Plus One

I just sat there after that. It was mind blowing and I couldn't seem to get my head around the fact that my father knew and approved that my mother had sex with other men. She'd even gotten pregnant from two of them and he hadn't cared. There was a word for that, I think.

"Cuckold?" I said the word.

"No. I did not cheat on your father or do this to make him feel like he was less of a man. After my training was finished he was there every time. He knew what was going on every step of the way. If he hadn't known, none of it would have happened. I wouldn't have done any of it. The whole point of the association is to make sure it's safe and clean and that no one is going to have any problems with anyone for any reason. Not between your father and I, or between us and my Males, or between your father and other women."

"But . . ."

"Kevin, if your father had been sterile and I'd used a sperm donor, or if he'd been your stepfather, would the final result be any different?"

Well, when she put it like that, not really. Except . . .

"You need to go home and think about what we just talked about." My mother rose from her seat and picked up her glass. "I'm here if you have questions and I'll do my best to answer them. In the meantime I have some paperwork to fill out and I don't want to be distracted while I'm doing it."

THREE

"Are you, ummm . . . busy this afternoon? I'd called because I was having a hard time sleeping after what she'd told me yesterday. A laugh followed my question.

"Of course not. It's too soon for that and Kelsey is here visiting."

"Does she know? Have you told her?"

"It's not my place to say anything. You'll have to do that yourself if you want her to know."

"That's not my job, it's yours!"

That earned me another laugh.

"You're the man of the house. You have been for the past three years."

That took me by surprise. I was? I mean, I had been? What about now when I wasn't living there anymore?

"If you want to come by and visit with us, you know you're welcome to. Kelsey and I are the only ones here and I'm not expecting anyone else."

I went. I had more questions for her. Kelsey being there was going to make it difficult for me to ask them, but I needed answers.

"What is wrong with you today?"

Kelsey asked me that question as I sat quietly with her and mom while they gabbed about everything. I'd shown up, grabbed a beer from the fridge, and plopped down on the couch without saying a word other than hello.

"Nothing."

"Then stop being such a Debbie Downer. You haven't said anything since you got here. All you're doing is acting like you're mad at us or something."

"Kel . . ."

"Stop!" My mother interrupted me. "That ends here and now. You are now the man of the house and you will start acting like it. Your sister's name is Kelsey, not Kel. Either call her by her true name, or go home."

"I don't mind." Kelsey told her with a surprised look on her face. "He's always called me that. Everyone calls me that. You know they do."

"Not any longer. Not in this house and not between us. Kevin can accept this or go home."

This was a side of my mother that I'd not seen before. Up until now she'd seemed fairly passive about most of the things I'd done while leaving any necessary disciplinary measures to my dad. Now she was acting differently and the only thing that had changed was me finding out about her having sex with her father and what they'd called the association. That meant that there was a connection between what I'd learned and her now telling me to not use Kelsey's nickname anymore. Or else. The trouble was, I didn't know what that connection was. Or why it was suddenly so important that mom had to give me an ultimatum over it in front of my sister.

"There are rules. As the man of the house you will obey the rules. Or get out." Mom unbent enough to tell me that.

Ahh, now I get it. Using Kelsey's full name had something to do with the rules she'd mentioned yesterday to grandfather. It also clicked on a lightbulb to why granddad had always referred to grandmother by her full name. And why dad had as well for both my mom and grandmother. Helen and Marjory. Not sweetheart or honey or any other term of endearment, it was always Helen and Marjory. Apparently the rules required it.

"Sorry." I held up my hands.

"I've been letting you get away with it for too long. If your father was here he'd have explained this to you already. He's not so now I have to. From now on you will call your sister by her full name. Understand?"

I nodded. I did understand. I might not know the full reason why, but I was fairly certain I would eventually.

"What about me?" Kelsey asked. "Does that apply to me too?"

I looked at mom who leaned over towards Kelsey.

"We'll talk about it."

That earned me a stuck out tongue from Kelsey.

