My European Summer Vacation

"Sounds reasonable."

"Three days ago, a friend of mine called to tell me that this cute fella wearing a Boston College shirt was headed towards the English Market. She kept an eye on you until I could get to you. Normally, I would never walk up to a fella and start talking to him, but you seemed like a golden opportunity."

"I am. 'Golden Opportunity' is my middle name."

Sinead chuckled. "You're so silly. Here's the thing." Sinead shifted so she could look me in the eye. "I can't wait to stay with you in Boston. I know this is really rushing things, but I want to live with you in Boston."

"Live with me?"

"Aye, as me fella. I probably should have waited to bring this up, but I kept thinking about it while you were fucking me. I want to be able to do crazy things with you every night."

"I'll have to talk to my roommate." I barely knew my roommate, Doug. He was a friend of a friend of a friend who had a job near where I was going to work. We had gotten the apartment together in May, and I had slept there only a few nights between when classes ended and I left for Ireland. We hadn't discussed the possibility of girls moving in. He may want me to move out and find a replacement roommate. Which I would be happy to do if it meant I got to live with Sinead.

Sinead asked, "Can you call him now?"

"No. I didn't bring my phone with me." Roaming charges would have made carrying my phone cost-prohibitive.

"You can use my phone."

"I don't know his number. Don't worry about it. We'll fly to Boston together, I'll introduce you to Doug, and, once he has met you, we'll bring up that you want to live with me. What we need to do now is get you a ticket for my flight."

"I've wanted to go to Boston all my life, and now I'm going to do it."

"Why have you wanted to go to Boston?"

"To find my mam." Sinead jumped off me and sprinted over to her small desk. I admired her long legs, firm ass, and strong back. "I'm adopted. My birth mam was a single mother. She never told anyone who my father was." Sinead took an unmarked binder off the top shelf of her desk and opened it on her desk. "When I was about a year old, she turned me over to my grandmam and flew to Boston. No one has heard from her since. Her cousin Noel and his wife eventually adopted me, I call them Mam and Dad, but they aren't my parents." I stood up and walked towards the desk. Sinead pointed at an 8 1/2 by 11 picture in a clear sleeve that was the first page in the binder. "Here's a picture of my mam with me. Her name is Margaret Murphy."

I recognized the face instantly. I had a similar picture in a similar binder in my backpack. It was my mom.

And that meant Sinead was my half-sister.

"I have lots more pictures of her." She started flipping pages. "Do you think I look like her?" I didn't answer as I was in a state of shock. "I think I have a little of her looks, particularly her nose."

I had just fucked my half-sister.

Sinead kept flipping pages. Occasionally, she said where the picture was taken or who else was in the picture. I said nothing as I had no idea of what to say. My mother kept getting younger in the photos. I recognized a lot of the looks in the photos - here was Mom laughing her laugh, here was Mom upset that someone was taking her picture without her permission, and here was Mom with her 'smile for the camera' fake smile.

I had just agreed to have my half-sister live with me.

I stood dumbstruck as she went through all of the photos. "So I've always wanted to go to Boston to find her, to tell her that I forgive her, to tell her that I want to be her daughter and her to be my mam." She looked up from the pictures to me. "Finding her is the most important thing in the world to me." Sinead gave me a hard hug. "And I'm finally going to be able to, thanks to you."

I didn't hug Sinead back as my mind was in a whirl. Then I had a new thought -Whoa! Whoa! You're jumping to conclusions!

My mom was a great mom, and she never would have abandoned me or my sisters. If Sinead was her child, she would have brought her to Boston.

And wouldn't Dad have known if Mom had had a baby before? Seen some telltale signs of a prior pregnancy? I didn't know what. Dad had been very honest about his relationship with Mom when he suggested that I go to Cork, so I'm sure he would have told me if Mom had been a mother prior to my birth.

And come on - Ireland has over 4.5 million citizens. It's implausible that literally the first person I talked to would be my secret half-sister.

Sinead's mom was probably only someone who looked a lot like my mom with the same name. I had already found out that Murphy is the most common name in County Cork. Margaret was probably also a very common first name. Both women looked alike because they both wore the same hairstyle, which was probably a popular hairstyle in Cork at the time. Similar looks in pictures taken over a year apart proved nothing.

