Outback

We still worked the farm together. Mark was happy working alongside my father and the others. He thoroughly enjoyed shearing season, as he made plenty of cash going around to all the farms to help get the little buggers sheared. He generally disappeared for a month, though he called me every single night. Sometimes just to talk. Sometimes just to hear my voice. Occasionally so I could talk dirty to him.

He also spoke to our two-year-old son. I reckon I would have fallen pregnant within the first year if not for the pill. Once he rediscovered that fire, that spirit he no doubt had before, he was... something else entirely. And when life returned to those blue eyes, and I saw him look at me the same way, I loved him even more. And wanted him all the time. When we were not at work, we were at it like rabbits. Thankfully, our parents never caught us though... they knew. Always had that look in their eyes, though with my rosy cheeks and Mark looking content with life, I guess it was obvious.

As I thought of that, I caressed my belly. We already knew we were having a daughter. He almost fell apart when we were told. He felt guilty about being excited that he was having another daughter. I told him our daughter wasn't a replacement. Katie was still out there, still his daughter. Through it all, he never lost hope. Nothing had ever come of his search. He hoped for a miracle but still hadn't given up.

Mum and Dad doted on their grandson. Bill and Mark were now... more than family. Mark called him Dad. Ely was Mum. When he called her that the first time, she must have hugged him for half an hour. They both cried, Mum sobbing when he said he loved her more than he'd ever loved his own. We knew he had no love left for anyone there.

Except one. Maybe just one. I didn't push the matter, at least not at first, but I'd been dropping hints since the birth of our son. Mark stayed quiet. He was more thoughtful than he gave himself credit for. He always thought before opening his mouth. And I knew he didn't want to upset me either.

Mark wasn't interested in social media, as I said. But I kept an eye on it for him because, he would admit, that was perhaps the avenue Katie would one day get in touch with him. But every week since he'd disappeared, his sister had left a message for him. And I knew it was genuine as it was a different one, each and every time. I could feel the sorrow that came through the words on the screen. And she always ended it by saying how much she loved and missed him, and hoped that one day, he would reach out to contact her.

As for the rest of the family, not a word. They were not on any of his lists. Other friends left the occasional message, wondering where he was, if he was even still alive. He asked me not to put anything on the site except he was alive. Not where he lived. Not that he was married. He didn't even have his new name on there. On the website, he was still 'Mark Samuels', a name I knew he despised nowadays.

Kelly had left another message just the day before. I clicked on her profile again. She was quite a pretty young thing, only a couple of years older than me. No kids, from what I could see. Didn't look like her parents were on the site. Her brother was, but I wouldn't dare open that can of worms. Mark said he had no brother, and he had new parents. I remembered what he said being a twenty-five-year-old orphan. My heart had broken for him hearing that, the fact he had felt so alone.

I wouldn't contact her without letting Mark know. He knew Kelly left messages. He said little to that. He was never rude to me. Man didn't have a bad bone in his body. But I also knew he felt guilt about what he'd said all those years ago now. His sister had just been in the firing line as he let rip on everyone. He admitted, at least a year after we were official, that the only regret he had leaving was what he'd called his sister. It was in the heat of the moment, designed to hurt.

Over dinner that night, I waited until we were finished before I turned to him. He was now thirty years old, still built like a brick shithouse, hair a little longer, tanned more than ever from working in the sun, and those blue eyes now sparkled more than ever. When he looked at me at times, I'll be honest, just a simple glance had my panties rather wet.

"Mark, can we discuss something."

"Sure."

"It's about...."

I took a deep breath. When he noticed my hand was shaking, he gently took it in his hand. "Sweetheart, I hate it when you get nervous around me," he said softly.

I'd seen Mark angry, of course. Nothing wrong with emotions, positive or negative. It's how you deal with them that's the problem sometimes. Angry at me, though? The only time was when he found me in the cabin. Work pissed him off from time to time, but we realised coming home to a happy wife put the grin straight back on his face. I only got nervous from time to time because of the subject matter, whenever it came to something from his past. It was still the only thing that could possibly make him blow his top. But he'd never shout, yell, curse in front of me. He'd politely excuse himself, go outside for a few minutes. I'd watch him from the window. He's simply stroll around, kick at the dirt, loosening himself up and relaxing. He'd see me watching and smile.

