A Mother Returned

All characters in sexual situations are 18 or older. Thanks for reading!

Sometimes, it was impossible to be brave. Penelope cried into her pillow. It was morning, her first dawn passed with the knowledge that her husband was gone. Not only would he not return to their bed that night, he was very likely no longer on Earth. Her body shuddered and tears stained the satin pillowcase. There was no gift waiting for her this morning on his pillow. There was no after-work return to look forward to. Her husband was gone, and the only thing taking his place was despair.

Eventually, Penelope's cry ran itself out. She crawled out of bed, aghast at how late it was. She brushed, showered, and dressed. As she pinned her raven hair in the mirror, she studied her reflection. Her eyes were red, but otherwise she looked well-rested. She thought about applying makeup, but Felix was the only one she would bother dolling-up for. She didn't think her son or Winifred would much care whether she wore mascara or not.

Thoughts of her son buoyed her spirits some. If she couldn't be a wife, she was still a mother. Sadly, that thought somewhat distressed her, and she found herself spiraling again. Being only a mother wasn't good enough. She needed to pour her wifely duties into something.

Maybe I can be a mother-wife?

No. She put her hand to her chest in alarm. That couldn't be right, could it?

Maybe by being a good mother, I am being a good wife.

The ideas seemed muddled, but it was a place to start.

Downstairs she found Winifred in the kitchen. They smiled at each other. Winifred attempted to greet her mistress with a curtsy, but Penelope drew the AI's robot body into a tight hug. It was odd how hard the robot's breasts were, they pressed almost aggressively into Penelope's ample softness. "Felix offered you an Alternate body. You would have looked almost human, right? Why didn't you accept? That was a generous offer. They're expensive."

Grateful for Penelope's nascent affection, Winifred stayed with the hug until she was released. She then busied herself in the kitchen putting together a late breakfast. She had already fed Theodore hours ago. "The commercial slogan for Alternates is more human than human. But I'm not human at all. I'm a construct. And I'm proud of who I am. I've been in this household a long time, and you've all known me by my robot faces. It would feel ... almost like lying to put on a human face." She gave Penelope her stiff smile as she poured fresh-squeezed juice into a glass. "I noticed you physically respond to my unhuman body. You hugged me differently than you would a woman. I think that's a good reminder to both of us of who I am. You're human, I'm AI. We work wonderfully together, but we're not the same."

"Yes, I understand." Penelope sat at the bar and took her juice. "You've got a good head on your shoulders, Winnie. So to speak." She smiled.

"And I love to see you smile, Penny." Winifred turned on the stove and scrambled eggs.

"You saw me crying this morning." Penelope sipped her juice. It was excellent. "We don't make much use of our privacy settings, do we? There's nothing that would make you blush. And it's helpful that you know what's going on with us."

"What you say is true, Penny." Winifred nodded, the motion not quite fluid. "I have witnessed almost every intimate act to take place in this home for more than twenty years. Felix has only engaged my privacy mode for business-related calls and meetings. The only instances of you doing so were in the two months preceding your disappearance. As for Teddy, he's had access to my privacy mode for little more than a year and has never engaged it. He tried to access it a number of times as a boy of course, but it was always to ... attempt some subterfuge. He has always hated getting in trouble."

"Yes, of course." Penelope thought of her session the day before with the carrot in her bed. She found she didn't mind that Winifred knew. It would have bothered her if anyone but Felix had seen that. Which proved the point, Winifred was wonderful, but she wasn't human. "I'm enamored of our friendship, Winnie. I'm lucky to have you."

"And I you, Penny." Winifred served her mistress breakfast.

~~

"Teddy?" Penelope knocked on his open door. She was quite intentionally avoiding calling him "lambkin" no matter how much she felt like doing so. She stepped into the doorway. Her son was strewn sideways on his armchair, reading a book. He didn't look up at her. She studied his lovely, pudgy body. His round stomach pushed gallantly on his shirt, spreading the gaps between buttons. His legs were thick and strong in their trousers. Which brought her eyes to ... a large snake running down the inside of his thigh. Her cheeks heated. He was soft and

still

his penis was obvious. She wondered if maybe they should have his trousers tailored to hide his package better. She didn't know how she would broach that subject with him. Her stomach turned somersaults, her palms became slick in her gloves, and her vagina thrummed. She rubbed her legs together.

