Family Ties That Bind

They knew we had met each other at a bar, and occasionally we would mention the other while talking with our families. Our plan was to build it gradually, and then when we dropped it on them it wouldn't be so monumental. The only one who suspected anything was Joanie. She called me one night and, out of the blue, said, "So, is Ruthie there? Can I talk to her?" I stammered and stuttered, and finally Joan rescued me by laughing. "Ben, you've always had a thing for Ruthie. I would be shocked if you hadn't tried to fuck her out there. So, have you?" I couldn't get off the phone fast enough, but I guess my reaction told Joanie the truth.

Christmas came, and Ruthie was crashing on a case so she couldn't go home. I went to see Mom and Dad and, one afternoon, called Ruth. "Can I come see you? I want to ask you something."

Ruth was no fool. She thought I wanted to fuck her, but this time she was wrong. I had decided I would ask Ruth's advice. She would blow up, probably, but I knew I had to do it. If she was adamantly opposed to our getting together, I'd somehow tell Ruthie and we'd work it out. I figured if that happened, my chances were fifty-fifty. I got up early in the morning, telling Mom I was going to just drive around and maybe hike a bit and not to be concerned if I was way late getting home. She looked puzzled but didn't protest, so I was off for the six hour drive to see Ruth.

When I got there, Donna opened the door for me and, again, escorted me to see Ruth in the sitting room. All the times I had been there over the years, and Donna still felt like she had to escort me through the house. Sigh. Yeah, I might have pocketed a priceless piece, or something. Ruth stood up to greet me and we hugged chastely until Donna left the room, then Ruth gave me a deep kiss. Normally my hands would have gone right to her ass, but this time I just held her around the waist. She noticed.

"What's this about?," she asked me.

I knew there was no way to pussy foot around it, if you'll allow that phrase. "Ruth, there's something I want to ask you."

"Oh, God. I thought we were through this. I'm not going to run away and marry you, Ben." She laughed, but she was serious.

I took a deep breath and reached for her hand. "There's no easy way to say this, Ruth. Ruthie and I have been dating a little."

"Oh," she said softly. That was it. Just "Oh."

"And I love her, Ruth. I love her more than I thought I could ever love anyone."

Again, "Oh." She was showing no emotion. This was not going as I thought it would. I had rehearsed all sorts of reactions to bring her off the ceiling, but so far she had not reacted.

"Ruth, I want to ask her to marry me. Now, before you blow up, I've got several patents pending for things I've been working on and, if they pan out, I'll share the proceeds with the corporation. Money won't be a problem."

She started crying. I had not expected that, not from Aunt Ruth. I expected her to turn into a banshee and attack me. I didn't know how to react to tears, so I said nothing.

"So what do you want from me?," she asked, softly. "You want my blessing? My God, Ben."

"Yes, that's exactly what I want, your blessing. I love you, you know that. I love Ruthie, and maybe it's because she's a part of you, but dammit, now I realize I've always loved her." I was on a roll, so I kept going. "I know you and Uncle Trey have dreams of her marrying in society and money, and all, but..."

She sighed, and I stopped in mid-sentence. "Ben, I have to tell you, if you had told me this fifteen years ago I would have had you arrested and escorted off the property. Yes, we want the best for Ruthie and we've had several prospects in mind. She has never been interested in any of them. I think it's because she's always loved you. You think we're blind? We've seen you two looking at each other over the years. We've seen you sneaking away to the pool house. I thought it was a phase she was going through, but now... Have you two talked about this?"

"Yep. She doesn't know I'm here. I wanted to talk to you first."

"What if I say no? What if I forbid it?"

"I don't know, Ruth. I just hope you won't."

"Ben, Ben. As I said, fifteen years ago I would have said no. Now, I just don't know. I have realized how important love is in a marriage. I guess I always resented your Mother because she was in a marriage of love. I was in a marriage of money and social status. You know, you're the best thing that has happened to me, in a way, because I realized that I could love and, you know what? Trey and I have realized that we have grown to love each other over the years. I think that's because of you and what you have given me." She giggled. "Trey even got a prescription for those little blue pills."

She paused. "Ben, if you two are in love, then I'll support it. But what about the legality? You are related, you know."

