Chapter 5

Naomi followed Carol and Tyler down to the basement of their home, where they found Carl and Jennifer watching a movie. When the adults saw the three of them, they exchanged a look and turned off the TV.

Naomi smiled when Carol demonstrated her boldness by getting her parents’ attention, then starting the ball rolling.

“Mom, Dad, I’m sorry, but we’ve been sort of misleading you for the past couple of months. I haven’t been chaperoning Ty and Naomi, he’s been providing camouflage for Naomi and me.”

Carl gave her a skeptical look and said, “There has to be more to it than that. After all, Tyler just hospitalized someone for threatening Naomi.”

Tyler spoke up then. “What she said is true, but I recently realized that I’ve fallen in love with Naomi, just like Carol has. Uh, we’re all pretty confused, but it was worse before Mrs. Clarke sat us down and helped us to understand what’s going on. Now that we have a better handle on it, well, I hope you don’t hate us, but I think it’s a possibility.”

Jennifer smiled at him and said, “No, we won’t hate you. I promise. So, has Carol finally admitted that she’s in love with you?”

Tyler and Carol exchanged a look, then stared at Jennifer. She laughed.

“Oh, Tyler. You know your emotions are out there to see, at least for those of us who know you best. Carol, you’e better at hiding it, but Carl and I have both seen it for a couple of years. We’re not happy that it’s out in the open, but we’re not surprised.

“One of the reasons we didn’t put up much of a fuss when you suggested dating Naomi was that we’d been afraid you two were too fixated on each other.” She sighed then, and said, “I suppose it was too good to be true.

“We’ve talked to some professionals about your relationship over the years, though we haven’t mentioned it before because we didn’t want to encourage you. One counselor was disgusted by the idea of incest, another thought it could work out. Based on how we described your interactions, he didn’t think there was an unhealthy power differential; it was just a case of two young people who were in love and happened to be siblings. All of them suggested waiting to see if you outgrew it. I think we can say that isn’t happening.”

Carl then added, “Please remember, though, that a sexual relationship between you two is illegal here in Washington. I don’t expect the police to break down the door to get to you, but you need to be circumspect. Tyler, keeping your relationship with Naomi out front should help there, as well as help to quiet any rumors about your sister’s relationship with Naomi. That relationship isn’t illegal, or even that uncommon today, but there are still some who don’t approve.”

Naomi stood there watching with a lump in her throat. She didn’t know the adults very well, so she’d been a little nervous for Carol and Tyler. At a break in the conversation, she held up the bound document her mother had given them earlier and said, “I’ll add a little to that. I just discovered today that Mom’s primary area of research in college was human sexuality. Her doctoral dissertation was about the negative effects of intragenerational incest. She sent this along for you, in case you want to see her research, but she summarized her findings for us. A power differential would be the big red flag. The rest of the issues are learned behaviors, such as imposed guilt and ostracization. She recommended that you give her a call if you have any questions.

“As far as our relationship, I’m the one who came up with the sham date idea. I’d rather not get into the particulars, but I will say that you have a wonderful son. He’s managed to find a way into my heart, where I didn’t think any male would ever go again. Mom sat us all down and talked this through to help us understand the dynamics. In the end, she thinks we’re good candidates for a stable three-way relationship, which still blows my mind.”

She then handed the document to Jennifer, who took a brief look at the first couple of pages, then caught her eye and smiled.

“Please thank her for this. Just knowing that she’s looked so closely at the subject and thinks that the kids are okay is comforting. I think we’ll need to take a closer look at it before we can formulate good questions for her. For the moment, I’m happy to know her professional opinion, though I think Carl and I are going to be discussing this long into the night.”

“There’s no rush as far as we’re concerned, Mom,” Tyler said. “Like she said, we’re still getting our minds around it, too. Hopefully, it will make more sense tomorrow.”

“Before you go, I’d like to ask one more thing,” Naomi said. “Mom suggested that I might want to spend the night. Would be okay with me spending the night with Carol? When things don’t make sense, I find her confidence and strength eases my mind.”

Jennifer smiled and said, “She certainly has those, but that’s not all she is. There are moments when she needs someone to just hold her and treat her as if she were a fragile flower. Tyler has always known when she needs that, and has been there for her. It’s one of the reasons we were pretty sure this day would eventually come — that level of empathy is often missing in marriages, even from long-term relationships. It’s also one of the reasons we never seriously considered trying to keep them apart.”

Carol smiled at her mother and said, “She’s already figured it out, Mom. It’s different when she holds me, but at the same time it makes me feel the same. They both know how to make me feel special and cared for. Tonight, though, I think Naomi needs someone to help chase away some nightmares. Is it okay with you if she stays, so I can do that?”

