Greg's Story

I know now that not all stories have a happy ending. I wish mine did, but it doesn't and this is hard for me to put into words. It's been a year and five months since she has been gone. How do you really tell others of the desires of your heart, or the most intimate details of the life you had with someone? But the story must be put into words, for my own healing. After all these are just words here, but what I lived with her was real, vital and genuine!

We were two years 4 months apart. My mother had died giving me the gift of life but due to the fact I was her first child and the labor had been long and intense, her heart failed and I came into the world without a mother to nurture me or to love me.

Her father had died in Vietnam. A hero's death on the battlefield had been his fate. Her mother was only 19 when she learned of his fate and the fact that she would be bring forth a child so soon in life, unwed.

When I was 4 our parents met and fell in love. They were married 2 years later and a new family was formed from the ghosts and the ashes of the past.

As we grew up together, our family grew stronger. The pain of the past was replaced with love. Our mother, Wendy, loved me as much as she loved her own daughter. My father likewise, treated my stepsister as his very own. From their union love, respect, and caring can to fruition and our family grew stronger with every day that passed.

My sister, Marja, was two years younger then I. Marja had retained her father's last name of Petroski. She was really my stepsister, but through the years we came to think of our family as a natural entity. We had both been too young to know our natural deceased parents.

Marja was a real beauty for as long as I could remember. Her long light brown hair was down to the middle of her back. Nightly for as long as I could remember, she would brush her hair before she went to bed. Sometimes she would come into my room and sit while we talked, watched TV, or studied our school work as she brush her long, luscious light brown hair.

As Marja matured she soon became a very popular girl with the boys. By the time she was 16, the phone was always ringing for her.

Marja and I were very close about as close as any natural brother and sister could be.

During the summer, our family would spend three weeks in the mountains. Our parents had a cabin on the Naches River. Marja and I would often take day hikes to some destination for the day while our parents either joined us or ventured off on their own.

I had just graduated from high school that summer. Marja was entering into her junior year. She knew that her body was blossoming. She had been a merciless tease all year long, and I had been her target.

We had hiked up the Naches to a falls. It had been a 7 mile hike and we were a little tired and hungry. We decided to eat our lunch before returning to the cabin.

The day had been very warm. It was mid August and it was over 90 degrees out in the sun. I was in shorts and a t-shirt. Marja had been wearing short shorts and a tank top that revealed her maturing bosoms and her luscious young body.

"Greg. I want to take a swim. Will you keep an eye open for me?" She asked.

"All right." I said and lay back on the huge smooth boulder and took in the sun. My eyes were hidden behind sunglasses and I began to close my eyes and relax. I decided that a short nap was in order.

I heard Marja gasp as she stepped into the water.

"Greg!" She called to me.

I sat up.

"Come on!" She yelled to me and splashed some water with her foot in my general direction.

My eyes widened as I saw her nude body near the edge of the pool as she dove into the water.

"Come on!" She urged me again and then she took a few steps closer to me and tried to splash me again. Her breasts no longer were under the water. Her nipples were poking straight out. She stood there for a moment in all of her glory, until she realized that I was staring at her.

"Naughty!" She teased and gracefully turned around and dived back into the water.

I stripped off my clothes quickly and ran to the pool and waded out into its depths.

"Brrr!" I hollered. The water was very cold. It was snow run-off from up in the mountains.

Marja walked over to me and put her arms around my neck. The water was up to my mid-chest as she pushed me under and held me there for a moment and then swam away.

"Got you!" She giggled as she squatted in the shallows. A smile brightened her lovely face.

"Yeah. My turn now." As I rushed towards her. She squealed as I cornered her against a bolder. She tried to duck under me, but I caught her by the waist and picked her up and threw her away from me into the deeper part of the pool.

She stood up, brushing the hair from her eyes and smiled.

"I'll get you for that." She said and splashed water in my direction. She stood her ground as I swam towards her.

"No more. I give." She said. Her voice was soft. She wrapped her arms around my neck and we stood there.

"You really are a nice brother." She said. I looked into her blue-green eyes, mesmerized her seductive smile.

"Right now I wish I wasn't your brother." I confided to her.

Marja placed her head on my shoulder and we remained like that for a few moments.