I laughed, both out of relief and because this was the easiest roadblock she could have presented me. "Your daughter is a cracker jack lawyer. She researched this to the nth degree. We are so distantly related that there is absolutely no problem." I cleared my throat. "She researched the legal, and I researched the scientific. There will be no problems genetically, either."

Ruth laughed, and I sighed with relief. "You mean, no three-eyed babies?," she said. Then she laughed again. "I don't know if I'm ready to be a grandmother, but here it comes, I guess."

I leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips. "So, you're okay with it? How do you think Uncle Trey will take it?"

"He'll take it the way I tell him to take it, Ben. You know that."

I paused. "But there's something else."

"Yes," she said. "There is, isn't there?"

"Ruth, I love you, you know that, and I love, well, I love fucking you." I could tell her that, in that way, because I had learned that Ruth liked dirty talk. In fact, she could be quite a little potty mouth when in the throes of passion. "Ruthie doesn't know, of course, and I don't know if I should tell her. And I don't know if I'll be able to give you up, if that's what you want."

"You're not going to have to give me up unless you want to, but we'll have to work that out later. Sleeping with both your wife and her Mother? That may be just a bit too much. On that, we'll just have to see. I admit, I was hoping you were coming for that today, but now, we'll see."

My dick, ever the single-minded soul, was as hard as a rock, and Ruth noticed. She put her hand on it and squeezed lightly. She whispered, "We'll have to see."

"Should I tell her? I don't want to start a marriage with secrets."

She laughed. "I think Ruthie has suspected something for awhile. That summer when you came and stayed with me while she was in Europe, well, she's pretty alert, you know. She noticed a change in me when she got home and even asked what had gone on between you and me. I think she was jealous. Of course, I told her to get her mind out of the gutter. But I have to tell you, Ruthie is not a saint, by a long shot. She's been a handful over the years. We even had to move hers and Quad's rooms to opposite ends of the house."

Well, that shocked me. What was she saying? My sweet little Ruthie had fucked her brother? My mouth hung open.

Ruth laughed. "Oh, come on, Ben. Don't act so shocked. Brothers and sisters, almost the same age, cousins, the same age." She chuckled. "Quasi-aunts and nephews?" Then she whispered, "Mothers and Sons?"

Whew, this was getting out of hand, and I was hard as a rock, again. How much did Ruth know? But that didn't answer the question. "So, should I tell her?"

Ruth proved the wisdom of age. "No, neither of us should tell her. Just let it be. She might suspect or even know, but let's not rub her nose in it. If she asks you directly, tell her the truth and tell her about this conversation. If she asks me, I'll do the same. I'll tell her the truth, and tell her what you and I have decided, right now and in this moment. But I tell you again, you may have her on a pedestal and that's the way it should be. But don't ever let your love for her depend on some notion that she's something she's not. She's a passionate young woman and always has been. Everyone has secrets. Enjoy her for what she is, not for what you think she should be."

And that was that. I had to get on the road back home. We stood and kissed, deeply, and my hands went to that still tight ass. Ruth ground against my dick. "We'll see, Ben. We'll see."

The drive home was over in a flash. I was on cloud nine. I had gotten over the biggest hurdle, and now I could tell Mom and Dad. When I got home, they were in the den and I went right in. Dad got up to use the bathroom, leaving just Mom and me.

"How did your hiking go?," Mom asked. "You didn't even dress for hiking, you know."

"I didn't go hiking. I went to see Aunt Ruth."

Mom looked shocked, like she was expecting the axe to fall. I continued, "There's something I have to tell you."

I was sitting beside Mom, and she put a cautionary hand on my leg. "Now, Honey, there are some things that are better left unsaid. Let's just watch our program. You don't want to upset your Dad."

That made me stop and think a minute. What was she saying? Did she suspect what Ruth and I had been up to? Did she know? Even more, if she suspected, was she okay with it? I chuckled, and at that moment Dad walked in and sat in his chair, then turned toward us to say something.

I didn't let him. "No, no, Mom. It's not that." Dad looked a little confused because he didn't know what we had been talking about.

"It's not what?," he asked.

"I want to tell you two something, and all I ask is that you keep an open mind."

