I didn't know who else to call. I should have been able to handle this by myself. I was thirty years old, with a ten-year-old daughter and a nine-year-old son. I was a grown woman. I was mature. Or at least I thought I was. Now my husband of 11 years had decided he didn't love me anymore.
I had seen the signs long ago. After a whirl-wind teenage romance, he's swept me off my feet and to a Vegas wedding. The first couple of years were great and produced my wonderful daughter Karen and my son Colin. But it seemed like after the kids were born, Ken began to lose interest in sex, and in me. We rarely made love, and then it was usually so he could get off. I no longer orgasmed with his cock inside me. And Ken didn't care.
It was December, and Ken had decided to take the kids skiing in Colorado. He was always trying to show off his wealth, and perhaps buy their love. But I know the kids saw right through it, or maybe I just hoped they did.
Right before he left on that trip, we'd had an especially bad argument. The kids didn't see me, but I was a sobbing mess as they drove out of the driveway, gone for a week.
I couldn't call Mom. She hadn't wanted me to marry Ken in the first place. She said I was too young, and maybe she was right.
I thought of my younger sisters, Donna and Julie - the twins. They were 11 years younger than me and had left home to go to college and start new lives. I started to call Donna, the outgoing twin, but decided against it. I needed someone with a heart that I could pour mine out to.
Julie it was. The shy one. Or so I thought.
"Hey, what's up, Liz?" Julie said as she answered the phone. Caller ID must have tipped her off that it was me.
"Where are you?" I asked.
"Home," she said. "Bored as usual. Winter break is no fun with Mom and Donna gone to see Grandma. Why?"
I hesitated. I didn't want to burden her with my problems. I was the older sister, after all.
"Liz, what's wrong?" Julie asked.
"Oh Julie!" I cried, letting the tears fall. "I just don't know what to do!"
"Hey, hey, it's okay," Julie said. "Tell me. What's going on?"
"I don't want to lay this on you," I said between sobs.
"That's what sisters are for Liz. Now spill!"
"It's Ken. Fuck! I've held this in for so long and I haven't told anyone."
I sobbed uncontrollably.
"Liz, Liz," Julie said. "Tell me. What about Ken?"
"It's just ... we haven't been close for so long and now he's done it again and I just feel so alone."
Another bout of sobs overtook my body.
There was silence on the other end. When Julie spoke again, there was a seriousness in her tone that belied her young age.
"Liz, listen to me," she said. "I want you to come over. Now. You're what, an hour's drive away? Get in the car and come over. Get out of that place."
"What?" I said between tears.
"Look," Julie said. "I'm your little sister. I've always looked up to you. It's time that I do something for you, instead of you always looking out for me. Now get over here, girl!"
The finality in her tone finally got through to me. I knew I had to escape, at least for a while.
"Maybe for a bit," I said. "Clear my head, you know. Talk some things out. I haven't had anyone."
"I know," Julie said. "I know. Now you've got me. Text me when you're on your way, okay?"
"Okay. Thanks, Julie."
I hung up and packed a bag. It took a while because I kept stopping to cry. Eventually I got in the car and texted Julie.
It was indeed about an hour to our family home near Bel Air, California. I pulled into the driveway and Julie came out to greet me.
"Liz!" she called and ran up to me, throwing her arms around me and hugging me tightly. "I'm so glad you came," she said, grabbing my small suitcase and leading me up the walk.
I hadn't realized how much Julie had matured. I'd see her and Donna at some holidays, however, Ken kept us away a lot, so I'd really lost touch. As I followed her, I noticed she'd let her auburn hair grow long, halfway down her back. She was taller too, my height of 5'5" or so. She was wearing a short blue dress, which barely covered her bum. It also showed off her athletic legs. Julie was the tennis star of the family. We were all sure she'd go pro and was already on the tennis team at UCLA.
"Please come on in!" Julie said, holding the door for me.
As she turned, I noticed her figure, which had grown appreciably since the last time I'd seen her. Her breasts were large, as big as my "D" cups. As she bent to pick up my bag I noticed lots of cleavage. I wondered if my shy little sister had finally begun to blossom!
I settled into my old room, which was now the guest room. As I gazed around, memories flooded back of the years I spent here, laying on my bed, dreaming of a happy life. Tears started flowing freely as I realized how few of those dreams had come true.
