Chapter 6

"Smooth move, Ex-Lax," Jeff taunted me, as he sent his digital defensive back down the sideline for a touchdown. I just growled as my inept quarterback gave hopeless chase.

"You cheated," I grumbled, when he crossed the goal line.

"Nah, you just suck." Jeff kicked the extra point, then grabbed his A&W and took a drink. "35-13. Com'n, Brown. This is almost laughably easy."

Even while getting my ass handed to me at Madden Football, I enjoyed this opportunity to hang out with Jeff. No girls, no complications, just me and my best guy friend, playing video games, maybe some real live basketball later; just like we'd done for years. And since these were things that never really interested Fuzz, I was able to mentally push his memory to the side for a bit, at least a little bit.

"Because you cheat," I replied, "You punch in some code sequence so your DBs know where I'm throwing the ball."

Jeff rolled his eyes. "No, you're PREDICTABLE, Brody. You've thrown to Fitzgerald virtually every third down. All you're changing is the route. You could use Boldin every now and then."

I frowned. "Grab the controller and kick the damn ball. I need to redeem myself."

"Not likely, especially with Arizona's offense." Jeff shook his head as he grabbed his controller. "You know what your problem is?"

"I'm sure you're going to tell me."

"Sex fog."

I gave him a sideways glance. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Cassie and Kristin have been gone for four days. You haven't seen those two desert foxes in months. The absence of sex has muddled your brain."

"You're an idiot, Jeff. Kick the damn ball."

"Fine, fine."

His kicker booted the ball downfield. I set my returner under it, cradled the ball and headed up the field. I juked to the left to avoid one tackle, and sidestepped to the right to avoid another. That put a hole right in front of me, so I raced towards it. A smile threatened to split my face as a clear field opened in front of me. Just then, Jeff's defender caught my runner's arm and the ball squirted out of his hands, wobbling away across the turf.

"Shit!" I growled.

"Boo-YEAH!" Jeff whooped.

His guy was a step ahead of my guy. Jeff scooped up the ball and took off on another unimpeded romp to the end zone. I threw the controller down in disgust. The sound of the front door drew my attention.

"This fucking game is rigged," I said, as I got out of my chair, grabbing my two empty Mountain Dew cans to toss in the garbage.

"How 'bout we watch the replay of that one?" Jeff said to my retreating back.

"Fuck you, Barker."

"Watch your language, Brody," Mom said, as she closed the door behind her.

"Sorry, Mom."

I redirected over to her and kissed her cheek. She seemed surprised by the unexpected show of affection, and I mentally kicked myself—AGAIN—for completely shutting her out. Pecks on the cheek had been commonplace in our house for years, at least until this spring. I resolved to be less closed off to Mom. I'd resolved to do this at least a dozen times in the last few weeks, so I was hoping that it would have a cumulative effect and actually work this time.

Mom quickly recovered and smiled at me. "Hey, Sweetie." She set her briefcase on the floor and put the mail on the table by the door. She started going through it as she stepped out of her heels.

"Did you have a good last day of work before vacation?" I asked.

I let my eyes wander up and down Mom's body. She looked dynamite in her silk blouse and wide leg slacks. They hugged her just right and showed off her lithe frame. Mom's back was facing me, so I took an extra-long look at her ass. It really was world-class.

"It was good. Busy as usual, what with the move coming up."

She looked over her shoulder and caught me admiring her. I expected her to give me a scolding look, but she actually blushed and gave me a little smile. She glanced over at Jeff, who was busy watching the replay of his fumble recovery. Her smile turned into a saucy grin, and she gave her tush a sexy little shake. It was my turn to blush. She winked at me and turned her attention back to the mail. Damn, it felt good to tease with Mom again. Why had I been on such a downer all spring? Maybe this little break was what I really needed. I went to drop my cans in the kitchen recycling bin.

"You got some mail, Brody!" Mom called from the other room. "It's a ... postcard."

Her voice took on a questioning tone, so I was a little guarded when I came back. She looked at me with a raised eyebrow as she held it out to me.

"Who's Kristin?"

Jeff whipped around in his chair. "Kristin sent you a postcard? Dude..."

"Shut up, Jeff," I growled.

"Brody?"

I grabbed the postcard from Mom's hand and tried to contain my blush. "Just a girl from school."

