To say things were a little tense in the Mathers household was a bit of an understatement. After falling from grace for a second time Marianne Mathers was in a penitent frame of mind.
In fact, she was so ashamed of having sex with both of her sons while high on marijuana that she found she couldn't even say what had happened in the confession booth at church that Sunday.
She had tried to get both Marty and Clyde to come with her but, although Clyde had pretended to show interest in going, after he'd had sex with his mother it seemed ridiculous to keep pretending he cared about it. So he'd told Marianne that he felt too much of a sinner now to show his face in church and Marty said the same.
It was a pretty good excuse for not going, though Marianne said she would pray for both their souls. Marty felt she sounded unconvincing trying to act like the Christian mom after she'd chosen to get high by smoking the joints that Clyde had found in his room.
She knew she'd completely lost her moral authority and felt even more ashamed of her behavior the second time. At least she had no idea she was taking drugs when she ate Marty's spacecake the first time. Now she had no place to hide from her conscience and so only a contrite confession seemed the only option for her that Sunday.
But, after sitting through Mass and feeling suitably repentant when it came to sitting in the confession booth, she suddenly felt incredibly nervous and stricken with guilt for her carnal trespasses. She knew she had fallen from grace in a spectacular way and couldn't blame anyone for her taboo misdemeanours except herself.
She tried to calm herself as she entered the booth, but this was far beyond the very menial sins she had confessed to before. Now, Marianne had to find the courage to confess that she'd committed incest with both her sons at once.
Even though she knew it was an anonymous confession she couldn't even begin to find the words to explain what had happened. She felt overwhelmed, flustered and claustrophobic, leaving the confession booth and then the church in a hurry.
As she walked home she knew that she'd turned a corner in terms of who she was; for years she had been the person her friends regarded as a paragon of virtue, a model housewife and mother, the one they looked up to. She knew that was a facade she could no longer maintain, she was a different person now.
For all the shame she felt every time she let her thoughts stray to what had happened with both of her sons she felt a huge sense of sexual arousal and couldn't blame being intoxicated on marijuana anymore. She found it so hard to admit it to herself, but she just wasn't a regular mom anymore....she was a whoremom.
That was a hell of a thing for her to accept, especially as her husband Scott was returning home from a month long business trip.
In a way, it was a relief knowing he was coming home as she knew that having both her sons home all summer would be a constant sexual temptation for her.
On the other hand, she wondered whether her sons would be able to contain their desires now that they knew she could be easily tempted into sex. And the next time she didn't even think that being high would even be necessary. She had finally confessed to herself that she felt a strong sexual attraction to both her sons and found herself having constant sexual thoughts around the house.
If it wasn't for her husband arriving home the next day she could have definitely imagined herself succumbing to sin yet again. As soon as she got home she cleaned the house fastidiously, feeling that she had the chance to try to bury her taboo desires. Marianne felt that she should at least put up the pretense of being the normal mom and wife that she had been for all her married life until recently.
When she talked to her husband on the phone that night she made everything sound so mundane and looked away as Marty gave her a knowing smile while walking from the lounge to the kitchen.
As she put the phone down she realised this was going to need an Oscar-winning performance to convince her husband everything was just the same as when he left.
Scott Mathers had completed a very successful business trip across several cities where he'd given lengthy speeches and PowerPoint presentations at numerous seminars for home and business security systems.
With the cutting edge technology he'd been developing with his team he'd found that the high levels of security he could offer clients had led to enormous demand and he was returning home with several contracts to go through.
As he began the long drive home he thought to himself how this was the most successful period of his life; a thriving, expanding business, a devoted wife and two sons who he knew would play a future role in continuing the success of his business, especially Clyde with his MIT placement, which would lead to some serious credentials for designing surveillance equipment.
He just about had it made and he felt like someone returning from a victorious battle after he'd completed the gruelling eight hour drive. Marianne greeted him at the door with a beaming smile, looking her best in a floral sundress.