She stood up straight, her chin barely above the water. She untwined her fingers and took my hands in hers. Placing my hands on her breasts, she looked into my eyes.

"We're not really brother and sister, you know." Her mouth formed a seductive smile.

"Marja I know. But..." She interrupted me with a kiss. It was a soft kiss. Not the passionate soul consuming kind.

My hands were still on her breasts; her hands over mine holding them in place as she looked into my eyes again.

"Greg...some day I am going to be your wife." She said and her hands went around my shoulders again. Her face was serious.

My excitement was evident. She nestled her body closer to mine and we stood there for awhile. Both of us not willing to break our hold on the other. Marja wiggled against my erection and moaned.

"I see someone is happy." She teased me. Immediately I was embarrassed and removed my hands from her breasts and stepped back. Marja had maintained her hold on my neck and again a mischievous smile crossed her face. She dunked me again, pushing my head down under the water. When I was able to stand up and wipe the water from my eyes, she was already walking towards the shore where our daypacks and towels were.

She opened her pack and pulled out a towel and was drying herself as I walked up to the shore.

She threw me her towel and as I was drying myself, she had already put on her shorts and tank top.

"Water cold?" She asked me and then snickered.

As I finished drying, Marja's eyes remained fixed on my shriveled manhood. She had won today's teasing contest, I said to myself.

After we had eaten our sandwiches, Marja lay her head in my lap. We chatted as I stroked her hair.

"Marja. You were teasing earlier, right?" I asked her.

"Depends." She said.

"I mean when you said... you know." I hinted.

"Maybe." Her eyes were closed. She was sunning in the afternoon warmth.

"Yeah right." I said.

Marja turned her head and looked up at me. Her eyes opened and a serious look was on her face.

"You don't believe that I think you are the nicest person I have ever met? Greg, we may have been raised as brother and sister, but my feelings for you are anything but sisterly! Most of the girls I know would kill to trade places with me! They all think that you’re such a hunk." Her tone was serious and she sat up as she spoke and turned to face me.

"I want to kiss you again." She simply said and placed her hands behind my head and pulled me towards her.

Our lips met and my tongue pried her mouth open. Our tongues met and we played tongue tag as the kiss increased its intensity.

Marja was the first to break the kiss. Her face was flushed and she was panting lightly.

"You are a good kisser; I'll have to admit that much." She said trying to catch her breath.

"I think we should head back." I said. We needed to stop this before it went too far. Not that I didn't want to continue, there were some lines you just didn't cross. Marja was 16; I would not take advantage of that.

Marja nodded and I got up off of the big flat boulder we had been sunning ourselves on. I helped her up and then jumped down off of the boulder. Marja handed me our daypacks and we prepared to hike the 7 miles back to the cabin.

"You didn't like my kiss?" She asked as we got back onto the trail heading to where our parent's cabin was.

"Yes I did. But that's not why I wanted to head back." I said.

Marja was walking beside me as we hiked. She took my hand and held onto it.

"Greg...I want you to know that I have never done anything like this with a boy before." She said softly.

I stopped walking and turned to face her.

"You mean you're a virgin!" I asked her, amazed at her confession. Marja was never without some boy wanting to date her.

She nodded. "Yes I am." She bit her lip after she admitted this to me. The look of amazement on my face must have shamed her because she turned her eyes to the ground by her feet and blushed.

"Marja you don't need to be ashamed of it." I said to her softly.

"I'm not. Not really. It's just that...well...I was hoping that you would be my first." She admitted.

I was really shocked, but I was also touched.

"Marja I am 18! That means that I could get in a heap of trouble. No way! Besides, mom and dad would kill me."

Marja nodded and let loose of my hand. She turned and ran down the trail sobbing as she ran.

"Marja!" I called to her.

When I arrived at the cabin, Marja was already there.

"Hi." She said, "Looks like I beat you back." Gone was the hurt in her eyes. She was smiling.

"Hi." I said and went into the cabin to let the folks know I was back.

Dad and mom were in the kitchen preparing some steaks for dinner. Dad would grill them later.

Mom was sitting at the table with a glass of wine, chatting to dad when I walked in.