"That's quite a postcard from 'just a girl'."

"Did you read it?" I defensively asked. Mom didn't usually encroach on my privacy, so I was surprised.

The corners of her mouth turned down. "I didn't need to read it."

"You knew it was from Kristin," I accused.

Mom turned to face me, her fists on her hips, her expression hard. "I saw her name when I turned it over to see who it was 'TO'. Why are you so defensive about this girl?"

Embarrassed at my reaction to her, I dropped my eyes and looked at the card. I blushed again. The picture on the card was a silhouette of man lying on top of a woman, kissing her, on the beach with the setting sun casting a soft romantic glow off the ocean behind them. In a flowing script across the top it said: "Island Lovers".

I looked back up at Mom, who was clearly waiting for me to respond.

"You remember that girl who was helping me out at school?" I asked.

Mom's eyes narrowed. "Just how was it she was helping you?" She shut her eyes and held her hand up. "Never mind; I don't think I want to know."

"It's not like I can control what someone sends me in the mail." It was a lame response, but hey ... I was desperate here.

"There has to be SOME reason why she sent that."

"I can't control how she feels about me, either. I told her I had girlfriends and we could only be friends."

Mom glanced at Jeff who was trying his darnedest to look totally engrossed in watching the replay for what must have been the twentieth time. Mom leaned closer to me.

"I know how it is with you and girls who are 'just friends', Brody," she quietly said.

"Mom..."

"This had better not be the reason you ditched Mia and Shay."

My jaw clenched. "I didn't ditch Mia and Shay. They understand; I thought you did, too."

"Do they? Do they understand what's going on in your head, because I'm having a hard time figuring it out? Besides, if you recall, I told you that I thought you staying home was a bad idea."

"Because of Kristin?" I snapped. "Mom, she's not even in town for the break. Neither is Cassie."

"They'll be back by the weekend, though, won't they?" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. They were softer, though no less sad, when she opened them. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to argue with you. I told you I would support your decision, but please don't ask me to stop caring about you. My reasons for concern haven't changed from what they were at the beginning, regardless of Cassie, Kristin, or any other girl you might have hidden in your closet or under your bed." She gave me a half-hearted smile, then looked at Jeff. "Would you like to stay for dinner, Jeff? I promise our conversation won't be so ... personal."

Jeff stood up and smiled. "Sure, Mrs. Brown. Just let me call my mom."

"You boys go back to your game. I'll call her before I get started on dinner. I need to ask her to check up on Brody while I'm gone, anyway." Mom shot me a look, daring me to argue with her.

"We can just order pizza, Mom," I said instead. "You don't need to worry about dinner."

"Nonsense," she replied, as she turned away. "You'll likely live off pizza and burgers for a week. The least I can do is to make sure that you eat healthy before I leave."

After she disappeared into the kitchen, I flipped the card over and read Kristin's message. Her handwriting was flowery and bubbly, just like her personality. Little hearts dotted each 'i' and exclamation point.

Hey, Baby! I miss you SOOO much. We have a private pool and beachfront right outside the back door of our cottage! There's a hot tub, sauna and hammock! Mmm ... I can just imagine the creative ways you and I can use them. Can't wait to see you this weekend!

Love, Kristin

XOXOXOXO

In spite of my frustration with the situation, my dick perked up. Traitor. I sighed and turned back to my friend. The shit just kept getting deeper and deeper.

"Brody ... Brody, Baby..."

Mom's gentle nudging snapped me awake. I gasped for breath, almost shocked when my lungs fill with air. Mom's arms held me tight, and she rocked me for the long minutes until my pulse and breathing slowed. Then after another few minutes of silence, she kissed the top of my head.

"My poor sweet baby," she sighed, "Am I stupid for leaving you for a week?"

I didn't respond, but I shifted a bit so I could hug her back. I tightly held onto her for a long time while she gently caressed me. Her touch soothed me, but as I stared off into the blackness of the night, unable to get back to sleep right away, I had my first real doubts about if I'd EVER be able to overcome this trauma, regardless of whether or not I had help.

The plan was to leave the house in time to get Mom to the airport by noon. She woke me up, but it was nearly impossible to pull myself out of my slumber, and I ached all over when I finally sat up. I was able to get a few hours of sleep after my nightmare, and I slept HARD, so hard that I had a pounding headache that rivaled the one hangover I'd ever had.

Mom was already in the shower when I dragged my sorry butt to her bathroom to empty my bladder. I was tempted to step into the shower with Mom, in spite of everything that was going on—or maybe because of it—but it'd been so long since we'd been physically intimate, that it just seemed too awkward to deal with right then. It was irrelevant, though, because she turned the water off pretty quickly. When I was done draining my tank, I grabbed the ibuprofen out of the medicine cabinet, popped the pills into my mouth, and bent over to drink directly from the faucet to wash them down. I stood up and the view in the mirror was enough to instantly tent my boxers. Mom had opened the curtain and was squeezing water out of her hair. She wasn't looking at me as she concentrated, but I sure as heck was looking at her. Water droplets left tantalizing little trickles down her gloriously nude torso.

It'd been weeks since I'd seen her naked, and I marveled again at what a sexy woman she is. She was nearing forty, but I couldn't imagine that her body ever looked better than at that point in her life. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked at me. She coyly smiled when she saw my expression, and posed with her hand on her hip for another few seconds while I ogled her.

"Will you hand me a towel, Sweetie?" she finally asked. I grabbed the towel and handed it to her. She started drying her body as she stepped out of the tub. "Why don't you grab a shower while I make breakfast?" she said, as she walked past me back into the bedroom.

I turned my head so that my eyes could follow her; I was unable to focus on anything other than her dynamite ass. "I'm on break," I finally said. "Why do I need a shower? I'm dropping you off, then I'm coming home to go back to bed."

She looked at me over her shoulder, and my eyes quickly popped up from her ass to meet hers. I wasn't fast enough, though, because her grin got bigger and she shook that cute butt at me. She obviously missed my attention over the last few weeks. She turned to face me after she shimmied into a pair of black satin panties.

"I'm not gone yet. After today, you won't have to shower until I get back, if you don't want to, though I imagine the kids at school won't appreciate it much on Monday."

"Mooommm," I whined.

She stepped forward and pecked my lips. "For me, Brody?"

I theatrically sighed. "Fine."

"Thanks, Sweetie."

She stepped past me and into the hallway, nude except for those tiny panties. She was going to make breakfast topless?

"Watch out for bacon grease!" I called after her.

Her musical laughter followed me into the shower.

"Tell me again why I'm driving Jeff's mom's minivan?" I asked, as I took the exit for Hartsfield, Atlanta's mind-boggling busy airport. Mom was watching road signs.

"I needed the van to haul my luggage."

"You didn't have THAT much stuff. It could have fit in your car."

"My car is full of stuff for work. This was just easier."

"Well, then, what about my car?"

She gave me a look like I was insane. "I'm not sure your hunk of metal would have even made it out of Macon. That wasn't a risk I was willing to take."

"It's a Charger Rallye, Mom. It's a classic." It didn't sound so pouty when Dad said that.

She ignored my comment. "Take the next right."

"But that's baggage claim." I slowed, but I didn't signal right away in my confusion.

"Just do it!" Mom forcefully said, so I whipped the steering wheel to the right just in time. Another driver honked his horn. Mom gave me an exasperated look.

"Hey, don't look at me," I complained. "You're the one who wants to do it backwards."

Mom's cell phone tinkled. She glanced down at it and smiled. "Perfect," she mumbled.

"What's perfect?"

She was already looking back out the window. "Pull in right ... there."

I signaled and waited for another minivan to pull out before taking its spot next to the curb, then we climbed out of the car. I felt a mixture of emotions as I got out of the van. There was regret that I'd bowed out of this trip. I missed my girls, and I was now really going to miss Mom. That regret was offset by my resolve to erase the doubts I had last night and work through things this week. The distractions would be almost non-existent with the house empty, and Cassie and Kristin out of town. I raised the rear door of the van and looked to see why Mom hadn't joined me to get her luggage. I located her about 15 feet away from the van walking towards the building. I throng of people passed between us, obscuring her from my view. I sighed, but just before I turned back to get the bags, Mom's head and shoulders rose above the crowd. Her face was pure happiness. The crowd parted just then, and I could see a huge pair of arms holding her in the air. They let her down and her arms went tight around John's neck. My jaw hit the floor. What was John doing here? She was supposed to meet him in Texas. Something fishy was going on.