Jennifer’s eyes moistened and she nodded, before leading Carl upstairs.

Tyler exchanged looks with his girlfriends for a minute, before joining them in a group hug.

“That went better than I expected,” he said. “It’s nice to know that they understand us that well. You realize, of course, that we’ll still need to do something about school.” He wasn’t looking forward to that, not that he’d have a problem being Naomi’s boyfriend and treating her as his girlfriend — after all, they’d been doing that for a couple of months even though it wasn’t true. The part he dreaded was not being able to treat Carol as his girlfriend as well.

Carol hugged him and said, “Let’s not borrow trouble. We’ve done enough today. I think it’s time to relax with my girlfriend.” She suddenly gasped, then she put her hands to her mouth and looked at Tyler.

He smiled reassuringly at her and gave her a hug. “I know she’s your girlfriend, sis. And I know you weren’t laying sole claim. I’ll have my turn, but I know it won’t be tonight.” He went to each of the girls and gave them a kiss filled with promise for the future, then said, “Good night, ladies. Sleep well!”

He had just turned to leave, when he heard Carol say, “Just a minute, Bucko! If you think you’re going to get away without tucking your girlfriends in for the night, you have another think coming.”

As soon as he turned back around, Naomi was in his arms. “I didn’t mean anything bad about you by asking to sleep with her,” she said. “I suppose I didn’t think about it, I just know that she’s held me before when I needed comfort and went with it.”

Tyler held her close and stroked her hair. Then he kissed her nose and said, “It didn’t even occur to me that you might have wanted to sleep with me. I expect it to take some time before you’re comfortable with the idea of being in a bed with me. I’m sure it will happen, but I’d be surprised if it’s soon.”

“Maybe not as long as you think,” she said. “I really do love you, Tyler. And I trust you. I might have some issues with sex, but if we were all three in the same bed, I don’t think I’d have a problem with just being in bed with you.”

His heart sang at her words — it was so much more than he expected, so soon. “That would be great! In a similar vein, will the two of you be okay with me sleeping with Carol when we can’t all be together? Falling asleep with her has been a dream of mine for years.” He didn’t think he needed to elaborate on some of his other dreams — neither of his girlfriends were dumb, after all.

Naomi said it’d be fine with her, and Carol told him she damned well expected him to sleep with her at least some nights.

He normally slept naked, but in deference to their guest and to the fact that he was expected to make an appearance in his sister’s room, he put on pajamas. He wasn’t going to wear them to bed, but he’d keep them handy for when he got up.

Shortly after he got ready, he heard Carol call for her goodnight kiss, so he went to her room to tuck them in. He wasn’t prepared for what he found, though. They had the sheet down to their waists, and they weren’t bothering with sleepwear.

“I love you so much,” his sister said. “I know we’ve seen each other before, but I’m your girlfriend now. I think context matters, don’t you?”

Naomi said, “I don’t think you were paying attention in that way earlier, but I thought that you’d already seen them, so it’s no big deal.”

He was glad junior wasn’t lined up with the fly of his pajamas, the tent he made was embarrassing enough. He was pretty sure from Carol’s grin that she, at least, noticed his condition — for all he knew, she came up with the idea of being topless to provoke it. “Wow! You’re both so pretty. Sleep well, my loves. I’ll see you in the morning.” With that, he kissed them again and turned off the bedside lamp before pulling the door to and heading to his room. He was so exhausted that he didn’t even try to deal with his hardon when he got to his bed, hoping, instead, to get a chance to take things in hand in the morning before his girlfriends woke up.

When Naomi awoke Saturday morning, she felt like a new person. She and Carol had been in bed together before, but they’d never actually had a chance to sleep together. She’d worried that she’d have a difficult time sleeping with someone else, but it wasn’t a problem. They talked for a bit while winding down the day, then her lover gently stroked her breast while murmuring of her love, and she drifted off to sleep. Carol’s hand still gently cupped her breast, giving her a thrill to start the day.

Most importantly, she felt safe. Her sleep had been untroubled by the dreams that had plagued her since the assault. They didn’t come every night, but when they did, they left her shaky and paranoid for a couple of hours in the morning. Even when she wasn’t bothered by dreams, she was active in bed — sheets and blankets that were in perfect order the night before, were almost always tied in knots come morning.

This morning, she felt a strange lethargy. It took a moment to realize that it was her body getting going after apparently not moving for more than eight hours. Still, she needed to get up and go to the bathroom now, so she gently wormed her way out of Carol’s embrace, threw on the T-shirt that she’d been given for sleepwear, and padded across the hall to take care of her morning ritual.

