This story is a good hour long, and progresses slowly. As always, I look for proofreaders for my stories to make sure they meet the quality this site deserves.
Slippery slopes
I know the expression that family comes first, but I don't think they meant the orgasm I'd just given my sister is what they meant.
Do we regret it? No, although I'm sure there will be some soul searching to come. How did we get there? And was it planned or just simply stepping stones that made it inevitable?
A beginning
I suppose all this started with a confluence of events that occurred over the last 4 months. Starting off with the shocking declaration that my younger sister Pam was getting divorced. I suspected that her marriage was not as rosy as she painted it, but some of that might have been me projecting after my own divorce over 2 years ago.
At the time, I'd been a mess and my parents insisted I move back in with them rather than jump into getting a new place too quickly. They were right as I'd see two many men my age who went off the rails and spent money like water and dated inappropriately young women.
Naturally, my sister ribbed me about moving back into our parents' home when I was 38, but I told her to wait until she was in the same situation. Something I regret now, of course. Originally, I'd intended to only stay a month or two, but I discovered my parents, both in their 70s, had fallen for the idea of a gated retirement community.
My father wanted to fix up the house and then sell it. But being dad, he refused mum's idea to get all of their stuff put into storage and take an extended holiday while the builders blitzed through 20-plus years of neglected maintenance. Despite having no experience, he wanted to do the work himself.
I was trained as an engineer and I'm good with my hands and problem solving, but I'd been pushed into management and I offered to help dad with the house. Partially to get my hands dirty again, but mostly to stop him knocking more off the value of the house by his shoddy work.
Living with my parents as an adult was weird, but not as bad as I feared. Their only stipulation was no lady friend visitors. Which, after my divorce, was something I had little interest in.
Every day after we heard about Pam's upcoming divorce, mum would go on and on about how bad she must be feeling. But as we lived on the other side of the country and she was afraid of flying, there was no way she could persuade dad to drive cross-country to visit her.
Then something came up at work. One of our branches had their two senior managers leave at the same time. Leaving the branch rudderless, as nobody else was experienced enough to do more than basic day to day work. My boss called for volunteers to be seconded there for 3 to 6 months and nobody picked up the offer.
Times were tough and it was as likely that whoever went would simply go there to shut the branch and sack all the staff. Which was not something anyone wanted to do. As the boss got more exasperated, I read the writing on the wall and put myself forward. We were bloated with middle to upper managers in our branch and taking one for the company would improve my chances if there were layoffs in the future.
At least I was single with no kids to worry about, so it would be easier for me. Until I found out my living allowances would be negligible. Which came as quite a blow as my parents had not charged me rent, claiming my work renovating the house was rent enough.
Then my mum came up with a Machiavellian scheme, which was quite impressive. Pam had bought a rundown one bed home and hadn't the money to spare to get it fixed up. Mum suggested that I stay with her as the branch I was going to was driving distance from her place. I could sleep on the couch and in my evenings and weekends help fix up Pam's new home as I'd done with my parents.
This also meant I'd be there to support my sister and report back daily to tell mum how she was really doing.
My sister and I had been close as kids, right up until she reached puberty. From that point, she was moody and irritable. Likely to go off on one at a moment's notice and I was advised by my parent's to avoid her if possible. Something I took to heart, but it was hard in our small three bed house.
Just after she turned 18, and I was 20, I moved out to share a house with friends and we hardly saw each other. When I visited home, she was always out with friends. So we only met up at family events like anniversaries, birthdays and weddings. At my wedding she warned me I'd made a mistake, and it turned out she was right. But it took me 10 years to figure that out myself.
I spent several hours talking to my sister about mum's proposed plan, the longest I'd talked to her combined in the last 20 years and worked out if it was a good idea. Although we both carefully avoided talking about the details of our marriages failing.
I was worried that she'd want to start dating again. As a girl, she never went without a boyfriend for more than a few days. Sleeping on her sofa would be an issue if she were. But she admitted she had absolutely no desire to think about that for a long time to come.
She asked about my dating life and I admitted that I'd only dated a few times. I didn't mention that a few female work colleagues and even a couple of my ex-wife's friends threw me a sympathy fuck a few times. But apart from the sex, I wasn't interest in more, and neither were they.
The day before I was due to leave, I felt a definite air of hostility from the other member of staff, who had finally figured out my motivation and regretted their reluctance. Especially as our boss was treating me like a hero. In private, he promised if I could rescue the branch, he'd fight through hell and high water to get me a substantial bonus.
My sister had warned me that her place was pretty small and I packed light and drove across the country to visit her for the first time. The drive was long, but problem free, and I arrived in her little community a couple of hours ahead of schedule.
About 25 years ago, some property developers had spotted a niche in the market for smaller homes in a community setting. First-time buyers, divorcees, even retiree friendly. They'd made the roads one way and narrow, but included plenty of walkways between the houses and clusters of commercial areas within walking distance. The idea was you could walk to get your day to day needs rather than use up valuable space for extra parking.
If you wanted milk or a morning newspaper, it was a few minutes' walk. Or you wanted a bar or restaurant, the same. OK, the houses were small and tightly packed, but it was a good idea.
A new home
When I pulled my car up next to my sisters, I was thinking that something like this would suit me. I'd have to see if there was anything near where I worked the same. Now I've finished repairing my parent's place.
Pam opened the door and looked at me in surprise. In my mind, I saw two versions of my sister. The one I remembered before I'd left home when she was 18 and the 38-year-old version in front of me. At 18 she was slim and pretty, her face a little too pointy to be beautiful. Now she'd filled out, and I found her attractive. Which was a weird thought.
"You're early Josh. I didn't expect you for hours. Sorry you caught me like this."
She gestured down to her outfit of yoga pants and a sports bra.
"It's OK sis, I've seen you in less." I grinned, and she rolled her eyes and let me in.
"That was forever ago. I'm surprised you remembered."
"Getting to see your 18-year-old sister wet and naked from the shower, even if only for an instant, tends to stick with you."
"Pervert." She taunted, but with amusement. "Wanna coffee, or would you prefer a beer?"
"Beer for preference."
"I'm sure you can find the fridge. I'm certainly not going to be waiting on you hand and foot, like I'm sure mum has been doing for the last couple of years."
"Hey, she's not that bad. Although dad needs a new Butler's uniform, his current one is fraying."
Pam gave me a shoulder bump in acknowledgement and I realised I'd missed those. They'd dried up when she was about 13. Prior to that, it was our usual way of communicating.
She moved over to the space in front of the TV and bent to pick up her yoga mat. Without meaning to, I gawked at her backside in the yoga pants. They were the style that went up the butt crack that made it look like you were naked with body paint instead of fully clothed.
"I suppose I'm going to have to find another way to get fit if you're about."
"You don't look too bad, sis."
