Chapter 3

“Hello Pete, I’m James Wright. And this...”

Kristy brought James wife around to stand next to her husband.

“ ... is my wife...”

“Sis!?”

“Petey!?

I grabbed Deb in my arms and lifted her off the floor. My wife, Kristy, and James, my sister Deb’s husband, stood there in abject shock.

“You two know each other?” Kristy asked.

“Kristy, this is my sister!”

“Deb? That Deb?” Kristy’s eyes shot wide open.

“Yes!” I kissed her on the lips a bit longer than a normal brother and sister should especially in front of their respective wife and husband.

“Really? Peter, you’re my brother-in-law?”

“Yes, he is James! My long-lost brother is back! God, Petey, I’ve missed you!”

With those words she kissed me again, still in my arms. I set her down on the floor of The Shedd and with my arms still around her, I pushed her back to look at her.

“Deb! You’ve got boobs!”

She broke out crying and hugged me again.

“You big dummy! We haven’t seen or heard from each other in almost thirteen years and all you can say it I’ve got boobs!?” Deb said.

“We all need to sit down and have a chat. Do you want to do it here or at one of our homes?” I said.

“Let’s go back to our home,” James offered.

I looked at James in a new light and I reached out my open hand. He smiled and shook my hand and pulled me into a hug while Deb and Kristy tearfully embraced. We walked out to our cars and James pointed to his red SUV.

“Follow me, Pete.”

I nodded and got in my car with my wife.

“Kristy, did you know about this?”

“No, honest Pete. I didn’t know anything. This is wonderful!”

“It is that,” I said fighting back joyful tears.

“But now I feel really guilty.”

“Why?”

“Well, I got to give James a blowjob and now you won’t get one.”

“Too late Kristy. I’m so far ahead of you it’s a sin.”

“A sin? You mean?”

“Yup. It’s a long story,” and I began to tell a quick version of the story about my sister and me.

We got into the truck and I looked at James.

“This is amazing, James. Just wonderful and amazing.”

“Yeah, I can imagine, but now I feel like shit after getting a blowjob from my sister-in-law.”

“Don’t worry, your brother-in-law has gotten plenty of them from your wife.”

“What!?”

“Yup. It’s a long story,” and I began to tell a quick version of the story about my brother and me.

I followed the big red SUV and when it pulled into the drive way of a nice house, I pulled in next to it. I looked at Kristy and smiled. She was still in shock and amazed at the direction the night had taken.

“I can’t believe this. I’ve managed to find your sister.”

“And you managed to give a blowjob to your brother-in-law.”

“Oh shit! I know I did,” the guilt was just hitting Kristy.

“Yeah, but I don’t think that it is going to be a problem. Don’t move.” I kissed Kristy and gave her right breast a squeeze before getting out and running over to open her door.

After I helped her out, I kissed again and squeezed her left breast.

“Before we go in, Pete, I want to know something. Can you see past the fact that you’ve found your sister and get over my cheating?”

“Kristy, I don’t know. Right now, I’m in a fog. Let me ask you a favor and then we can talk about this tonight at home, OK?”

“What?”

“Please just spend the night talking. You said that we might become good friends with the couple we were meeting tonight. Well it looks like that is going to happen. Tonight, let’s just become good friends. Don’t turn this thing into something sexual, not tonight, please.”

“No problem. I’m just going to be happy to see and your sister back together.”

“OK. Would you do me the honor of taking my hand, my dear?”

“Yes, kind sir. OH! Wait! One more thing before we go in.”

“What would that be.”

“Just to make sure that you know. I love you. I love your dick. James is similar in length but a little thinner. But it isn’t attached to a man I do, and always will, love with all my soul. I’m sorry I cheated.”

“Come on before you start to cry and fuck up your make-up.”

I kissed my wife and took her arm in mine. We walked to the door that my sister was holding open. Once inside, Deb closed the door and ran into my arms again and hugged me for all she was worth. She looked at me with tear filled eyes and began to let her emotions pour out on my chest. Being the big, macho kind of guy, I am, I immediately began to cry as hard.

