"I don't know, daddy... I don't think... I don't think mom will be ok with it."
"But Olivia, honey, what's the alternative? Do you really think we can keep things as they are forever? That your mom will not suspect anything, ever?"
"Yes, Olly... I think Mark is right. I agree with you, there's a risk involved, but if all four of us explain it to her..."
Olivia was really afraid of what could happen if their mother knew about us, and me and Isabella were trying to convince her while Hellen observed, quiet and without saying a word.
"But what if she freaks out? If she decides that she doesn't want to see us anymore? I love her very much, and I don't want to... to lose her..."
"None of us do, Olivia. I love your mother too, the same way I love you three, and this is exactly why I think we need to tell her. What will happen when she finds out? Because she will, sooner or later she will surprise you with me on the sofa in the early mornings, or suspect my disappearances at the same time that Isabella vanishes, or even wake up in the middle of the night and find me in Olivia's bed. Then what? It will not only be a shock, but it will destroy this family."
After a few moments, Hellen finally said something:
"Olivia, we need to talk to her."
Everyone looked at her, surprised by the certainty in her voice, and she continued:
"I can't do it anymore, not after being able to really be myself with daddy even with you around. And... And it was so good, I felt so... loved and I..."
She blushed before continuing:
"I came so hard, harder than I thought was possible, all because you were here with me, loving me..."
Isabella, visibly moved, took her sister into her arms, saying:
"You were always loved, you silly..."
"I know, sis... But I never felt you that close to me before..."
Everyone was silent for a few moments until Olivia, after sighing, eventually said:
"OK, then... But I think I must be the one to tell her. You can be with me, but she needs to hear it from me. I... I know that Isabella is right, that she... She protects me more than Isabella and Hellen, and she needs to understand that no one was forced to do anything. We are all adults, and we want it."
She was right, and there was nothing left for the rest of us to do other than agree.
***
I was really, really nervous when Claudia finally got home, at the end of the afternoon, to find the four of us at the living room waiting for her. She entered and didn't sense anything different at first, but after seeing our faces she immediately said:
"What... What happened?"
Olivia, acting so maturely that surprised me, said:
"Mom, we need to talk to you. Please sit here by my side..."
"What's happening?"
Claudia was alarmed, but Olivia insisted:
"Mom, please... Sit down here and listen to me."
Claudia moved slowly through the living room and sat down as requested, her face showing how tense she was, and Olivia took her mother's hand before starting to talk:
"Mom... I... We all love you very much, you know that, right?"
Claudia waved her head and Olivia continued:
"A few years ago, when you introduced Mark into our lives, we were not happy at first. I know we never said anything, but the memories of your past boyfriends were not... pleasant, and you know that. We feared that everything would be like it was again. But Mark..."
She looked at me with love in her eyes and continued:
"Mark was perfect. Lovely, respectful, a... A real father, something me and Hellen never had and that Isabella missed terribly."
Claudia looked down, clearly sad for remembering what her daughters went through, and Olivia's voice cracked a little.
"But, mom... We... We are not kids anymore. And even from our rooms we could hear, day after day, you and Mark... Well, you too at your bedroom. And then, during the day, we could see how handsome and charming he was, and our feelings... Got all mixed up."
Claudia's eyes widened, showing how surprised she was with her daughter's revelation.
"And mom, WE, not him, WE started to act differently with him, to... To seduce him. I can say I did; I was a little high but not that much when I... When I had sex with him for the first time, even after he tried to stop me."
Claudia jumped at her seat and started to cry, but never left Olivia's side, and both Isabella and Hellen walked up to her and hugged her. All four stayed silent for some time, the only sound being Claudia's soft crying, before Isabella said, her matureness making her words even stronger:
"Mom, we love you. But we love Mark, too, each one of us in our particular way, but we love him. I would never call him daddy as my sisters do, I call him Mark, but this is not the point here. The point is that we love him, and we love you and we love each other, and we want us to be a family like we are, but with no more secrets or lies."
Claudia slowly looked at me, her eyes full of tears, and said:
"I... I knew... I knew something was happening... I lost count of how many times I woke up during the night and you weren't in bed with me, but I never had the courage to look for you as I didn't want to find out where you was. And then the way Olivia started to act towards you, so lovingly and close... How... How could you?"
"No, mom, please don't do that!"
It was Hellen that, in a decided and matter-of-fact way, interrupted her mother.
"Don't blame Mark! Do you really want to know how things happened? OK, I'll tell you. Do you remember that night when I had a party and the little shit that was supposed to take me there didn't show up? OK, it was Mark that, seeing how sad I was, dressed up and took me to dinner so I would not feel miserable, fat and ugly as I was feeling. He treated me so respectfully the entire night, mom... But I always had a huge crush on him, he is so strong and pretty and... When we got home, I kissed him. He tried to stop me, he said we shouldn't, he talked about you, but I was all over him and said I wanted him to be my first and took him to the bedroom. I did it, not him!"
Claudia's look was of surprise, but she didn't even had time to process when Olivia said:
"And me, mom... I was so confused when I got home, after my boyfriend proposed, and when I saw Mark here in the sofa I felt my blood flowing again. I was dressed to kill that night, and I know... Fuck, I know I'm a pretty girl. Mark didn't have a chance, I was going to have him one way or another, as I was so, so, so jealous of you, of you having a man like him... And after that... After that I realized how in love I was for a long time but didn't want to face it. I love him, mom, and I love him as a father and as a man, and I'm the one to blame for our relationship."
Claudia looked down, looking as she didn't know what to do or say anymore, and Isabella took the chance to tell her side of the story, too: