"The pizza sure is good," I said, hungrily gulping down a slice of hawaiian, "don't you think so?" I asked Colette.
"Yeah, great," she replied, with a bit less enthusiasm. We were trying our damndest to act like nothing had happened, but it was stretching all of our imaginations just a bit.
"Want a soda, or a beer?" Jennifer asked as she got up from the table and walked toward the fridge.
"Yeah, I'll take a beer," I said.
"Me too," Colette agreed, "it would taste really good about now."
Jen came back to the table with three Coronas and a bottle opener. She popped all three of them open and passed them out.
"So, have any interesting projects going on in the lab this week?' Colette asked Jennifer, trying to guide us into a safe topic of conversation.
Jennifer ignored the question, set down her beer and looked at me, then at Colette, and then back and forth again. "So are you two going to tell me what went on up there, or are you just going to leave it all to my imagination?"
"Well..." I started, "you see..." I couldn't think of what exactly to say.
"Mark was a little, ah, upset." Colette chimed in clumsily.
"Mmm hmm?" Jen prompted.
"But we got it all cleared up." I offered, not very helpfully.
"I see." Jen said, obviously not convinced. She looked at Colette, "so you went up there to talk to him, and obviously made him feel better?" She grinned.
"Jen, it's not like that," Colette fired back, "don't make this out to be something bad."
"Oh, of course not," Jen mused, "Mark was upset, you went upstairs to talk with him, then you... made up." She chuckled, "hey, Mark, you were upset with me, too, weren't you? What gives, don't I get to make out... I mean, make up with you?" She could barely keep herself from cracking up. "Can't wait until the next time Colette pisses me off... I've been longing for those lips for years!"
"Jennifer Lynn, why do you have to be so crude?" Colette scolded, you could tell she was upset, she used Jen's middle name. "It wasn't like that at all. Well... not exactly, you just don't understand."
"No, you're right, I don't understand why you were locking lips with our brother. You hit the nail on the head with that one!"
"Jen, calm down, let me try to explain what happened." I said, "But first, I need you to stop making this into a big joke, because what I'm going to tell you is not a joke, and I don't want you making fun of me about it, okay?"
"O.k., Mark, I'm sorry, it's just a little too... strange to take seriously at first. I'll be good, I promise, tell me what happened." She stifled a chuckle, but I could tell she was calming down, and, knowing Jen like I do, I knew she would listen.
"Okay," I said, and then dove right in, "I didn't get upset because you guys were making jokes about penises and sausage pizza, that's no big deal and you know it, which is why I'm guessing you were a bit confused at my reaction when you made the joke. The truth is, and I'm very serious here, you two have been my sisters for as literally as long as I can remember, and I love you both more than anything in the world. As your brother, I feel responsible to respect you both and protect you. Yeah, I know that sounds all old-world and knight-in-shining-armor and all that, but it's true, you're family. So when we all went out back and got drunk, and then ended up getting naked together, it brought up some issues. You're my sisters, so I'm supposed to protect you, not desire you. But between the booze and the beautiful naked women, and the fact that I was a bit vulnerable since my sisters took off my shorts and got me naked too, I felt really conflicted. I felt really, well, horny. You are both very beautiful, very sexy women, and I was feeling very attracted to you, but at the same time, I felt guilty about it because you're also my sisters. When I left the pool and went back to my room, I didn't come back because I didn't want to do something I might regret later. Then I came out and you made that joke about sausage, and I guess it just struck a nerve, I got pissed off."
"I'm so sorry," Jen said, no longer joking, but concerned that she'd hurt me in some way.
"It's o.k., I forgive you, like I said, you didn't really do anything wrong. When Colette came upstairs to talk to me, she did her older sister thing and got me to spit out everything I just told you and... well, maybe Colette should take it from here." I sat back and took a deep breath.
"O.k, I'll finish," Colette said. "When Mark told me all of this, I felt really bad about the position we'd put him in, but I also felt... angry. I was angry because he shouldn't have to feel that way. I mean, come on, we're not blood related, so there's no legal or biological reason we couldn't, you know, hook up. It might seem like kind of an odd relationship, but it's not wrong in any way."
"You've got a point there," Jennifer agreed, "there's really nothing wrong with it."
"Exactly, and Mark here is would be a great catch for any girl! He's handsome, tall, muscular, intelligent, sensitive, and, more than anything, he loves us. I told him all this, then I made a deal with him: if neither of us is married by the time I'm 32, I'll meet him at the altar and start making fat happy babies."
"Well, what she actually said was 'beautiful, happy babies'," I added, "but you get the picture."
"When I'd thought it all the way through, I realized that I love Mark as much as he loves me. I don't think we've made any commitments yet, other than the 32 thing, but I just felt so close to him and so in love with him, so I kissed him. That's when you walked in."
"Cool!" Jen cheered, then turned to me "So does this mean I can walk around the house naked again without upsetting you?"
I must admit I was a bit shocked at Jen's reaction. It all sounded well and good up in my room, but I knew that other people wouldn't necessarily see it that way. "Well, I guess if you don't mind the fact that it will make me terribly horny and want to jump you, then I have no problem seeing naked women on a regular basis!" I said, laughing.
Jen scooted her chair close to mine and did her typical lean-on-my-arm thing again. "I'm so glad we're o.k. again, I hated to think that I made you so uncomfortable on your first day living with us."
"Me too." I said, giving her a light kiss on the top of the head.
