Warning! This story contains characters who are male, female and what is now classed as "Trans-gender". I know it can spoil the story for some readers, but please rest assured that no male-on-male sex takes place.
Mark indicated and changed lanes as he headed for the slip road and the services, looking forward to stretching his legs after four hours behind the wheel. Donna his stepmother was going to swap with him after a short respite, driving the final two hours of the six-hour journey down to his sister's home. The telephone call had come out of the blue, not having seen or spoken with her for at least the last eight years.
Their parents had got married in their twenties and two years later, Jill had been born. They had always hoped for more children but as the years passed without his mother falling pregnant, they had given up trying and gave their full attention to their only child. There had been celebrations when suddenly six years later, his mother found herself pregnant again and to great excitement, he had been born on her thirtieth birthday.
The first few years of his childhood had been idyllic, his mother had doted on him and even Jill his sister had looked after him, at times treating him like one of her dolls. Things had changed on his tenth birthday when his mother had passed away, she had been diagnosed with cancer eight months earlier and the end had come quickly. He could remember feeling sad at first, but Jill, who was by now sixteen had taken care of him until he had got over his grief. He remembered arguments between his sister and his father when after what seemed a noticeably short period, his dad announced that he had met someone else and that she would be moving in with them. It could have been so different, but the fact that the woman was only four years older than Jill and was to become their stepmother led to friction between father and daughter.
Jill had nothing against Donna, her anger was focused solely on her father whom she considered was dishonouring the memory of their mother by wanting to move another woman in so quickly and especially one who was less than half his age. It had culminated in a blazing row soon after his twelfth birthday, something he could still remember clearly, his sister Jill packing her bags and storming out of the house. Mark hoped she would be back, but from that day forward, he never saw or spoke to her again. Every year on his birthday he would receive a card from her containing some money, but other than that, there had been no contact between them.
Donna had cared for him as a mother would, he could not fault her dedication, but it felt as though something was missing from his life. At sixteen he had left school and joined his father's building firm as an apprentice and had recently qualified. Interspersed with learning the job, his father was also teaching him other aspects of the company, that was until four months ago when he suddenly died of a massive heart attack. Mark had been overwhelmed at first, what with the death of his father and suddenly being expected to run a company. Luckily, his uncle Ben was the general manager and protocols were already in place so that the firm would continue to plod along until he learnt the ropes.
At the reading of the will, he had been astonished to find that the house and the company had been left to him with a condition that Donna would be allowed to live in the home until "such time" as she married. She had also been left one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, the rest of the monies and estate going to Mark. He had always thought that she and his father had tied the knot, but apparently, they had never got around to it. His other greater surprise was that his father had disowned his daughter and had left absolutely nothing to Jill.
Mark had just arrived home from work when the phone rang one evening. 'Hi, Mark Thompson speaking.'
It took a moment for the person on the other end to reply and he did not at first, recognise the voice.
'How is my baby brother?' The woman asked cautiously, leaving Mark stunned for a minute as he realised who it was on the other end of the phone.
She had learnt about her father's death from a newspaper cutting and had decided after all this time to contact her brother. They'd spoken for the next hour, catching up with how each of them was getting on when she suddenly asked.
'Why don't you come and visit, come and stay with me for a week or two, I'd love to see you.'
He had agreed to drive down to her home the following week, what he had not told her at the time was that Donna would be accompanying him.
Sat in the passenger seat he relaxed and sipped at what remained of his coffee while gazing at the scenery flashing by as their journey continued, his eyes periodically flicking across Donna's tanned legs as she concentrated on her driving. At thirty-two, she was extremely attractive and had a great body he thought to himself. He had been fine until he reached eighteen when he suddenly found himself starting to notice her. Up until then, he had treated her like a mother but realised one day that he was thinking about her differently and specifically what he would like to do to her. He had not said anything and nothing at all had ever happened, she was accompanying him because he liked her around and she was his mum in all but name.