"Oh, boy," Dad said. "That's usually not good. What is it? Are you gay? We've talked about it, you know, since you haven't seemed to be dating anyone for a long time. We're perfectly okay with it, Ben. You are who you are, and we don't care."

Mom laughed. "Oh, he's not gay, Charlie. I can assure you of that." She paused and looked at me expectantly, with her eyebrows raised in a kind of warning look. There were lots of things she didn't want me to blurt out.

"Well, I have been dating, but we've kept it from you. I went to see Aunt Ruth today because I wanted her blessing to marry Ruthie." That was it. The cat was out of the bag. I waited for their response.

Dad jumped up and clapped his hands. Mom smiled broadly, and said, "That is the happiest news I've heard. I always wondered about you two. I could always tell you loved each other, and I could always tell that neither of you realized it. What good news! You found each other, after all. How did it happen? Tell us everything."

Of course I couldn't tell them "everything," but I did tell them how we discovered each other in the bar that night, and how it had progressed.

Mom stopped me after awhile. "So, how did Ruth react?"

I told them exactly what she had told me, omitting the critical part, of course. I told them what she had said about how she would have reacted fifteen years ago, and that she was okay with it now if that's what Ruthie really wanted. Dad looked surprised, but Mom didn't, saying, "She has changed over the years, hasn't she?"

Dad nodded. "Yeah, I've never understood that. It's like a different person inhabited her body. Why do you think that was?"

Mom looked at me and laughed. "I don't know if we'll ever know what got into her, but I'm glad it did. She's one of my best friends now, and I never thought that would happen. So now we're going to be family and family? Kind of family, squared?" Mom was a math teacher, after all.

And that was that. I returned after the holidays and told Ruthie about almost everything that had happened in the conversation with her Mom. She was a little mad that I had talked to Aunt Ruth without clearing it with her, but she was elated with the results. She even made a comment that it might have been better, after all since I was closer to Ruth than she was. A couple of weekends later we travelled to Ruthie's home where we had kind of a family meeting between us and the two sets of parents. It could not have gone better. Even Uncle Trey seemed happy at the news. The whole weekend was a hug fest.

So we got married, Ruthie and I, and we've been happy ever since. Ruthie has never asked about her Mom and me, and we've never told her. When we visit, which is frequently, she always has a shopping trip or something, to allow some "Mother-in-law bonding time," and Ruth and I always take advantage of it. I suspect Ruthie knows, but it's something that we never mention. I always allow the same "Brother bonding time" when we get together with Quad and his wife. My Ruthie. Not a saint, by a long shot, but a hot, passionate woman.

Ruth, by the way, was named Woman Of The Year by her city, for all her charitable work. Ruthie and I went home for the ceremony, and the affection of all the important people there for her was obvious. She had learned, I guess, to let people in and to shed her facade of Ice Queen.

Oh, and there's a little more of a complication, as if it couldn't be strange enough. You know how weddings are. Hookups everywhere. Well, Quad was a groomsman and Joanie was a bridesmaid. You can guess what happened, but now we're a family, cubed, as Mom put it when Joanie and Quad told her. Ruthie teased Joanie mercilessly, telling her we would have the first boy and name him Bartholomew. We had a girl, of course, and named her Mary Ruth, after our two Moms.

It's weird, I know. Steven and Heather are dating, too, but no one is supposed to know. I'm expecting their announcement any day.

So, we're a family of secrets, and now you know some of them. Ruth and me. Ruthie and Quad. Me and Joanie. Ruthie and Steven. Heather and me. Mom. Lots of secrets and lots of things that everyone might suspect, but no one discusses. We're a happy family and closer than any family I know so, so far, it's working out better than I could have ever imagined.

I've thought about it. Many marriages end because someone had an affair and either fell in love with the other person, got caught, or both. All our marriages are strong, but I guess there is that yen, sometimes, for the excitement of just getting a little extra on the side. That's the beauty of our family. Everyone may know what's going on, but it's never acknowledged. Ruthie loves her brothers but she's not in love with them and she's not going to leave me to marry one of them. But if that's what they're doing, and again, I don't know for sure, then the extra spice of the forbidden keeps her from looking for it somewhere else. Same with me. I love my Sisters and Mother, and Mother-in-Law, but I'm not going to leave Ruthie to marry one of them.

They're just the family ties that bind.