2009 in a sleepy little hamlet called Grand Gorge, New York...
***
Easing out of bed like a cat the second the digital clock showed 12:00 and showing the agility that belied his 65 years, Clancy Woods tiptoed out of the bedroom even though his wife Sadie was as deaf as a stump. Force of habit most likely, but the old timer liked the tingling that went down his spine when he made like the Pink Panther in stealth mode.
Closing the door gently, Clancy went down the hall, avoiding the couple of squeaky boards outside the bedroom where his daughter slept, because it wouldn't do if she woke up. Wouldn't do at all.
At the far end of the hall was the guest room where his daughter's only child was staying. The door was closed and while the senior was tempted to go down and peek in to make sure Brooke wasn't still there, Clancy decided to go right down to the basement in hopes that his granddaughter was down there already.
Clancy stepped nimbly over the second to last step because that let out a loud creak when you stepped on it. That was actually a good thing because it served as a warning that someone was coming down the stairs, although it had never happened yet and judging by the way his wife was getting around these days if anyone made the journey down there it wouldn't be her.
Down the second short flight of stairs and a peek around the corner, and there she was. Little Brooke sitting stiffly on the couch like she was at a dentist's office, the timid eighteen year old looking scared as she stared straight ahead at the TV which was off, her horn rimmed glasses making her look like a female Harry Potter.
"You're early honey," Clancy whispered, startling the young lady as he padded his way over towards the sofa, but even though she was petrified when Brooke saw what he was wearing she giggled.
"Remember these?" Clancy said as he modeled his boxer shorts with the somewhat faded images of The Simpson's on them.
"I bought you those for Christmas a long time ago," Brooke said.
'Still got them and they still fit," Clancy proudly announced as he patted his still somewhat flat tummy, although now the hair that was now on it was gray instead of black.
"I'm so happy you decided to come down here to spend some time with me honey," Clancy said as he eased down next to the girl and patted her knee through her bland ivory pajamas, and she shrugged for an answer. "Can I have a kiss?"
The old man leaned forward and pressed his lips against Brooke's briefly, noticing that her lower one was quivering.
"I liked it when we played that kissing game out in the garage this afternoon," he told Brooke. "Liked it a lot. For somebody who said they didn't have many boyfriends, you sure kissed good. Did you enjoy it? You seemed to."
"I guess, but..."
"I know, but like I told you, it's sort of like a rite of passage in our family."
"If it is, how come you told me not to tell Mom or Grandma?" Brooke asked as she pushed her glasses back up her nose.
"Some things you don't discuss with others. You don't tell people when you have your period every month. You didn't run home to Mom to tell her how that boy felt you up after the dance did you? This is private. Almost sacred, and like I told you, you certainly aren't the first," Clancy said with a wink. "And hopefully you won't be the last."
"Still can't believe it. Never heard about it from them," Brooke replied.
"Because they did what they were asked to do. It's nobody's business, but I understand your reticence," the senior said as he got up from the couch and went over to the corner of the room near the electrical box, and after sliding out a brick reached into the hole and pulled out a little brown envelope.
"See these?" Clancy asked his granddaughter as he fanned out the discs, each of them with the name of a granddaughter and a date on them. "Five beautiful young women, although none more beautiful than my Brooke."
The plain looking girl knew that her grandfather was prejudiced and she knew she was far from beautiful, but she still liked hearing it and blushed while looking at the discs.
"Emily?" Brooke blurted out when she saw the name of a cousin she knew pretty well she her family lived close. "She...?"
"Yes. Sweet Emily," Clancy sighed. "Would you like to watch some of it with me?"
"No. No, I couldn't," Brooke told him, shaking her head while looking at the disc with a date from about a year and a half ago below the name.
"Of course, you would have to swear that you would never discuss it with anybody, just like what we did in the garage must stay our secret," Clancy said.
"It shows you and Emily kissing like you and me did?" Brooke asked.
"At first it does, but then - well, to be honest what you and I did in the garage was just playing. This is much more adult," Clancy said as he got up and put the disc in the machine and fired up the giant 65" screen which loomed in front of them like they were at a movie. "Ready honey?"
"I dunno Grandpa," Brooke mumbled but it was too late.
"There's Emily," Clancy explained.
"That's right here. She's sitting on this same couch," Brooke blurted out, causing Clancy to hush her.
"Right where you're sitting honey," he noted as he put his hand back on Brooke's knee. "And here I come to join her."
Brooke stiffened as she saw her grandfather sit on the couch next to her cousin.
"I have on different boxer shorts there," he commented.
"Omigod," Brooke murmured when she saw her grandfather lean over and kiss Emily, leaning over the cherubic blonde and drawing her close.
"See, it's just like we were kissing in the garage before," Clancy said as he watched himself neck with the young lady who was nowhere near as shy and scared as the girl sitting next to her now.
"Grandpa, I don't think I want to watch this."
"Sure you do honey," he told her while on the screen he was kneading Emily's full breasts through a t-shirt. "But you can keep telling me you don't want to see it if you wish. You can even turn away I suppose."
Clancy noticed that Brooke didn't turn away although her eyes did bulge as she stared at her cousin on the screen, and when Emily's blouse got pulled up and over her head she let out a gasp.
"Emily didn't wear a brassiere down here that night," Clancy noted as he put his hand on Brooke's bony shoulder and felt the bra strap he knew would be there. "Saved time."
"Emily's got real big boobies," Brooke said softly while her grandfather's bony hands roughly kneaded the soft globes on the screen in front of her.
"She does at that, but I believe she was 19 when we played down here. Older than you," Clancy said, and as he looked at the very modest bumps in Brooke's t-shirt he added. "All breasts are beautiful though honey, and to be honest like the saying goes, anything more than a handful is a waste."
"Or even a mouthful," Clancy added as he leaned over and nibbled Brooke's ear through her curly brown hair.
"Emily - she's really getting excited," Brooke correctly noted.
"We both were," Clancy recalled as he tried to take the bottom of his granddaughter's shirt in his hands subtly, but failing that he just grabbed it and pulled it up over Brooke's head with little resistance.
"There," Clancy chirped as he cast the top aside, and after straightening the girl's glasses on her nose looked at the padded bra with the tiny pink rose between the cups. "Let me see if I remember how to do this."
"Wait Grandpa," Brooke said. "My shirt. In the pocket."
Clancy stopped abruptly and after picking up the shirt, fished out the inhaler that the girl used to use occasionally for her asthma attacks.
"Haven't seen you use one of these in a long time," Clancy mentioned to his granddaughter who grabbed it from him and held it tight.
"Haven't had to actually use it lately," Brooke told him. "My asthma hasn't been as bad as it used to be."
"Outgrowing it?"