Family Album

"Well, I don't think I should sit down and see the night pass by without a toast to my in-laws and this young man, Antonio, besides me." My dad started after walking up the stage, "He had actually made an honest woman out of my daughter. In fact, it is a pride and wish of every parent to see off their children to a great start regarding their matrimonial lives. And I do believe that my wife and myself, including the family, are the proudest people here this evening. And also, a toast to my most pretty wife, who raised my daughter into a perfect woman. And onto my lovely daughter, I can sincerely say that you have made me very proud." He gave his daughter a loving peck on her cheek, "I'm the proudest father in the whole wide world. To all of you here making time to be with us, I wanna say cheers."

Glasses clanged together in the midst of the crowd. "Cheers."

"Also, toasting to the most stubborn son in the whole world, Julian." He smiled at me, "To you, too."

I took the mic from him after he was done. "Thank you very much, pops, I really appreciate the compliment. Well like father, like son." The guests laughed to what I said and I continued, "And congratulations to the couple, I really—I'm wondering how I'm gonna live in this house without you, Oprah, and your constant nags. He looks like a very nice man, please don't kill him before his time." The guests laughed once more and Oprah giggled. "Alright, I'm sure your glasses are empty, but just fill it up one more for the last toast. To Oprah, my wonderful sister, congratulations."

"To Oprah!"

After that, the couple started mingling with the guests of family, friends, and adored acquaintances. I didn't really care, but I had to so I joined them. Remember that strange man? He walked my mom out of the party and into a lonely area of the garden, but we'll come to that soon.

Oprah was visibly tired and eventually, she stopped to catch her breath. My dad walked up to her and said, "My dear, are you okay?"

"Daddy, everything is perfect, thank you. I'm just catching my breath."

He held her close and pecked her checks. "You're always welcome."

"Baby, are you okay?" Antonio chirped in.

"I'm fine. Just resting a bit."

"Then you should go and sit down and rest your head. I'm going inside to take off my suit and freshen up a bit."

"Alright, do that. The dresses are in my bedroom, I'll join you soon, okay?"

"Sure."

I sat down at a table next to the one Thelma and Alex were sitting. I was sharing a bottle of wine with one of the appealing bridesmaids when I saw Kimberly walk in with an elegant man in a tuxedo. I assumed he was her lover. Kimberly was one of Oprah's friends. I haven't met her officially and I was sure no member of the family had, but I had recently come across a cameo of her around the house. Little was known about her, all I knew was that she had a lovely, singing voice.

"She made it!" Oprah exclaimed, attracting the presence of her friend.

"O my God, Oprah!" They hugged warmly and pecked each other's cheeks.

"You made it!"

"Yes, I did. Of course, I missed the wedding, I couldn't have missed the party. You look so beautiful."

"Thank you!"

"Where's the groom?"

"Um, he was somewhere... I'm sure we'll find him inside the house, come on."

"No, no, wait, there's someone I want you to meet." She gestured for her plus one, "Sweetie, please come. This is Leslie."

"Well, good evening." Leslie held Oprah's hand in his. "You look absolutely gorgeous."

"Thank you. Um, forgive me I was so excited I didn't notice you."

"Nevermind." He smiled.

"I'm Oprah."

"I'm Leslie," he pecked her hands, "nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. Um, you look a bit familiar, haven't we met before?"

"No," he shook his head."We haven't."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

"Okay. Um, allow me to steal your woman from you for a while."

"Sure," he clearly wasn't bothered, "have all the fun you want."

"Sweetie," Kimberly cut in, "are you gonna be okay?"

"I'll be fine."

"Okay." She kissed him on the lips.

"Come on." Oprah pulled Kimberly away from a small feel of pleasure.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the lonely part of the garden, away from all the fun and brightly colored lights were my mom and the man she had subtlety left the party with.

"Thomas, I don't know what else to say. You're imagining it."

"I'm not stupid Abigail," his voice sounded deep and husky.

"So what do you want me to do? It's not as if he said anything wrong."

"I only want to make sure that history isn't repeating itself."

"I—I don't understand."

"Mom!" Oprah's voice interrupted their conversion.

Mom turned around, expecting to see the expected interrupter. She could see her daughter and her daughter's friend.

"I'd like you to meet my friend, Kimberly."

"Yes," she managed to force a nervous smile on her face.

"She was my roommate at MIT."

