Alberta

"That's ten points," my son Blake said gleefully. "It's going to be so much fun collecting that bet." He and his sister, Judy, were in the kitchen nook seated at the table.

I peeked around the corner rather than just entering the kitchen. I didn't normally monitor my kids' activities. They were incredibly good kids, Judy at twenty years old and Blake just a year younger. Both were super smart, honor students, and I often wondered what might happen if they decided to gang up on my more average intelligence. But even though I wondered, I wasn't afraid of it. My husband and I had always stressed ethical behavior and integrity in their dealings with others. No amount of law can achieve as good a result as having a strong set of internal rules to follow.

"Don't you worry, I'll hold up my end of the bargain," Judy answered. "All debts have to be paid." She sounded like she was reluctant but I heard the overtones in her voice. Whatever the bet was, she intended to have fun paying it off.

I was heartened at Judy's comment. That phrase about paying debts was part of the training we had given our kids. No matter what, they would be good to their word. No one in our family would renege on a promise, a commitment or a debt.

"Oh, yeah, and I'm really looking forward to this one," Blake continued. "Just wait until you find out what it is. And it's a ten-pointer!"

"You didn't write down anything stupid, did you?" Judy asked. Her voice showed some concern that hadn't been there in their previous exchange.

"Don't worry, you'll recognize it instantly," he assured her.

It sounded like Blake and Judy had made a bet and only Blake knew the stakes. That didn't sound like my kids.

"I'll honor the payoff, whatever it is," Judy assured him. "But just watch out, I might not have won this time but I'll write my same wager for our next bet. One of these times, you'll pay."

Wow, this sounded serious. Judy and Blake had apparently made a bet with each having a secret payoff. That wasn't how my husband and I had trained them. They were to be very careful of their commitments. Then again, they trusted each other so much. Maybe their trust in each other was so great that they knew nothing bad would happen in their bet. I was torn between my pride in the trust they had in each other and the fear that they might make blind bets outside of that trust.

I didn't normally intrude in my kids' lives. They knew they could talk with me about anything. In fact, each had shared some very deep and personal information with me and I was happy that I could be their sounding board. But my fears led me to a decision. I would ask Blake what was going on, at my next opportunity.

I backed into the living room, then started humming as I approached the kitchen. When I arrived, Blake and Judy were chatting about school.

-- -- -- -- -- "Blake, do you have a minute?" I asked. It was time for me to pry a little.

"Sure, Mom, what do you need?" he answered with a smile.

We sat at the breakfast table, the normal place for one-on-one conversations in our family.

"I apologize for eavesdropping," I said. "But I overheard something the other day and I'm a little concerned. Can you tell me about it?"

"Sure, Mom," he responded cheerfully. "I'll tell you anything you want to know. I don't have any secrets from you."

"I'm glad to hear that," I assured him. "I heard you and Judy talking about a bet. I guess I don't need to know about the bet itself, unless you want to tell me. I was a little concerned, though, because it sounded like the payoff was a secret from Judy. What's going on with that?"

He laughed. "Oh, that's nothing, Mom," he assured me. "We make blind bets all the time. I would never make Judy do anything bad and I know she would never do that to me, either. Since we both know that, it makes the bets a little more exciting to have an unknown payoff."

"What's a ten-point bet?" I asked.

"Oh, that's one of Judy's little games," he said. There was no hesitation in his response so I was sure he saw nothing wrong in what he described. Still, I waited to satisfy my curiosity. "She likes a progressive bet. So we bet something over some time, say a week. During that week, we keep track of who wins the bet the most times. It's kind of a contest with scoring. When the time's up, the winner is the one with the most points. Or sometimes, we both win and the points tell us about the payoff. That's the neat thing about her game. One time, the bet was one chore. I got nine points and Judy got eight. I was the winner so she had to do nine of my chores. The payoff depends on the number of points."

"That sounds like quite a game," I said. "Can you give me an example of a game where you both won?"

"I can only think of one, off hand," he responded thoughtfully. "The bet was one article. We each had seven points."

"One article?" I prompted. "What does that mean?"

"It's kind of like strip poker," he explained.

