Chapter 3

‘Sure,’ Mum said. ‘Of course. Shall we go upstairs to talk?’

‘No,’ Dad said lowly. ‘Please call Kyron and ask him to come get the children early.’

We had school off today and intended to spend it at Uncle Kyron’s, and the night over as well.

Mum looked somewhat surprised, but reached for the landline and dialled without hesitation.

Gerry and I went to our rooms to gather our things while we waited for Uncle Kyron to arrive. When he did, we came down and hugged our parents goodbye, and then hopped into the car.

‘What’s going on?’ Kyron asked as he drove away, flicking his eyes briefly over to me. ‘Why did I need to get you early?’

Gerry just shrugged in the backseat, happily oblivious, and dug his nose back into the paperback in his hands.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to use careful words.

‘Something’s happened, I think,’ I began. ‘Dad came home, sat down, and said he and Mum needed to talk ... and that she should call you to get us early. That’s all I know. It doesn’t seem like something good’s happened, though.’

Kyron’s grip on the steering wheel tightened, and he stared straight ahead almost sightlessly. After a moment he forced himself to relax and said, ‘Well, I hope it’s not too awful, and they sort it soon.’

‘Me too,’ I said, but if it was what Kyron and I both thought it was, it wouldn’t ever really be ‘sorted.’

Kyron had made us grilled cheese and tomato soup when we’d gotten to his place. We’d watched two John Candy films in the interim; ‘The Great Outdoors,’ and ‘Uncle Buck.’ Gerry and I couldn’t decide which was better.

Finally, Kyron had sent us to bed. When I came down quietly to the kitchen to get some water, the front door opened. Kyron was sitting on the sofa in front of a snowy television, obviously brooding. He looked up when the door open and his face changed--lightened and then darkened all in the same second.

‘Julie,’ he said. ‘What are you doing here?’

Mum sighed, letting her bag slump to the floor.

‘Long story,’ she said. ‘Are the kids in bed?’

‘Yeah, they went up half an hour ago. Come sit.’

He moved over and indicated the spot to his left.

‘What were you thinking about when I came in?’ Mum asked, sitting close to him and leaning her head against his shoulder. He put his arm around her.

‘Oh,’ Kyron sighed, regretfully. ‘Mistakes I’ve made in my life. Something we don’t want to talk about.’

‘What?’ Mum gave him a look of mock surprise. ‘I thought we could talk about everything.’

Kyron played with one of her curls, not looking directly at her face. ‘You wouldn’t want to hear about this, trust me.’ Then he did look at her, and said, in a soft voice, ‘What happened with Toby?’

Mum seemed to melt into the sofa.

‘Well, he figured out that I haven’t been faithful to him.’

Kyron sighed. ‘I was frightened that he might have. How did he know?’

Mum covered her face with her hand. ‘I was careless. I was ill and very tired and I didn’t want to bathe after we made love the first time. So I just slept again, and when Toby got home he could smell semen and arousal in the bedsheets, and he and I hadn’t made love since the sheets had been changed. He wasn’t sure, so he waited a while longer until we changed the sheets again, and, well, you can guess the rest.’

Kyron exhaled slowly and pulled her into his chest. ‘He knows it was me? Did he kick you out?’

‘No, he doesn’t know who, and he didn’t kick me out. He was very calm about the whole thing--or controlled, rather. I could see the rage bubbling red-hot inside him the whole time, but he kept it under wraps and didn’t even raise his voice. Toby loves me too much to raise a hand to me. In a very controlled sort of way he asked if he could be alone tonight, that I could go stay the night somewhere else, anywhere else--with whomever I had been unfaithful with or that I should stay with you. They’re one and the same, though.’

‘Yes.’

They were silent for a moment, just sitting there, and then Kyron grabbed the remote and switched the TV off. ‘Come on, let’s go to bed. Worrying will do nothing to help. Let’s get some sleep.’

‘I can’t come with you,’ Mum protested. ‘I’ll sleep on the sofa or something, since Gerry and Rosie have the spare room.’

‘No,’ Kyron said firmly. ‘You’ll share my bed. Come on, Julianne.’ He nudged her gently, almost playfully. ‘Warm my bed for me tonight, will you?’

‘Oh, all right,’ she conceded. ‘I’d love to. But no funny business, all right?’ She was smiling as she said it.

When they stood, I tiptoed my way upstairs extra quick and just beat them.

In the very early morning I awoke and didn’t realize why. Gerry was still fast asleep in the twin bed across the room, whiffling softly, but I was used to that--it hadn’t been what had awoken me before dawn.

I crept out of bed and into the hallway. There was a small muffled sound--from Kyron’s room. It wasn’t hard to guess what might have caused the sound, and I went over and opened the door an inch or so (thankfully, no squeaks!).

Kyron’s face was buried in between my mum’s legs. I couldn’t see his exact ministrations, but whatever they were, Mum was going absolutely berserk as a result. She writhed wildly, arching and keeping a hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t wake the house with her moans.

Kyron stood, crawled up onto the bed where Mum lay limp like a jellyfish, and kneed her legs gently farther apart. His cock was hugely engorged, and when he entered her in one motion I saw the shudder that went through him easily despite the dim light.

Mum clung to him, pressing her face to his shoulder now to muffle her vocalizations.

I smiled to myself and went back to bed, leaving them to it. ‘No funny business,’ indeed! They were like overeager children, and now that the can of worms had been opened it wouldn’t easily be resealed.

In the proper morning, about half past eight, I came down the stairs into the kitchen sleepily, lured by wonderful smells.

‘Mum!’ I exclaimed. I had forgotten she was here, conveniently, so it seemed convincing that I was surprised.

She was sitting in her dressing gown at the kitchen table with the light over the stove on with Kyron, nursing a mug of tea and passing the crossword back and forth. He was in his pajamas too, sandy blond hair still ruffled from sleep and whatever mischief they’d gotten up to.

When Mum heard me she turned and smiled sleepily, with a rather pained expression, and took off her glasses, coming over to hug me. ‘Morning, Rosie,’ she said. ‘Did you sleep well? Pull up a chair.’

‘I slept decently well,’ I allowed, accepting the cup of Earl Grey tea she poured for me and adding cream liberally. ‘What about you? When did you get here? Why?’

‘Last night,’ Mum said. ‘Late. After you were in bed. I thought it might be nice to stay for old times’ sake. I slept fine.’

‘What did Dad want?’ I asked as Mum replaced her glasses and pushed the crossword over to Kyron.

‘We’ll need to talk about that later,’ she said, ‘not now. When Gerry’s awake and we’ve all eaten.’