"Hey, Liz," Julie said, poking her head in the door.
"Sorry!" I said, wiping away the tears. "Lots of memories in here."
"I'm sure!" Julie said, coming in and sitting next to me, taking my hand in hers.
"Nothing to be sorry about!" she said. "Good memories, I hope."
"Oh yeah," I said, looking into her piercing blue eyes. "Good ones then. Not so much after."
"Do you feel ready to tell me?" Julie said, putting her other hand on top of mine.
I sighed. It was time to unburden myself.
"I forgave Ken when the first one happened. The first affair - with a co-worker."
"Wait," Julie interrupted. "Ken had an affair? I didn't know anything about this."
"No one did, not Mom and not even the kids," I said.
"You said 'the first one'."
I sighed again. "He had three actually."
"The son of a bitch!" Julie said, raising her voice.
"I know you think I should have left him then. But I couldn't. I guess it was partly my pride. Mom always said Ken was a cad. And partly for the kids. But now ..."
"He did it again?"
I nodded and devolved into another fit of sobs, tears falling off my eyes and onto the top of Julie's hand.
"He ... he promised," I said between sobs. "He said he'd never do that again. But he was lying!"
I leaned against Julie's shoulder and cried again. I was embarrassed. "I'm so sorry. I'm supposed to be the strong older sister and here I am literally crying on your shoulder!"
We both laughed at that. It felt good and broke the tension.
We sat silently for a few minutes.
"So, what're you going to do?" Julie asked, finally.
I thought for a moment. "I have no idea. Maybe I just need to spend some quality time with my little sister, try to forget that asshole, and decide where I go from here."
"Sounds good," Julie said, standing. "Let's go for a swim. That'll be relaxing."
"A swim it is," I said.
I changed into my suit, a red two-piece bikini. Not too revealing since I didn't really have a husband that was interested in my body, but it did show off my figure to some extent.
Julie, on the other hand, was wearing a white bikini that was, well, sexy. Two narrow triangles of fabric covered her breasts, sort of, with lots of cleavage and even exposed the underside of her boobs. The bottoms consisted of a very small triangle of fabric tied with strings. The fabric was so thin that I thought I saw the outline of her labia.
This was not the sister I remembered.
"So ..." I said, sitting next to her at the edge of the pool and picking up the drink she'd poured for me. "You seem different."
"I do?" Julie said, sitting back on her hands, which caused her nipples to poke out from her suit top.
"Yeah," I said. "You've really grown. Matured. I mean, not just physically, though that's pretty obvious."
"You think?" she said, looking down at her chest.
"Uh, yeah!" I said. "You've turned into quite the beauty. And I wouldn't have thought you'd go for a suit like that. Not that I don't like it - I love it actually. Just ... something seems different."
"How so?" Julie asked, looking into my eyes.
"You seem so confident. So free. You're not shy anymore at all."
Julie looked out at the pool for a moment before turning back to face me. "I have changed a lot this year. I've done a lot of new things."
"You mean like the tennis team?" I said after taking a sip of the Margarita Julie had made.
Julie smiled slyly. "Not exactly that."
"Ooh!" I said, smiling back, which felt great. "Your love life?"
Julie hesitated. "Yeah, but I don't want my love life to make you feel bad."
"Oh!" I said. "Don't worry about that. I'd love to live vicariously through you and forget about my lack of a love life!"
"I, um, met someone on the tennis team actually." Julie said, searching my eyes for a reaction.
"A girl?" I asked, trying not to react at all.
Julie nodded her head. "Uh, huh. Ellie. Ellie's her name. We really hit it off. She's fun and outgoing and ... very beautiful."
"That's great!" I said. "I didn't know you were into girls, but, yay!"
"I didn't know I was either," Julie said. "Ellie kind of, well, I asked her to take my virginity."
She said this with an urgency at the end, like she was daring me to judge her or something. I thought for a second, my mind racing a bit.
"Was it wonderful?" I asked. "Being with a girl, being with Ellie?"
Julie seemed to relax her shoulders somewhat. "It really was, wonderful I mean. I never knew I could feel such things. She gave me my first orgasm."
So, that was what she was embarrassed about.