She was giving him a healthy smooch when I noticed Shelly behind them. Mom split away from John and embraced her soon-to-be wife. Their kiss was just as ardent and drew a few stares, some not particularly friendly. I left the luggage and went to stand beside the van. I was going to wait until Mom explained things before I wasted my time unloading her bags. John looked over in my direction and waved before turning his attention back Mom and Shelly, who were talking excitedly. The automatic doors on the building then opened behind them, and every other sight and sound faded away.

The two teens were laughing as they fought with the luggage cart, trying to get it through the door. Mia had her back to me as she pulled the cart through. Her long, dark hair fell in waves down her back, ending where her hips swelled to their widest. Khaki hip-hugger short shorts covered her round butt and topped a pair of shapely legs the color of light brown sugar. Shay was pushing the cart and was only visible to me from the waist up. Her long red hair was tied back in her trademark ponytail, and she wore a cute pale green halter. Because she was facing in my direction, she saw me before Mia. She squealed, darted around the cumbersome cart, and ran towards me. Mia yelled a complaint at her, but when her eyes found me, she, too, took off in a run.

I was too stunned to do anything but stand there. I had just enough time to notice that Shay was wearing denim capris before she launched herself at me.

"Brod-yyyyy!" she squealed.

"Ooof..." I barely got my hands under her little butt to catch her. Not that it would have mattered with the way she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and her legs around my waist. Her lips were latched onto mine a microsecond later.

It took me a bit to get over the shock and into the kiss, but it felt so good to have one of my girls in my arms again that I was soon giving as good as I got. I actually felt a lump in my throat.

"Indecent..." an older feminine voice muttered as it passed us.

Shay giggled into my mouth as she ground her crotch against the bulge in my pants.

"Indecent..." Mia's younger, melodic, feminine voice said.

Without breaking the kiss, Shay slipped one hand off my neck for a second, then put it back.

"Is that a proposition?" the voice said. I gathered Shay must have flipped Mia off.

Shay finally broke the lip lock and intensely stared into my eyes. "You better believe it."

"What are you doing here?" I panted.

"Kissing you," she quietly said, "Grinding against your erection." She then put words to action and kissed and grinded again.

"Move your hands, please, Brody," Mia said. I slid my hands up around Shay's lower back, and a moment later a loud smack jolted us.

"OWW!" Shay cried, as she dropped from my arms. She rubbed her ass as she turned to glare at her best friend.

"Slut," Mia muttered, as she stepped past Shay and into my embrace. She looked up into my eyes and held me tight. "Surprise," she softly said, then reached out with her lips. My lips melted against hers as my spirits soared. My girls were here! Since I wouldn't come to them, they came to me! I had been telling myself just moments ago, that being alone this week was for the best, but with first Shay, and now Mia in my arms, I could hear Jeff in my head: "You're an idiot, Brown."

I never wanted to let Mia go. My heart thudded in my chest. My head swirled in bliss. My cock throbbed in anticipation.

Mia giggled and slipped her hand between our molded bodies and gave him a playful squeeze.

"Who's the slut?" Shay whispered into Mia's ear, which made the brunette giggle harder.

"Now, now, don't kill the poor boy in the first few minutes. You've got a whole week to do it."

My heart soared at that news, and Mia and I broke our kiss to face her mother. Shelly glanced down at my obvious reaction to those smoldering kisses and smirked. Then she winked at me before opening her arms for a hug. I released Mia and hugged Shelly. With a sigh she wrapped me tight and ground her pelvis against mine. I practically fainted when she locked lips with me, too. Her kiss was thankfully short, or else I might have shot off in my shorts. Her tongue tickled my lip just before she released me, though, then she stepped back. John was pulling the abandoned luggage cart. He smiled at me and gave me a shoulder to shoulder man hug, for which I was grateful. I would have died if he'd tried to grind against my erection, too.

"Hey, Sport. What say we get these bags in the van and take our ladies out to lunch?"