"Yes, yes, the one who was on a diet, eating boxes of fried chickens at night, right?"

"That's so not true. Anyway, nice to finally make your acquaintance." Kimberly hugged Oprah's mother.

The three ladies giggled while the man gloomed by the corner. He watched with hateful eyes as the ladies did little to acknowledge his presence.

"Thanks so much for coming."

"There's no problem. Anything for Oprah."

"You've met Thomas—"

"Okay, Kim," Oprah interrupted, "there are important people I'll like you to meet. Come on." She pulled her friend away.

Abigail turned to Thomas, "What was that about?"

"You tell me."

"Do you still want us to talk?"

"No," he moved closer with a crooked smile on his face and stroked her smooth cheek, "there's something else on my mind actually."

Kimberly gathered the hem of Oprah's long bridal gown from the floor as they walked into the mansion, just as they began their ascent up the stairs, the ran into Courtney who was descending from it with a bottle of wine and a wine glass.

"Hey, you're here. Where's Mercedes?"

Courtney took one more step down the stairs, "I have no idea."

"Okay. This is Kimberly, she made it after all."

"Wow, I can't believe we're finally meeting." Courtney hugged Oprah's friend, "Hi, Kim."

"Hi."

"Welcome. You have a really nice voice."

"Thank you very much. You look good in that dress."

Courtney beamed, "Actually, you look good in yours, too."

"Thank you."

"So, um, are you spending the night because you know Oprah is going to the hotel, of course, and Mercedes and I will be drinking in her room, so, you can join us if you'd like to."

"Um, thank you, but, I'm sort of..."

"She's here with her boyfriend so, she doesn't need your help." Oprah completed. "That's what she's trying to say."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Let me mind my own business."

Oprah and Kimberly continued up the stairs.

"O my God," Courtney said to herself, "she's really cool."

Katherine had been naked and locked up in my room all these while. Surprising how Mercedes didn't notice her there when she performed her little show. Probably because Katherine was under the sheets and Mercedes didn't look at her direction. Now, Katherine being naked in my room wasn't a problem because the door could only lock from outside and I made sure it was locked before coming down to the party. I decided to go and check up on her, she had been sleeping since we boned each other brains out from our ears. I made an awkward eye contact with Courtney who was coming out of the house as I entered. I couldn't care less about what she was whispering to herself.

When Courtney was almost at her table, she ran into Leslie and she immediately recognized him. "Hey!" She exclaimed to his attention. "What are you doing here? Don't answer that. How did you know where to find me?!"

"I um, um... I—" he searched for words that seemed to escape from his thoughts.

"I can't believe you came all this way just to surprise me."

"Oh, no, no, Courtney, I, I—" his hands were shaking and he spilled his drink on his tuxedo.

"I'll clean you up. Come, come."

"Don't worry about it."

"Listen, my mom has been hounding me about you. Come so I can clean you up and introduce you to her."

He resisted a bit but reluctantly went with her.

Antonio, the groom, was anxiously sitting on the couch inside one of the guest parlors. He rubbed his sweaty palms together as his eyes darted around, hungry for the sight of Mercedes. No, he wasn't waiting for his wife, he was waiting for a friend of his wife's, Mercedes. He licked his pale lips and took off his jacket and placed it beside him. One of the maids walked by and noticed his mood so she asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he could smile, at least, "I'm okay."

"You look a little... I guess you're drained from all the excitement and dancing."

"Yeah."

"Okay, let me go outside."

He nodded. Just as she was going, he called her back, "hey, um, have you by any chance seen Mercedes?"

"Mercedes? No, but when I see her, I'll let her know you asked about her."

Courtney took Leslie around the whole garden searching for her mother who couldn't be found. "Where's my mom? I've looked everywhere. Do you know I even went to the other side of the house and the pool area and she's not there."

Leslie cleared his throat, "Courtney, Courtney, please, can you please slow down."

"But she's probably gossiping somewhere."

"Listen, Courtney, we really—"

"I mean she'll be dying to see you."

"Courtney, please slow down. We really need to talk, okay? This is very serious."

"Talk?"

"Yes, talk. Alright?"

I entered my room and Katherine was sleeping soundly. I joined her in bed, still dressed in my suit. She noticed my presence in her unconscious state and opened her eyes slowly.

"Hey, sleeping beauty." I caressed her lips.