They were off the motorway and on country lanes by now, but the sat-nav seemed to be leading them into the middle of nowhere. They did a right turn; the lane was only wide enough for one vehicle with passing places interspersed every twenty-five yards when the farmhouse suddenly came into view. From the outside, it looked old and weathered, Donna pulling up at the front of the building. Mark was barely out of the car before the front door was flung open and a young woman flew out and flung her arms around him. She hugged him tightly until she stepped back and looked up at him,
'You seem to have grown since I last saw you,' Jill said with a beaming smile, the smile faltering as Donna stepped from the car.
'You didn't say,' she said quietly, sounding slightly miffed.
'You didn't ask,' Mark replied, 'Anyway, none of this was ever her fault.'
Jill invited them both indoors as she turned and told them,
'I was not expecting two of you, you'll have to excuse me while I go and get another bedroom ready.'
Making them both a coffee, she then disappeared upstairs, and they could hear her moving about above them. Mark was taking the opportunity to look around, impressed with what he saw. While the outside looked a little forlorn, the interior had been modernised, and with the look of it, to a high standard.
'I get the feeling that she is not impressed with my presence,' Donna whispered from her position on the couch.
'I'm sure it will be fine, just give her time,' Mark responded, just as the front door opened and a gorgeous young woman entered.
'Hi, I'm Gloria, I'm Jill's other half,' she said as she advanced towards him with her hand outstretched.
She had a strong grip, Mark registered as she shook his hand and then gave him a peck on the cheek. It took him a moment to regain his composure, suddenly realising that perhaps his sister was a lesbian and that may be a lot of things had changed in those eight years. He was wondering what she did for a living because this cottage must have cost a fortune when Jill finally re-appeared.
'I see you have met Gloria,' she said, the two women embracing as Jill cast a glance in Donna's direction.
The first few hours were a little stilted as brother and sister became reacquainted, but slowly the atmosphere warmed, especially after Jill opened a couple of bottles of wine. They all sat down together for their evening meal which was prepared by Gloria and was delicious before retiring to the lounge as Mark and Jill continued to catch up.
'Fancy a walk before bedtime?' Gloria asked Donna, making it quite obvious that she was trying to give them some space. Watching them leave, Mark turned back to Jill.
'So, when did you realise you were attracted to other women?' he asked, receiving a loud laugh in response.
'Who says I am?' Jill asked him with a look of merriment spread across her face.
'Well, I thought,' Mark was embarrassed now, he had made a presumption based on what Gloria had said and the way the two women had embraced.
Jill was still laughing and looked at him teasingly as she added, 'Actually, I'm bisexual, I like women as much as I like men.' There was not a lot he could say to that and anyway, it was her life, and she could do with it what she wanted. Finally, the subject came around to their father,
'You know he left you nothing in his will,' Mark said. 'I'm happy to split my share if you need money.'
Jill just shrugged her shoulders, 'It doesn't matter Mark, I don't want his money. I'm doing alright as it is but thank you for asking.'
Which brought him to the subject as to what she did for a living if she could afford a house like this. Reticently, she told him that all of it was down to Gloria, she was a photographer and also did some video work, weddings, birthdays, and some commercial adverts. It must pay well he thought to himself, but before they could continue, the two other women returned.
Donna decided she was going straight up to her room while Gloria hung around for a while longer and chatted before she too went up and left them alone again. They had continued to consume glasses of wine and he was beginning to feel a little light-headed when Jill asked.
'Why did you bring Donna?'
There was no way he could answer truthfully as he attempted to skirt around the question, but Jill was a lot cleverer than he remembered and soon guessed the reason why.
'Do you fancy her?' she asked, watching as her brother squirmed and turned red, laughing again at his poor attempt to deny it.
'Why don't you tell her?' she continued, 'She's attractive, very pleasing on the eye and the age difference is not a lot different than it was between mum and dad.'
'I can't Jill, for the last eight years she has been like a mother to me. If I come out and tell her something like that, she will probably run a mile.' Jill noted that he looked kind of sad, as he explained it to her.
