It was in the middle of July that I decided to broach the topic of my new relationship with Dad to my mom. Now, Mom is a kind and loving woman, but she is also strong-willed and assertive. Anytime the wool was pulled over her eyes, I'm willing to bet she was putting on a sweater. After the shock of listening to her dressing down my dad on 'spy night', my admiration for her grew. I knew she liked having things her way, and why not in the bedroom as well? Way to go, Mom. I tuned into their conversations more acutely, and the submissive side of Dad became all the more clear.
My intention to come clean with Mom got preempted, though. One afternoon, I was chilling by the pool. The ice cubes in my tea had melted, and I went inside to make a fresh drink. I was quietly stirring in some sugar and running some plans for the day through my head when I heard Mom come into the living room from the garage.
"I specifically told you to get light mayonnaise. Show me where it says 'light' on the label here." she said sternly.
"I'm sorry, dear. I'll go back at once to..."
"To do what you were supposed to do in the first place, you pinhead!" Mom said with a raised voice.
"Please, Miriam. Jen might hear."
"Really, Robert. And if she did? I guess she'd find proof positive that you are a walking joke. And it would be an amusing one if you didn't wind up being such a pain in my ass on such a regular basis."
"please, dear. Jen..."
"She's out by the pool. I saw her there as we drove in."
"I think she might have come inside, dear. Could we please discuss this in the bedroom?" came Dad's simpering reply.
Right on the heels of these words came a sharp cracking sound, and I realized with astonishment and no small delight that Mom had given Robbie boy a good slap across his face! Go Mom!
"Don't ever tell me what to do, you worm." Mom said in a low voice.
"Go to the bedroom and stay there until I say so."
I could hear old Dad hurrying from the room. I turned to make my way quietly back to the pool, but in doing so knocked the spoon I'd used for my tea onto the tiie floor. I just stood there for a moment.
Mom came into the kitchen as I was heading to the sliding door.
"Just a moment, Jennifer." she said. I stopped and turned to her.
"You heard?"
"I did, Mom. I heard all of it."
"And?"
Gee, Mom. What can I say?" I said, feeling odd in knowing I was withholding my own secrets around Dad. But I sure wanted to talk to Mom about all of it.
"Your father, he, well... he turned out to be a different sort of person than I'd imagined when we first met."
"You mean like... submissive?" I said, averting my eyes.
"Have you guessed?" Mom said, going to the stove and putting the kettle on the burner. "Care for some tea, hon?"
"No. That's okay." I said. It was uncomfortable hearing my mother talk about personal stuff.
"Sit down. Let's talk." Mom said, and gave me a sympathetic smile. She knew it was an awkward moment for me.
I sat at the table while Mom fixed her tea.
"You're right, Jen. He's a submissive man. He likes crawling around behind a woman. What more can I say? It wasn't entirely clear to me until after we married. Oh, he was very attentive when we were dating, always anticipating my needs, buying gifts for no particular reason. I was flattered. I just didn't see the dynamic behind it all, the sexual aspect of his attentions."
She brought her cup to the table, and we sat across from each other. I was feeling easier then, perhaps because Mom wasn't freaked out about any of it.
"Well, Mom," I ventured, "I guess whatever works, you know."
"Exactly, Jen. And it does work. I found that I liked lording it over him. I enjoy watching him take whatever I dish up, and no complaint. And, believe me, I dish up some demands that would make many men pack their bags."
'Wow!' I thought, 'what could they be?'
"Um, gee, Mom. It sounds kind of cool." I said, hoping that my openness would elicit some juicy details. I was more than curious to see how far little Robbie was willing to bend.
There was also the matter of my spying on their bedroom talk, and having my own up and running 'game show' with Dad. I needed to come clean.
"Mom. I need to tell you something before we go any further." I said. I took a deep breath.
"Well? Go on, dear. What is it?" Mom said, encouragingly.
" I kind of, you know, ... already know about some of this."
Mom gave me a little smile, but her gaze was sharp and somewhat defensive.
"Really. And how did that happen?"
"I listened. I listened to you and Dad one night. I spied on you, Mom." I said, twisting a paper napkin in my hands, first one way, then another. Mom could have a temper, and I was preparing myself to be on the receiving end.
"You listened. Hmmm. And from where, Jen?"
"I was in the closet in the guest room a few weeks back, Mom. I'm sorry, Mom. Really. I feel like such a dirtbag."
"And what did you hear?" Mom said, sidestepping my apology.
"You were scolding him. You called him names."
"What names?"
I felt I was getting the third degree. All we needed was a bare lightbulb hanging over the table. But it was important that I get through it and tell everything.
"Well, things like 'loser', 'good for nothing'." I said, and gave Mom a quick look to see how she was taking all of it.
"Anything else, Jen? Don't worry. I'm not angry with you. I just want to know what you know. I can always fill you in on the rest."
Wow. That last statement just about sent my socks across the room.
"Mom." I suddenly blurted out. "Dad knows that I know! I've been,... I've been doing things... doing things with him."
Mom threw her head back and laughed. There was just no end to the surprises here!
"So, you're not, you know, pissed at me?" I ventured, feeling terrific relief.
"No, no. It's okay, baby. What the heck, eh? Your father and I can stop slinking about, now. Welcome to the club, Jennifer." she said.
Mom got up from the table, came over to me and gave me a hug as I sat there dumbfounded.
"We'll talk some more later, okay?" Mom said, giving my hair a gentle tousle. "I can't wait to compare notes with you!"
I left the kitchen and went to my room. So much had changed, and so fast. I needed to sit down and think. My initial reaction to the talk with Mom was relief. I would no longer be hiding something from her. I was also quite elated! Our household would almost certainly see some major changes soon, and I was very eager to see how it would all play out.
I guessed, first off, that we could share Dad. The thrill of bossing him around hadn't ebbed one iota for me. I loved it, and I wanted more. Think about it: one, he was just aching to be my slave. The old man had a hard-on for his daughter, and I was going to work his ass into a lather to pay for that privilege. The bitter memory of being coerced and nagged by him was fresh in my mind, in the very cells of my body. Now, the future looked to me like a sunny cloudless, and carefree day, just brimming with opportunities for retribution. I lay on my bed and smiled at the prospect, and imagined Dad on his knees before me.
That night, I sat in a chaise longue under the stars, thinking about what the future might hold. I heard the sliding glass door, and turned to see Mom approaching. She pulled a chair up beside me.
"So, Jenny. There's a lot to process here, agreed?" she said.
"Boy. I'll say. It's like one day, after years have gone by, you realize that you don't truly know someone." I said, gazing at the lights from the house reflecting and rippling in the pool.
"There may be things you'll be learning about yourself, too, dear."