My Sister, My Niece, My Lovers

A/N -- Hello all. If this story looks familiar, like I explained at the beginning of 'The Thin Line Between', shit the fan and I went radio silent for quite a while. A few of the stories are simply uploads of previous stories so people can enjoy them again after a couple of years, but it has given me the opportunity to makes some minor edits and adjustments. As always, hope you enjoy it, whether it's the first time of reading or not. If you hate it, well, can't please everyone!

This follows a familiar trope at the beginning, but I'm of the theory that, after such a betrayal, where would someone go looking for love?

*****

Let's be honest, you never believe it's going to happen to you. You read stories on the internet. You read novels. You watch movies. You hear about it from friends or relatives. But you never truly believe it will happen to you. You believe your girlfriend, fiancée or wife wouldn't do that to you. She loves you and would never tear your heart out in such a manner.

But, of course, you are deluding yourself. Not everyone, of course. It doesn't happen to everyone. But when you have doubts, there is usually no smoke without fire. It took a long time for the doubts to creep in, for me to start questioning one or two things. I didn't set a trap or anything like that. I knew that, one day, I would discover the truth pretty much by accident.

We'd been married for five years by the time I discovered the truth. We dated for two years before we moved in together, or more to the point, I moved in with her. We lived together for another two years before I popped the question. I looked forward to a future together. Marriage, kids, the works. She was career minded at the time and the kids thing eventually faded but we were still happily married. Gorgeous. Intelligent. A real diamond. Even my friends joked about what she saw in me. But whenever they saw us together, she would hang on my every word, always close and affectionate. I loved her just as much in return. We were partners in crime and I genuinely thought we would spend the rest of our lives together.

But you never think it's going to happen to you.

I'm not sure how cheating spouses are generally caught. Is it because they get over confident? Let slip the truth? So brazen that it being discovered is almost guaranteed? I don't know.

Me, I simply found my wife in bed with my best friend having arrived home early from work. I wasn't home early to catch her in the act. I thought she would still be at work and I'd simply finished early for the day. But I walked in the front door of my house and heard noises upstairs. By the time I'd made it up the stairs and was standing at the bedroom door, all I did was clear my throat for my best friend to leap off my wife, watching her pull up the covers to hide her shame. My best friend... The prick decided to look smug for a moment.

I'm sure some people probably expected me to turn violent, at least in regards to my best friend. But while I was angry, mostly I was just disappointed, and definitely heartbroken. To have your wife cheat sucks. But for her to do that with my best friend? That's a double whammy that you could probably never recover from. In an instant, you've lost two of the most important people in your life.

I could have asked 'Why?' from both of them. Or how could they do it to me? But, in the end, nothing they could say would really matter. I'd found them being intimate. She was my wife. He knew that, yet he chose to sleep with her behind my back. Some friend.

"So this obviously means a divorce," I stated.

When she didn't even say sorry, or beg me to stay, staying silent as I just stared at her, that told me everything I really needed to know. To not even sit there, try and justify, not that one could ever really justify such an action, I just turned and walked into the room where we kept our belongings. I wasn't going to kick her out as it was still her place. So all I did was grab a bag, pack most of my clothes, returned to the bedroom where I took off my wedding band and placed it on the bedside table.

"You'll be hearing from my lawyer," I said.

She still didn't say anything. To be honest, she looked utterly ashamed and almost incapable of any words. Tears had formed. Crocodile or real, I didn't care. My best friend by now looked the same. I think he now realised what he'd done. Not only had he been screwing my wife but he'd just ruined a friendship that had lasted for most of our lives. To be honest, that hurt more than the cheating spouse. At least two decades of friendship over in an instant, and for what? A little bit of sex?

Heading out to my car, I sat in the driver's seat and stayed there for I'm not sure how long. I think it was probably shock. I was surprised I didn't start crying, even bawling my eyes out. Instead, I just felt incredibly numb. I guess it's the realisation that part of your life is now over and, somehow, you have to rebuild.

What I didn't want to do that night was sleep alone in some hotel, no doubt with a bottle of booze, feeling all depressed. I couldn't speak to my best friend. That was over. I didn't really feel like talking with my parents. So that left only one person who, aside from my soon to be ex-wife, was probably the most important person in the world to me.

