Family Therapy 01

Thank you kenji for your assistance

***

Hanna opened the door. Despite having stains on her kitchen apron, she fell around David's neck, greeted him with kisses and invited him in.

Eric was standing in the hallway; he, too, pressed David against him and called out, "Man, it's good to see you again."

"Yeah," David grinned, "it's been a while."

Eric put a hand on his shoulder, "Come to the terrace, we have an aperitif waiting for us."

Hanna pranced after them and excused herself, "Julia will be here soon, too; she's still in yoga class. She was so happy to see you, David."

"I'm curious, too," he replied, "I'm sure the pretty girl from back then has grown up."

"And how," Hanna gushed, "we're really proud of her."

As David stepped through the patio door, he said with mock disapproval, "My dear Mrs. Summer, my dear Mr. Summer, where has summer gone?"

The couple laughed uproariously, and Eric explained, "All right, it's raining. But it's still summer and nice and warm. The terrace is covered, we won't get wet."

The three took seats in wicker chairs, toasted each other and sipped from their glasses, chatting for a while, until Hanna murmured, "Somehow, I feel guilty that we didn't invite you until now."

David waved it off. "I can understand all too well, the last few years have been a bit bumpy."

Eric meekly admitted, "You know how it is. After your divorce, we didn't really know how to act, then my wife, too; your ex was seeing her regularly even after that."

"No problem," David said, "I don't hold a grudge against Carol." He smiled. "It's been way too long, too. We were young and inexperienced and didn't really know how to reconcile all our desires."

Erich shook his head. "We never understood why you guys got divorced."

"Yes," Hanna came forward, "you were always such a lively couple."

David cleared his throat. "Well, to put it in a single sentence, I am one-hundred-percent infertile, but Carol wanted children, so she moved on." He laughed. "I have other qualities for that down there."

While Hanna's cheeks turned dark red, Eric grinned broadly. He asked, "And? How is it looking? Are you in a new relationship?"

"How shall I say," David searched for the words, "for now, I remain a bachelor and enjoy life. Satisfying contacts with other people I have plenty."

"What are you doing these days?"

"I've hung up the former job for now."

"Then you're taking time off?" inquired Hanna.

"Not quite. Right now, I'm kind of a counselor, not a therapist with a degree and stuff. Mostly, I counsel couples, often with growing children."

"Parenting issues?"

"Not the way you think."

"What kind of family problems are you facing?" Eric wanted to know.

"Oh, with very different ones. Most of the time, the complications show up in the intimate lives of the families."

"I understand only too well," Eric murmured.

And David continued, "I help families figure out where the knot is. Often, there are several knots at once, but they can almost always be worked out."

"You were always easy to talk to," Eric thought, "I mean as a man. I think you're pretty successful as a therapist."

"I don't see myself as a therapist, more as a companion. And yes, my work is really fun, for which I am not only rewarded with money."

"And how do you do that?" asked Hanna.

"Actually, I don't do much. You have to think of it like this, you're in a car and you want to go somewhere, but the thing doesn't work. I help until the starter starts, and the rest comes naturally."

"Sounds simple," Eric laughed, "I think it's a bit more complicated than that, though."

"You're right," David agreed with him, "imagine having a secret desire that you would be ashamed of in front of society or even family."

Hanna stumbled, "You're thinking of something obscene?"

David laughed out loud. "The obscene is only in your head, Hanna. Once you understand that, the only thing obscene is what causes harm."

Eric inquired, "Do you have a practice?"

"I took over the apartment when I got divorced. I set up a practice room there, but I don't really call it a practice."

"Do you talk to the people at their houses, too?" asked Hanna.

"When circumstances call for it, yes. But mostly, I talk to clients individually in my office. Married couples, in particular, are often embarrassed to talk about things they've kept from each other for a long time."

"You mean... like, really personal?"

"Yes, that's why my clients have an easier time talking about it in my office."

Hanna wanted to know more. "What do you do with your clients?"

"Above all, listen."

"Oh yes," Hanna exclaimed, "you were always a good listener."

"Yes, really," Eric agreed with her, "with you, we could talk about anything."

Hanna added, "Even about things we didn't tell anyone else." She pondered, "But surely, you're not just listening."

