Chapter 2 - Not What I Expected
I guess I should've anticipated the smirks and grins at breakfast. Sam wasn't there, but everyone else was. Zoe started it off.
"You were a busy boy last night, it seems."
I tried to play innocent. "What?"
"Let me see. Er, I recall something like, 'Fuck! You bastard! Jesus Christ that's deep.' Or maybe I misheard."
I looked across at Mum, who was blushing. Zoe was grinning from ear to ear. Even Jo and Chrissy were smiling. Ray winked at me.
"Well, OK, but..."
"But naughty Auntie Sam made me do it," Zoe said in a child-like voice. "Of course she did, my dear. And I'm sure you struggled."
Everyone burst out laughing.
"It's OK. We all knew it was bound to happen after we saw the two of you in the stream," Zoe continued. "It was obvious over dinner. She was pointing her tits straight at you. Poor lad; you never stood a chance."
"Where - where is Sam this morning?" I said, trying to deflect the conversation.
"Shagged out, I suspect," Ray chipped in. They all laughed.
I helped myself to cereal. I needed protein but there didn't seem to be any on offer.
"So what is everyone doing today?" I asked, again trying to change the subject.
"Well, we're planning to go into Peterborough for some shopping," Mum replied.
I grimaced. "I thought I might go to Leicester Cathedral and see where Richard III is buried. I've not had an opportunity to go before and it's only an hour or so's drive."
"Chrissy and I were going to head for Rutland Water; take a look at the nature reserve," Jo added.
"Well, that sounds better than shopping for me. Can I join you?"
As it happened, Jo, Chrissy and I piled into my car and went to Leicester. The tomb was impressive - a simple slab of grey stone with a cross carved deeply into it, on a slab of dark grey marble with his name and motto, and some banners at the corners. The nearby stained-glass windows were excellent.
But there's not a lot else to commend Leicester, so we headed back to the Rutland Water Nature Reserve, and the ladies produced binoculars and pointed out a lot of wildlife - a kingfisher, herons, a range of ducks, some grebes, dragonflies and damselflies. It was tranquil and the girls knew a lot more about nature than I did. Then Chrissy went further along the bank to see if there was any sign of water voles, leaving Jo and me alone for a couple of minutes.
"I looked it up. It isn't illegal unless you want to marry her."
I looked at Jo quizzically.
"What you and Sam did last night. Apparently, you can fuck each other's brains out - which you clearly did - and it's OK unless you want to marry and have kids. Which, of course, isn't going to happen."
"Is there any chance that you and the others can stop talking about Sam and me?"
"No, not anytime soon," she said, matter-of-factly. "Sam is very vocal, and we heard a lot of what was going on. Did you have anal sex?"
"Er - that's between Sam and me."
"And the rest of the house. I believe I heard her saying - or, rather, shouting - something like 'It's in my fucking arse, you bastard! Shit, that hurts!' Was it?"
I didn't know how to reply.
"Well, it obviously was. Do you normally take advantage of your sex partners like that?"
"Look, it wasn't the first time she'd had anal sex. Yes, I had to persuade her but, ultimately, she had a whole-body orgasm that was quite spectacular. If you must know, she came six times last night, and she didn't need a Sybian for any of them."
"Six times? I must admit that's impressive. You must have a lot of stamina."
"I do. But this weekend's weird. I..." I hesitated. "I suppose I should've expected a come-on from Sam, but..."
"Ah, so Zoe has her eye on you too?"
"How did you guess?"
"Oh, it's not surprising."
"But Zoe's married. What does Ray think about that?"
"They've had what I think you'd call an open marriage for years. They're not exactly shy about it. I know they've invited other men and women into their bed. Ray's former business partner spent a weekend here once and I don't think he had his own room. I know for a fact that Ray has fucked Sam. And Angie."
"My mum? When? I mean..."