I dialled the number and waited through a couple of rings. "Hello."

"Natalie, it's David."

"Oh, hi, Davey." My sister paused a moment. "What's wrong?" I guess my tone wasn't its normal chipper self.

"I need somewhere to stay tonight. Don't suppose you have a spare room available?"

I silently thanked her for not asking what was wrong. "Of course. When will you get here?"

"Well, I'm currently sitting in my car outside my house so... I should be there in an hour or two."

"I'll put some beers in the fridge."

I couldn't help but chuckle, as she seemed to know exactly what I needed. "Thanks. You're a diamond."

"Drive safe. Have you had dinner?"

"No. I was but..." I trailed off.

"I'll cook up a little something too."

"You don't have..."

"I don't mind," she stated, interrupting my protests, "Just drive safely, okay?"

"Will do."

Two hours later, I parked my car behind that of my sisters, grabbing my bag from the passenger seat and slowly walked towards the front door. It opened and my sister walked out to greet me with a hug. Her daughter, my niece, Alison, or Aly from short, also wandered out to say hello.

"Tell me about it later," my sister whispered into my ear. I just nodded as the pair of them led me inside.

"Are you staying tonight, Uncle Davey?"

"Yeah." My sister met my eyes. "Maybe a bit longer. I don't know."

She seemed happy at the response, skipping towards the door. Natalie led me to the spare room. I wasn't surprised to see everything had already been cleared away, the bed had been made and it already looked like a bedroom. I dumped my bag on the bed and suddenly felt myself slump.

"You okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it's just been a shit day. Well, a shit few hours at least."

"Once Aly is in bed, you can tell me about it."

"Going to need a beer or two for that," I muttered, "Probably more, to be honest."

After dinner, and once Aly had gone to bed, I sat back and sipped the bottle of beer as she joined me, a glass of wine for her and the rest of the bottle in a bucket of ice. She didn't ask any questions, simply giving me time to get my thoughts in order. It took a couple of beers before I felt able to say something. I surprised myself by how... calm I felt. No tears. No tantrums. I wasn't even really angry. Again, just a feeling of abject disappointment and emptiness. It wasn't that I had expected it but... well... life does throw the occasional curveball...

"I'm definitely getting a divorce," I finally stated once I'd opened my third bottle of beer.

"What happened?"

"I walked into our bedroom to find my wife and best friend in the middle of..." I sighed. "Well, let's just say they were enjoying time together. All I had to do was clear my throat for them to stop. She at least looked ashamed, though whether it was being caught or something else. He looked smug for a while before the realisation of what he'd actually done seemed to hit."

"What did you do?"

"I could have ranted and raved. I could have got into a fight with him. But you know what? Would have been pointless. I caught them, that's all that mattered. So I simply packed a bag, took off my wedding band and left it with her, got in my car then I called you."

"Did you have any idea she was having an affair?"

I shrugged. "No, and I would never have guessed it would have been with him. Sure, we've both been busy at work, but that's during the week. I thought our love life was fulfilling though. We were together every weekend and our intimacy hadn't dropped off at all. I never actually believed..."

"Are you sure you're not being too quick?"

"No. Call me old fashioned but doing that is unforgivable in my book." I was already adamant in my mind about that. "She broke the vows, Natalie. We both promised to love, honour and cherish each other. We made a commitment to each other. The only thing I now think is... Was there anyone else? Who knows? I'd rather not know."

"Will you go into work tomorrow?"

I took another sip of beer then nodded. "I will but I'll be speaking to my lawyer first thing."

"You can stay here for as long as you want."

"Thanks."

"That's what little sisters are for, right?"

"Look after their broken big brother?"

"Something like that."

I woke up the next morning to numerous texts and voicemails from the wife. I deleted all the voicemails but read one or two of the texts. They were as I expected. Denial at first. Not of the actual act I'd caught her in, but that it was a one-time thing, a mistake, that it had meant nothing. The later messages were obviously sent after a bottle of wine, as they turned soppy, insisting that she loved me, she wanted to work on our relationship, that I was the most important thing in her life.