"No, of course I ask questions, lots of questions. And if clients get uncomfortable with my questioning, I know I'm getting closer to the problem."

Eric became curious. "And then?"

"I need time to gain people's trust. Only then, are they ready to jump over their own shadows and put their secret wishes and fears into words."

"I would like to know," Eric said, "what ails other families."

David laughed. "I can't tell you details about certain people, of course, I'm sworn to secrecy. I hope you understand that."

Hanna asked, "How long does this go on before couples are helped?"

"It varies, but the one thing they all have in common, is they're like popcorn."

"Popcorn?" marveled Eric.

And David explained, "It's all pretty slow going, at first, but once the knot is untied and people feel the new freedom, they really go into overdrive." He smiled pensively. "It's nice to witness."

They heard footsteps in the living room. Julia stepped onto the terrace and cheered, "You there, Uncle David?"

She ran toward him and embraced him intimately. David, moved, put his cheek to her head. He grabbed Julia's shoulders and pushed her away. "Let me look at you, girl. It's been ages since I last saw you."

"I kept telling my parents to invite you back," Julia pouted.

"It all takes time," David smiled, "never mind, I'm here now."

He had known Julia since childhood and had last seen her as a teenager.

"How old did you actually get?"

"Twenty. I'm studying at university, but I still live with my parents." She grinned. "It's a lot cheaper that way."

David kept her at a distance for a while, eyeing her and noting that the girl had grown into a gorgeous young woman, with blonde hair, even features, and despite her slender figure, with that cute baby fat in her cheeks that made her recognizable as a girl of the time.

What he had noticed in her mother, he also saw in her. She wore a simple, pleated skirt and sweater, as if she were a student from the fifties. Her outfit did not match her ravishing body, only her inviting bust made up for her modest wardrobe.

Hanna was dressed similarly, with a tight-fitting skirt and matching blouse, but somehow staid, like a housewife whose wild times were long behind her. At the same time, he had perceived her then as a breathtaking woman, slender and with beguiling curves. After all, Hanna was still a beauty with an amazingly toned body. It was probably her tired appearance that clouded the picture somewhat.

He looked at both women. Indeed, the daughter was becoming more and more like her mother. One look at Eric, it was obvious that he was proud of the two beauties at his side. He was no longer the athlete he had been back then, but he had held up well physically. Similar to his wife, he also seemed to have become a bit more comfortable, perhaps a bit too comfortable for a man of a good forty years.

Julia excused herself. "Actually, I want to stay, but I really need to take a shower. I had yoga." She put her hand on David's arm as she walked, looking wistfully into his eyes, as if she were saying goodbye for a long journey.

He called after her, "Well, the shower won't take that long."

Hanna turned to David. "I still have work to do in the kitchen. Maybe you two will have a beer and take care of the grill."

Eric reached into a cooler and pulled out two bottles of beer. He toasted David, cast a critical glance at the sky and said, "Let it rain. The grill is under cover in the dry, so we can still enjoy the pleasure." He put the pieces of meat on the grate and said, "Really a pity that you and Carol are no longer together. Those were beautiful evenings, and after the conversations we always felt great." He smirked, "To be honest, every time you left, we both ended up in bed."

David laughed up. "It sounds like our conversation back then was all dirty talk."

"No," Eric replied, "not exactly like that, but we talked about quite intimate things, about problems, and even about feelings, not really my thing. The mood at the table was always good. Really, Hanna and I felt free and relaxed afterwards." He took a breath. "Those were the days."

David nudged him. "You sound like someone died."

Eric waved it off. "No, I don't mean it that way. Just, you know how it is when a marriage gets on in years."

"You think you've known each other for a long time, everything becomes a little more routine, and... how should I put it... a little duller?" Eric continued, "Yeah, something like that. I thought to myself that this would actually be an opportunity. I mean, you trust each other, you feel safe in the family, so it should be possible to try new things over time."

"You mean as a couple? In bed and stuff?"

"Where else?" grinned Eric, "in the kitchen we're constantly trying out new recipes, so in that respect it works out wonderfully." After another sigh, "But I don't want to complain. Basically, I want nothing more than to be with my wife and daughter." He turned to David. "However, we're kind of missing..."