I was shocked at his response but I tried to control myself. To be judgmental at this point would damage all the openness we tried to keep between us.

"Each point meant that the other person had to take off an article of clothing," he continued. "It was kind of neat."

"I don't think either of you was wearing seven articles of clothing, were you?" I asked. "Doesn't that mean that you took all your clothes off, in front of each other?"

"Yeah," he answered enthusiastically. "I hadn't seen Judy naked since we were a lot younger. You know she's a fox? She really grew up nice."

"Nicely," I chided. Even in the midst of my shock at Blake's revelation, I was compulsive about his grammar.

Once again, I was torn. I was proud of Blake's forthright answer to my question but disturbed by his casual acceptance of what could become highly inappropriate behavior.

"So you looked each other over carefully?" I guessed.

"You bet," he answered eagerly. "I looked her over and she looked me over. I think I got the better end of that deal, though." He smiled as he replayed the memory. "I definitely got the better end. I didn't realize how exciting Judy is."

"Did you do anything else?" I asked. I was uneasy about his comment about his sister being exciting.

"No, Mom," he assured me. "We just stripped and looked. We were in her room. After we looked each other over, I hurried back to my room."

"Why did you hurry?" I asked.

"Like I said, Mom, Judy is exciting," he explained. "I got hard looking at her. I ran back to my room to take care of it. I didn't figure I should masturbate in front of her."

"You masturbated because of your sister?" I asked. I couldn't keep the shock out of my voice.

My shock didn't seem to register with Blake. "Hell, yes, Mom," he said with undiminished enthusiasm. "What guy wouldn't? She's so hot!" He paused thoughtfully. "I think she did, too. I heard some moaning through the wall between our rooms. Anyway, I know I did. I think I'm the luckiest guy in the world. I live with the two most beautiful women in the world. What guy as lucky as I am wouldn't masturbate?"

I didn't know if Blake realized what he had just said. He not only admitted masturbating because of his foxy sister, he implied that I was part of his stimulation. This was much more information than I thought I would get, and was completely off topic from what I needed to know about, the bet. My surprise at Blake's revelation was compounded by my surprise at my own reaction. My body tingled with the thought that my son found me sexually desirable. Was that true? Did I want to know? I didn't consciously decide to ask and I was surprised to hear the question come out of my mouth.

"Blake, do you masturbate thinking of me?" I asked. Even after I heard the question, I could hardly believe that I asked it. It was even harder to realize that I was excited, waiting for his answer. Why was I excited that Blake might masturbate while thinking of me?

"Of course I do, Mom," he replied without hesitation. "Judy's beautiful and she got it all from you. I don't know anyone who looks as good as you and Judy do. You're an exciting woman, Mom."

"You've seen Judy naked, you just told me that," I said. My mouth was still on automatic. I was too shocked at Blake's revelations to control what I said. "But when have you seen me naked? How could you know whether I'm all that hot?"

Blake looked a little sheepish. "I have to confess something, Mom," he said. "Those times when I walked into the bathroom when you were showering weren't accidents."

"But I covered up as soon as you entered," I objected. That wasn't quite true but that's what I said.

"You did when you knew I was there," he explained. "But sometimes I was really quiet and you didn't know I was there. You really are hot, Mom. Really."

Everything he said rang true. Even though I was emotionally numb, I felt flushed and realized that the tingle in my body had intensified even more. Why was I so turned on by my son's admission? What could I do?

I realized that we had been silent for a while and didn't know how long. I struggled to regain control of myself. As I struggled, I recalled something about Blake catching me in the shower. It was true that I had tried to cover myself when he barged into the bathroom, making lots of noise. I was also aware of him at least some of the times when he snuck in. I tingled those times, too. I had even moved a little more sensually, knowing that he was watching. A few times, after my shower, I had to clean up some cum puddles around the sink. I pretended to myself that those weren't about Blake's excitement at seeing me but I couldn't pretend any more. I not only had his word about masturbating while thinking about me, I had cleaned up the evidence myself!

I tried to focus on the reason for my talk with Blake. It was difficult. In our family, we often joked that all secrets eventually come out. Blake's secret of masturbating was no longer a secret. But I needed to know about the bet.