I was certain that if I found out any facts about Sinead's mom like her birthday, they would prove Sinead's mom wasn't my mom. I couldn't ask Sinead what her mom's birthday was as it would sound weird, and she'd ask why I wanted to know. Now that Sinead had told me about her mom, she probably soon tell me more about her. Until then, I wasn't going to worry about it - the odds were prohibitively against her mom and my mom being the same person.

My thoughts were interrupted when Sinead said, "Look, I'm guessing you've done all you want to do in Cork. How would you like to go to my parent's farm? It's an hour bus ride from here. I could show you around where I grew up."

"That sounds great."

That would be great - a chance for me to discretely find out for sure if Sinead's mom and mine were different people.

"I have to warn you that my mam's a prude. We aren't going to be able to sleep together. She's not going to understand my wanting to live with someone I met three days ago. Would you mind if we pretended we're just friends?"

"No, that'd be fine."

"My dad has hinted he would help me out financially if I ever moved away from Cork. But the money would be from my mam as she controls the purse strings. For most of the day tomorrow, my mam will be at a weekly charity event she goes to, so I'll be able to introduce you to my dad and ask him for money without her around. I'll show you around the farm and the town, and it will be a lot of fun. When my mam and my brothers get home, we'll have to be civil to them. Don't defend me or get in a fight with them! I'll be the dutiful daughter, we'll have a civil but unpleasant evening with my family, and then we'll come back here first thing the next morning."

"You're in charge."

"Thanks. I don't feel in charge around my mam or my brothers."

"How many brothers do you have?"

"Three. They're much younger than me. All of them are in secondary school. We fight a lot, but it's not serious - typical sibling tussles. It's my mam that I can't stand. I've always been a disappointment to her. She had wanted a girlie-girl who would wear frilly dresses, play with dolls, and be best friends with all of the girls nearby."

"And you weren't that way?"

"Na, na. I didn't want to play with dolls, I wanted to operate farm equipment. I've always gotten along better with boys than girls. When I was thirteen, I kissed a boy for the first time and that opened up a whole new battlefield. We've always butted heads."

"Going to your parent's farm sounds like a great way to see more of Ireland."

"One last thing - I haven't told anyone in Cork that I'm adopted. Being abandoned by your mother is very hard to talk about. So don't mention it to anyone. I only told you because I'll need your help to find my mam in Boston."

* * * *

The next morning when we woke, Sinead wiggled her ass on my cock. I kissed her and ran my hands over her body. As we made out, part of my mind was deciding that it had been ridiculous to have thought we had the same mom. As I ate Sinead out, I wondered at my taking the idea seriously the night before. There was no way, I decided, this hot Irish babe that I was fucking doggie-style could be my half-sister. When we were done, I thought about telling Sinead about this crazy idea I had had the night before, but I didn't know if she would think it was funny.

On the bus ride out to her parents, Sinead called her dad and told him when we would be arriving. He agreed to pick us up, as the farm was a long walk from town.

"When I say I'm going to Boston, the elephant in the room will be my birth mam," said Sinead. "None of my family will approve of me going to look for her. I'm not going to bring it up. Hopefully, they won't bring it up as well."

When we got off the bus, Sinead ran over to her dad and gave him an enthusiastic hug.

"Dad, this is Noel Vaupel."

I shook hands with Sinead's Dad. He was tall and thin with short blond hair that was graying. Strong handshake, but no warmth in his smile. He seemed to spend a lot of time looking me over.

"I met him a few days ago. He's a Yank. I showed him around Cork for a wee bit, and I offered to show him around our farm. In return, he's offered to let me stay with him in America until I can get established."

We headed towards his car.

"Where you from?" asked Mr. Hayes.

"Boston."

"Many kids named Noel in Boston?"

"No. I'm the only one I know of."

He was quiet after that until Sinead asked for the latest farm news. I listened to them talk.

* * * *

"This is the farm's newest tractor," said Sinead.

It was huge. I climbed up the long ladder up to the cab. I had no idea tractors were this big. Sinead scrambled up behind me. There were two seats in the cab. I sat down in the passenger seat and Sinead sat in the driver's. She told me the specs for the tractor and all of the state-of-the-art features it had. I was amazed.

"Can I take him for a ride?" Sinead called down to her dad.

"Na, na. I need to prepare a field for planting. I'll take you both out."