I sent a simple, sort reply to the very last text.

I want a divorce. My lawyer will be in contact.

It was all went rather smoothly, to be expected once I'd explained the situation to my lawyer. I didn't want her house despite the fact my name had been added after I'd moved in. That was our only major asset and she could now deal with it. Other than that, it was simply signing the papers and that was that. I was now a single man. My sister offered me the spare room in her home for as long as I needed it.

That was seven years ago.

*****

I'm not sure when or why it started to happen. My sister and I had always been close, even after I married. We saw each other less but still spoke often on the phone, and messaged each other nearly every day. She was a single mother to my niece, having fallen pregnant at a young age, marrying the man who was the father to my niece, though he disappeared off the radar after a year or so. I discovered after moving in that he was barely in either of their lives. I was pretty much surrogate father to my niece, which I didn't mind. She was a good kid, blossoming into a smart, attractive young woman, very much in the mould of her mother.

But the longer we lived together, the more I started to look at my sister as... something else. It started with the occasional thought as I watched her make dinner, or she'd do her exercises in the front room, and I'd walk in to find her in all manner of positions. She'd simply look at me and smile. I'd watch for a few minutes before I simply had to walk out.

It was when the dreams started that I knew I was... Well, I was thinking of my sister in a very unbrotherly way. More than once I'd wake up, sweat streaming down my body, the visions of what I'd just dreamed replaying in my head. It took me a while to understand that I wasn't just sexually attracted to her. That was practically undeniable after a few months. It was the fact that I was falling in love with her.

I should probably have moved out then and there, and it might just have solved the issue. But my sister loved having my presence around the house, and I think if I'd moved out, I would have fallen into loneliness and despair again. Plus, despite the thoughts and dreams, I enjoyed living with her and Aly. The one sound that filled the house was laughter. I'd certainly regained my spirit for life after my divorce while my sister seemed to really be enjoying life once again, I think appreciative of any support I could give.

To be honest, whenever we were out, people who didn't know us probably thought we were a married couple with Aly as our daughter. And I realised, as time went on, neither of us corrected anyone who may have mentioned that we looked like a lovely young family. Technically, we were, it's just that we were brother and sister, not husband and wife. I guess not really looking alike did help in that department.

Still, that doesn't all really explain what happened which did change our lives forever.

*****

"Any plans for your birthday?"

I shrugged. "None really. Might catch up for a few drinks with the guys. But, considering most of them are married with kids, trying to organise anything takes a lot of hard work nowadays. So... no, not really..."

"Why don't we do something together?"

It wasn't an unusual suggestion. We'd done something as a threesome -- me, my sister and my niece -- the past couple of birthdays. Hell, Aly pretty much treated me as a father in every way but name. My sister didn't rely on me at all but I did help out where I could. "Any ideas?"

She returned a curious smile. "Leave it all to me. It'll be a surprise."

I'll admit, I was curious. "Rightio."

That was Tuesday night. I walked in the front door on Friday, another long week at the office, greeted by my sister telling me to get into the shower then get dressed. "Where are we going?"

"We're going out. Remember? I've booked us a meal at a restaurant, not telling you which one, then another reservation at a nearby bar." I couldn't help raise my eyebrows in surprise. "Shower? Right."

"Dress nicely too."

"How nice?"

"I mean nice, Davey."

After a shower, shave, I dressed as smartly as I thought she suggested, even going so far as to wear a tie, something I only ever did for work. Polished leather shoes, well ironed trousers and shirt plus a nice jacket as the evenings were growing cool. I was sitting on the couch in the living room when Natalie walked in. She laughed as my jaw probably hit the floor.

"What do you think?" she asked, twirling on the spot. I had a series of dirty thoughts as my eyes ran up from her feet in heels, up her shapely legs to her pert bottom, up her still athletic body and over her two delightful handfuls of breasts before I finally met her blue eyes. "Well?" she asked, gesturing down the tight black dress that must have been painted on.

"Gorgeous. Stunning. Beautiful. Um..."