We ate at the Atlanta Bread Company near the airport. Mom and I were the only ones to have eaten at one before. It wasn't one of my favorites, but Mom loved it and so did Shelly and Mia, as it turned out. Shay and John seemed as indifferent as me. None of the girls had been to Atlanta or Macon before, so John wanted to show them the beautiful campus of the distributor he met with during his business trip in February. The plant was just south of the airport, on the way to Macon, except that we didn't head straight to Macon after we drove by the factory. We took a LONG detour home, heading east to Milledgeville, where Mom grew up, and where she and Dad met when he was in college. She showed us the house she grew up in, Dad's apartment building (which she said was just as rundown then), and Simkins Grocery, which now was a Save-A-Lot. Simkins was where my parents met when Mom was working summers and Dad was doing a college internship.

It was nostalgic, especially since I hadn't been there in years, at least not since Dad died. My mom's parents were older and died when I was young, so we had no reason to visit. It was also nice to see how genuinely interested John and Shelly were in Mom's early life. At one point, when Mom she got choked up as she was talking about how her parents reacted the first time Dad showed up on her family's doorstep. Shelly teared up as well, and both she and John quietly supported Mom until she was able to get it under control. They asked questions about Dad as we drove, like they wanted to get to know him better, and it almost felt as if they were bringing him into their new relationship, as well.

We eventually made it to Macon. We showed them the first house we lived in, as well as some of the other landmarks in our lives. I pointed Cassie's street out to my girls when we passed it as we headed home. That got me some good-natured teasing, including a 'girl-in-every-port' comment from John. We pulled into our driveway early in the evening.

Mia motioned to the back of my car sticking out of the garage as we were getting out of the van. "Is that your beloved 'Charger Rallye'?" Her voice deepened on the last two words, which made Mom laugh.

"It's a classic," I helplessly said as I shot a mean look at the woman who gave me birth.

"It's the same color as my eyes!" Shay exclaimed, as she bounced up to it. She turned and batted her eyelashes at us.

Mia crinkled her nose. "How can you tell?"

"Oh, for crying out loud, it's not THAT rusty!" I huffed.

Mia gave me a pitying look. "Of course it isn't, Dear."

"Be nice," Shelly admonished her daughter, as she passed by with her small overnight bag and headed up the porch steps into the house.

"Mia's being naughty, Brody," Shay said, as she walked by us towards the car. "She might need a spanking."

"Ooo, yes!" Mia sighed, "I need to be spanked."

"That's way too much information," John grumbled, as he followed his wife.

Shelly and John were leaving their larger bags in the van with Mom's. We'd drop them off at the regional airport in the morning, and they'd take a puddle-jumper back to Atlanta for the flight to Texas. I'd then drive the girls back to Atlanta a week later to hook up with the 'rents in time for them all to fly back to Phoenix. I was a bit embarrassed that my change in plans was making things more difficult—and expensive—for everyone else, but nobody seemed to be upset by it. As a matter of fact, we'd been home for less than a half hour, when Mom announced the three adults had some talking to do in the bedroom. That was met with teasing from Shay, and a blush from Mom. Mom pulled me aside just before they left.

"I love you, Brody," she quietly said.

"I know. It's obvious." I nodded towards my girls. "Sneaky."

Mom's face softened. "I know what you said about needing some alone time, but..."

I held my hand up. "I'm glad they're here. You don't need to say anything else."

"Well, I'm not sure that I could have kept them away, anyway. They approached both sets of their parents about coming here the day that you told them. I just helped assuage the parental concerns." She took my hand. "I know this goes without saying, but there are five parents that expect the three of you to act mature and behave yourselves. We'll expect daily check-ins and regular rules to be obeyed."

"Of course, Mom."

Mom sighed. "I love you," she said again.

I nodded towards the hallway. "Go on. Welcome Shelly and John to our home."

She smiled, then pecked my lips and ushered her lovers to her room.

The girls insisted on going for a walk while our parents said hello in the bedroom. We held hands and talked about this and that as we walked. Shay's cell phone rang about 10 minutes after we left.

"Hey, Cassie," she said, as soon as she put it to her ear. I raised an eyebrow, but then it dawned on me. Cassie KNEW the girls were coming here. She fucking knew. No wonder she wouldn't say anything about what they said. "Yep, we're here in the great state of Georgia," Shay continued. "Oh, yeah, he was surprised for sure..." She laughed. "No, there were too many people around to do anything there. It's a busy airport, you know. Tracy pulled John and Shelly into her bedroom as soon as we got home, though, and they're now fucking like bunnies."