Brothers.
It was just coming up to my birthday, the actual day was Wednesday but I was going to have a party on Saturday night, it was pretty much all arranged, I was going to be 18 at last, my girlfriend had had her 18th nearly 2 months ago, we'd been a couple for the last 2 years, but now, next Saturday night we were to become a real couple, we'd kissed a lot, talked a lot about what we expected and had decided early on that we would wait until both of us were 18, I didn't know about her, sorry, Amy, and I'm Dan, well I didn't know about how hard it was for Amy but it was hell especially this last year not doing it, we have been in places that we could have, but we refrained, saving it for "Our" special night.
The night arrived, Amy was the first to get there, Mum and Dad had gone out for the night leaving me and my older brother to hold the party, they trusted us not to do anything stupid, Brian was 20 and acted more like a dad than a 20 year old boy.
The party got going and Amy had promised that once it got going we could go up to my bedroom and do the dead, we both had a drink and knowing that we would be having the time of our lives very soon we went and talked to people, we didn't need to be holding hands all night.
I don't know where the time went, but I realised that it was 10.30 and I felt it was time to find Amy and go upstairs.
I searched downstairs, I even went into the garden just to check with the lot of smokers that were always out there.
I couldn't find her, the only place left was upstairs, maybe she was in the bathroom, I went up, it was out of bounds for everyone, my hope of Amy being in the bathroom was dashed when I saw the door open and light out, but my bedroom door wasn't closed completely and the bedside light was on.
My chest swelled as I thought Amy was waiting for me, I walked the few paces to the door and took a deep breath before gently opening it.
Amy was in there, but she hadn't waited for me, she was nude, she was on her back looking at the door her legs open.
My problem was that Brian was between her legs driving into her like his life depended on it, Amy mouthed the word "Later" to me and held on to Brian as he, completely unaware of my presence carried on with his pounding.
I turned and went back downstairs, Ken, half drunk asked how the 'Tupping' was coming on.
Mum and Dad had a farm and tupping is when you get the sheep pregnant.
I had a brainwave, I went out to the barn, came back and went upstairs paying no attention to several friends asking what I was doing with that.
I went back upstairs to my bedroom, they were still going at it, but how Amy was on her hands and knees with Brian taking her doggie, neither of them was aware of me until I put the gunk between their bodies and spread it over Amy's hair.
The gunk, it's what we called it, it was a mix of colour, oil and some other stuff, you put it on the front of the ram and when he serviced the 'tup' it marked her, it was a sign that she had been mounted by the ram, it wasn't confirmation that she was pregnant, but you knew that she had been mounted. Apt I thought, Amy had been mounted, I'd seen it with my own eyes, twice.
The party broke up shortly after I came back downstairs, the screaming from Amy was enough that everyone, and I mean everyone, went up to see what the problem was, they saw a lot more of Amy than they ever thought they would, the next day I heard that I had done a good job of marking them both, it was washable, but it needed a lot of scrubbing to get it off your hands, as I knew from experience, off her back, tits, and more importantly her hair, was going to take days to get rid of it completely.
I went off to the barn, I had to think about my future, it had taken a bit of a U tern I felt.
Mum and Dad came home to what first appeared to be an empty house, but upstairs they found a highly distraught Amy, Brian was washing her hair and, well it was clear that they had been doing things that they shouldn't have.
Dad found me in the hay loft next morning.
"I don't want to know the details, but by god, you made sure that everyone knows what Amy and Brian were doing last night, are you alright lad?"
I had to face Brian at some point and went inside with Dad, he jumped up and came at me but Dad stopped him.
"I'm guessing that Dan caught you and Amy together in bed, by the look of the sheets, you knew that Amy was his girlfriend and you did that, what sort of man are you?
I don't want to hear anything more about this, you did wrong and got caught, Dan has got back at you, it's over." Dad's words were final, I knew it and so did Brian, he would mutter at me but he wouldn't say or do anything more.
Life was very frosty, I went to the pub Sunday night, I walked into cheers and lots of back slapping, I didn't buy a drink that night.
Monday morning I went to college as usual, Amy's absence was noted by everyone, and word of my party had spread to the staff it seemed.
