without being obvious to Angie. Makenzie would be home until next Sunday. If we invited them over to hang out, obviously Angie wouldn't like that and would think of an excuse to prevent it from happening. But we're stepsisters, she couldn't stop us from hanging out the entire time she was home. I wasn't acting out of spite for Angie, but I wanted the satisfaction of seeing Makenzie and Brandy's young relationship flourish to her chagrin.
On Saturday afternoon around 4 PM while watching Netflix with Joanie, Makenzie texts me:
Makenzie:
hey what are you up to?
I report it to Joanie asking for advice on how I should respond. I felt young being so deliberate on a text, trying to be sly in this game against my stepmom. I shouldn't overthink it.
Me:
not too much just hanging at home with Joanie
whats up?
Makenzie:
nothing, were bored at moms house. want to come over later and hang out with us?
Joanie and I talked about how I should respond. Neither of us wanted to go over there.
Angie would think of some excuse anyway to keep us apart. We decided to invite them over, but maybe Angie would have a harder time saying no if we spun it a different way to make it seem like Makenzie's idea. I fibbed a little.
Me:
sorry, but we were gonna meet some friends out tonight
youre welcome to join us though
I thought it seemed casual enough that Angie wouldn't be able to spin this against us. We impatiently waited for her response.
Makenzie:
that sounds fun!! where at
Me:
were going to the joes pub right near our apartment