Caretaer Mom

Part 1 of 4: The Caretaker Position

Caroline sat in the classroom grading essays.

It was the last day of Fall semester, and at that late afternoon hour, most of the students had already left the university campus. She sat in the back of the room in a student's desk as she read the papers.

"Still here?" a woman's voice asked from the hall.

Caroline turned to see her friend Jane, the university Dean, standing by the doorway. Jane was also middle-aged, and she was dressed like a prim and proper woman.

"I'm still here," Caroline replied. "As you can see from this big pile of papers, I'm going to be here for a while. I'll take the rest home after I'm exhausted."

Jane smiled, "Mind if I have a seat? I'm sure you could use the company."

"Please do."

The Dean sat down in a student's desk, next to the professor.

"So what's the rush?" Jane asked. "Are you still working on your first novel?"

"Basically. I have what people call, writer's block. It's a bummer."

"It happens. A lot of writers go through that."

"Well, I'm not exactly a writer yet. I'm still working on it."

Jane gave a sympathetic nod. "Writers have to start somewhere."

"I know. I'm hoping to grade everything by next week, for all of my classes. Then I'll use the winter break to write as much as I can."

"How much have you written so far?"

"Over 100 pages," Caroline replied. "Not a lot. I'm always busy."

"Maybe there's a way that we could help each other."

"What did you have in mind?" Caroline asked.

"Do you remember that secluded winter home my husband and I bought a few years ago? I showed you pictures of it before."

"Sure, I remember. Beautiful place."

"Well, my husband and I were supposed to go there this winter, but something came up, and he has to travel to Europe for a while. So, we decided to have our winter vacation in Europe this year."

"That sounds like a pretty nice change of plans."

"It is," Jane replied. "We're making the best of everything. But that means our winter home will be unattended for a while. We tried to make arrangements with our usual caretaker, but she had already made plans to do other things. So, Caroline, how would you like to be the caretaker of that beautiful home for the winter?"

Caroline was taken aback by the offer. The winter home was beautiful and fancy. It was much classier than anything she was used to, since she lived on a modest professor's salary.

"I don't know what to say. Are you sure about this?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't sure," Jane replied. "It's a win-win situation. The house would have someone to look after it. And you would have a solitary place to write your book. Are you interested?"

"I'm not exactly sure yet," Caroline replied.

"Which is fine. It's understandable if you don't want to make a decision right away. It's a big responsibility. It's also a big time commitment."

"Is there anyone else you could ask?"

"Sure. There are a few other people. But as soon as my normal caretaker turned down the offer, I thought of you. Like I said, it's a win-win situation."

"That's very nice of you to think about me," Caroline replied. "I'll consider it. It's definitely an intriguing offer."

"Great. But please, let me know your decision in a few days. My husband and I plan on leaving soon."

"Would you mind if my son came along?"

"The more the merrier," Jane smiled. "It's probably better if he did. He can help you with chores and carrying wood for the fireplace. You know, little things like that which are meant for men."

"I'll consider it. I'll give you an answer soon."

Jane flashed a big smile. "I'll email you later today with all of the details of the arrangement. It'll help you make your decision."

The two friends exchanged more pleasantries and other details about the offer. Jane left the classroom and Caroline continued with her work.

***

That evening. Caroline sat in front of her bedroom computer, looking through all of the details and provisions which Jane had emailed her. The offer was tempting. There were pictures of the home, along with pictures of the mountain view. Everything looked stunning. It seemed like the perfect place to write a book.

The oven timer rang and dinner was ready. Caroline turned off the computer and quickly headed down the stairs to remove the food from the oven. She let the food rest while she prepared the plates.

Matt came down the stairs to help. He was an athletic and handsome college student, who was always full of energy

"Smells good," he said as he helped prepare the dishes.

"Thanks. I spent extra time to prepare your favorite."

"Oh yeah? What's the occasion?"

They both sat down to eat after everything was prepared.

"Do you have any plans for the winter break?" Caroline asked.

He thought for a moment. "Not really. Normal stuff I guess. Nothing special. Why?"

