Chapter 5

“So, this is the famous Kieran I’ve heard about, then?” Mom surprised Dad in particular with her kind and friendly tone, “a pleasure to meet you, and I do mean that. I’m Jessica Vandekamp, the crazy ex Richard probably warned you about ... but I’m ... coming to my senses. Waking up to my own silliness and immaturity. I used to think that was an exclusively male condition, but I was so wrong about that, too.”

“Jess, please ... call me ... Dick. I’ve come to prefer that name now. I’m glad to see that you’re more ... open-minded now. Also, I owe you an apology ... for living a lie. I’m gay. I just needed to accept that fact. On the upside, if I hadn’t lived that lie ... we wouldn’t have these two pride and joys, would we? I don’t regret them at all, just how I handled it all,” Dad confessed at last, “Kieran Murphy, this is my ex-wife, Jessica Vandekamp, though she usually answers to Jess. Jess, this is Kieran Murphy, former seminary student turned pro tennis player.”

“Um ... not anymore. That’s the past. That was old me. Call me ... Jessie. Sound good? A new name for the new me. Anyway, I’m sorry that I ... tried to burn your clothes, for the record, and kicked you out how I did. I fucked that up badly, pardon my French. And yes, I’m trying to ... be more forgiving, more understanding, less prudish, less self-righteous and sanctimonious. A truce? At long last?” Mom pleaded with Dad.

“Truce. Thank you for that ... Jessie. Anyway, who’s your gentleman caller? I guarantee you, man, if I were straight or even bi, I’d be envious as fuck. Sorry, bad language,” Dad blushed a bit, not sounding like a superior court judge at all right then.

“It’s cool, Daddy!” Tricia shouted as she somersaulted to him and then hugged him tightly.

“This, Kieran, my boy, is Daddy’s little princess, the apple of my eye. Tricia. Unless she’s in trouble, in which case she becomes, respectively according to the level of trouble, Patricia, Patricia Anne, and then, at the worst, in the real doghouse, Patricia Anne Vandekamp! Mostly said by Jessie here, though. Anyway, what’s your name again?” Dad turned to Eddie.

“Eddie Halder. Nicknamed ‘Keen Eddie,’ of late. Apparently, my eagerness to please Jessica was a source of amusement for my future stepson and stepdaughter. You see ... I popped the question. After the fourth date, no less! And she said yes! So I’m engaged to marry your ex-wife. I’m part of the family now, aren’t I? Oh, and if she wants, I’m willing to change my last name to hers, not vice versa. That would make us all Vandekamps, I think,” Eddie introduced himself now.

“Edwin Booth Halder, that is the sweetest thing that you’ve offered to do for me yet. You don’t mind ... if I tell them the truth, do you?” Mom then turned to Eddie, “Martin and Trish already know. You might as well. I had to ... get some help for my issues ... and figure out my needs. What I need ... what Eddie found in me that I didn’t know about myself was that ... I need to dominate a guy. The sort of guy who doesn’t mind being whipped into shape.”

“I’m her cuckold. That’s the deal. I submit to her, not vice versa. I’m not ashamed to say it. Why should I be? I’m an adult, making a decision for me and what I need, just as you did when you left the closet and embraced your homosexuality. I do what my Mistress, Mistress Jessica, tells me. She loves me ... and I love her, too. It’s going to be a loving femdom marriage, I dare say, a wife-led marriage. I’m not being pressured into this. I’m a happy cuck, I swear it!” Eddie blushed, but otherwise proudly asserted his true status and nature.

“I KNEW IT!” Dad chuckled, “I knew that you had Domme in you, Jessie! I’m just pleased that you’re embracing a healthier version of that lifestyle, not an abusive, toxic one. I told you to get help once. I’m glad that you took my advice. Good for you.”

“Yeah, you had my number, didn’t you? You had me pegged,” Mom had the good grace to blush and acknowledge that Dad was right.

“Well, strictly speaking, Mom’s likely to have Eddie pegged,” I joked now, making everyone burst into laughter, “this is my fiancee, Dad ... Kieran. Meet Lola, formerly my babysitter, soon to be my bride.”

“Nice to meet you ... Lola. Indian?” Dad asked her.

“Yes, I am. From Mumbai. I’m a Hindu, from a fairly old-school, conservative sect, but I’ll never ask Martin to convert. That’s the sort of decision he needs to make for himself. Religion and all that. I’m pious, but I interpret my faith differently, in my own way. I was born Sonali Gupta, but I chose ‘Lola,’ because I prefer that name. It fits me better. Your son has made me very happy, claiming me as his bride,” Lola confessed with a smile.

“Attaboy, son! Find a damn good woman and don’t let her get away! Know what you want. Though there’s more to this, isn’t there? I know body language and I know the score. You two are ... intimate with Tricia, aren’t you? It’s cool. Many fathers, probably most, would be pissed, but you know what? She needs a good man, too, and sometimes, that means sharing a man, I think. It’s not unknown in my own community, the LGBTQ one, that is.