"Are you just going to stare at me, or did you have something to say?" Theodore was too distracted to read, but he stared at the page anyway.

"Um ... are you sore from your duel? Maybe we could go for a walk together, and you could stretch your legs." Penelope smiled hopefully.

A good mother bonds with her son.

"What happened last night was more about Reginald being a dick than it was about defending you, Mom." Theodore looked up. His mother looked nervous. She was wringing her hands again. She seemed to be especially burnishing her wedding finger. He wondered if she still had her ring, or if she'd gotten rid of it when she'd left them.

"Oh, I understand." She resisted the urge to reprimand his language. "So, a walk with your old mother? You were so dashing and strong last night. I bet you're a vigorous walker these days. We'll see if I can keep up!" She offered a timorous laugh.

"Nah, I'm reading. You can take Cora on your walk instead." He looked back at the book.

"If this is about the kiss -"

"Oh ... my ... gods! This is not about the kiss." He tossed his book away without saving his spot. He noted that he hadn't blasted it at the wall. His temper had risen, but he was holding back. Was he ... concerned about hurting her feelings? Did his mother have feelings worth preserving now? Things were strange. "That kiss was fucking weird. I mean ... what mother does that? But you know what? It's tiny compared to the demeaning and rageful shit you've pulled with me before. So try not to be a bitch, and we'll see about a walk in the future. Sound good?"

Penelope's whole body shook. Her insides wanted to implode.

A mother is brave. My son is lonely and hurt. He doesn't mean it.

"Th ... th ... th ... thank you for sharing ... your feelings with me." She nodded, tried to say something else, but the waterworks were staring again. She turned and fled, rushing right into the waiting arms of her only true friend.

Winifred hugged her mistress tightly as her whole body was wracked by sobs. Carefully, she guided them downstairs. "I thought you might like to know that last night wasn't the first time Teddy fought another boy over something they said about you."

"It ... wasn't?" Penelope was sick and tired of crying. This news was something to hold onto.

"I've had to tend to bloody knuckles and bruised ribs. Teddy can be quite the brawler." Winifred placed Penelope on a barstool and went about making her tea. "Although last night was the first duel he's found himself in."

"You taught him the trick he used last night. I mean the way he baited Mr. Gelling with poor technique." Penelope gratefully took the tea when it arrived and sipped it.

"I did." Winifred slowly nodded.

"I should have been there to teach him that. I appreciate what you've done, stepping in for me. But I'm his mother." Penelope sighed.

"You're here now." Winifred knelt by Cora's bed and scratched the dog behind her ears. Cora's back leg thumped on the soft mattress when the robot hit the perfect spot. "And if I may be frank, I don't think dueling gambits are your cup of tea, Penny."

"Point taken." Penelope gave her friend a sad smile. She thought of her son. The powerful way he'd won that duel. She wondered if he showed that ferocity with Victoria when they ...

"What are you thinking about?" Winifred gave Cora one last pat and stood. She gazed appraisingly at her mistress.

"I wonder. How do I gain access to the cameras in the sensorium? You know, in case I need to record and review something I did in there." Penelope was happy that her dark skin didn't easily show her blush. Her cheeks were quite hot.

"I can show you, of course." Winifred nodded knowingly. Both of them understood that Theodore's privacy was being discussed but neither would say it outright. "I wonder if it might be better for your mood to go out for a bit. Sunshine and an animal companion can do wonders for your spirits. Why don't you forget about Teddy for a few hours? Cora's needs are simple. If you feed her, take her for some exercise, and love her, she'll love you right back. Teenagers are more complex."

"A walk sounds delightful. But first, teach me about the cameras." Penelope stood. She told herself that she would monitor her son's use of the sensorium as any parent would. To make sure he was being safe and earning the trust she had put into him by allowing him access to the room.

~~

The first thing Penelope noticed when Theodore entered the sensorium was how different he looked. His posture was upright. His shoulders were back and loose. His face had none of the furrows she was used to seeing. Instead, he was beaming. Her son looked happy and unencumbered as he greeted his girlfriend with an embrace. Penelope leaned toward the screen she had opened in her locked bedroom. She turned up the volume and listened in.

A good mother checks up on her son.

While that might be true, this was probably a violation of Theodore's trust.

He won't ever know. Winifred wouldn't tell on me.