Sinead sat down on my lap. I wanted to give her a hug, but I remembered we were to be just friends.

Mr. Hayes fired up the tractor. The engine roared, and the whole tractor throbbed with power. How many pickups could it outpull simultaneously in a tug-of-war? We backed out of the shed and started down a road that led out to the fields. Mr. Hayes came to a sudden stop.

"Sinead, I left my phone in my office, and I'm expecting an important phone call. Would you run and get it for me please?"

"Dad, it's a long way from here to the office."

"I know, darlin'. Please?"

"Okay, Dad".

Sinead hopped off my lap, opened the door, and gave me a look that she knew something was up. She climbed down the ladder and jumped to the ground.

As soon as she started running towards the house, Mr. Hayes said, "You're Noel Liam Vaupel, son of Margie Murphy, my cousin."

I was shocked that Mr. Hayes knew my middle name. Still, I was sure what he said was wrong. "I am Noel Liam, and my mother's maiden name was Margaret Murphy, but I doubt she was your cousin."

"She is. She named you after me. She used to send me a picture of you once a year with a letter. I still have the last picture of you she sent. You were probably around nine or ten." He rattled off a string of facts to prove that my mom was his cousin - Mom's birthday, my birthday, which toe of Mom's was angled funny because she broke it as a child. "How she's doing?"

"She's dead. Died a year and a half ago in an industrial accident."

"I'm sorry to hear that." He looked away for a while. "And you came here to meet her family?"

"I came here to find out about her history. She never said anything about her life in Ireland."

Mr. Hayes nodded and then yanked his head towards the house. "Sinead's your half-sister."

My guts twisted into a ball. I couldn't deny it now.

"You're going to help her live in Boston?"

"Yeah. I'm going to arrange for her to stay at my dad's. He has an empty bedroom now that I'm out of the house." That was the story Sinead and I had agreed on to cover how involved we were.

"Good. She has no future here in Ireland."

"Why did my mom leave Ireland? Why didn't she take Sinead? Why didn't she try to contact Sinead?"

"I can tell you what I know, but you have to make me some promises."

"Okay."

"First, you have to promise to take Sinead to Boston."

"She's already talked to you about money." I had gone for a walk around the farm to give Sinead some time to talk privately with her dad. "She's going to buy her plane ticket today. We'll fly to Boston together when I'm done touring Europe."

"Good enough. Once you get to Boston, tell her what I'm about to tell you. Not a moment sooner."

"Okay."

"And tell her to never come back to Ireland. There's no future for her here. She'll be much happier in Boston."

"That's...harsh. Really?"

"Really. Promise it, or I'll tell you nothing."

"I promise." Like I have a choice.

"Swear by all that is holy."

"What?"

"Swear by all that is holy."

Man, he was serious. I held up my right hand. "I swear by all that is holy that I'll take Sinead to Boston, that I'll tell her what you are about to tell me once we are there and no sooner, and that I'll tell her she's to never come back to Ireland. So help me God."

"All right." He let out a big sigh. "I'm Sinead's biological father. When I was nineteen and Margie was fourteen, we were at a family gathering. I've always been good with machinery and animals, but not so good with people. For whatever reason, Margie took a shine to me. We slipped away from the family to do something, and the next thing I knew, she was kissing me. She was so beautiful, the prettiest girl for kilometers. One thing led to another, and we were soon no longer virgins. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't resist her. After that, we would get together once every week or two. She was on the pill, so we didn't have to worry about her getting pregnant. Each time, I would try to resist her. Each time, she'd smile at me, touch me, and then I had to have her. Our affair lasted for three years."

"I graduated from University and got a job on this farm. The farmer's two eldest sons had moved to Dublin. He was afraid his daughter Maeve was going to do the same. Maeve was the same age as me. The farmer encouraged me to court Maeve, and when Maeve agreed to go on a date with me, I told Margie that we were definitely finished. Maeve and I got along well and soon we were engaged." Mr. Hayes paused for a bit, like the next part was hard to say. "I was heading to town one day when I saw Margie walking along the road. A spring rainstorm had caught her by surprise and had soaked her. I decided to give her a lift home. Once she got in my car, it was like old times - I couldn't resist her. She got my blood boiling, then I was between her legs, pounding away. Maeve has never filled me with lust like Margie could." Mr. Hayes had been looking at me, but now looked away. "I felt bad about cheating on Maeve, but I eventually shook it off as my last fling before married life. But Margie hadn't mentioned she had stopped taking birth control after we broke up. At my wedding reception, she whispered in my ear that she was pregnant with my child."