Jo smiled. "Your father had a wandering eye years ago. I believe that Angie poured her heart out to Zoe about it. You may have noticed that they share everything. Well, I'm pretty sure they've shared Ray, but I don't think your dad was ever invited to that little party - or if he was, he didn't accept the invitation. My guess is your parents were exploring extra-marital opportunities long before you went to uni, but they were discreet about it. I think Angie has a thing for the guitarist in her band - and possibly the bassist, too."
My head was reeling. In my naivety, I'd assumed that my parents had split up because of different interests. I'd never really thought about their sex life, and whether it extended beyond each other.
"Angie went down to Cornwall one time when your dad was allegedly off sailing. She saw him on his boat with two other women. What they saw in him - what Angie saw in him - I'll never know. Please excuse me for saying this, but I always thought he was dull and very ordinary-looking. How he came to land someone as attractive as Angie and father a hunk like you, I'll never know. Maybe your dad isn't actually your father."
"Jo, my dad was - he was good to me." Even as I said it, I wasn't sure I meant it. "We - we had our disagreements, especially when I was a stroppy teen, but we mostly got on. Mostly. I thought he and Mum were quite well-suited."
"Sorry if you feel I've insulted him. But I've always wondered. You see, you don't seem to take after him. He's only about as tall as Angie, while you're - well, you're a lot taller. He's pretty weedy, and you're most definitely not. You're blond and he's dark. I wondered whether Angie followed in my mum's footsteps."
"Sorry?"
Jo smiled. "You know that your granddad wasn't my biological father, right? I mean, it's kind of obvious if you look at me and my sisters, but my mum told me before she died that she'd had a 'fling' with a handsome Spanish waiter when she was on holiday in Majorca, thirty years ago. She didn't use protection - she hadn't had a period in nearly a year, she said - so she wasn't worried when she still didn't have periods after she got home. Until she started throwing up in the morning. My dad realised what had happened, but he was a decent bloke and he forgave her. He was always lovely with me, and I miss him so much." She looked very sad. "But - but with Angie, I'm assuming that when the prat was away, the nice girl decided to play. Your mum did spend a lot of time with musical types, back in the day. Not quite a groupie - I mean, she was in the bands herself - but I wouldn't be surprised if someone tall, blond and handsome got the use of her rather attractive body, and then along came you. My dad used to play a lot of Pink Floyd records when I was little. I remember that one was called 'A Saucerful of Secrets.' It seemed appropriate, but I've always felt our family had a whole bucketful of them."
My head was reeling. My family seemed to be mired in more sexual secrets than I could ever have imagined, and the idea that my biological father might not have been the man I called Dad was a real shock. But then Chrissy rejoined us, talking about having seen some dabchicks and widgeon, and the conversation took a different course.
Dinner was again surreal. The ladies once again provided some glamour, in similarly revealing outfits to the night before, with Mum's and Zoe's again almost identical. But this time, Sam sat at the opposite end of the table. Everyone else seemed to be smirking. I tried to steer the conversation away from our mutual embarrassment.
"So Mum, Zoe; did you buy anything in Peterborough?"
"Oh yes. We all bought pendants with our initials. Look."
Zoe and her sisters all held up little silver pendants they were wearing, reading 'Z', 'A' and 'S'.
"Very classy," I said, a little sarcastically. They looked cheap to me.
"And we went clothes shopping - if you can call them clothes," Mum added with a smirk. Sam and Zoe giggled. "But how about you?"
"Oh, we went to Leicester and paid our respects to the late king. Where he is now looks a lot more respectful than under a car park. They've done a good job. And on the way back we stopped at Rutland Water. Jo and Chrissy are very knowledgeable about nature. I learned a lot." 'Yes', I thought, 'And not all about nature. Human nature, maybe...'
Sam seemed to be avoiding talking with me - or, indeed, anyone. I thought she must have been a little embarrassed that everyone seemed to know what she'd been up to - and also who had been up her, and where - the night before. And maybe she was pissed off with me for ignoring her pleas - which I'd guessed were fake and proved to be so - and proceeding to rape her arse, giving her a massive orgasm in the process.
But Mum, Zoe and Ray were in good spirits. After dinner and the obligatory
digestifs