Brewhause

"Kids, I don't know how to say this, but you can't live together any longer. You're awfully cozy and people are beginning to talk, Evelyn Kozak says you're committing incest. John, you need to move back with me."

I wanted to laugh but knew better. Sara took my mother's hand. She had always addressed my mother as mom and did so as she spoke.

"Mom, Johnny isn't going anywhere I'm not. Before you start with the incest thing again keep in mind that we are not brother and sister. We both have different parents, we are not step-siblings, we simply grew up under the same roof for a few years."

"But, but honey, you're brother and sister. Your father and I got married and you're our kids."

I needed to hit this head on, "Mother, there's no blood shared between us, we were born to two different sets of parents. Explain to me how this is incest?"

Mom sputtered, sucked air and tried to say something several times, eventually she put her hand against her chest and took a deep breath.

"I suppose you're right technically speaking, but you still shouldn't be living together. Who knows, the next thing you'll tell me is you're sleeping together." She sort of tried to laugh as she said it.

We said nothing, both of us staring into her gaze. Her hand flew over her mouth and she gasped.

"Oh my God. You are, aren't you. Oh my, oh my, this is too much. I can't process this."

Sara took her hand again, "Mom, we would never purposely disgrace or humiliate you, but John and I love one another and we're staying together."

Tears streaked down mom's face, "But what about kids? Children born from incest can have numerous complications. I want grandkids, this isn't fair."

Sara had reached the end. "Who's John's father?"

Mom answered with a disgusted look, "You know very well who his father was."

"Okay, was it my dad?"

"Well no." It was as though the light came on at last as she continued. "And I'm not your mother. Why did I not see this before? Oh, I've made a fool of myself haven't I?"

Sara was always full of compassion for my mother, this would be no different, "No, you haven't made a fool of yourself, that's why it was so important to talk this morning. You need to know that John and I have reached the conclusion that we don't want to be with anyone else, and the sex is great."

I'd never seen mother turn red as a beet before, "Stop it Sara. I didn't need to hear that. What will I tell the lady's from church when they mention it?"

I decided to be the heavy, "Tell um to piss off, it's none of their damned business. If that doesn't work send them to me, I'll tell them where to get off."

Walking from the coffee shop to the tavern we did something we hadn't done before in public, we held hands. There were odd looks from folks we'd known a long time but not much else, until we walked into our tavern the same way. Since Saturday was a double cheeseburger special day some of the kitchen staff started early, unlocking the door I slapped Sara on the butt as she went ahead of me. She reached back for my hand and led the way toward the office.

In the office she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me, "That'll give them something to talk about until the crowds arrive."

That day was significant in more than one way, it was also the day Kirsten strolled in acting like we were somehow an item. Trying to be cozy with me I continually rebuffed her advances until Sara had enough.

Standing behind Kirsten she tapped her shoulder causing her to turn around.

"You need to leave my man alone. He's not interested in you."

She sucked wind and got a nasty look on her face, she looked at me and blurted.

"You're fucking your sister. You sick bastard, wait until the cops hear about this."

Before we could say anything in rebuttal she was gone. People were giving us the evil eye and making faces. Just as an officer was walking through the door Sara had taken the stage and turned on the mic.

"For those who care, John and I are not brother and sister. We both have different parents, we lived in the same house for a few years, but we are not siblings. Get your filthy minds out of the gutter."

With that she stepped down and walked to me putting her hand through my arm. Todd Hammond, the officer who'd walked through the door had gone to high school with me, smiled, laughed, waved at us and walked back out. The evil stares went away, people suddenly became friendly once more and the double cheeseburgers flew out of the kitchen. We sold more that day than any time previous. A town of five thousand sounds like a lot of people, and it is, news of our romance becoming public spread like wildfire. No matter where we went people knew.

Ironically it ended up being a boon for the tavern, we had more patrons than ever before, so much so that we hired more staff, increased the size of the dining area and added a Sunday brunch. The brunch was a huge success, since we made sure the bar area and dining remained separated for the most part, we had the church crowd coming around eleven every Sunday. I never did make an appointment at the dentists, within two months of Sara and I becoming a couple publicly Kirsten sold the practice and went elsewhere.

We've been married six years now, with two kids in the yard and Sara pregnant with our third mother is as happy as a pig in mud. It took a few months for folks in town to grasp things originally, and we haven't heard a negative word since. I'm at the tavern every day, Sara would rather be at home with our littles. We wisely hired a full-time manager, she runs a tight ship which means I have more time to be with the family and not have to involve myself so heavily in the day-to-day issues.

Though we're husband and wife with two kids and another on the way she still refers to herself as my little fuck toy. I guess you could say we're each other's favorite aphrodisiac, flat foot is still her favorite position. She insists that's the position we've used every time she became pregnant. Who am I to argue?

At present we have our eyes on an older supper club at the north end of town, having closed its doors three years ago the equipment is still there. It had been the only supper club in our area, it was our intention to purchase and open it back up.

Renovations on the old Dorman's Supper Club are nearly finished, just in time for Sara to deliver our third baby, that'll give us two boys and what she'd been waiting for, a little girl. With a grand opening in eight weeks Sara will be by my side welcoming folks to our latest endeavor. What started out as a drunken hook up after a funeral had morphed into a commitment for life. We often wonder why we waited so long to let the world know we were meant to be together.