Talk of the Town

"Okay, let's have a nice dinner," said my mom.

Even though it was his ... Our house, Dennis deferred the head of the table to my Dad. My mom sat on my Dad's right-hand side and my sister on his left. Dennis sat at the other end of the table with a similar setup. Chelsea was on his left seated directly across from my mom, which put me purposively by my sister with the hulking form of Kurt squeezed between my sister and me.

As my dad began to say Grace, I noticed that Jill was trying to catch Dennis' eye.

I stood up; interrupting my dad's saying grace. "What the fuck is wrong with you Jill?" I screamed. I looked at Dennis and then back at Jill.

"He was ... He was always talking about how pretty you are," she sputtered. "I just wanted him to know that when you dump him to go back to Kurt that he could have ..."

Kurt laughed. My mother and father were shocked.

"He didn't do anything," she said. "When I started to open my blouse to show him that my boobs are bigger than yours, he just left the room. I was trying to be nice to him."

"You fucking bitch ..." I hissed.

"Dennis, Honey you should have told me this tramp tried to make a pass at you. I would have kicked her ass," I said.

"I didn't want to mess up the Holiday," he said. "Besides, she's your sister. Who would you have believed if I told you, and she said it was the other way around?"

"When you came into the kitchen and saw that I'd been talking to Kurt, why didn't you freak out?" I asked him.

"Because I love you and I trust you," he said.

"And that goes two ways, dummy," I said. "Jill, get the fuck out of my house."

"Jaime Lee," said my father loudly. "There was no harm done. Like Dennis said, it's the holiday. Let's just enjoy it."

"Fuck you, Dad," I hissed. "This is my house. Dennis invited Mom for Thanksgiving. He started talking to her while he was taking care of me for my ankle injury. She called me, and he answered my phone. Mom started telling him how long it had been since she had seen me, and Dennis invited HER to spend Thanksgiving with us to surprise ME.

To tell you the truth, I have missed Mom. We talk on the phone all the time. But she could never get me to come home or to let her come for a visit. I knew that if I came home, I'd see you. And if she came here, she'd bring you ..." I hesitated and rage filled me. "Dad you don't get to make the rules in MY house. You were not invited. Mom brought Jill along, but Jill wasn't invited. Jill, who AGAIN was not invited, gave you my address, and you dragged Kurt's ass along with you." I burst out laughing at my unintended pun.

"Jaime, what's going on," asked my mother. Dennis as usual stood up beside me and hugged me. I drew from his strength. And sat down. I took his hand and held it. I reached for Chelsea's hand under the table too. "I've got your back Jaime," she whispered.

"Jill, sit your stupid ass back down," I hissed. "This is all my fault. I should have said something sooner. Dennis already knows this, but maybe we should all know why my marriage ended."

"There's no need to drag up the past," said my father. "You're happy with Dennis. You and Kurt were just too young. End of story."

"I should probably go," said Kurt.

"Sit down, asshole," I hissed. I looked around the table and began my story.

"I had been in love with Kurt, for as long as I could remember." I said. "He was big and strong and handsome. Every girl in our neighborhood wanted him. But Kurt seemed to want to be with me. I was a good girl. We never tried anything sexual at all. He was always telling me that he wanted me badly, but that he could wait until I was ready.

I told him that I intended to stay a virgin until my wedding night, and he was fine with it. When we turned twenty, he asked me to marry him. I was so happy; I was giddy. I told him yes, immediately. We had a long engagement. We wanted to wait, until we both graduated, to get married.

Since we were engaged, I started hinting around that since we were engaged, I was willing to forgo my promise. Technically, we were already as close to married as we could be. Kurt was stubborn though. He insisted on living with my promise to the letter of the statement.

I think you'll all remember what happened to me on the last year of college. I had a cancerous cyst on one of my ovaries and had to have surgery. They removed both ovaries, which left me unable to have children. I gave Kurt his ring back, and he laughed in my face.

He told me that if I wanted a bigger ring to say so, but other than that I should put my ring back on. It made me even more in love with him. I was as obsessed with Kurt as you all seem to think Dennis is with me.