"Stop disrespecting Kevin." The rejoinder was fast on the heels of Kelsey's snarky tongue. "Or leave."

Which meant that whatever was going on, it was a two way street. The look on Kelsey's face showed that she caught that too.

I didn't stay long after that. It was obvious that I wasn't going to get any answers to any questions as long as Kelsey was there and I had other things to do anyway. Finishing my beer, I said goodbye to both of them, mom surprising me with a hug and a kiss before I left. That was something she wasn't in the habit of doing and it caught me totally off guard. Kelsey saw it and I could see her eyes narrow as she considered what had just happened.

The knock on the door to my apartment that evening was only half expected. Kelsey barged in as soon as I answered it and opened the door.

"What the hell is going on?" She asked me as soon as she was inside.

"Hey Kel."

My roommate waved at her from where he'd parked himself on the floor in front of his game console several hours ago. He was always trying to get my sister to notice him. He'd make strange comments or offer to fetch things for her and stuff like that. Like most guys he tried too hard to get a girl to notice him and it always seemed to backfire. Especially with Kelsey.

Not that I had ever actually looked at Kelsey as if she was a hot prospect or anything, she was my sister after all, but that didn't mean I was so stupid that I couldn't see she was really pretty in an exotic kind of way. Of course there was also the additional fact that other guys were always hitting on her to drive the point home that other guys thought she was worth chasing after.

Kelsey, as usual, wasn't having any part of whatever Wade was offering. Even now, she didn't bother to reply and instead waited for me to answer her.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I replied while hauling on her arm and heading toward my bedroom and at privacy. Not much privacy, but it was better than standing where my roommate could hear us talking without even half trying.

Kelsey snatched her arm from my grasp as soon as we went through the doorway. I closed the door and sat on the edge of the bed and waited.

"Mom is acting weird."

"So?"

"So are you."

"No I'm not."

"Don't bullshit me, I'm not stupid."

"Don't go ragging at me like that. I'm not doing anything to you and I don't deserve being cussed at because you're mad and think I'm someone you can take it out on." I thought about what I was going to say next and decided to go with it. "So, either respect me, or leave."

It took a moment before she closed her mouth with a click. Stabbing her finger at me she growled.

"That's what I'm talking about. What's going on."

"Nothing."

"Don't bull . . ." She stopped when I got up off the bed and immediately changed what she was going to say. "Stop lying to me. What's going on?"

"Mom is having some financial problems. It's probably stressing her out and you probably picked up on it."

"What kind of financial problems?"

"She might lose the house. That kind."

My sister just looked at me after I said it.

"Grandad is helping her. Or trying to."

"How?"

"I'm not really sure. I'm at the point where I'm asking questions and thinking about what I'm being told. Which is not much so there's not a whole lot I can talk about."

"Tell me anyway."

"I can't." I shook my head no. "Plus mom said she'd talk to you and I don't think she wants me to say anything until after that."

"So I'm being kept in the dark?"

I lifted my hands in response.

"Talk to mom. If she wants to tell you, she will. I can't."

"Kev, if you're . . ."

"Kevin." I held up my hand as I corrected her. "It's going to be tough to break a lifelong habit, but we need to do it. You were there, mom wasn't kidding. If she's that serious about it then we need to take it just as seriously. From now on between us it's Kevin and Kelsey. Ok? For mom's sake?"

She just looked at me.

"The rules of the game are changing. I'm trying to keep up with them. I think you need to try to do the same or you're going to be sorry at some point."

That got me another silent look. Opening my arms in invitation got me a third look just like the earlier two.

"The rules have changed. This is the way it is now." I lifted my arms higher. "Between us and with mom."

She ignored my offer of a goodbye embrace and yanked open my bedroom door. Stopping at the front door to the apartment she turned to spit venom in my direction.

"If you're lying to me, you'll be sorry."

"Talk to mom. She'll either tell you or she won't. I can't."

At that point she jerked my front door wide open.

"Bye Kel." My roommate said from his spot on the floor.

"Get fucked Wade." Kelsey slammed the door behind her.