"Hey," she took a deep breath and exhaled, "what time is it?"

"A little after eight. You should come down to the party."

"I didn't sleep through all of that?" She closed her eyes tight and pretended to be asleep but the beautiful, fake smile on her face gave her away.

She made me chuckle a bit. "Come on, we'll go down together."

Her hazel eyes sparkled as she opened them, "No, really, Julian, I don't want to go outside, I can stay in here all night. And you know I don't like big crowds."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded and sat up, resting her back on the headboard, "There's something we need to talk about."

Remember what she wanted to tell me earlier?

"Okay, what's that?"

There was a pause, she folded her lips, but eventually opened them to speak, "We need to stop seeing each other like this."

"I don't understand. You want us to come out of the dark?"

"No, I mean like stop seeing each other, stop fucking each other, stop kissing, stop fooling around like horny teenagers."

"But you are often a horny teenager."

"Stop acting like you don't know what I mean."

"I do, but why?"

"You're the only guy I've been with all my life. I wanna try other things, Julian. Maybe I'm gay like my sister, but I'll never know."

I sighed. "Have you been seeing anyone else?"

"No. It's just you." She held my hands tenderly, "I hope you understand where I'm coming from."

"It's alright. It's fine, really. I'm actually glad about the decision you've made."

"You're not gonna miss the sex?"

"Oh, I will, but it had to end eventually." I gave her an assuring smile. "I have to go. Are you sure you don't wanna come?"

She nodded.

My fingers trailed along the smooth wall as I made my way across the hallway. I had just walked passed Oprah's room when I heard voices coming from inside.

"Kim, this is good news. What changed their minds?"

Kimberly rolled her eyes. "Rebellion mostly. Lots of tears my dear, you have no idea. I threatened to kill myself until eventually, my mom couldn't take it anymore so, she was threatening my dad; if he didn't accept Leslie then she would leave him. I was surprised when he called Leslie for a drink."

"I'm so happy for you."

"I'm happy for you, too."

"You haven't met my dad yet, have you? Come on, I'll introduce you."

"Not until you tell me everything about last night."

Oprah blushed. "What is it with you and Antonio? There's nothing to tell."

"Oh, you're not getting away with that. I'm listening."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Everything."

"Okay, um, it was..."

"Are you blushing?" Kimberly giggled playfully.

"It was um... It was great and—"

I entered the room and the two ladies sitting on the bed glanced at my direction.

"Hi." I walked towards Kimberly with a smile and extended my hand.

"Hi," She smiled, took my hand in hers and shook it.

I kept looking into her alluring eyes and shaking her soft hand until it became awkward a bit. All she did was let out a nervous giggle. I aimed to establish a connection between us and it was almost working.

"She's engaged, Julian," Oprah said as a matter-of-factly. "Back off."

"Don't pay any attention to me, I'm just her harmless brother."

"Hmm... I'm Kimberly."

"Indeed you are. I've heard a lot about you."

"Same here."

"Really?" We both giggled, all the while shaking hands.

My sister looked at me with a playful discontent. Kimberly looked at Oprah and back at me, giggling nervously, still. I swear it was becoming awkward. I didn't realize it at the time because I was still registering the news of her being engaged. Oprah's friends, including Kimberly, could give an old man a heart attack if he spent a night between their thighs.

After what seemed like a full minute, I let go of Kimberly's hand and I looked at Oprah, "Where's mom?"

"I don't know. Why?"

"Well, something very serious is um... not that serious, but um, just continue with your gossip," I nudged Kimberly's shoulder gently, "I'll be right around the corner."

After I left the room, they continued.

"Okay, to you."

"First of all, we had dinner."

"Mm-hmm."

"Alone."

"Mm-hmm."

"And then I proceeded to the bathtub."

"And where was he?"

I quickly butted in. "He was naked in his bedroom waiting for her. He had nothing on apart from his-his... you know what?"

"Julian!" My sister looked at me, almost enraged.

I finally left them alone.

"This brother of yours, he is so funny."

"He's unbelievable."

Leslie and Courtney were upstairs, alone on the balcony, hoping to get a better view of the garden so they could find Courtney's mother and maybe make out a little bit. She started caressing Leslie's face, but he didn't give in to her feminine touch and sexual advances.

"What's wrong?" She asked him. "You're acting weird."

"Look, Courtney, I know this is not the right time to say this." He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the cold metal rail.