"So your bet with Judy is one of these progressive wagers, right?" I asked. I hoped to get the conversation away from the totally disturbing and exciting subject of Blake's sexual response to me. I still had to pursue the somewhat less disturbing subject of the bet.

"That's it," he confirmed.

"What was your wager?" I asked.

"It's just something I heard Judy talk about once," he said. His tone implied that it wasn't a big thing. "It's one more kiss."

"One more kiss?" I asked.

"That's it," he said. "But please, Mom, don't tell Judy. We're not supposed to reveal our wagers until the end of the bet time."

"What can you tell me about one more kiss?" I prompted.

"I can't," he said. "It's Judy's game. Maybe you can get her to explain it. But don't let her know that it's my wager."

"I'll try to be careful," I assured him. "Is there anything else you'd like to share with me right now?"

"No, Mom," he said.

I was relieved that he didn't want to share anything else at the moment. It would take me a long time to get my head around what I had just learned. And I had to get myself calmed down. I was way too excited for much more discussion with my son right then.

-- -- -- -- --

"Hi, Judy, do you have a minute?" I asked.

"Of course, Mom," she answered. I felt another swell of pride. Both of my kids were so considerate and cooperative.

"I don't know how to ask this, Judy," I said. "I heard Blake talking about a progressive game, something about doing chores. What's that all about?"

"Oh, that was just a trial," she said. "I invented this game to see if I could help Elroy get over his shyness."

"Your boyfriend, Elroy?" I prompted.

"How many Elroys do you know about?" she teased. "It's not like we have the Jetsons next door or anything. Yes, Elroy my boyfriend. He was so shy and withdrawn that I wanted to get him out of his shell. So I invented this game. The wager I made with Blake was an early version, just doing one more thing."

"Whoa, Honey, go back to the beginning, or at least to the basics of the game," I begged. "Don't assume that I know anything because I assure you I don't."

"Sorry, Mom," she said. "The game is simple. I make a multi-point bet with someone and then . . ."

"What's a multi-point bet?" I prompted. I really wanted all the details from her and showing total ignorance was a minor subterfuge that should help.

"Oh," she said. "Make a bet where there are chances to win or lose several times over time. It's like a basketball game or something but you get a point every time you do something right or something happens right. You lose a point to the other person when something happens wrong. It can be anything but you have to be able to count score."

"OK, I understand," I confirmed.

"When you finish the bet, one person has more points than the other," she resumed. "The game is the payoff for the bet. The more points the winner has, the more the loser has to do to pay it off. The one you asked about was when I bet Blake with a one more chore game. I ended up having to do lots of his chores."

"So what did you do with Elroy?" I asked.

"I invented a special game for him," she said proudly. "It worked out pretty well. I called the game one more kiss. The basic rule was that each point required another kiss. And each kiss required touching more than had been touched before. I also required that both people had to be fully involved in the kiss. As you can imagine, it didn't take too many levels before he touched me like I wanted to be touched."

"What do you mean?" I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. "What did he want to do and what did you want? How did it turn out?"

"You know I like my boyfriends to show that they like my body," Judy explained. "Elroy never showed that on his own. And his version of a kiss was something you'd expect from a five year old. I wanted a sensual kiss, some petting and some exploration."

"Yes," I acknowledged. Judy and I had talked about her dating exploits before. She was a good girl but she really liked to touch and be touched. "I'm really glad you're comfortable sharing that with me."

"Well, I got him to agree to one more kiss," Judy continued. "We got a bet to the fifth level. The funny thing, though is that I had to use his loss to make the bet work. He wouldn't go with it as a winner. Who would have thought that making out with me was something you'd have to lose to experience?"

We both laughed at that.

"Anyway, I got him to kiss me and rub my back on the first kiss," she said. "I got him to touch my breasts through my bra with the second kiss. On the third kiss, I rubbed his cock through his trousers and I got him to grope me through my jeans. Finally, on the fourth kiss, I touched his cock and he touched my pussy. He chickened out before I could collect the fifth kiss. I was so frustrated but he wouldn't budge."

"If it weren't so funny, I'd feel sorry for you," I said with a little laugh.