"Well, you're a sight for sore eyes, Mari! It's great to be home, that was an epic journey home...I feel like goddamn Ulysses..." said Scott as he gave his wife a hug, completely oblivious to the shameful sexual antics that had gone on under his own roof.
"It's so good to have you home, Scott! I've made us a lamb casserole, I hope you're hungry!" she said, feeling happy and grateful to return to her normal role.
As she held him tight she wondered if maybe she could put her uncharacteristic discrepancies behind her and somehow get back to the person who she used to be. Deep down, though, she knew she'd become someone else.
Marty and Clyde emerged from the lounge to greet their father, though both sons found it hard to look him straight in the eye knowing what they'd done together....fucking their mother, his wife, in his marriage bed. Changing the sheets couldn't hide that fact but Scott gave both his sons a warm hug, their guilt and shame hidden behind forced smiles.
"Great to have you back, Dad!" said Clyde, patting his father on the back as they shared a warm embrace.
"It's good to see you Clyde, hope you're still enjoying MIT! I've got big hopes for you, wait till you hear the contracts I've got from this business trip".
"That's awesome, Dad! MIT is going great, enjoying it more than ever!" replied Clyde, lying through his teeth.
Marty stepped forward to offer a hug to his father, knowing he was the inferior son in Scott's eyes.
"Good to see you, Dad." he said, offering a more reticent hug than his brother.
"You too, Marty. Hope you're staying out of trouble and not partying too much!" replied Scott and Clyde felt once again like he was his father's favorite son, with good reason.
Marianne could sense the moment of awkwardness as Scott showed more affection and respect to Clyde than Marty and it made her wince a little.
She turned on her heel and went back to the kitchen, sensing there was a building tension already between Scott and their two sons. The two brothers were almost like Cane and Abel in the Bible, she thought to herself.
She served up the lamb casserole in the dining room and the rest of the evening passed without incident. Scott bored them all with his tales of corporate seminars and how much money they were going to make from the numerous security contracts he'd been offered.
After the main meal, Scott told Mari to bring in a bottle of red wine so that he could propose a toast. Mari did as requested and poured some wine in glasses then brought them to the dining table, two at a time.
Scott sipped his Merlot and nodded at Mari approvingly. Mari smiled back, actually feeling genuinely grateful to be back to being a domestic goddess, doing something wholesome and innocent.
"Mari, that casserole was wonderful, thenk you honey......ok, so I should really make a toast. You know, this is the first time we've sat down as a family together since Christmas. I just want to say it feels really good to be home, seeing my beautiful wife again and seeing how you boys are developing....so let's raise our glasses and drink to the Mathers family, we have a glorious future!" said Scott and everyone clinked their glasses in muted celebration.
Scott, feeling his family were hanging on his every word, returned to his very mundane anecdotes about the banal corporate goons he'd met on his business trip.
Marty was bored almost to tears as he listened to his father, while Clyde tried to maintain an appearance of deep interest, enjoying the feeling of being his father's preferred son.
As Marianne cleared the dessert bowls Marty said he was feeling tired and escaped to his room, happy to leave Clyde to kiss his father's ass. It all seemed so meaningless after they'd both taken their mother in the bed that Scott would be sleeping in that night.
It bothered Marty a lot that what had happened would all be brushed under the carpet and would remain a dark family secret. He knew that they had both betrayed their father by their sexual shenanigans with their mother in his marriage bed.
He couldn't believe how Clyde could actually look his father in the eye, but that's exactly why he thought Clyde was such a soulless asshole, just out for himself. Although both having sex with their Mom had eased their sibling rivalry somewhat, Marty still held his brown-nosing brother in contempt.
That night Scott was in such a good mood and the red wine had stirred up what there was of his libido. Scott and Marianne sat in the lounge talking, or rather Marianne listened to her husband talk endlessly about himself.
She could sense that he was thinking about suggesting sex and all she could think about was how boring and predictable it was going to be. Yet she wanted to try to at least attempt being a regular wife again.