"They made very different sartorial decisions for this date," Penelope said under her breath. Victoria was dressed in skimpy, but elaborate, garlanded lingerie. It looked way too expensive for a college student. But it could, since it was created by the sensorium. Theodore was dressed in an exquisite tuxedo. They were in what looked like a luxurious cabin bedroom, with snow falling outside the window.

Guilt crept into Penelope's mind. This

was

a very private moment for her son. He wouldn't want her to bear witness. Victoria and Theodore were wonderfully cute together, and they were now bonding heart-to-heart. It made Penelope's belly do flip-flops and her vagina thrum. She also felt queasy.

"Wow, I can actually feel you!" Theodore released Victoria and appraised her. He laughed. "I think I messed up my outfit. You look incredible." His dick strained against his phantom underwear and trousers.

"Easily fixed!" Victoria opened up a screen in the air next to her, tapped some buttons, and clapped her hands. "Presto ... alakazam!" She burst out laughing when she saw the change. The tuxedo was gone. Her boyfriend was now wearing a cheetah-print loincloth and nothing else. The spartan garment was draped comically over his massive erection, just barely covering it.

Theodore looked down at himself and joined in her laughter. He watched his belly shake and ripple with each chortle. "Makes you wonder what Tarzan did when he had a boner."

"I don't think he had to worry about a dick your size." Victoria unpinned her ruddy, brown hair and shook it out behind her. "Very few men do." She was still giggling, and her blue eyes sparkled with delight. She stepped close to him, put his erection between her legs, crossed her arms behind his neck, and kissed him.

Upstairs, Penelope jerked back from the screen. She shut it off and sat in the dark bedroom, her heavy breathing the only sound in the large space. She opened an outgoing message to her husband. She badly needed his advice. Why had she crossed such a line? What should she do? But he was traveling and wouldn't be able to respond for days. She closed and deleted the message. Watching her son kiss Victoria had ignited something strange in her. She was jealous. She wanted to make her son happy the way Victoria did, to share in that human connection. She wanted him to lean into a kiss the way he had on screen. Not the way he'd jumped from her lips the night before.

Wait ... that's not right. I'm not supposed to kiss him at all.

It was no wonder that Theodore had jumped away. She was his mother. Her mind was fogged and humid with lurid thoughts. She stripped quickly. When she was naked, she picked up the carrot she'd brought with her, thought about it, and tossed the long, narrow vegetable away

. That looks nothing like the veiny mushroom-topped monster that Theodore might this very minute be plunging into his girlfriend.

Penelope jumped onto her bed, spread her legs and began massaging her clitoris. It took every ounce of willpower she had not to reopen the view into the sensorium.

Down in the basement, puzzlement furrowed Theodore's brow. His girlfriend's shapely thighs felt wonderful around his dick as he gently humped into her. But her tongue ... her tongue wasn't in his mouth. And when he tried to stick his tongue out, he felt ... nothing. No teeth. No dancing tongue. Her lips were pressed to his, but her mouth was ... empty. He pushed away. "Kissing you is ... different."

Victoria studied his nonplussed face. "Well, the machine works by pressing molecules on our skin. That's why we have to be naked to feel things. But ... it can't press on our insides. So ..." She shrugged.

"No ... sex?" Theodore looked crestfallen.

"Well, I'm not sure. But I can give you handjobs to your heart's content, big guy." She removed his cock from between her thighs and untied the loincloth. "My gods is that a sight? I love the way it curves to the right. And the veins ..." She removed her glove and ran her fingertips along his cock veins. Her shoulders bounced as a quick shiver ran through her. "We'll figure it out. We can still have fun." She winked at him as she started pumping his dick with her bare hand.

Upstairs, Penelope had picked up the carrot again and was plunging it into her vagina, her hips rising to meet it with each thrust. "I just want to make you happy like ... uuugghhhhhh ... she does." She wasn't thinking about her beloved, traveling husband. She briefly wondered if this was transference, but found she didn't care. It was magnificent to imagine riding her loving son and seeing the ecstasy on his face as he looked up at her with wonder and affection. "I would give you your heart's ... ooohhhhh ... desire ... anything ... for my young man ... I ... eeeeeeiiiiiiiiiii." Her hips jerked, and the carrot slipped out of her. Her own bliss overtook her. It was a magnificent climax. When she looked down with half-comprehending eyes, she saw her breasts flopping on her chest and a geyser shooting from between her legs. "Wh ... wha ... whaaa ... whaaaaaaaaaaa?" She threw her head back on the mattress. She was somehow erupting for Theodore, just as he would erupt for her if he'd give her the chance.