James walked in, carrying a try of wine glasses and a bottle of red wine. He set it down on their coffee table and walked to stand next to Kristy.

“I don’t know about you, but I feel like a shit for getting a blow job from my sister-in-law. If I had known I would have never attempted it,” James said.

“James, look at our spouses. Would they have found each other if I hadn’t cheated on Pete?” Kristy added.

“But Kristy ... I mean ... my sister-in-law,” James was really bothered now.

“James, let it go. I promised Pete no talking about sex stuff tonight. This is a great opportunity for you and Pete to get to know each other. Do you know about Pete and Deb?”

“You mean the blowjobs when they were kids?” James asked.

“And the pussy eating too,” Kristy added with a smile.

“Not until Deb got me in the car and told me on the ride home.”

“Get to know Pete, James.” Kristy said, trying to set the groundwork for the night. “Don’t bullshit him. His bullshit detector is really good. Talk to him like you were the new guy at work. If you two get along then you have found your permanent couple and I probably won’t lose my husband because I cheated on him.”

James opened the wine and coughed a couple of times to get me and my sister’s attention.

“Deb? Pete? Why don’t you sit on the couch and have a glass of wine and catch up? I don’t know about Kristy, but I gotta think that this is one hell of a story.”

Deb and I broke our embrace and I took the glass James offered me. Deb pointed at the love seat and I sat, with Kristy taking her place on my lap, handing me a napkin for my tears. James sat on the couch next to us and Deb copied her new sister-in-law’s seating position. Once we were all comfortable, I looked at Deb and shook my head.

“I can’t believe this. Deb you look great. Um ... any ... kids?”

“No. You?”

“Nope. We were kind of waiting for something good to come along so we could afford to start a family. We also needed to sit down and really talk about it seriously.”

“Same here. James wants munchkins, but I kind of felt like there was something missing that I needed to find or a hole in my life that needed filling before I had kids,” she began to cry again.

“Yeah, I felt like that, too. We make enough money to afford a whole tribe of kids, but something just didn’t seem to feel right,” I dabbed up my tears as James handed a napkin to my sister.

Kristy leaned down and kissed me when I lifted my face to look at her.

“Lover, maybe this is the missing piece. Maybe you were feeling that you needed to have your original family together before you could start your own.”

I thought about it for a few seconds, taking a sip of my wine as my brain began to work again.

“Someone needs to explain to me what just happened. Both of you just went stone silent. It was like you were both thinking the same thoughts and sharing them,” James supposed.

“James, we used to be able to do that, back when...”

“When you were sleeping together?” James asked, cutting me off.

“NO! We never ‘slept’ together. I mean, we never had sex,” I kind of verbally jumped on him a little.

“That’s right, James. Kristy, we slept together every chance we got, and we had a lot of oral sex. We never went all the way. James knows that I was a virgin when we got married,” Deb explained.

“I always felt like it was a sign of respect for Deb,” I added.

“If I can ask, how did this get started?” Kristy inquired.

“God it’s such a long story,” I said.

“It is, but Petey, we have all night,” Deb said.

I nodded and hugged my wife before sipping a little more wine.

“James this is really nice. Are you trying to get me drunk?” I looked at my new brother-in-law.

“No, just relaxed so you won’t kick my ass,” James admitted.

“Before we got to The Shedd, I was sure thinking about that. I told Kristy that if you were a cocky bastard that I was going to beat the crap out of you,” I confessed.

“I would have not made it easy,” James informed me.

“I guess it would have been something to see, but back to the story. My sister had her friend, Peggy, over to the house for a sleep over...”

By the time Deb and I had gone back and forth between us as we told our story. James and Kristy were sitting and slowly shaking their heads.

“Hon, why didn’t you answer Pete’s emails?” James asked.

“My dad wouldn’t let me near a computer and took my phone. The school he sent me to didn’t have, or believe in, computers that were connected to the internet. It was almost a year before I got access to my email account. I sent Petey an email and never heard back from him,” Deb let out a sigh.