FOUR

The following week at school and work kept me hopping every day and I wasn't able to get back to see my mom until the following weekend. She rose from where she'd been sitting in her chair to greet me as soon as I walked inside the house. Lifting her arms she gave me a hug and a kiss just like when I'd left last weekend. Except this time the kiss was on my lips.

"Ummm . . . Hi mom, I'm home?" I said after the kiss ended. Wow, that had been some kiss.

A loud sigh made me look across the room. Granddad rose from his chair.

"We need to talk Kevin." He walked over to where we stood, my mom's arms still around my neck. "Let's go, I know a place."

I looked at him and then down to my mom's upturned face. She pulled me down for another kiss on the lips and released me before turning toward her father and raising her arms again.

"Thank you, Sir."

"It's always been my pleasure Helen." My grandfather bent and kissed her as he reached and pulled her into a solid full-bodied embrace. "You know that."

"Yes. Sir."

I cleared my throat uncomfortably.

"Ummm . . . if you need me to, I can come back later."

That earned me a frown from mom and another sigh from granddad.

"Let's go son." He headed out the door. "My car is this way."

We were on the road heading I didn't know where when I finally got up the nerve to say something. Before I could even open my mouth my grandfather spoke first.

"You need to pull your head out of your ass and stop acting like a spoiled kid who's lost his favorite toy."

"Granddad . . ." I stopped at the sight of his raised finger.

"Greg. Or Gregory."

"Huh?"

"My name. Use it. Greg or Gregory. Not granddad or grandpa or grandfather, Greg or Gregory."

"Why?"

"Because those are the rules."

"What rules? I don't know the rules and no one's shown me any rule book so I can learn them anyway." I was frustrated and it came out in the way I said it.

My grandfather reached into the glovebox and produced a worn blue pamphlet.

"Here."

"What's this?" I flipped the book over a couple of times. It wasn't very thick and there wasn't any title on the cover. A quick fan through the pages showed me there were just words in small print inside.

"That rule book you were just whining about."

"Oh."

That earned me a snort and a scorn filled head shake.

It wasn't long after that before we pulled into the local Denny's. Grandfather parked the car and got out.

"You coming? Or are you going to stay in the car and cry like a baby?"

"That's not fair!" I said as I got out of the car.

"Life isn't fair." My grandfather headed for the entrance of the restaurant. "Get used to it."

"Why are you treating me like this?" I asked after we were seated in a booth away from everyone else.

That got me another one of those looks.

"You're dad isn't here any longer. If he was, it would have been his job to tell you all of what's going on as soon as you found out. He died so the task fell to your mother. She's trying but you're not listening. Instead you're treating her like she's no better than dirt so now it's my job to fill in for both of them. I'm not your dad and I don't have a lot of patience with you acting the way you are. So you can either start listening or prepare to live the rest of your life with my boot print tattooed on your backside. It's your choice and I don't care which you decide on."

The look in his eyes made me drop mine to the table top.

"Your mother loves you. She's also a good woman who has her own needs and desires. You're standing in the way of her happiness and blaming her for wanting to be happy."

"But it's not right." I put it that way so that anyone overhearing us wouldn't really know what we were discussing.

"Correct. It's not right that I'm having to step in and do your job for you."

"What are you talking about?"

"What I'm doing for your mother is what you're supposed to be doing for her. The problem is your dad didn't explain any of this to you so you're ignorant of what your responsibilities are toward your mother. To her, and me, it looks like you don't care about her because you're not helping her."

"What are you talking about? I love my mother."

"Then show it and stop acting like some schoolboy whose brains are stuffed up his own ass. This isn't a game son, there's a lot of things on the line here. Your mother needs you to step up for her."

"Not like that."

He closed his eyes like he was trying to control himself and gave me another one of those scornful head shakes.

"How many times did you get laid this week?"

"What?"

"How many times did you get laid this week? You don't have to tell me who, just how many times."

"I'm not going to tell you that."