"Greg. Would you start the barbeque for your father?" She asked.

Mom was a beautiful woman. It was easy to see where Marja got her beauty.

"Sure mom." I replied and dropped my daypack on the shelf by the door.

"Here honey. Take these potatoes out with you. Once the coals have started, throw them in. Please." She said.

"All right." I said and grabbed the potatoes.

As I was building a pyramid of briquettes and dousing them with lighter fluid, Marja sat down next to me on the ground.

"Greg." She called to me softly.

I turned to look at her. A tear was falling down her cheek.

"What is it Marja?" I said concerned.

As I brushed the tear away from her cheek, she spoke. "I'm sorry I ran away from you. But I really did mean what I said." Her voice broke up as she spoke.

"Marja, you are a beautiful young woman. I am really honored that you feel the way you do about me, but I am 18 and you are 16. Right now that just doesn't add up. I'll tell you what...when you turn 18 and if you still feel this way, and then we'll continue this conversation then. Okay?" I said and kissed the tip of her nose.

She smiled, nodded and held my hand tightly for a moment.

"You're right of course." She stood up, wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and trotted off to the kitchen where our parents were.

"Greg!" Marja called out to me. I was still in bed. She stuck her head in through the door and smiled.

"Let's hike up to the hot springs." She said.

I rolled over onto my back.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"It's ten, sleepy head. Time to get up and take me on a hike." Her voice was bright.

'Damn she looks so fresh.' I thought to myself.

Marja was wearing a bright yellow tank top and some matching shorts. Her face was freshly scrubbed and she definitely looked fine first thing in the morning.

"Come on! Get up." She said brightly.

"Yeah. Okay. In a bit." I said and rolled back over.

Marja charged my bed and threw herself on it.

"Ouch!" I yelled as her knee landed in the small of my back. I was more startled then hurt.

"Sorry!" She said, then straddled me and began to tickle my sides.

"Cut it out!" I said, trying to turn over to get her off of me. But she had spread her legs too wide and getting her off of me would not be an easy task. My bed covers had me wrapped up, and with her knees either side of my pelvis, I could not free my hands.

"You give up?" She asked me.

"In a pig's eye!" I retorted to her.

"Oh really?!" She laughed and tickled me some more.

"Okay! All right!" I yelled.

"Really?" She asked me.

"Yes. Uncle." I said.

"Gee you're not very much fun." She chided me then lay down on the bed next to me. I turned on my side to face her as we lay on my bed, side by side.

"You sure are cheery this morning." I commented.

"Yes. Mom and I talked last night." She said.

"Oh? What about?" I asked.

"Well...that's for me to know. But if you want to find out, then I guess you'll just have to take me up to the hot springs." She said and began to get up off the bed. Right after she got her feet on the floor, Marja turned and bent over. Her hand touched my right cheek and she gently turned my head to face her.

"I do love you Greg." She said and kissed me as her hands touched both of my cheeks.

The kiss was short but intense. My friend began to react. My dear stepsister was drop dead sexy first thing in the morning.

"See you in a bit." She whispered into my ear.

Marja had breakfast ready for me. Cereal, coffee, and apple juice were placed on the table. As I came into the small kitchen, she was just pulling the milk out of the refrigerator and setting it on the table.

"Morning." She said, her voice cheerful.

"Morning. Where's the folks?" I asked.

"They went into town to get some worms." Marja said.

Dad liked to fish. There were a lot of good spots on the river and mom would sit next to dad and talk his ear off after he had cast his pole. It was their way of getting away and frolicking in the woods.

"Oh. Looks like we're on our own." I said.

Marja had eaten breakfast already so she sat at the table and stared at me as I ate my breakfast.

"Greg...about yesterday. I just wanted you to know that I wasn't trying to tease you. Whenever you want me, I'm yours. I mean it."

"Marja...that doesn't change anything. I mean, I am still 18 and you are still 16. I only wish that we could live this out. You are so very..." I was searching for the right word, "You are such a desirable young lady, that if I am not careful then I could end up getting into a lot of trouble over you." I explained.

"You really think that I am desirable?" She asked me.

"Oh yes!" My groan was a slight exaggeration. Marja was pleased by my comment and leaned over to kiss my forehead.