He was my gentle giant.

"It's about your sister. Kelly." I watched his face for any sort of reaction. He kept his face blank. He was good at that. "She's still leaving a message every week. Five years now. Every single week, a new message." I took another deep breath. "I think I should get in touch on your behalf."

I looked at Mum and Dad, watching Mark in return. He slowly stood up. "Please excuse me for a moment," he said softly.

"Mark?" I asked.

He leaned down and kissed me. "I'm not angry, sweetheart. I'm past anger. Well past it. I just want to think about it. Just give me a few minutes."

"Okay."

"I love you."

"I love you."

He never left the room without saying he loves me. Once he was out the back door, Mum glanced at me, keeping her opinion to herself but she knew this could be opening up old wounds, or even be dangerous to him. But I was left thinking things had changed, at least with Kelly. And maybe it would be a chance for them to talk and perhaps even find out what happened.

He returned with a bottle of beer for himself and Dad, a bottle of wine already open for Mum and I. Resuming his seat, he took a swig of beer, staring off into the distance for another couple of minutes. None of us pushed him for a response. Then... he nodded. "Okay, send her a brief message. Let her know who you are. Ask what she wants."

"I'll start a conversation with her once I see her online. Anything you want to know?"

"Not particularly. But if she's serious, then I can only suggest a face to face. Not here. Not Sydney. No way in hell I'm going back there."

"Brisbane?"

"Works for me. But that's later. First, see how serious she is. You're a good judge of character. I... I just can't do it myself."

"Is it okay if I get in touch soon?"

"Like a Band-Aid. Nice and quick."

I waited until the next evening to see if she would appear online. When the little symbol turned green. I opened up a chat window and stared to type.

MarkS: Hello, Kelly.

KelSam: Mark! Oh my god, I never thought...

M: It's not Mark, Kelly. This is Catherine, Cathy. I'm his wife.

K: Mark's married? Oh... Hello, Cathy. So I can only assume you know who I am then?

M: I know you're his sister. Mark doesn't really do social media, but he left this page so people could contact him. I've watched and let him now every so often how often you message him. He finally agreed to make contact as he's wondering why you keep messaging. He assumes he made his feelings clear.

He'd gone into minute detail about exactly what happened that day at the house, what he'd said, what he'd done, what was said to him in return. He admitted, the more time passed, the regret about what he said to his sister did bother him. He still had no feelings at all about the others, but had hinted that maybe, one day, he'd contact his sister.

M: Before I continue, Kelly, I must know one thing. It will be the thing that will result in this continuing or not. So you need to be honest. How much did you know about what happened?

K: Honestly, not a lot. But there's a caveat to that. I could never tell him because my parents threatened to completely cut me off if I did. But, please, I wanted to tell him. I never approved of what happened. And after he disappeared, things fell apart. I hate my parents for what they did to him. I always loved him the most.

M: Do you know where his daughter is?

K: If I did, it would definitely have gone on his wall, Cathy. But they never told me all the details and I've never been able to really figure it out since.

I sat back and it sounded sincere, but the written word is different to hearing the tone of a voice. But what she was saying matched what she'd been leaving on his wall for the past five years.

M: Kelly, I've got to be honest. What your family did, what his friends did, it destroyed him as a man, a father, a human being. He was damned near suicidal for months. The only thing that got him through it was the hope of seeing his daughter, my parents, and then me.

K: Suicidal?

She added a crying emoji. In fact, all different sorts of crying emoji's. I could certainly understand the impact hearing that.

M: Yes, that's what everyone there drove him to. So while I'm sitting here wanting to believe you, I need to really be convinced of your sorrow but also your love. So we need to talk. I need to hear it in your voice. Mark won't want to talk yet. Not a chance. Getting him to agree to me messaging you was a big deal.