"... the salt in the soup?"

"Yeah, something like that."

David guessed, "I think Hanna is a little reluctant to try new ideas in the bedroom."

"Restrained is good. Already it's been years, that she reacts in a panic when I suggest something." Eric reflected, "Maybe it's because she grew up in a super-religious household. Then she also went to a Catholic boarding school. Or to put it another way, during her youth she existed in the mind only up to the waistline, and only from the knees down."

"Did Hanna tell you that she might have a problem with that?"

"She has hinted at it, but so far she has made no effort to change it. At least, I wouldn't know about it."

Hanna called from the kitchen, "Can someone help me?"

David patted Eric on the shoulder. "It's my job, you stay at the grill." He went to the kitchen and asked how he could help.

"I'd be fine with you stirring this pot, I still have to cut the lettuce here."

David grabbed the wooden spoon, started stirring in the pan and sniffed. "Man, that smells good. Only now do I realize I'm hungry." He glanced at Hanna. "I'm really excited about your daughter. How she's grown, I mean, she's become a real woman, and as pretty as her mother."

"Oh you charmer," Hanna accepted the compliment.

David remarked, "For you parents, it must be a gift that your twenty-year-old daughter is still living at home."

"Yes, we are overjoyed about it... on the other hand, it seems to me that Julia is a bit attached to us. She rarely goes out on Saturdays." Hanna shrugged her shoulders. "This would actually be the night that Eric and I would have time together."

"I can understand that," David nodded, "I see it a lot in my counseling sessions. Men get restless when they fall short at home."

"That's exactly what worries me. Eric has become a bit unsettled in recent years. Sometimes, I worry it might hurt our marriage."

"You mean your husband is often in a bad mood?"

"No, not really, but every now and then he comes up with funny suggestions."

"What are you saying?"

"Oh, stuff like that." Hanna swallowed. "Pig stuff, that is."

"You think about stuff in bed?"

"Yes, there too. And in the kitchen, in the garden, and even in the forest he wants it, where everyone could see it."

David pondered. "Of course, I don't understand where exactly the shoe pinches in your case, but with the couples I accompany, the problem is rarely in a single person." He laughed. "There has been gender equality on this issue for decades."

"I think I know what you mean," Hanna murmured, "yes, you're probably right. Somehow it's hard for me to talk to Eric about all that down there. I had pretty strict parents, for them the marriage bed was only for sleeping and taking care of offspring..."

"...and to be ashamed of it to boot."

"Yes, exactly. Then I was also in a convent school. Dear me, the dried-up nuns were anathema to me. Meanwhile, so many years have passed, yet the fear creeps up in me that I'll become just like them."

"Already tried to do something about it?"

"A few things maybe, yeah. I was in a yoga class once, as I told Eric, but it was a type of tantric yoga. Nevertheless, to this day, I have not been able to find the right tone with my husband."

"Why is it so difficult for you? You talk to me about it."

"Now that you mention it? Yes, really strange, it's easy for me with you." She laughed out loud. "It's not like you're my husband, I can't go wrong with you." She slumped her shoulders. "Well, if you could see the mess in my head, I'm sure you'd take to your heels in a minute."

Footsteps on the stairs, then Julia was leaning into the kitchen. "After yoga, I'm always hungry as a bear. When do you have food?"

"We'll have it in a minute," Hanna replied, grabbing the salad bowl.

***

The four of them sat at the table and exchanged memories about David's previous visits. He noticed that the initially reserved mood had given way to cheerful conversation. When he had visited the Summer's together with Carol in the past, little Julia was always scurrying around them, and now this toddler had grown into a radiant woman. For the girl, he had always been the uncle she waited for, hopping up and down in front of the door whenever he came by.

Over coffee, David turned to Julia. "Remember? When you were a little girl, you used to rush in every time with an album full of vacation photos, sit on my lap and look at the pictures with me." He turned to the round. "Oh, by the way, where did you go on vacation?"

Julia slipped off his thighs and disappeared, while Hanna and Eric raved about their vacation in southern Italy. After barely two minutes, Julia was back with a photo album, sat down grinning on David's lap and began to leaf through the pictures.