The doctors told us not to try anything sexual for at least six months after the surgery, so we pushed the wedding back. Our wedding was a large lavish affair. We went on a cruise for our honeymoon. Our wedding night was ... I can say it now. It was disappointing. Kurt had uhm ... problems. I of course thought it was my fault. I thought that he was worried about hurting me.

But over time things didn't improve. Kurt just never seemed to be able to maintain an erection. On some of our best attempts, he was able to penetrate me, but it was nowhere near satisfying for either of us.

But I loved Kurt to the point of distraction. I figured that sex was only a small part of our relationship, and every other area was perfect.

Growing up Kurt was the biggest, most gregarious, most beautiful man I had ever seen. Everybody loved Kurt. Women wanted to be with him. Men wanted to be friends with him. But I was the one he chose.

Kurt was always in style. A few years ago, he was a clean shaven metro-sexual in his designer suits and manicured nails. Now I see he's become a lumber-sexual type, with his full beard and close-cropped hair.

Being away from Kurt for any length of time hurt me. If he was a few minutes late for dinner, I had all kinds of fears about him being with another woman. I was always afraid that he was off putting the wood to some slut who could give him the babies that I couldn't.

I need to tell you that it was all my fault. Kurt was very considerate. Any time he was late; he called to tell me exactly where he was and told me that I could join him.

We were almost never separated. The only time we were, was on his annual hunting trip with my father. He always invited me to go along on those too, but I couldn't bear the thought of watching him kill an innocent deer. My mother had warned me that it was a bloody barbaric time. She'd gone once or twice when I was very young and would never go again.

I decided that she was right and figured that Kurt was with my father. If there were any gun toting hillbilly girls after my man, my father would keep things on the up and up.

Things went on like that for years. But every year I missed him more. I know that it was only one week a year, but the problem was with me. When I give my heart, it's a very complete thing. Ask Dennis. I pretty much live here, now. I can't bear to be away from him.

So that last year, after only one day apart, I couldn't take it. Dad always hunted at the family cabin way up north. I called my uncle and got the name of the town it was in and used the Google maps on my iPhone to drive up there and surprise Kurt.

The problem was that I was the one who was surprised. I opened the door to the cabin and ended my marriage. They had been so busy for the last twenty-four hours that they hadn't even unpacked their hunting gear.

The entire cabin stank, they were dripping with sweat. Even now if I close my eyes, I can still see it. Kurt's brow was furrowed with the effort it took to drive his rock-hard dick ... Yep the same one that could never maintain an erection no matter how hard I sucked it ... Up my father's ass. I stood and watched as Kurt shit his sperm and roared like a bull, and then they switched and Dad started to fuck Kurt.

I don't think they would have noticed me at all, if I hadn't lost my lunch. I think it was the realization of how many times I had sucked the dick that he was ramming up Dad's ass that did it. I vomited up everything in my stomach while they stood there staring at me. Then I screamed screamed and ran away as fast as I could. I got back in my car and just drove.

I drove home like a woman possessed. I broke every speed limit from the Upper Peninsula where the cabin was located, back to our home in Lansing. As soon as I got home, I packed all of my things and put them in storage. Then I checked into a motel. I checked the job boards and put in several applications. I took the job here, simply to get away from Lansing.

I divorced Kurt, but I never told anyone why. I didn't want to ruin your marriage Mom. The two of you have been together for more than thirty-five years. I didn't want you to go through the pain that I went through. I was also sure that Dad would quit.

So you see, Jill, there's absolutely no chance of me getting back together with Kurt. You can have him if you want him, but he's just not my type. Chelsea I should really not say this around you, but the fact is that I need a man in my life who wants me. I don't need a man who thinks he's prettier than I am and isn't turned on by my body.

I don't need a man who is disgusted by my vagina and can't get hard if he sees me naked and spread for him. I have nothing against gay men; I just don't want to be in a relationship with one.

The reason why I hate Kurt isn't because he's a closeted gay man; I hate Kurt because he used me. He used me to maintain a facade of being this super macho guy, while preventing me from finding a man who would truly love me and want to be with me.