In the basement, Theodore tried to focus on his pretty girlfriend as she eagerly worked his cock between her large breasts. It really did look and feel like she was giving him a titjob. "If you ... use your mouth ... you won't feel me, but I should feel you ... right?"

She cocked her head and looked at him. "Yes, I suppose you're right. Oh, you naughty, naughty man. I see where your mind is going. I could deep-throat you without any worry on my end."

That hadn't been his proposal, but now that it was said, he wasn't going to pull it back. He watched her pink lips stretch around his dark cockhead, and then his dick slowly disappeared. It did feel warm and tight. Maybe not as wet as it should have been. But this wasn't so bad. He would be able to have sex with her. The problem would be that she wouldn't feel it. He'd find a way to make it up to her. He kept staring at her lips and found that his mind was back on the kiss from the night before. His mother's lips were not pink like Victoria's. They were dark, luscious, and beguiling. And she had pressed them to his. Why? His mind went back to the way her tongue had darted into his mouth for the briefest second. The way her hand had reached for his dick through his trousers.

"Mmmmppphhh ... mmmmmmppphhhhh." Victoria was bobbing her head up and down his long dick. She felt like such a hussy to be able to do such a thing. She hoped it wouldn't spoil Theodore for when they met in person again. She certainly wasn't going to do this for real.

"Gonna ... cum ..." Theodore couldn't get his mother out of his head. What had she done to him? He was going to cum thinking about her lips and searching hand. His poor girlfriend was deepthroating him, and he couldn't focus on her. He looked down at her bobbing brown hair and imagined it was raven-black. In his mind he turned her pale skin brown, and he substituted her pretty facial features, twisted by effort, into his mother's face. People had always remarked that his mom was one of the most beautiful women they had ever seen. What would her face look like twisted like Victoria's, straining to deep-throat his cock? "Uuuuggghhhhhhhhh ... cummmminnnngggggggggg." He was somewhat shocked and horrified when cum blasted right through the back of Victoria's head into the air. But of course it did, her head wasn't really there.

"Mmmmppphhhhhh." Victoria lifted her mouth off him and finished him with her hands. She sprayed her face and lingerie-covered breasts for him. She knew he loved to cover her. When he was done, he had the oddest look on his face. She reached back and found she had cum on the back of her head. "Oh ... my gods. It shot right through my head. That must have been really weird. That's why you look like that." She burst out laughing.

"Yes ... that's it." He wasn't about to tell her everything swirling in his mind.

What did Mom do to me? Why did she do it?

He had shrugged the kiss off at the time, but maybe it was worse than he'd thought.

"You look really strange, Teddy." Victoria had stopped laughing. She pressed her lips together in concern.

"Let's cuddle for a little while. I think I need to feel close to you." He pulled her into an embrace and they fell onto the nearby bed.

"The blowjob was a little weird, huh?" She kissed his cheek. The pretend cum that had covered her head seemed to have disappeared.

"A little. But it's okay." He pulled her close and tried to dispel his mother from his thoughts.

~~

A good wife confides in her husband.

Penelope frowned at the message screen. She couldn't send Felix a missive about what she was feeling and doing. She needed to hear his voice and see his face. She needed to wait until her husband could message her face-to-face. Even if there was a delay of several minutes as the conversation made a round trip from Earth and back. So, if she wasn't getting help with her own confusion, what message could she send?

"This is silly. Why am I thinking of myself?" she said to the empty bedroom. "What does Felix need when he arrives on site?" She stood and walked into her closet. She found her old lingerie just where she'd left it years ago in a bottom drawer. She selected a set with a lace bra, panties, and gloves. She undressed, put them on, and walked back into her bedroom. She stopped at a vase on her dresser and pulled out one red rose. She stepped in front of one of the room's cameras and set it to record.

"Felix ... my darling. I miss you so. I'll keep the bed warm for your return." She stopped recording and frowned. "That was terrible."

If I was on a business trip, I would hope that my wife back home could summon a better message than that.

She tucked the thornless stem of the rose into her cleavage, put a wide smile on her face, and dipped into a deep curtsy.