She did the same so they were shoulder to shoulder beside each other. Courtney was looking at him intently, ready and waiting for what his next words would be when her eyes wandered off to the two figures below them, just around the corner of the house. She squinted, trying to get a better look at who the familiar figures were and then she gasped after she figured out who they were.

Antonio and Mercedes were kissing and fondling their bodies, supposedly in secret. He pressed her against the wall and kissed her neck and collarbone while her legs were clasped firmly around him. Her eyes were closed as she felt the forbidden pleasure she was receiving from her paramour. They had been doing it for a while and nobody had caught them or so they thought.

"Courtney?" Leslie called her attention, "Are you with me?"

"Oh my God," she said and Leslie wondered why. He then turned and saw what she had just seen. "That's Mercedes and Antonio, the groom."

"What?"

"Listen, darling, could you give me a minute? I'll meet you up front, just give me a minute." She left him confused and went away. He had nowhere else to go, so he went back to the party.

Courtney went into the house to catch her breath and think of what she had just seen. She couldn't do it with all the noise outside so she entered a quiet bathroom. Just as she entered, Oprah and Kimberly walked out of the house so Oprah could return Kimberly to Leslie, her fiancé.

"There he is!" Kimberly exclaimed and moved to the table he was sitting at. She kissed his cheek. "Did you miss me?"

"Yes. You bet," he lied with a truthful smile.

"Let me just go and look for my husband," Oprah left them alone.

Kimberly took sat down, "Are you okay?"

"I'm good, I'm good."

I was thinking carefully about Katherine's decision and I came to terms with it. Honestly, I was glad she chose to open up and interact with other people and discover herself. But it did hurt me a little bit. I would miss her body, there was no denying that. It would mean that I had to find a new lover. Perhaps one I could show to my mom. Speaking of mom, I hadn't seen her since the party started. I thought she would be in her room. I wasn't sure and I had to check.

Now, my parents' bedroom was on the other side of the house, away from the rest of the other rooms. I guess they wanted enough space and privacy. It was a big house anyway.

I knocked on the door of my mother's bedroom multiple times and no one answered so I entered. Sure enough, no one was in. The bed was neatly arranged; the room was as it usually was, but what caught my eyes were my mom's clothes. They were crumpled at the foot of the bed. I was curious. As I paced around the room, I started hearing subtle moans from inside the bathroom. It sounded like there were two people in there: a man and a woman. The woman's voice sounded like my mother's, but the man's voice was strange. That made me even more curious.

I opened the bathroom door as quietly as I could and what I saw made me sick in my stomach. My mom was naked and bent over the sink while a man with a dark skin, who I had never seen before in my life was roughly screwing her from behind. They didn't see me because I was looking at the man's broad back as he was fucking my mom. I wanted to move, but my feet were frozen and I stood there like an idiot, drinking in the disgusting act before my eyes.

Ironically, thinking about it now, just like me, Katherine and my Grandma earlier, I was now the voyeur except I wasn't blind. I really wished I was then I wouldn't have seen what I saw.

My mother opened her eyes and saw my reflection in the mirror. She turned slowly, hoping that the mirror was telling a cruel lie. It wasn't and it dawned on her when she saw the surprised, disgusted, and hateful look in my eyes. Thomas turned when he saw the shocked expression on his lover's face. They were looking at me and I was looking at them and it was like time had become obsolete.

I found my wits and got the hell out of there.

"Julian! Julian!" My mom called me as I darted down the stairs. "Julian!"

In my haste, I collided with Oprah on the stairs, "Watch where you're going," she said to me, but I didn't acknowledge her.

She was about going up the staircase as her frantic mother was running down it, chasing her son who had just found out her deepest darkest secret.

"Mom, have you seen Antonio around here?"

"No."

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes, yes."

"Why is everyone running around?" Oprah wondered.

Meanwhile, Courtney was still in the bathroom thinking about what she saw Mercedes and Antonio doing in the dark, away from everyone's eyes, but right under their noses. She couldn't bring herself to accept the fact that they were kissing each other like they had been doing it for a long time. Mercedes had hurt her deeply and what would Oprah think?

"Courtney?" She heard Oprah's voice call from outside the bathroom. "Are you in there?"

"Yes," her voice shook, but she managed to comport herself.

"You have any idea where Antonio is?"

"Um... I-I'm not sure."