K: But he did agree! So that means there's a chance, right?

M: There is a chance but my parents and I fiercely protect him. He's been through enough as it is. What I'm going to do is leave my phone number here. Please call me tomorrow night. As I said, Mark won't want to talk yet but I'm willing to listen, offer an olive branch. Convince me, and I'll ask my husband if he's willing to talk.

K: I'm glad he's found happiness, Cathy. Thank you for looking after him. And loving him.

M: Your brother is a good man, and he loves me just as much in return. Here's my number - ********** - Please call around 7pm and we'll have a chat about things.

K: Of course I'll call. I really want to hear his voice again. And seeing him... I've thought about it for five years. But thank you, Cathy, for giving me a chance. I've just put the number in my phone. I'll call tomorrow night. I'll log off now, otherwise I'm just going to ask endless questions. One thing though. Please tell him I still love him. I miss my brother.

M: I'll let him know, Kelly. Speak to you tomorrow.

In bed that night, Mark was happily lying back while I was riding his lovely thick cock. He definitely enjoyed it when I was pregnant as my usual B-cup breasts got larger. Not to say he didn't love my petite body. His pet name for me was usually 'sweetheart, 'sweet petite' or, if he was in a particular mood, 'sweetie petitiee'. My husband could be rather silly at times, but once he'd come out of his shell, he proved to have a daft but sweet sense of humour.

For me, he would always be 'gentle giant', simply 'gg', or 'honeybun'. The first time I called him 'honey' while making love, he damn near froze up on me. I knew why without him having to say a word. I recovered quickly and whispered 'Fuck me, honeybun' into his ear. It eased the tension as he laughed before he carried on making love to his fiancée.

But he loved running hands over my curves as I carried our children. Definitely focused attention on my breasts. Missionary was already difficult. I'd loved riding him from the first time, particularly as I enjoyed some rather powerful orgasms. The further along the pregnancy, doggy style was the best. That just gave him a chance to fuck me nice and hard while grabbing my larger breasts at the same time. Considering I was beyond horny half the time, we certainly made plenty of noise.

Once we'd both enjoyed an orgasm, I spooned back against him as always, his hand on my belly, my hand resting on his. "Your sister is going to call me tomorrow night," I said.

"No worries," he said, sounding rather relaxed. Best time to mention anything like this is after he'd cum in me. He's much more agreeable. He knew, of course. After a blowjob and swallowed? I could ask for a diamond ring and he'd probably agree. Though I'd blow him and swallow just to see him smile down at me. I'm still absolutely smitten by my husband.

I could see it was on his mind at breakfast the next morning. Parents knew it too but they didn't ask. Before he left with my father, he kissed me, said that he loved me, and assured me all was okay. He wouldn't listen in, but he'd be interested to hear about it afterwards. Whatever I said, he'd believe and we'd go from there.

I'll admit to some nerves the closer the time approached. I hoped I wasn't opening Pandora's box. Mark admitted he was as happy as he could reminder despite the fact someone was still missing, but he'd parked that fact in his mind somewhere else. He focused on the here and now, and hoped for the future. Nothing could be done about the past now.

At 7pm on the dot, my phone rang. I didn't recognise the number but I knew who it would be. Answering the call, I wasn't surprised to hear a nervous hello. When she heard my voice in return, she started to cry. In that moment, I felt sympathy for her because I just had a feeling she wasn't lying. She loved her brother. Missed her brother. And felt guilty about what happened. I waited for her to calm down before asking some general questions about life, letting her just get used to talking to me before I got down to business.

"Tell me about that day, Kelly. The day he came to the house."

I heard her take a deep breath. "I'd never seen Mark so angry before. The fury in his eyes as he walked into the backyard to face down my parents."

"My parents? Interesting term."

"Oh, they are no longer his, Cathy. I know he would feel nothing for them now. And his picture is no longer in the house. Dad still regrets not going through with his threat to charge him. But... well, the threat that lingered. Mark scared the shit out of him. You know about that?"

"I do. Mark is a gentle man, but there seems to be one or two people that rile him so he just explodes."