"Jane had a last minute change of plans, and she needs a caretaker for her winter home. So she offered me a chance to look after the place for the next month. It's a few hours drive from here, in the mountains. It's a really beautiful home and the scenery is breathtaking. I think you'll love it. It's also a great place for me to write my novel."

"And you're asking me if I want to stay there with you for the next month?"

She nodded. "That's the offer. If you won't go, then I won't go."

He thought once again. "I don't know mom. That's a pretty long time."

"I'll email you the pictures later. I'm sure you'll love it once you see it."

"I don't know," Matt said again. "I've got a lot of things going on, you know, with my friends and everything. Plus I'll be bored out of my mind staying in an outdoor place for that long. Are you sure you can't go alone?"

"I'm afraid to stay there alone, to be honest. And frankly, I'm afraid of leaving you here all by yourself," she joked.

"For good reason too," Matt smiled.

"Is your final answer 'no'? Jane wants an answer soon."

"I'm sorry mom. But that's a really long time to be away. I don't think I would like it very much."

Caroline nodded. "It's okay. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to begin with. I'll call her tonight and let her know."

"Sorry. It's just that, it sounds boring. I've never been a nature person. There won't be anything for me to do besides watch tv and use the internet all day."

"Well, it's on a mountain, so there's a slope on it for skiing and snowboarding. There's also a fancy hot tub, a brand new gym, a home theater and a bunch of other neat stuff. Jane and her husband are fairly rich. Anyway, I'll call her after dinner to let her know the decision."

Matt's eyes widened. "Whoa whoa whoa... did you say snowboarding and home theater? And all that other stuff?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Why didn't you mention that before? I thought you were talking about an empty log cabin or something. Send me the pictures tonight. I want to see it."

"I thought you weren't a nature person?" Caroline asked playfully.

"I'm more of a snowboarding person. I also like the private home theater, and all that other stuff. This sounds like it has a lot of potential. I'm officially interested."

"You know, I'm glad that we'll be able to spend some quality time together, plus I get to work on my book. This trip could actually be a lot of fun."

"Exactly. Let her know that we're interested," he said, before taking a big bite of the home cooking. "And this food taste great."

Caroline smiled at her son's youthful enthusiasm.

***

Later that night. After washing the dishes, Caroline went to her bedroom and took another long look at the pictures of the winter home. She wanted to make sure she was making the right decision, since it was a major commitment. The more she looked at the pictures, the more she fell in love with it.

Caroline emailed the pictures to Matt, who immediately replied, stating that he loved it. Caroline then picked up the phone and called Jane:

"Hello," Jane answered after a few rings.

"Hey. I hope I'm not bothering you at this hour."

"It's fine. So have you looked at the pictures yet? What do you think?"

"That's why I'm calling," Caroline replied. "My son and I have talked about the offer, and we'd love to be the caretakers for your winter home."

"Wonderful news! Believe me, you'll be blown away once you see it with your own eyes. The environment there is so relaxing and beautiful. The home is simply gorgeous. Wait until you get there. You'll never want to leave."

"That's the idea. I'm hoping the peaceful environment will help with my writing. Matt loves it also. He's so excited to go snowboarding, and to enjoy all of the perks of that lovely home."

"So, your son is actually coming with you?" Jane asked, almost suggestively.

"He is. Why? Is something wrong?"

"No. Nothing. It's just that I remembered something about that area. That's all."

"What is it?" Caroline asked nervously. "Did something bad happen there?"

"Just the opposite, actually. I still remember my first winter vacation there with my husband, and my oldest son. It was so romantic for our family. There's something very special about that area. There's a serene energy. I can't put my finger on it, but you'll feel it once you're there. It's really something extraordinary."

Caroline was caught off guard by the way that Jane reminisced on the winter home. Caroline found it odd that Jane would describe a family vacation with her oldest son as being "romantic," but she tried to ignore it. Maybe Jane had simply used the wrong wording since it was late at night, Caroline thought to herself.

"Sounds interesting," Caroline said. "I'm in desperate need of a good vacation. And I think the atmosphere would be perfect for my novel."

