Aunt Traci

Chaos seemed about to overtake the room when Joan, the second of the three Delvecchio girls, asked the question out loud that many were thinking.

"Isn't that illegal?"

The room erupted for a second time as everybody seemed to have an opinion. Little Dan finally got everyone's attention by whistling shrilly.

"With special permission from a judge, it is very legal, and once it's legal there, it counts here," Dan said. "We know it's different, and some might think it immoral, but Traci is not that much older than me, and, well, we've grown close over the last few years. My father married a Delvecchio girl, and they've been together more than 20 years, and Uncle Larry married a Delvecchio girl, and he and Aunt Joan have been married more than 20 years. It is wrong for me to want that ... and there just happens to be one more Delvecchio girl available."

Big Dan stood up and waved his hands to quiet everyone down.

"If this is what they want, and they can do it legally, then I will give my blessing to this. I'd like to say welcome to the family Traci, but I think you guys already have that covered."

Still white as a ghost, Darlene got up from the table and ran into the Delvecchios' downstairs bathroom, with a ghost-white Joan and Grandma following in close fashion. All three appeared to be crying.

"Too much emotion!" said Big Dan as the three women left the room.

As the other women descended upon Traci to see the ring and discuss plans, several of the men started to clear plates. Big Dan grabbed the top of Little Dan's arm and steered him out the front door.

"She's your mother's sister for God sakes! And you've been dating her ... and having sex with her probably ... for how long?"

"You make it sound so dirty when you say it that way, Dad," Little Dan responded. "We didn't plan this to happen. Look at her, Dad, you know she's beautiful. And we just clicked, like you and Mom. She's everything to me, Dad. You always told me to close my eyes and choose the woman with my heart. That's what I did, Dad. I let my heart choose, and that's who it chose."

"Then, if that truly is the way this went down, then I really will bless this marriage, despite Traci being your aunt. But remember, you're going to have to be strong enough to take on the wagging tongues."

"A minor inconvenience, especially if we don't live around here. I've already got an engineering job lined up in East Lansing."

"Of course, you might have a tougher time with your mother. She didn't look too good when she left the room," said the elder Dan. "You always were her favorite."

Dessert and celebration wines and liquors came out after the tables were cleared. Dan and Traci were the subject of many toasts. Darlene, Joan and their mother eventually came out of the bathroom, but none of them participated in the various celebration toasts and ribbing. This didn't escape Little Dan nor Traci.

Traci caught her sister alone coming out of the bathroom at one point, turned her around, and took her back in. The younger woman looked deeply into the troubled eyes of the older woman.

"What's wrong, Dar? Can't you be happy for me, even though this is a little weird? I get it; he's your son, and I'm your sister. But I'm closer to his age than yours, and he's a great guy. You've been bragging on Big Dan for more than 20 years, so I found myself the closest thing to the original. I want what you have: a forever partner, someone to grow old with."

"I-I'm sorry if I don't seem happy. I'm really thrilled for you, Trace. You know home much I love my son, and I want him to be happy," Darlene said. "This is just so weird. You two caught me completely off guard, that's all."

The celebrating went on long into the night for those who didn't have to work the day after Thanksgiving.

Many of the family assembled in Huatulco, Mexico, for the wedding about six weeks later. Younger Dan and Traci both noted that Darlene still didn't look comfortable. Traci sought her out and asked if they could talk alone. Darlene asked her to come up to room after much of the family left to do some rafting. She asked Traci to bring her son, as well.

Most of the group left to go rafting about an hour later. Joan and Larry and Darlene's parents went to tour a coffee farm. Traci and Little Dan showed up at Darlene's room with some flowers and a bottle of tequila. Darlene let them in and opened the bottle, pouring shots for all three.

"What's going on, Mom? Have we screwed up royally? This isn't the time to be keeping secrets," Dan said.

"No, kids, you haven't screwed up, but I've been keeping a god-awful secret that only four other people in the world know about until now, and I can only apologize for my secret ruining your lives."

Darlene started to cry as Traci went to hug her sister.

"We promise, Dar, nothing you can tell us we'll ruin our lives, unless you say I can't have Danny-Boy here," Traci noted with a joking smile.

Darlene started to sob uncontrollably. "That's what I think I may be saying, Baby," she mumbled through her tears. "And my marriage to Big Dan may be over as well."

Both Dan and Traci were now hanging on Darlene's every word.

"Everyone thinks that marriage between an aunt and her nephew is over the line, but you can still get it done in a few places, like here with special permission. But marriage between siblings isn't legal virtually anywhere ..."

The light bulb went off above Little Dan's head first.

"Oh, my God, I've been sleeping with my sister! How? How is that possible?" he cried.

"Wait, you're my mom ... not my sister?" Traci said as she shook her head like a dog trying to throw water off its coat. "Is Big Dan my dad, too?"

Sitting on the edge of her bed, Darlene told the story that only she, Joan, and their parents knew until that moment. Always somewhat of a wild child herself, Darlene had gotten pregnant a little before Christmas her senior year of high school. She was able to wear baggy clothes and hide the pregnancy almost until delivery, and her parents agreed to adopt the child and raise it as their own.

"So Traci's not my kid sister, she's actually my oldest child, born eight years before Abby," Darlene explained.

"So you're telling me that Dad's the biggest hypocrite who ever walked the face of the earth?" Dan questioned.

"No, he's not. I am," Darlene said solemnly. "Traci's your half-sister. Your father wasn't even in the picture then. I didn't meet him for two years after Traci was born. He doesn't have any clue that Traci is my daughter, not my sister. I should have told him, I know. But I fell so hard for him, and I knew that he wouldn't have even given me the time of day if he knew I had a kid out of wedlock. So your grandparents, Aunt Joan, and I just continued with the charade ..."

"Dad doesn't know? Holy shit! He's going to shit himself when he finds out ..."

"Wait, Danny. Think this through for a second," Traci said. "There's no reason he needs to know, not at this point anymore. Dar ... your mom, didn't cheat on him, am I right? She had an out-of-wedlock child before he came along, and she gave it up for adoption. It's not like every woman who has an illegitimate birth and gives the baby up tells the next man in her life. And nobody would have ever known different if you and I hadn't bent the rules ... hell, broken them.

"So because we cheated on the rules a bit, is that any reason to deny your father the woman he loves ... and will probably love to his dying day. And is that any reason to ruin her life as well?

"Why should our love ruin two other people's lives?"

Darlene looked at her son, trying to read the thoughts in what looked like a tortured face.

"I've never in all my years with your father ever looked at another man, Son," Darlene said quietly. "And you know I never will. I made a foolish mistake as a teenager. And then found the love of my life. I won't give him up without a fight. Please, Little Dan."

"Then this dies right here, never to be mentioned again, except for Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Joan being told that we're good. I would never screw things up for you two," Dan said. "And by ending this here, we can still get married. We couldn't if anyone found out we were half-siblings. That would be illegal."

Traci nodded her head in agreement before Dan got serious again.

"But I do have one demand, Mom, and this is really not negotiable. Can we at least drop the Little Dan shit? Please?"

Dan grinned back at his mother.

"I suppose so," she said as she buried her head in his chest and gave him a tight squeeze.