Chapter 15: Elaine and Henry

Four months after Davis made his Chicken Parmigiana, they were lounging in the spa on a lazy Friday evening. “Lara, next weekend is a three day with the federal holiday on Monday, as you know. I wanted to alert you that we are going to have guests staying with us. They are coming on Friday night. Davis and I know them very very well, and I wanted to tell you all about them beforehand.”

“Since my place is long gone, do you want me to make room and go to a hotel?” asked Lara.

“NO! Lara, it’s Elaine, my sister, and her husband Henry. The LAST thing we want is for you to feel excluded. Elaine and I grew up together, and if she lived closer, you would have met her long before today.

“Don’t worry, they know all about you and our ‘special’ relationship. They are both eager to meet you. Also, they are just as nudist as we are. We’re all going to be squished into the water here together, nice and cozy. Is this all OK with you, Lara?”

“Sounds like fun! So, Elaine and Henry have been here with you before?”

“Three times since we moved into this bungalow. And, I’m going to anticipate your next question. Yes, we all have sex together. They are the only two people Davis and I have screwed since our marriage began, except for you, Lara.”

“Wow. That’s a big secret, Celia. How many times are you going to do this to me? Fuck!”

Lara climbed out of the hot water and stormed off to the second bedroom. She slammed and locked the door.

“Shit, Celie. Why do you keep doing this? This conversation could have happened weeks ago. ‘Hey, Lara, I’m thinking of inviting my sister and her husband for a visit. Let me tell you about them first and ask you what you think.’

“You ask me first, why not her? Don’t her feelings matter to you, like mine do?

“God, Davis, I’m so sorry. You’re right, I wasn’t thinking about her feelings.”

“This is why she exploded when you surprise-dumped your ‘I want a baby, and you’re going to carry it for me’ theory on her. Remember?”

“Yes, yes, I have fucked it up, again.”

“Celie, tomorrow morning, you are leaving the house early. I am going to spend the whole morning groveling, apologizing, and sympathizing with her. Then, you’re going to bring us lunch, and you are also going to grovel and apologize. Do what you need to in order to make things right. OK?”

“Yes, Davis, I know I have to get this fixed.”

Five-Way Soak

“When I first heard about this weekend, I didn’t know what to think,” said Lara. “And, actually, I still have some questions, if you don’t mind.”

“Fire away,” replied Elaine.

“So you and Celia are stepsisters, but you’re about the same age. How does that work?”

“I don’t know that Celia and I were ever given the whole true story, but as far as I know our father, Walter, was being sexual with two different women at the same time. Evidently, within a month or two after we were both conceived by him in those two women, he decided to marry Celia’s mother, Abbie. My mother, Diana, decided to raise me on her own and keep my existence a secret from Abbie and Walter.

“But then, when I was only three, I showed up at the door of Abbie and Walter with my mother for what must have been a very difficult conversation. Walter did acknowledge to Abbie that Diana had been his sexual partner, which probably kept them all talking.

“Diana explained that she was unable to care for me. She had terminal cancer and was medicating herself with street drugs and alcohol. Our parents told us later that she was emaciated and frail, and that I showed signs of neglect and poor nutrition.

“Fortunately, we were both too young to remember any of this.

“In fact, Diana died within a month after that meeting, I’ve been told. By then, Dad’s paternity had been confirmed by an early version of DNA testing. It didn’t matter, they agreed to be my parents at that first meeting.

“And Celie has been my sister ever since. Since we became adults and now (unfortunately) live so far apart, there have been two things I know about her that I am crazy happy about.

“The first one is Davis. It’s just a phrase people say, but I truly believe it: he’s one-in-a-million. And he feels the same way about Celie, which just further proves what I’m saying about him.