If Kurt had been honest with me, we never would have gotten married. But we could have stayed friends. And that's my advice to you Chelsea. Don't be a slut. But when you find the guy or the girl that you want to be in a relationship with, make sure you test drive them before you say, 'I do.' That biblical shit about staying a virgin until you're married, only leads to heartache."

I took a deep breath and looked around the table. Dennis as expected looked at me with nothing but love in his eyes. Chelsea was shocked but smiling as she looked at Kurt. I was sure that her teenaged mind was smirking at the thought of that big strapping man getting fucked by my wrinkled up old father.

Jill looked like a fish out of water. She was having trouble processing it. My mom was crying her eyes out. And then she suddenly snapped and launched herself at my father. She raked his cheeks with her nails and drew blood.

"I'm sorry,"he said. "I really do love you Janice. We have two kids together. That has to count for something."

"I wasted my entire fucking life," she said. "It's all been a lie. Severe erectile dysfunction Huh?" Then she threw herself at him again.

"Janice, it's going to take an adjustment," he said. "Maybe we just need to make some changes. But we have more than thirty years together. Thirty years of memories, thirty years of good times and bad ... I ... WE ... We made it through all of it, and we did it together. I was there for you, and you were there for me, Janice. We can make it through this too!"

"It was all a lie," screamed my mother. "I feel like one of those sci fi TV shows where the guy finds out that all of his memories were implanted, and he's really a different person than he thought. The people he thought were his friends and family never existed. It was all just a lie."

"Look at those two beautiful women," said my father. "Janice they're real. They're our daughters. We made them together. Okay, some parts of our life were a lie, but most of it was real. And until this moment, you were happy."

"Dad, what you fail to see is that she was never given the opportunity to choose. She never had all of the facts," I said. "No one is saying that you being gay is bad or wrong. It's not something you had any control over ..."

"I'm not gay," said my dad in a quiet voice.

"Yeah Dad, you are," I said.

"I want a divorce," said my Mom. "I want a God damned divorce, today!"

Jill launched herself at Kurt. "You rotten motherfucker," she screamed. "I hate you!"

"Dad, maybe you and Kurt should start your drive home now and beat the snow," I said.

"Kurt, here, take my keys," said my dad. "I need some time away from everyone, right now. Maybe I'll take the train or a bus home."

"Dennis, could you drive me to the airport," sobbed my mom.

"No ma'am," said Dennis. "I think you should stay with us for a while."

My mom started crying and threw herself into his arms. Dennis took her upstairs and came back down alone. He made her a cup of tea and took it up to her.

"I don't like tea," said Jill. There were tears running down her cheeks too.

"Come on Aunt Jill," said Chelsea. "I've got something to help relax you. Have you ever been outside in a hot tub during a snowstorm?"

"Dad, I have an idea," I said, "Hang on for a moment." I got on the computer and canceled my mom's flight home. The airline gave us a rain check. I exchanged the raincheck for a seat on the same flight for my dad. I also got them to give Jill a seat on a flight Sunday night, so she would be back in time to go to work on Monday.

I got the key to the Jeep and was about to drive my dad to the airport, but Dennis took the keys from me and told me he'd do it. I kissed him and told him thanks. I hugged my dad and told him, for the first time in a long time, to call me. "Dad, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. You were right. We will get through this. Our family won't be the same, but we'll get through it. Maybe without all the lies, we'll be better."

"Tell your mom, I said ..." he began. He saw me shaking my head and stopped.

"Too soon, Dad," I told him. "Give her some space and some time. Let her come to you."

Dennis and my dad headed out the door. I heard Dennis trying to turn the conversation to Mustangs and smiled. I loved that man.

"You were absolutely right, Jaime," smiled Kurt. "We WILL get through this, and it's ..."

"Shut the fuck up, Asshole," I hissed. "Get out of my house before I have you arrested."

"But ..." he sputtered. "I thought that with the lies out of the way ..."

"This has nothing to do with you being gay or lying to hide it," I hissed. "Kurt for most of our lives we were friends. Okay, you hid being gay and lied about it. There are millions of gay guys in the world. You're a good-looking guy and people like you. Why the fuck did you have to go after my Father? You pretty much destroyed my family Kurt, and I will never forgive that."

"Your father went after me," whined Kurt.