"Is there going to be romance in your story?"

"Some. Not a lot. I'm still working on the plot details."

"Trust me," Jane replied, slightly suggestively. "This vacation is going to do wonders for your first book. I'll email you tomorrow morning with more details. We'll finalize the agreement as soon as possible so you can move in quickly."

"Jane, you're the best."

Part 2 of 4: Stories of Love & Incest

Nearly two weeks later. Caroline looked through the bedroom window of the secluded home. Snow was falling, more than the news had predicted. She turned her attention back to her laptop. There wasn't much progress on the story. She knew the story she wanted to write, but she didn't know how to write it. It was like the words were struggling to be released.

She stared aimlessly at the word processor on her computer. An email came. It was from Jane:

Greetings,

We're in Germany now. About to catch a flight to Spain. How is everything? Are you enjoying the home? Any troubles? How is the story coming along? Let me know!

Jane

There were pictures attached to the email showing Jane's trip to Europe. The weather was in sharp contrast to the mild snow storm that Caroline was going through. Caroline picked up her phone and took pictures of the outside weather, and pictures of the nearly blank screen on the word processor.

She replied:

Hello,

I hope your trip to Europe is going well. It looks like a blast. Everything is going great here. Matt and I love this home. This is a wonderful place. The weather is a little rough, which means no snowboarding today. I've attached some pictures so you can see it. As for my story, I'm trying my best. Writing a book isn't as easy as I expected. But it's slowly coming along.

Thanks for checking in!

Caroline

The email was sent, and Caroline tried to get back to work writing her story. Once again, she was at a loss for words. There weren't any good ideas waiting to be written.

Another email came:

I'm headed to the airport soon. If you need some inspiration for your book, try looking at some of the boxes in the basement. There's plenty of literature there. If you need some romantic inspiration, the adult kind, try looking at the top shelf in the closet of the main bedroom. Those are my private things. Our secret. : ) See you in a few weeks.

Let me know if there are any interesting updates...

Jane

After reading the email, Caroline suddenly became curious. She wondered what Jane meant by romantic inspirations. She was curious, and there was no point in sitting around wondering. She got up and headed towards the closet. She stood on a chair to search the top shelf and then she found a large box.

The box was slightly dusty. She put it on the floor and opened it.

To Caroline's surprise, the contents of the box seemed tame. There weren't any sex toys, pictures, or videos, as she had expected. Instead, there was a small stack of paperback books. Caroline sifted through the stack and noticed that all of the books were very old and that they were all erotic stories.

The last book in the pile caught Caroline's attention. The book looked old and worn out. It was very large. On the cover was a naked man and woman. It was entitled, Stories of Love & Incest.

She was slightly taken aback that a highly respected university Dean would own a book of incest stories. It briefly crossed her mind that Jane had mentioned a "romantic" winter vacation with her husband and son. Maybe Jane had been reading too many dirty stories and got confused, Caroline thought.

After sifting through the pile, Caroline realized that none of the books would be useful to her. She wasn't planning to write a romance book or erotica. She was attempting to write something classy and respectable. She put the books back inside of the box, and she placed it back on top of the shelf where it belonged.

***

Later that day. Caroline made hot chocolate and called her son for a mid-afternoon drink. She had spent most of the day trying to work on her book, and things were getting lonely. Matt came down the stairs soon after and joined his mother at the table.

"Looks like there won't be any snowboarding for a while," Caroline said.

He took a sip of the drink. "Yeah, unfortunately. But there's still a ton of movies to watch on the home theater. And my video games look great on the flat screen here. So there's other fun stuff to do."

"I miss being young," she smiled. "Your enthusiasm is nice to watch. You're always doing fun things."

"No one is stopping you from having fun, mom. Ever since we came here, you've been in your room most of the time working on your book. You should come out more. Enjoy the surroundings."

Caroline looked towards the window at the outside snow. "That won't be happening for a while. Not for the next few days according to the weather reports."

"Yeah, but you could still have fun around the house. We could watch a movie together later."

"That sounds nice. Maybe a good movie will help give me inspirations."