She blushed. "Thanks." She walked towards me as I stood up, leaning in close. I heard a sniff. "You smell nice. New cologne?"

I chuckled. "You know exactly what it is considering you bought it."

"And I think I bought well." She took a step back and looked me up and down. "You clean up well too."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She smirked. "Absolutely nothing. Ready to go? I called a cab. Should be here any minute."

Night had descended by the time we arrived in the city. I pressed my sister once or twice about where we were heading but I didn't get anywhere. I had an idea of where we were, at least, having lived and worked in the city for a number of years. But the restaurant we eventually stopped in front of even had me doing a double take.

"You're kidding? Natalie, this place is... I mean..."

"Good choice?"

"Spectacular."

She then surprised me by grabbing my hand as we walked into the restaurant, the concierge opening the door as we approached, tipping his hat as we walked by. "Good evening." I merely nodded my thanks as we walked towards the waiting area, soon to be approached by the head waiter.

"Do you have a reservation?" he asked.

"Yes, under the name of Mr and Mrs Jones," my sister replied.

"What?" I asked, unable to hold back my laugh. She just dug me in the ribs.

"It's a birthday surprise," she added.

"Ah, very well. Follow me."

We followed the waiter to a secluded area of the restaurant, not that it was overcrowded or too noisy. This was one of the finest dining establishments in the city, if not the country. I was wracking my mind trying to figure out how she'd managed to even get reservations, let alone how she could afford it. But I put that to the back of my mind as I watched her walk in front of me and I couldn't take my eyes from her arse. I swear she's putting an extra swing into her steps. Then she looked back and winked and I was left wondering what the hell she was up to.

The waiter left us alone after taking our drink order so I could ask, "What's going on?"

Natalie just smiled. "How long has it been since you've been on a date?" I shrugged. She knew I'd barely had a date since the divorce. "It's been a while, right? So, tonight, we're on a date." I raised both eyebrows at that. She paused as the waiter reappeared with our drinks, taking a sip of my beer as she added, "Play your cards right tonight and you may even get lucky."

That led to a lot of coughing and spluttering from me, and much light laughter from here. "What?" I finally managed to ask.

"I'm just joking." She paused and raised an eyebrow. "Or am I?"

I looked around the restaurant, wondering if this was all some sort of elaborate prank. I hadn't told anyone about my thoughts or dreams and certainly didn't keep any sort of diary. I hadn't treated my sister any differently to how I normally treated her. Or had I subconsciously? And then there was the fact that she was the one who, perhaps, was making the first move. Does she have those same thoughts?

We sat in relative silence, Natalie with that same slight smirk on her face as we perused the menu and eventually ordered our food. I was worried about the prices on the menu but she said I could order whatever I wanted, and to order all three courses if I wished.

"How on earth did you manage to get a table here?"

"I booked in advance. A long time in advance."

"I've heard the waiting list is nearly a year."

"I booked it on your birthday last year."

"Really?"

She shrugged. "Your last couple haven't exactly been that exciting."

"You know I'm not that worried about it."

"I know. But I thought I'd just do something special. You do a lot for my daughter and I. Just my way of saying thanks, I guess."

"You don't have to thank me, but you're welcome."

"You're a good man, Davey."

I looked around again before I just smiled, thankful that the first course appeared soon afterwards. We continued to make small talk over the three courses, though in the back of my mind was what she had said at the beginning of the meal. As the subject wasn't broached again, I left it at some sort of awkward joke. But she continued giving me glances and that smirk never really left her face the entire meal. I was just left feeling rather confused by it all but figured I'd just go with the flow.

Once dessert had been consumed and sharing a coffee, we had to settle the bill. I asked to see it but Natalie wouldn't show me, stating it was my birthday treat. I left it alone, simply because I didn't want to offend her though I did dread to think how much she spent.

We stopped outside, noticing the drop in temperature. I offered Natalie my jacket, which she took before wrapping an arm around my waist. I wrapped one around her in return and we, somewhat awkwardly, headed to the nearby bar where she had made a further reservation. It was the sort of place I liked. Busy but quiet. A nice selection of beer or wine, depending on what you wanted. And a general ambience that helped one relax.