"You said no to me often enough," I hissed. "There were nights when I would beg you to fuck me. I remember begging you for the chance to give you a blow job, and you always managed to come up with a reason why we shouldn't."

I smiled at him. "Kurt, Dennis wears my pussy out every night, and he loves it. He even gets his face down there and licks it." I smiled as Kurt started to turn green. I thought he was about to vomit. But I wasn't about to let him off that easy.

"You also went after my sister, didn't you, you bastard?" I said. "You charmed the shit out of her to get her on your side. What was the plan? Was she going to be your next shield? Was she going to be the next victim to waste her life protecting your facade of masculinity?"

"We were just friends," he said.

"He's lying," sobbed Jill. "He told me that he needed to know that everything was over with the two of you. He told me to help him try to get you back. And if things were really over between the two of you, then WE could get together. It was even his idea for me to go after Dennis. The idea was that we would get caught, and you would end up dumping Dennis and going back with him. But, Dennis loves you too much even to go for it. He just left when I started to unbutton my blouse."

I turned back to look at Kurt. "Get the fuck out of my house," I said. "If you were a man ... Oh what the fuck. I reared back my foot and kicked him in the nuts as hard as I could. Then while he was screaming and grabbing his crotch in pain, I pushed him out onto the porch.

From that moment on the healing began. Jill went back home on Sunday. Mom stayed with us for nearly a month before she moved out. She hired movers to move her things from Lansing to our town. My mom found a hobby to fill her days. She was developing the flower beds around our yard on the inside of the fence.

It warmed my heart to see her and Dennis working side by side on the yard. My mom didn't have to travel far. She had taken over the rent on my house since I never used it. After Jill found a job in the area, she moved in with Mom. Dennis and I got married just after Christmas. The date that we picked had nothing to do with the holidays, we wanted to be married as soon as possible, and his divorce was final on December 26th.

My mom divorced my dad and also sued him for great emotional distress and tried to sue him for fraud. Our family still has issues, but we're working on them.

As a gesture of faith in our new family, we all got together for New Years. I got to meet Dennis' son Frankie and his girlfriend. I let them know that they were always welcome in our home. Chelsea moved in with us after Dennis did something amazing.

Dennis gave his ex their old house. She sold the house and left town to start her life over. She occasionally calls Chelsea but Frankie still refuses to acknowledge her existence.

About a year after we got married, I started having severe abdominal pain. I went to the doctor immediately. I was terrified that the cancer had returned.

It would be so ironic for me to finally have found happiness only to have it, and my life snatched away from me.

It turned out not to be anything serious. It turned out that I was so in love with Dennis, and our sex life was so intense that my body was trying to make a baby, even though I no longer had the equipment to do so. My doctor advocated a medication that could help me. One of his associates suggested a different path.

"You and Dennis are the happiest couple I know," she said. "Why not give some of that back? Instead of using drugs why not let your maternal instincts go wild?"

Three months later, Dennis and I were the talk of the town, AGAIN. We had gone to the state's local adoption agency that was located about forty miles away from our town. We immediately fell in love with a tiny little girl who was about a year-old.

We spent a couple of weeks visiting her and playing with her and were sure she was the one. The woman who ran the agency was horrified when we filled out the papers. "Are you sure you want THIS child?" she asked.

"Yes," we both said quickly.

"Dennis, I'm not supposed to reveal any information about a child's birth parents," she said. "It's illegal. But in this case, I think you have a right to know."

"Don't say anything that will get you in trouble," said Dennis. "We already know. She has her mother's eyes."

"You mean her ex-mother's eyes, Honey," I said. "I'm her mommy now."

* * * * * *

Epilogue

Sarah

It had been four years. It seemed like forever. But it took me four years to become stronger and learn who I was. At a time when I was at my lowest, the person I had hurt the worst did something for me that was incredibly generous.

My husband looked beyond his own pain and given me his house. Our divorce decree had allowed me to live in the house on Dennis' suggestion until our daughter was grown.

Dennis allowed me to sell the house outright and to keep all of the money. It allowed me to go back to school and to start my life again. I studied both computers and medical billing. I didn't have enough computer classes to become an IT person, but I now knew enough to handle almost any computer problem on my own.