“And after I came back to school from Thanksgiving, I had to change my email address to one connected to the engineering school. I kept the other one active for the rest of the school year and never heard from Deb,” I finished the story.

“Wow. And out of the blue, we met at the gym,” Kristy added.

“And you cheated on me,” Pete said quietly.

That killed the mood really fast. I glanced at James and he looked like someone had kicked him when he was down, so did Kristy and Deb. I finished the last of the wine in my glass and set the glass on the table.

“Petey? I can’t guess how you feel about that, but I’m feeling like it was fate. Kristy never seemed like a woman who would be a cheater. When we were together, there was something different about her. James asked if he could fuck her and she said no. In the heights of her orgasms, she never tried to get him inside her and I never pushed it either.”

“Pete,” James chimed in, “ I don’t know how this is going to sound, but I know what you mean about not having sex with Deb because you respected her. I do ... we do ... as well. The swinging that Deb and I have done has not been as much fun as when I was in college. I think that’s because in college I did it with friends and people I had strong feelings for.”

“So strong that you gave it all up for Deb?”

“Yeah, that strong. It took my soul mate to pull me away. Once I came out as a former swinger, Deb was interested, but it never was as fun. That’s why I pulled back from it.”

“James, I’m with you. I loved the sex, but it wasn’t fulfilling. Petey, when you and I would do 69 it was a wonderful thing. It was sweet and loving. I didn’t feel that again until I was with James,” Deb spoke quietly, “and I felt it again when I was with Kristy.”

I sat there listening to the true confessions coming out of the mouths of my sister and her husband. I looked at Kristy. Her eyes were red, and now she was fighting to not cry.

“Pete, I’m sorry. I cheated. I can’t and won’t deny it.” Kristy finally spoke. “The first time was a drunken error, but I felt something. I was trying to figure out how to tell you about it. I just knew that if I could get it out, just tell you, that we had the chance for a wonderful lifetime friendship with Kristy and James.”

“Something just felt like it was right. Now I know why. For whatever reason, the fates have brought us together. You have a chance to have a life with your sister, and we have a chance to go back to the lifestyle that we used to enjoy. You said that you wanted to quit because you didn’t want any other woman, but that isn’t true, is it?” Kristy paused to take a long sigh.

“You could still have a physical relationship with your sister, right?” Deb looked at me with a strange look in her still red eyes.

I couldn’t get my head past the idea that Kristy had, in fact, cheated. The outcome was irrelevant. She went outside our marriage to have a sexual relationship with another couple. The fact that it turned out to be with my sister was an anomaly.

We sat and chatted about our lives in a bit more depth. Finally, after a second bottle of wine and a lot of remembering and revelations, it was time for Kristy and me to go home.

“Petey, now that I’ve found you, I’m not going to lose you, am I?”

“No Sis. Never again.”

“What about you and Kristy? Are you two going to be OK?”

“I honestly don’t know, Sis. I honestly don’t have a fucking clue.”

“Well, I can tell you that she loves you with all her soul.”

“But not her body apparently.”

“Don’t do anything stupid big brother. I know that finding me and Kristy finding us are two separate issues, but it seems like fate to me. And like dad used to tell me after we moved. ‘Roses grow good out of shit.’ I didn’t really get it then put it eventually hit me. He wanted our lives to blossom after what he perceived as the shit you and I were involved in. This is the same thing. Think about it.”

“Yeah. I love you Sis. I’ll call you.”

“You don’t have our numbers.”

“I know someone who does, remember?” I kissed Deb and shook James hand briefly.

Kristy had been standing there listening to my sister’s sermon. She didn’t move until I took her hand and led her to the car. She didn’t speak until we were home, showered and in bed.

“Good night, Pete. I love you.”

“Good night, Kristy.”

I rolled over, took a deep breath, slowly released it and fell asleep.

“Well, it looks like we just fucked up your brother’s marriage.”

“James! Shit, I was going to yell at you, but you might be right. I’ve got to do something. I don’t want the act of finding my brother be paid for with his divorce.”

“I already told you that I feel like shit now that I know that I was doing stuff with your brother’s wife.”