She cleared her throat. "We all knew about it, Cathy. He was a regular visitor. His name was Tony. Never learned his last name. Sally and him were having an affair from pretty much the moment they met. Parents organised it all. And because Mark had little to do with my parents, generally staying at home with Katie while Sally visited, he simply didn't have a clue. Whenever Mark did come along, Tony was a visitor but was wise enough to keep his distance.

Anyway, the day in question. Mark came strolling in but he was like a coiled spring. And when Dad confirmed what happened, Mark just lost it. Dropped Dad with a cracking hook. I'll be honest, it wasn't a surprise. I think Mark had been looking to smack around his old man for years by then. The only reason Mum didn't get a slap is that he'd never raise a hand in the direction of a woman. I knew he'd have decked Brian if given the chance, but my oldest brother is a pussy. Add to that, Mark had smacked him around often enough that Brian was just scared of him.

But it all came out that night. Mark saw the family for what they are. And... he called me a worthless whore..."

"He regrets that, Kelly. Hand on heart, he does."

"But I deserved it. I was involved. Unwillingly, but I was involved. I never told him, too worried about being cut off, having everything handed to me in my life taken away. I had my part to play in watching my brother's life destroyed by vindictive parents, a cruel fiancée, and a horrible man that she took off with. I never would have believed she'd take Katie, but I knew my parents never really approved of Sally. This was their way of getting rid of her, they never really bothered with Katie, and then it was almost like... I don't know, getting even with Mark for doing what he wanted with his life."

"Jesus, your parents sound horrible, Kelly."

"I hate them now," she whispered, "They drove him away. And I helped..."

Kelly started to weep again. I gave her a few minutes to calm down. "What happened afterwards?"

"Word slowly but surely got out about what happened. Took a while, but I helped with that, to ease a guilty conscience. Spread rumours about what they did to my brother. Once it was noticed that Mark had just plain disappeared, people put two and two together. No Mark. No Sally. No Katie. Dad barely held onto his job once his firm heard about what they did. Mum's practice is teetering on bankruptcy as all her old patients refused to be treated by a woman who'd treat her son like that. Brian's gone through three divorces now. We make sure each wife hears the truth about the sort of man they are with."

"And you, Kelly? How are you?"

"I've lived with the guilt for five years, Cathy. Every day, I wish I could go back and warn him what was going on. But I was too selfish, too self-involved. We had been close when growing up. I knew what he thought but I felt he never judged me, accepted me for who I was. But when he glared at me with such hate in his eyes and called me a worthless whore. I didn't hate him for it. I should have done, but after what he'd just heard, I never blamed him. I looked at myself in the mirror and hated my reflection. Slowly but surely, I pulled away from the family."

"When did you last see them?"

"I haven't seen my parents in two years. I haven't seen Brian in longer than that. Dad's parents actually fucking approved of what they did! Haven't seen them since that evening. Mum's parents? Different story... at least when they were alive."

"They're dead?"

"They watched from a distance as their family was torn apart. I doubt Mark would know they both passed within a year of each other, three years ago now. Nanna always hoped she'd see him one last time, but always understood why he just left. All they wanted to know is that he was happy."

"He's happy, Kelly. I make sure of that, as do his children, whether born or not."

"You're... pregnant?" she whispered.

"Six months. We have a two-year-old son, and expect a daughter." She started to cry again. I couldn't blame her. She'd missed out on a lot of his life. "Kelly," I said softly, "This is going to take time. I'm not sure Mark will want to talk over the phone. He's already said, if he were to ever agree, it would be face to face."

"Where are you living?"

"He doesn't want that information divulged. But obviously not in Sydney. He hasn't been back since the day he left."

"I get the occasional message from old friends, asking if I've heard from him. I always say no."

"Keep saying that. He wants nothing to do with them."

"I heard his closest friends were all aware. Let's just say the guys he used to play rugby league with got wind of what happened to him and the betrayal. Fists might have been thrown on a night out more than once. They just want to know he's safe and sound."