"I know," she agreed. "If I hadn't been so frustrated, I would have laughed, too."

"So what other games have you invented?" I asked.

"Actually, I experimented with a couple of simple games but one more kiss was the best," Judy confirmed. "That got me in the direction I wanted to go with Elroy. Unfortunately, while the direction was good, the distance sucked. I think it took one more level with Elroy than it would have taken with anyone who wasn't so shy. But one more kiss is my best game, at least so far."

"Who else knows about one more kiss?" I asked.

"Just you, me and Elroy," she said. "It's not exactly a game I'd choose to use indiscriminately."

"I can understand that," I agreed.

"Were there any other games you'd like to tell me about?" I prompted.

"There's one, but you have to promise not to freak out," she said tentatively.

"I promise," I said. "Was that promise just to engage my curiosity? You know you can tell me anything."

"I know," she said. "I played a game of one more article with Blake."

"What's one more article?" I asked, pretending ignorance. It wasn't easy, particularly since I was shocked once again. Would these shocks never cease? My shock wasn't about the game, of course, but the fact that I knew about it and I was about to get confirmation from Judy about what Blake had told me. I couldn't reveal my shock or surprise until Judy told me something specific about the game.

"Each point requires losing an article of clothing," she said. "That's a game where we didn't declare a winner. Each of us had points and used them. We ended up getting naked."

I tried to look surprised. "Shades of strip poker," I commented. "How did that work out?"

"I didn't realize it but Blake has become quite a hunk," she said. "And I guess he liked what he saw of me because he got hard while he was looking at me. I thought it was pretty exciting, too."

"What did you do?" I asked. "What did Blake do?"

"I think Blake was too excited to stick around," she said with a little smile. "He ran out of my room and I heard his door slam shut. Then I heard some funny noises from his room. I wouldn't be surprised if I found out that he masturbated there. I know I did in my room."

"You masturbated thinking about Blake?" I asked, trying to remain casual.

"I did, isn't that delicious?" she confirmed happily. "I don't know if it was the situation, finding out that he's a hunk or seeing him get a hard-on. But it was exciting and I masturbated thinking about it. It was good."

I knew, with Judy's confirmation of what Blake had told me, that my children were on the road to committing incest. If the one more kiss wager got Elroy to the point where he and Judy touched each others' genitals with only five points, a ten point wager with willing participants would easily take them to intercourse. What could I do?

"Is there anything else you'd like to tell me about?" I asked.

"No, Mom," Judy answered. "You know, Mom, I'm really glad that I can share anything with you. None of the other girls can do that. I'm really lucky to have you as my mom."

"That's what I'm here for," I said.

-- -- -- -- --

I was in a real quandary. What kind of Pandora's box had I opened? What was I going to do with all the information I had just learned? What did I know now that I didn't know before? The list was too long but I tried to go through it anyway. My two children found each other sexually exciting, so much so that they each masturbated thinking about the other. They had a bet going that would certainly result in them having incestuous sex together. Neither seemed to know that their bet would lead to that act of incest. Each of them considered their interactions to be completely innocent and natural. If only that were true. Unfortunately, social rules and biology stated otherwise. Incest was taboo practically everywhere in the world and illegal in some countries. If they went that way, would my children know enough to keep it private between them or at least within the family? Biological penalties for incest have been well documented, the children of incestuous relationships suffering from the emergence of recessive genetic traits. Would my children be smart enough to ensure that they didn't have any children together? Judy, at least, was on the pill. And my husband and I had made sure that both of our children knew how sex worked and what the consequences could be from unfortunate sexual decisions. So maybe they could be artful enough to keep their interactions free of undesirable consequences. But it was still incest.

I wished that my husband were there, instead of being off on a business trip. We always came up with better solutions together than either of us did alone. But he wasn't there and wouldn't be for another week. With the end of my kids' bet coming up, my husband couldn't possibly be back in time for us to compare notes. What would he warn me about if he were there? His standard warning, almost a joke between us, was that I tended to be overprotective of my children. But that was my job as their mother, wasn't it? Wasn't I supposed to protect my kids from experiences and decisions that would cause problems for them? I would watch out for my tendency but I had to go ahead. If only I could figure out what to do.