Mr. Hayes paused again. I didn't know what to say. This was so surreal, to be hearing these scandalous secrets about my mom while sitting in a big tractor in the middle of a farming field.

"It was a nightmare for me," continued Mr. Hayes. "If Maeve found out that I had knocked up my cousin while I was engaged to her, my marriage was over. Margie eventually got so big that it was obvious she was pregnant. Her mam demanded to know who the father was. Margie refused to tell her. Your grandmam is a real hellion..." My grandmother? It was hard for me to remember that this was a story about my mother as it sounded like a completely different person. "...and their fights were the talk of the town. Her mam would scream at Margie loud enough for the neighbors to hear that she had dishonored the whole family. Margie would scream back just as loud that it was none of her damn business. I prayed every night that Margie would keep our secret." Mr. Hayes swallowed deeply. "One day while Margie was out of the house, your grandmam found some love letters I had written to Margie. Margie had told me that she had destroyed them, but she had instead hidden them someplace where she felt her mam would never find them. Your grandmam invited me over to repair something and confronted me with the letters. I confessed everything. When Margie got back, your grandmam told Margie that she knew all. Margie said that she loved me, that she was thrilled to be having my baby, and that she would have more of my babies. I had thought their screaming matches had been intense. Their whispered fight that happened afterward was ten times worse."

My mom had wanted to have her married cousin's babies? I found that hard to square with the sensible, slightly-conservative person that I had known.

"Your grandmam forbid me from seeing Margie again." Mr. Hayes sighed. "You have to understand that my family was poor and had been for generations. I had married into money and was using my position to help the other members of my family. Margie was threatening to not only ruin my marriage but to bring down financial ruin on our whole family." Mr. Hayes looked away from me again. "I don't know what happened between Margie and your grandmam after that. Sinead was born, and, before she was a year old, Margie turned her over to your grandmam and flew off to Boston. Your grandmam told everyone she would never return, and she didn't. Your mam never discussed it in her letters to me. I always destroyed a letter as soon as I read it, but I kept your picture until the next one."

Mr. Hayes looked back to me and said in a lighter tone, "Maeve took a liking to Sinead - she was a cute baby - and felt that she needed a better home than what your grandmam could provide. She talked your grandmam into letting us adopt her. Maeve has tried to be a good mother to Sinead, but Sinead has never appreciated all that Maeve has done for her. She's always been fascinated with Margie, asking people for stories about Margie and pictures of Margie. She's always made it clear that one day she would go to Boston to find her. For a few years, while Sinead was in secondary school, she stopped calling Maeve 'Mam' and called her 'Maeve'. That hurt Maeve badly. I finally convinced Sinead to go back to calling her 'Mam'."

Mr. Hayes sighed. "Still, the damage is done. Sinead and Maeve fight like cats and dogs. Kids need a lot of financial help nowadays to keep their heads above water, but Maeve refuses to help Sinead. I think I can convince Maeve to help Sinead financially to move to America, but it's going to be a tough sell." His voice took on some extra urgency. "But that doesn't matter. Sinead has to go. She has to leave Ireland. If I can't get money from Maeve, I'll borrow some from friends. Sinead has to get on the plane with you as you promised me."

"She'll be on that plane."

After that, we were quiet. I watched Sinead in the distance jog towards us. Mr. Hayes' story was a huge amount for me to digest. My world had been turned upside down. My mother had not been the person I had thought she was.

I asked, "Does anyone else know about you and my mom?"

"Now that your mother's dead, only you, me, and your grandmam."

I wasn't surprised. At the same time, I wished there was someone else to talk to. Maybe my grandmother? How could I get some time alone with her?

"My mom stopped sending pictures?"

"She stopped writing. Said that writing to me was hurting her marriage. I never wrote her. I never kept her address. Too dangerous."

Sinead was close enough that I could see the phone in her hand. When she was about thirty feet away, Mr. Hayes said, "Remember, not a word to Sinead until she's in Boston. By all that is holy."