David immediately reminisced, looking over Julia's shoulder and listening to her words. As in the past, he held her back with his hands on her stomach so that she wouldn't slip off his knees. But the little wobbly girl from back then had long since been able to sit securely, and her well-rounded butt swung quietly back and forth on his thighs.

David inhaled her scent, a fresh, young-girl perfume that reminded him of a grown woman sitting on his lap, turning to him for each photo to illustrate something, her bottom gently pressing on his growing erection.

The parents sat across the table from him and gave them a benevolent smile, as if they also remembered that their child used to sit on Uncle David's thighs to explain the world to him. However, they didn't seem to notice that their daughter had long since grown up and was snuggling her back ever closer to her uncle.

It had stopped raining. Hanna interrupted the photo session by suggesting that they end the evening together on the terrace. The flagstones on the sidewalk were still steaming, but it was delightfully warm. Hanna handed them all a glass of champagne, and the four toasted their reunion. They sat down in a circle in their wicker chairs and talked about Julia's teenage years, which had eluded David during his long absence.

Soon, Hanna changed the subject. "You told us you talk to your clients a lot during your consultations. What else do you do?"

"Like I said," David replied, "I listen, I ask questions, and every once in a while I do a relaxation exercise."

Eric came forward. "What kind of exercises?"

"Very simple ones, for example, I put my hands on the clients' knees. A minute or two is all it takes, and their pulse lowers and the clutter in their head calms down."

Julia became curious. "Can you show it to me?"

As David knelt on the floor in front of her, she pressed her legs together and put her hands on her thighs.

David grinned. "You have to push your knees a finger's width apart or there won't be room for my thumbs."

She did as instructed, and David covered her kneecaps with his hands. For two minutes, the questions gushed out of Julia's mouth like a waterfall, and David answered patiently. When he straightened up, Hanna wanted to try it too. His hands rested on her knees, as Julia gurgled.

"It's working, it's working! I feel very different all of a sudden."

She confirmed her words with a deep sigh. Now Eric was also interested, a bit skeptically, but since he was wearing shorts, he let David put his hands on his knees. Again, two minutes passed before Hanna also began to giggle softly. David sat back in his chair.

Eric had also noticed. "In fact, it didn't hurt at all. Somehow, I feel like I did after a few glasses of bubbly."

David eyed the three of them, who sat silently and complacently in their wicker chairs, smiling now and then at the other family members as if wondering if that pleasant, tingling feeling had spread through the others as well.

Finally, Hanna remembered. "We're still sitting in the same wicker chairs you used to sit in, Carol and you."

Eric laughed. "They even survived the weight of little Julia bouncing up and down in front of you until you put her on your lap."

Julia took Dad's words as an opportunity to go over to David and sit on his lap. She put her arm around his shoulder.

Her mother sighed, "My Julia, just like the old days."

"My girl," Eric chimed in and toasted his wife. Hanna grabbed the champagne bottle and poured more in turn. David noticed that the whooping and laughter from before had given way to quiet chatter. The three held his gaze longer and sat relaxed in their wicker chairs. He knew the effect of his exercise, yet he was amazed at how quickly the family had responded.

David saw that Hanna was looking with an affectionate expression at his hand resting on Julia's thigh. That's how he had done it before, so that the little girl wouldn't slip away from him. But what was this? The mother was sitting there with her legs slightly open, he could even see in the darkness under her skirt the triangular peck of her white panties.

Strange, only half an hour ago she had been sitting in front of them with her knees pressed together. She had also confessed to him in the kitchen that she was ashamed. How did that fit together? When he stroked the inside of Julia's thighs with barely noticeable movements, the girl lolling on his lap pushed her legs a little bit apart, a second later, Hanna's thighs opened as well.

David realized that the mother was staring under her daughter's little skirt. A fleeting glance at Eric, he, too, was looking spellbound under Julia's pleated skirt that had ridden up. David looked at the girl from the side, her eyes were directed under her mother's skirt, as if she had never seen a woman's panties from this perspective. Now, she began to sway back and forth on his swelling erection as well.

David tried to squirm out of the situation by coughing. "You've gotten a little heavy, my legs are falling asleep."

Julia pouted. "Have I become too fat for you?"

"No," David laughed, "girl, you have a great body, but you've grown since the last time I saw you."