Chapter 19: Your Wife and Her Sister?

In the kitchen, Mia was making pancakes. She had a stack of them ready when her mama and husband came downstairs, also fully dressed. Gabe had washed his hair, and it was now surrounding his head with absurd but adorable black spikes.

“Oh, Mia, thank you. Do we have juice?”

“Of course, and coffee. I was thinking, all three of us should have a walk after breakfast. We can go downstream this time.”

About a half-hour after breakfast was finished and cleaned up, the three of them were ready to go. Almost.

“It’s surprisingly warm today. It feels like, seventy? I’m going back inside to take off this coat, can I take yours too?”

Mia carried the three coats inside, and then they were off, getting by with simple long-sleeved knit shirts. As required, Lucia was wearing one of Mia’s bras underneath, while (in Gabe’s happy eyes) Mia’s breasts were bobbing along freely as they walked.

After passing five clearly unoccupied properties, the sixth house had the curtains open, and a couple sat on the front porch enjoying their coffee.

“There are other people here!” exclaimed Lucia.

“Come up and join us! We have lots of coffee, if you want.”

“I’m Arthur, she’s Lyn, short for Marilyn, we’re the Murrays. We live here full time. Are you folks visiting, like for the weekend?”

“Yes. I hope our being tourists isn’t too obvious,” answered Gabe. “I found this vacation rental for a ridiculously low fee, and we couldn’t resist coming up here. It’s been totally worth the four hour drive to get up here.”

“Four hours, well, I know where you’re from, then. It was nice of you and your wife to bring her sister along with you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I should have introduced us. In the yellow top is my wife Mia, and that’s her mother Lucia Perez, and I’m Gabriel Flores.”

Lyn broke in, surprised. “Her mother? You’re teasing us!”

Lucia answered. “No, it’s true. My late husband Hector and I raised Mia until she moved out and then had the good luck to meet and marry Gabe.”

“Well, dog my cats! Lucia, that means you’re over 40? Crazy. I’m lucky that Arthur still loves me now that I’m all old and saggy.”

Arthur growled, warningly. “Don’t start, Lyn. Lucia, we were both fortunate to be working for the state university system, which means we have a pension. Our vacation home up here became our permanent residence.

“It gets awfully busy up here during ski season, but now with the early spring this year we’re back to quiet living.”

They had a friendly chat, and Mia extended a dinner invitation to the Murrays, which was accepted. As they continued their walk, Lucia made a comment.

“They are a lovely couple, they remind me of my marriage. Did you see how he held her hand?”

“I did, Mama. You know that will come again for you. I’m very confident there’s another person out there who will love you the way Daddy did. And Gabe and I will dance at your wedding.”

“I don’t know, it’s not like I have a lot of experience, like, dating.”

“Oh, come on, Mama. I know about you and the baseball team.”

“Melisandre Ilena Perez Flores!”

“Yeah, Mia. You shouldn’t have said that about your mama. After all, it was the basketball team that she was naked with.”

Unwisely, Gabe was standing in the wrong spot when he teased her. Lucia body-blocked him into a nearby snowbank, where he was coated with melting slush.

“You’re out of my will, both of you!”

Back at the house, Lucia felt guilty because Gabe was wet and dirty from the roadside snow.

“Mia, would you make us lunch while I go upstairs with Gabe and get him cleaned up and into fresh clothes.”

“Sure, Mama. I’ll see you back down here in twenty, no, thirty minutes. Gabe, you need a hot shower and shampoo. Your hair is filthy. Mama, make sure he gets clean.”