XXV − Family Vacation
Well, life doesn't stand still, even for the luckiest woman in the world!
One of the things that Ted and I wanted to do was have family vacation -- some time when we could get away and focus on just doing things and having fun together.
In fact, this was the first year that all three kids were living away. For Eddie and Shana, remember, this was their first year away, at college. They got their own apartment there, so that means that Ted and I only see them when they come home during term breaks, or if we go down for a weekend.
With Caleen and Paul both working − Caleen with her new job and Paul now with almost full-time responsibility, along with Jane's husband, Ben, for his dads business -- they don't really have much free time to get away. Caleen is excited about her new job and challenged by the work she's doing as an actuary with an insurance company. But figuring out how much you can charge people for insurance while paying out as little money as possible isn't totally consistent with her idea of what kind of person she is and what she wants to spend her life doing. I'm sure she'll be looking for something new in a few years, but right now it's good for her.
And they haven't said anything yet, but we think -- or at least, I think − that Caleen is pregnant! You can't imagine how happy this makes me (and Ted, of course). And I never would have thought about my great-grandson being a father at the age of 19, but he and Caleen are so beautiful together, and I'm sure that the two of them will be great at it, and that they will raise a beautiful child -- or several -- and I'm just so happy for them.
But for Eddie and Shana, this was their summer break after their first full year away at college, so it seemed like a wonderful opportunity for the four of us to take a vacation trip together.
We talked about it a lot, and "tried on" a number of different ideas, and we finally decided that what appealed most to all of us was a two-week getaway to someplace off the beaten path. We looked on the Web for "Resort Rentals" in the states near us, and in less than 20 minutes we found something that seemed to be perfect for us. It was a rustic-looking pine house in the hill country about 2-1/2 hours' drive from here -- far enough that we'd feel we were getting away, but not so far that we'd be spending a lot of our precious vacation time trapped in a car.
The more we investigated, the better it looked. The house was set back in a wooded area about 70 yards from a lovely lake. While the place looked "rustic," inside it had a ton of nice features -- two spacious bedrooms with large windows overlooking the woods and the lake, two bathrooms
and
a Jacuzzi-style hot tub in an enclosed porch off the back. It had a beautiful kitchen that was completely equipped, with a large refrigerator-freezer that could easily hold all the food and beverages we'd need for our two-week stay. And if there was anything we forgot, there was a little crossroads town with gas, food, and drugs just a 15 minute drive away. The rental even included two canoes and a kayak!
All that ought to keep us active for two weeks. We were even able to get exactly the dates we wanted, so we hopped on it immediately and placed our deposit. Now, we just had control our excitement and wait the 2-1/2 months until Shana's and Eddie's school term ended.
Well, we waited, and their term ended, and we found ourselves doing the last minute packing for vacation (take the extra swim suits, leave the inflatable sea monster). Since State College was on the way to the "cabin" (as we thought of it), we decided to drive there and pick up the kids, then continue on to our vacation hideaway.
Amazingly, Eddie and Shana were completely ready and, in fact, had their stuff sitting out in front of their apartment house, waiting for us to arrive. (Actually, not so amazing -- the two of them are really very systematic and organized -- in everything they do. As they've let us know time and time again, they're a good team.) We loaded up their stuff, then realizing that we wouldn't be getting to the cabin until after 2 p.m., decided to get lunch at a local sandwich shop they like. The sandwiches were great -- two cold-cut hoagies, a meatball sub, and a cheesesteak for Ted -- and we headed off to the cabin, confident that we would not perish of starvation on our dangerous cross-country trek.
I could go into great detail about arriving there. First, of course, we had to get the keys and final directions from the lady who owned the gas station and store (and, as it turned out, she's the owner of the cabin, too). I had bought several days' worth of groceries, but we thought it'd be good to pick up some ice cream and cold drinks − and a Sara Lee frozen cream pie. C'mon on -- it's a vacation, for God's sake! Another 15 minutes and there we were. It was beautiful -- exactly as advertised on the Web site, and everything we were hoping for.
I'm not going to go into great detail about arriving, and checking out the place, and bringing our stuff in, and unpacking, and making ourselves at home -- you've taken vacations before -- you know how this all works.
We didn't do much -- we spent most of the rest of the day winding down from the excitement of anticipation and preparing for the trip, and from the drive itself. Turns out, the sandwiches had pretty much filled us up for the remainder of the day. It was a beautiful evening and the insects had not come out yet, so we decided to take a walk along the lake. We checked out the canoes and the kayak -- all three were relatively new and in excellent condition, as were the paddles and the flotation vests − and then headed back to the cabin. Around 8 p.m., Ted brewed up a pot of decaf and we all sat down to enjoy the Sara Lee cake (it was a twofer − Gourmet Silk Chocolate
and
Peanut Butter -- shameful!).
And that about did it. Off to bed (we didn't even have to put on sheets and blankets -- they were already made up for us).
Here, I could go into lengthy (excruciating) detail about "how we spent our summer vacation." But in fact, the most meaningful part of our "vacation" was something that should never, ever find its way into a school composition.