“James, does that mean that if things work out between them that you wouldn’t want to fuck her while my brother fucked me?”

“Pete fucking you? Fuck. I hadn’t even gone that far in my own head yet. We can’t be a foursome. You’d be committing incest.”

“I already have been. I just haven’t in a long time. James, we have to find a way to fix this.”

“Let’s sleep on it, OK? The wine is making it hard for me to think.”

“OK, but in the morning, we go full steam ahead to save my brothers marriage.”

I never really got angry at Kristy, but things cooled between us. There was no casual touching or impromptu fondling. I stopped walking around the house naked. We talked about household business but there was no teasing or joking.

Kristy found an outlet for her pain, she talked to my sister. I found out that they were talking often, sometimes a couple or three times a day. I found out because Deb told me when I called to vent to her.

“Petey, you have to stop being an asshole to Kristy.”

“I’m not. She doesn’t talk to me.”

“Do you talk to her?”

“No. I’m waiting for her to say something.”

“And she is waiting for you to forgive her. She is scared to death that she will say something that will cause you to go off and get a divorce.”

“I don’t know what to say. I feel like I’ve lost my best friend and I don’t know what to do. I know she’s been talking to you. Has she been seeing other couples since she can’t be with you guys?”

“NO! Damn it, Petey. She loves you! She isn’t looking or interested in anyone other than you.”

“Then why did she go looking for you?”

“She didn’t! I went after her. I’ve told you that. James and I were looking for a partner couple and Kristy and I became friends. I invited you two over the weekend you had to go out of town. She came over and explained what happened and we started drinking and one thing led to another. James and I were very comfortable with her and felt that from what she told us about you that you two might be compatible with us.”

“I just thought of something. How is it you never knew her last name and that her husband was named Peter. Don’t you think that knowing her husband had the same name as your brother might have been a bright red flashing light?”

“At first we were gym friends. First names only. Then when she began to respond to my questions about swinging, I just didn’t dig too deep for fear of chasing her off. After the first time it never occurred to me to ask her last name. It seems so strange now, but that’s what happened.”

That was the general rotating content of our conversations. Kristy and I didn’t go to their house, we didn’t go out anymore at all. All my conversations with Deb were on the phone. After a month of this, I finally had an epiphany.

It was on a Wednesday and I went out for lunch with two of my engineering partners. The three of us were having a steak sandwich when one of the guys informed us that he and his wife were having a baby. Another baby. Their fifth baby!

“Jeez Jerry! You know that know what causes that problem.”

“Peter, it’s not what we would call a problem. It’s like every baby just multiplies the love we have for each other. When I was a stupid kid, I thought that love was finite. I was worried that my 100% love for Trisha would drop to 50% for her and 50% for the baby. Instead it turned into 100% for her and 100% for the baby. Love grows.”

Love grows!

I went home that night and when Kristy got home from school, I told her to get dressed up, I was taking her to dinner. She looked like she was on her way to death row. Her last meal. We maintained our now normal silence as we showered, separately, and dressed. She asked me if what she was wearing was good enough. I said yes and we got in the car and went to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.

We were seated and after I ordered wine and salads, I looked at her as I reached across the table and took the hand nearest mine.

“I’m sorry. I love you.”

“I love you ... are you sorry that you have to leave me?”

“No. I’m sorry for thinking that you were looking to leave me.”

“I was never! Never!” She started to cry a little.

“Relax, Kristy. I’m not going anywhere, anytime soon.”

She smiled and for some reason I still don’t understand we drank wine and ate our salads in total silence, but she was smiling the entire time. Our server returned and we both ordered the filet with broiled cherry tomatoes and broccoli. We each had another glass of wine. At some point during the second glass the wall finally broke down.

“Pete, I’ve been so scared that you were going to leave me. I didn’t know what to say or do. I thought I was living with a ticking bomb and anything I did was going to set it off.”

“I felt the same way, Kristy. I thought that if I pushed or didn’t push you would take it as a sign that I didn’t love you and you would leave me to find someone else. I figured that you already were out looking for my replacement.”