"You're really taking this book thing seriously," Matt noted.

"I am. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at writing it."

Matt cracked a smile, "An English professor who isn't good at writing? Your class should be easy to pass."

"This is different," Carline replied with a faint smile. "I'm struggling with ideas. I know what I want to write about, I know the topics, but the words won't come out."

"Well, what do you want to write about? Maybe I can help."

"I'm writing about a woman who explores life in her later years. Right now I'm torn with how much romance to incorporate. I want to write a truthful story about women, but I don't want to alienate certain readers with sex."

"Sex sells," Matt replied. "You don't have to be an econ major to know that. Just look at today's market for books. Romance and dirty stories are the big things that women want to read right now. If you want my advice, you should put as much romance as you can. Otherwise no one is going to read it...except for me of course."

"That's probably good advice. But even if I want to use more romance, I have no idea how to write it."

"You want to be a writer, don't you?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, but this is different. I never intended on..."

Matt cut her off mid-sentence. "Then you better get some practice and do it. That's the only way to learn."

"I guess you're right," she conceded. "Jane has a stack of erotic literature in this home. I'll probably look at it later tonight for inspiration."

"Nice."

"Care to read some?"

"No thanks. I prefer to use...umm...nevermind."

Caroline smiled, "Don't bother answering that. I don't even want to know."

***

That night. After the dinner plates were cleaned, Caroline went straight to her room with a renewed vigor to write her novel. She sat on the floor with her laptop and wrote passionately about the character, drawing inspiration from her own life experiences, and from other women she knew.

It was the most she had written in a single sitting. Her creativity was on fire. She was on a roll. The lead character in her story was on a trip abroad, alone, when she met a man.

Then, Caroline's creativity stopped.

Her imagination came to a complete halt, but she still wanted to write. Then she remembered Jane's erotic books.

Caroline went back to the closet, stood on a chair, and grabbed the box full of dirty stories. She put the books on the floor and sat down. There wasn't a strategy or a particular book she wanted to read. There wasn't time for that. She just wanted some ideas on how to set up an erotic scene.

She briefly flipped through each book in the stack. The books on top of the pile weren't very interesting from what she could tell. Some of the books didn't have much sex or eroticism. The other books which had a lot of sex were poorly written.

Then Caroline reached the bottom of the stack and saw the book that intrigued her earlier,

Stories of Love & Incest.

She looked at the back of the book, and then the table of contents. Her assumption was confirmed. The book contained a variety of short incest stories by different authors. There were over 50 different stories. Glancing through the story descriptions and titles, she saw that the stories contained various combinations of incestuous relations. Some were father/daughter, others were brother/sister, or even sister/sister. The most common appeared to be mother/son stories.

It was an intriguing moment for her. Caroline wasn't a sexually naive person, and she never judged anybody for their fantasies or fetishes. But incest? It was a fetish which seemed hard to swallow. But nevertheless, she was curious about the stories. She was curious about the world of erotica and lust.

Caroline opened the book and briefly skimmed through a random story:

1) The first story was about a single father. He was a good man who did his best to raise a rebellious college-aged daughter. Things took a sexual turn when the father discovered that his daughter had considered doing porn. He confronted his daughter, and she confessed. She explained that she thought it was exciting and that she needed a job. He hired her as his secretary, and she got paid. But she still needed sexual excitement in her life.

The story left Caroline feeling extremely uncomfortable, and strangely aroused. She knew plenty of single fathers. The thought of them having sexual relations with their daughters was disturbing, yet oddly stimulating. It was a dirty feeling she had never felt before.

She flipped to another random story:

2) The second story she read was about a brother and sister who were planning to attend different grad schools. They had always been best friends growing up. They were heartbroken and sad to leave each other. The night before the siblings were to depart from each other, they made an impromptu decision to meet by the lake at midnight, and to swim naked. From that point, things escalated.

What surprised Caroline the most about the two incest stories she had read was the emotional pull they had. The stories were well-written, and the sex scenes were incredibly well done. She was slowly understanding the appeal of family relations as a fantasy. It was the ultimate taboo.