It happened the next afternoon. Ted and I had just returned from an hour walk around the lake. We kicked off our dusty hiking boots on the porch and went into the cabin and, being barefoot, I guess we didn't make much noise, and as we passed the kids' room, the door was standing wide open (what a surprise!), and we were treated to the sight of Eddie and Shana ... let's not beat around the bush here -- fucking. Of course, they had been having sex of one sort or another for a while, so this part was no surprise. And in fact, when they were still at home, you might remember that I happened upon them several times and -- I'm only half-ashamed to say it -- watched them discreetly, even to the point of having to relieve myself afterward.
But, somehow, this was very different. First, we weren't watching two kids, fooling around, maybe trying not to get caught. These were two young adults, and they were fucking, unapologetically, making absolutely no effort to shield what they were so energetically engaged in. Just the opposite -- it looked like they had purposely planned to have us "catch" them, and, in fact, it was almost as if they were putting on a show for us.
And there was one more thing: This was the first time that Ted had ever witnessed his son and younger daughter, naked, having sex with each other. And I'm sure that they knew it, too.
We just stood there, watching them. We weren't spying, or peeping -- it was obvious that they wanted us to see them, to watch them -- and to think about ...
Finally, they noticed us -- or, at least, they pretended that they had just noticed us -- standing there outside their wide-open door, watching them ... watching them. They did not act the least bit embarrassed, or even surprised that we saw them, and that we were standing there watching them. Their reaction was more like, "Oh, hi."
Ted and I just stood there. It was obvious that our presence was not interrupting their activities in any way. And then, in a moment I'll remember 'til my dying day, Shane looked up from beneath Eddie and said,
"Care to join us?"
I think Ted and I were both frozen. Did we really hear that? We looked at each other, as if to say, "Did she really say that?"
We finally got over our shock at what we now knew we had definitely heard, I managed to force out, "That's very thoughtful of you, but no, thanks -- we're good." I reached for the doorknob. "Here, we'll give you two some privacy."
Eddie replied, "That's OK -- leave it open, please."
Ted and I tried to act normally" -- whatever constituted "normal" after an invitation like that. We didn't hurry to put things away, pretending like nothing unusual had happened. We didn't rush off to someplace where we wouldn't be interrupted, to try and process what we'd just experienced.
But in the end, we found ourselves in our bedroom, with our door closed.
"What the heck just happened?" was the only thing I could think to say. "Did I -- did we actually hear that -- that they invited us to have sex with them, − even
with
them??"
And then my mind flashed back to the many times I had seen them engaged in some kind of sex play, and the times that I had intentionally stayed and watched them, especially after they had progressed to full-on fucking, and how I'd sometimes masturbate myself, often to body-shaking orgasms. And how I would tell Ted about what I'd seen, and how he and I ...
... and I felt myself start to get wet.
Ted answered my question. "Yes, I'm pretty sure that's what they meant."
"And did they mean, would we like to have sex right there along with them, alongside them? Or did Shana mean 'have sex
with
them'-- I mean, you and Shane, and me and Eddie?"
"Georgia, I'm afraid of what I'm thinking, but I think she was saying the second thing you said -- with them."
We sat down on the bed, both of us shaken by our understanding of what we thought Shane had meant. And the way we sat, my eyes notice Ted's hiking shorts -- and the way they were sticking out in front. Apparently this event was having a profound effect on both of us.
Then, from way back in my brain, I remembered something that Matthew told me, a long time ago.
"Ted, did you know that Candace had actually thought about something like this?"
Ted, of course, hadn't the slightest idea what I was referring to.
"Matthew once told me that when he and Paul -- when your Guard unit was in the Middle East, and Candace was their birthday present, and she spent that night and morning with them -- well, that during a quiet moment, Candace talked about this very thing."
Ted was still puzzled, having no idea where I was headed with this.
"As close as I can recall Matthew's words, Candace had told him that she loved the fact that he and Paul had sexual relationships with their own daughters − with Jane and Lauren. In fact, she actually said that it was "great!" And then Candace said to him, 'If we have a girl, do you think when she grows up she and Teddy will fuck like you do with Lauren and Jane? And if it's a boy, do you think when he grows up he'd fuck me?'"
I tried to give him time to process the words -- Candace's words.
"And he said Candace's words were, 'That'd be so great if we did!'"
Ted thought for a moment, although not as long as I would have expected him to.
"I'll admit, that's pretty wild. But, you know, in one way, it doesn't surprise me a bit. You know, Candace was such a happy, loving, generous person, and, yes, she often talked about Matt's and Paul's relationships with their daughters, and how it seemed to be so good for all of them. But now that you've brought it up, I don't know − was she just talking about something that was unusual and interesting, or was she ... I don't know, trying to introduce the idea ... into our life ... like maybe ... trying to plant some seeds ..."
This information -- plus the fact that Ted even told me, and even more, his "analysis" of Candace's motives -- surprised me. I wanted to know more about Ted's reaction.