"There won't be any more trouble will there Dan?" The tutor asked me.
I said not from my side, I didn't know about Amy.
Amy came into college on Tuesday, she had a hat on that covered her hair, but I was told that from behind you could still see the bright yellow in her hair.
Wednesday I was forced to face her, her idea not mine, her friends had made it clear that I was going to talk to her at lunchtime.
I wasn't sure what she could want from me, she had to know that it was over between us.
I followed her best friend to a classroom, Amy was there along with a group of her friends, mine made their way in to witness the showdown.
"What do you want Amy?" Let's get this over with I thought.
"Why Dan? Why did you do that?" I looked around at our audience, took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"Well Amy, we, you and me had decided that my party was to be our first time, making love, I came to my bedroom and found you being fucked, by of all people my brother, and you just mouthed LATER, to me as he was fucking you, what did you think I was going to do? Wait my turn? Take sloppy seconds?, you were acting like the sheep, being tupped, so I thought it would be good that it was clear that you had been tupped, not just you, me and Brian, everyone would know."
I turned to walk out head held high, but thought I had better make it clear.
"Amy, don't bother to try to talk to me ever again, not next week, not next year, never."
I didn't start it, it had nothing to do with me, but I heard that when she walked about sheep noises were heard, I smiled inside at that.
Brian and I stayed as far away from each other as we could, Mum and Dad tried to smooth things over, but it was hard, I had decided that I had to change something in my life and went out to find what would work for me.
I came back one day not long after Partygate, as it was being called in the pub, it was while the 4 of us were having dinner that I dropped my bombshell.
"I'm leaving in a month, I've signed up for the Army." I think all 3 of them had open mouths as I carried on eating.
It was all why, you can't do that, and Mum was upset.
It was a done deal, I was leaving in a month.
I talked with Mum, a lot, she understood it, but it hurt I was sure, she helped me pick and pack the things I would need, as the day neared friends came and kept me busy, it was in the last week that we had a visitor late in the evening, Amy and her Mum. Between our parents things had become tense, not as friendly as it had always seemed.
"We need to talk to Brain." Amy found the floor the most interesting thing to look at.
Brian was looking unsure what this was about
"Brian, Amy's pregnant, she says that you're the only person she has had sex with, are you going to be a man? Or are you going to act like a little boy?" Amy's Mum said.
I couldn't help it, but I laughed, I laughed and laughed, there was a god I thought.
All eyes went back to Brian.
"But I thought she was safe, we only did it that night, I thought that Dan was tupping her, it could be his couldn't it, I don't love her and."
Dad stopped him.
"Of course, he'll do the right thing, we'll sort it out."
Amy went out to the car I assumed.
"I'm really sorry Dan, you never deserved this, Amy has to live with this, please take good care of yourself on your travels, I'm sorry if this has made you do what you are doing, take care." Amy's Mum said to me on her way out, she kissed me on the cheek and left.
It made my departure feel like it was meant to happen, I couldn't get the smile off my face, much to Brian's dismay.
It was painful to leave, but it was going to happen someday.
I went through basic training, growing up on a farm made it much easier for me than a lot of the others, we went through lots of tests, they said to find what was a good position to put our skills to best use, it turned out that I had an aptitude for computer programming, I never knew that, I knew I was good at problem solving, working out what clues meant but computers?
One day near the end of basic, I was ordered to the office, I was confronted by several men in dark suits who questioned me, some, no most I couldn't see what it had to do with me being in the Army, but I answered honestly.
"You have 15 minutes to pack your bags, report back here then, dismiss."
15 minutes later I was marched to a Landrover, driven to a helicopter and we were flying off in 20 minutes, to where? I wasn't told.
For the next 2 weeks, I was tested and given tasks to complete, I still haven't a clue where it was, when I left it was again dark and in a helicopter.
I did my 3 years of service and signed on for another 7, and then another 4, I enjoyed my life, I can't tell you what or where I went, as they say in the films, "If I tell you I'll have to kill you."
I kept in touch with Mum more than anyone, mainly by letters but by phone calls and emails, I never went home, for some reason it didn't seem right to me, much to Mum's distress.