When she returned, Carol was awake and had just finished stretching the sleep out of her body, which gave Naomi ideas about going back to bed for non-sleep related activities. However, Carol got out of bed before she could get there.

“Nope, sweetie,” Carol said. “I need to drain my bladder, too. Then I think we need to actually get up, but don’t change just yet.”

While she waited, she made the bed, then sat at the end in an intentionally not-so-innocent pose. She was rewarded with a sly grin from Carol when she came back, but her implied invitation wasn’t accepted.

“How are you doing this morning, love,” Carol asked after giving her a kiss.

“I almost don’t feel like myself. No nightmares. In fact, I don’t know that I had any dreams. I also didn’t move all night, which is unheard of. I think sleeping with you agrees with me.”

“Sleeping with you agrees with me as well, though my right arm is at the pins-and-needles stage. I guess it ended up pinned under you. Other than that, though, some things seem to have settled in my mind while I slept.”

She nodded and said, “They did for me as well. I think my subconscious must have gotten on the Tyler bandwagon while I slept. Yesterday, it was hard to admit my love for him. Today, well, I don’t want to jump his bones this morning, but I’m looking forward to it happening soon.”

Carol nodded and said, “I hope you don’t mind me saying it, but I do want to jump his bones! I think your mom is right, though. It’ll have to be all of us together for the first time, so that can wait. I just hope she gets you an appointment soon!”

They both laughed a little at that. Naomi had expected to feel more settled after a good night’s sleep, but she was still surprised by how different some of her thoughts were. One of those different thoughts caused her to say, “I hope he slept well because I think it’s time we woke him up.”

Carol agreed and put on her long T-shirt as well. Naomi noted that it was long enough for a sense of modesty without panties, but short enough to be enticing. One of Carol’s normal T’s did much the same for her. She reflected for a second on the fact that she’d have been okay with Tyler seeing her in it and panties before, since it really didn’t show as much as a swimming suit, but today she wanted him to know that there was nothing under it, even if he didn’t get to see everything quite yet. Then again, he might — she really was feeling more settled about loving him.

She and Carol walked quietly down the hall to his bedroom, where she saw that the door was only pulled to, not closed. Carol took the lead, gently pushing the door open, stepping into the room and making space for Naomi. What she saw, after Carol had moved out of the way, was Adonis. In a whisper, she said, “He’s gorgeous, and I can appreciate the fact today. Not sure whether I could have before, at least not in the same way.”

Carol nodded and soaked in the vision. It wasn’t that she’d never seen him like this before, since they weren’t body-shy around each other. The difference was that she’d never seen her boyfriend like that, and it made her tingle with anticipation.

He was on his back, his right leg bent at the knee and splayed out. She knew that he tended to sleep hot. It had to be pretty cold before he used more than a light blanket, and usually, as this morning, even that blanket was folded at the foot of the bed. His sheet was pulled down to his waist, leaving his chest and abs exposed. His muscles were sleek and defined, but not particularly large — he’d told her once that he worked out to build speed, stamina and some strength instead of muscle mass.

She was looking for it, so she noticed his pajama bottoms draped across the back of his desk chair. Tapping Naomi’s shoulder to get her attention, which seemed to be completely focused on Ty, she pointed to the chair. Almost immediately after looking, Naomi whipped her head back around to focus on him and started blushing profusely.

Carol had originally planned to kiss him awake, but decided to be daring instead. She positioned Naomi, then stood up straight, motioning for Naomi to do the same. This had the effect of raising the hems of their shirts so there was less than an inch of hem length protecting their modesty. Once she was satisfied with their position, she quietly said, “Hey, Ty! Wake up. I think we’re going to have a great time today.” She was pretty sure that’s all it would take, since he’d heard her call many times from her bedroom. She was right.

Tyler woke up to his sister’s voice calling him. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he started to get up before realizing he wasn’t alone — a couple of angels were standing just a few feet away. He wasn’t always at his sharpest first thing in the morning, though he’d once heard Carol scream in her sleep and had been at her side in seconds. This morning, it took him a moment to remember the previous day’s events. When he did, he dropped back to the bed and smiled, before saying, “Wow! Sometimes reality is better than the best dream.”

When he took a closer look at the girls, his sheet started to move. He ignored it, though, as all of his attention was focused on Carol and Naomi. Then he remembered that he suddenly had two girlfriends — two lovely girlfriends who were standing in his room in long T-shirts. It took an effort to look them in the eyes, but he did so before saying, “I can’t believe how lucky I am.”