"Thank you. You are so sweet. But I still reserve the right to tease you mercilessly."

The hike from the trailhead to the hot springs was three miles. We drove to the trailhead in my car. When we arrived at the hot springs, Marja plopped herself on the ground.

"I'm beat. Hey! Looks like we got the whole place to ourselves!" She said.

I walked past her and put my daypack on a rock that was shaded by a large Douglas Fir. Today was even hotter then the previous day. It was over 100 degrees.

"Man I wonder whose bright idea it was to go to the hot springs on such a warm day?" I teased Marja.

She just lay in the shade and ignored my comment, but a smile crossed her face. I knew that her mind was whirring and she would have a comeback.

"Well, I was just thinking about how much your who-who shrunk at the falls yesterday. I was afraid that it might shrivel and fall off if we went back there again today."

"Well thank you for your concern, my dear." I said in mock sarcasm.

"Well I do have your best interests in mind." She said defensively. We both laughed.

The water was warm. It was fed from a small underground spring that was heated from an underground fissure. A small stream from the mountains also fed into the hot springs making the springs temperature tolerable. The closer we moved to the stream, the cooler the water temperature was. Once I found a suitable spot, I stripped down to my swim trunks and lay on the boulder that had been smoothed by centuries of water and wind erosion. I lay on my stomach as the sun beat down on my back. The warm water covered my body, but the rock was slanted so I could roll up my clothes and use them as a pillow.

Marja was in the center of the pool swimming. The pool was about thirty-foot by three hundred feet long. At the center of the pool, the depth was about twenty feet deep. We had been here many times with our parents. Two summers ago, while Marja and I played, mom and dad had snuck off into the woods saying they were going back to the car for a moment and we should remain here. Marja and I were curious and followed them once they disappeared into the woods in a direction opposite of the trail. We weren't fooled.

Dad was carrying a blanket and mom had her hand across his back as they walked. Once they found a clearing away from the trails, dad laid out the blanket and mom stripped off her clothes and lay on the blanket completely naked.

"Greg...what are they doing?" Marja asked me.

I said nothing but remained still and watched as dad took off his clothes. His erection sprung out as soon as he dropped his shorts. Mom smiled up at him and patted the blanket next to where she was laying. Dad lay down next to her and mom turned on her side as he lay down on his stomach.

I could barely hear them speak.

"I'm glad we're finally alone." Mom said.

"Me too. Oh my you look fine lying there as naked as the day you were born." Dad said. Mom pulled dad closer to her and they kissed. Mom had been laying on her back with her legs crossed. Now as dad leaned over her and kissed her hand went to her tummy. Mom's legs spread further apart at his touch.

"Oh Phil...Yes." She hissed as his hand touched her in her private spot.

Dad turned his body until his head was over her belly. His mouth went to her skin and he began a series of nonstop kisses as his head moved up and down her belly. He finally moved a bit and then his mouth went to one of her breasts as he sucked on it.

Marja was seated next to me as we hunkered down behind a bush.

"What are they doing?" She asked. She was 14 that summer.

"You've taken sex-ed. Figure it out for yourself." I whispered to her.

Her eyes got wide as she realized what she was witnessing.

"You mean they're having sex?!" Her words came out in a series of questions.

"Yes. They're married. Let's get out of here. They have a right to privacy." I said.

I stood and started back. Marja did not move but remained where she was. Her eyes fixed on our parents.

"Marja!" I hissed to her but she waved me off.

Now that we were back at the hot springs, the memory of our parents played out in my mind. Marja swam over to where I had planted myself on the rock and splashed me.

"Knock it off." I said, warning her that I was only interested in lounging in the sun.

"What a butt!" She said and swam off. But she returned a few minutes later.

"Greg remember mom and dad two years ago. When we followed them as they went to that clearing by the big rock?" Marja asked me as she hauled herself up on the rock where I was laying.

"Yeah." I said not moving.

"You know what they did?" She asked me.

"No what did they do?" I said sarcastically to her. She was beginning to bug me now.

"Daddy stuck his thing into her. Mom looked pretty excited as daddy was on top of her. She also looked really beautiful after they were finished. I have never seen her look so happy as she did after they were done."