"Son, I'm sixty five years old and I've had sex with three different women so far this week. Can you say the same?"

"Grand . . . " He stopped me once again with the lifted finger. I tried it again the way he wanted me to.

"Greg. That's personal."

"It's a simple question. Are you or aren't you having sex with a beautiful woman several times a week? Or are you only masturbating in the bathroom and wishing you could?"

I looked away.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." He shifted in his seat and leaned over the table. His voice dropped. "Listen to me. Read the book and think about what you learn from it. Most guys your age throw a lot of bullshit around about how they're getting laid when in reality they can't even figure out how to get to first base let alone home plate. You actually can. All it takes is you pulling your head out of your ass."

I didn't know what to say. He nodded once and lifted his hand for the waitress to come over.

"Normally at this point your parents would have sponsored you. Once you were vetted and okayed, you and they could have figured out how to get your membership fees paid. Unless you have money saved up on your own."

I shook my head no. My living expenses and college tuition didn't leave much left over.

"We still have a little time. We can figure it out so don't worry." He looked up at the waitress. "Coffee and pancakes. With sausage."

I wasn't going to order anything but my grandfather just told the waitress to bring me the same thing he'd ordered. After she left I fidgeting for a bit until my grandfather cleared his throat. Okay, so we weren't done talking and I needed to find a subject to talk about that was safe.

"Is it a swingers club?" Wait, didn't I just decide to talk about something safe?

"No." He waited while the waitress put two cups of coffee on the table and walked away before he continued. "It's more like a calendaring or scheduling service so that people can get together and socialize. The members all have a profile of likes and dislikes, and the association sets up meetings between members they think will mesh together based on their individual profiles."

That threw me for a loop. Then I realized that what I knew sort of, kind of, fit that description. It wasn't a conventional dating service like Match.com or any of the others out there but from what my mom had said, she and her lovers were in long term relationships and not one time, one night stands. Which also clearly meant it wasn't an escort service or prostitution ring.

When I didn't say anything, my grandfather made a circle on the table top with his fingertip.

"The association makes the initial arrangements for the members who ask for them. They try to make the meet up in a public place, usually a restaurant but not always. Sometimes it's a nightclub or someplace like that but almost always in public. The couples meet, talk, and get to know each other. It progresses from there, or not, depending on how things go. Either one can say no and it goes no further."

"And?"

"If they like each other, then they can take it to any level they're comfortable with. Marjory has a Male who only likes to have lunch and spend the afternoon with her once or twice each week. There's very little sex between them. Their relationship is about being together because they like each other and want to spend time talking and doing things they wouldn't normally do alone. Marjory enjoys the time they spend together because it gives her a break from her other Males. Her Male knows that she'll never pressure him for any kind of commitment or insist on him having sex with her when he doesn't want to. She actually loves him because he's so perfect for her needs in that particular part of her life that I can't fulfill."

"How does that . . .? The money?" I didn't know how to ask the question so I just blurted it out.

"It's a membership based social service. People sign up, get checked out and approved, and go socialize with each other. Marjory and Helen are association members who are willing to do that."

"Just like how bars and nightclubs don't charge women a cover charge to get in because they want women to come and mingle with the men, the association does basically the same thing. The mechanism is different because the out of pocket costs to the women are a lot higher, clothes, transportation, social meeting expenses, and things like that, but the reasoning is the same. The association compensates the women members who want to socialize so that the men have someone to have dinner with, go to the movies or an art gallery with, or to the park with, and so on. It doesn't matter if the women are married or not because the basis for the association is that the members want to socialize with each other. If it goes past that point, that's up to the members and the association isn't part of it. They keep an activity calendar for the women so that they're not overcrowded socially but that's it."

"If a long term relationship develops after the first, date isn't the correct term but it fits with what you're thinking right now so, after the first date, any time the couples want to get together again it usually comes in the form of dinner invitations and offers to get together. That's not always the case but it's the most usual way."

"Oh."

"It's expensive to join. The high cost helps to keep out the low lifes and ensures that the members are serious rather than just curious."