Rumors Ch. 02

"You'd marry me, even if I loved Annie more?" she asked.

I answered, "I would, if you and I make each other happy being together. I've read enough about polyamory to know that monogamy isn't the only model for relationships. We don't have to get all our needs met in one person, so if you get something from your relationship with Annie that I don't provide you, I'm going to support that. Just like I hope you'd support me if I get something from my relationship with Mom or with Annie that I don't get from you. Trying to get everything we want from one person just doesn't make sense."

"I guess I still need time to wrap my mind around all of this," Marissa added.

"We all do," I said. "It's one thing for a couple to move quickly, but to make all four of us work, we need to be more deliberate to find out what works best and communicate honestly. Anyway, I'm glad you and I got this time together, no matter what the future holds. Ready for sleep?"

"For sure. I'm not sure my chocho can take another round tonight," she answered.

"Chocho?" I wondered.

Marissa chuckled. "You haven't heard that word? It's a Spanish slang for female genitals that I was taught as a child. I'm not fluent in Spanish, since my parents prefer to speak English at home, but a few things did get passed down from my grandparents. I'm actually three-quarters Mexican heritage, but my parents were born here, and both of my grandfathers. My grandmothers were immigrants, brought here as kids while their parents worked in the vineyards in Sonoma County. My grandpa Gutierrez, on the other hand, was born in San Rafael to immigrant parents, while my mom's biological father, Peter Walsh, was a mix of Irish, Polish and German. We think part of his line can be dated back to the Gold Rush, we're not really sure. He got Grandma pregnant before he left for Vietnam, then died there. Grandma married Mario Hernandez instead and Mario adopted Mom before having two more kids together. We don't have any contact with the Walsh side to know more about him."

"Holy shit. Marissa, how do I say this? We might be related. My maternal grandmother Delia Smith's maiden name is Walsh and she had a brother named Peter who died in Vietnam. She made me take pictures of his name on the Memorial when our 9th grade class went to DC. There was only one Peter Walsh on the wall, so they must be the same man. She never mentioned that he left any kids behind, though."

"Dios!" Marissa exclaimed. "My Mom made me do the same thing, when Annie and I went to DC. Why didn't Annie realize the connection then?"

I replied, "Why would she? Delia's not Annie's grandmother, so Annie probably never once heard Grandma talk about Peter, never had to research that family tree for school to even know her maiden name. After the divorce, Grandma shunned my dad, then extended that to Annie. My mom's the only one that has treated Annie like family. I wonder how Grandma's going to react to finding out about another niece, four more grand-nieces and two grand-nephews, especially that I'm dating one of them?"

"That would make us, what, second cousins?" she asked. "That would be legal, right? I didn't just commit incest too, did I?"

I replied, "Not criminally, at least. Even if we were first cousins, we'd be legal. We should talk with our grandmothers in the morning to confirm this."

We chatted a little while longer, then faded off to sleep in each other's arms. I don't think I'd ever had a better night's sleep.

~~~~~

Marissa and I woke to the smell of bacon and coffee. Marissa pulled one of my tshirts on, and I got sweatshorts and a t-shirt on and we went to the kitchen, where Mom and Annie were preparing blueberry pancakes and more scrambled eggs.

As I poured coffee for Marissa and myself, I asked, "Mom, Grandma's brother, the one who died in Vietnam, his name was Peter Walsh, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?" she responded.

"I'll give you three guesses what the name of Marissa's maternal grandfather is."

Before Mom could answer, Annie exclaimed, "Oh, my god! That's the name Marissa photographed off the Vietnam Memorial when we went to DC!"

I responded, "Yes. So did I, when I went, at my grandma's request. I can tell you there's only one Peter Walsh on that wall. They have to be the same man, right?"

Mom asked, "So what relation is Marissa to me?"

I answered, "If we're right, her mom Angelina is your first cousin, Marissa is your first cousin once removed and my second cousin."

"And still not related to me," Annie griped.

"Not yet, querida," Marissa said. "We're exploring options for me to marry into the family, aren't we? If I someday become Tyler's wife, that would make us sisters-in-law. Can we think of ourselves as sisters-in-love right now?"

"I love it. And you, Riss. Thank you," Annie answered.

After breakfast, Mom got on the phone with Grandma Smith, confirming that her brother Peter Walsh had been involved with Carmen Rosado, Marissa's grandmother, before leaving for Vietnam in 1969, but the Walsh family had never known that she was pregnant with his daughter. Grandma sounded interested in making contact with the newly revealed branch of the family.

Marissa then called her mother Angelina and broke the news that we had discovered a link between us, passing along my grandmother Delia's phone number, her new aunt. Apparently, Marissa's grandmother Carmen had stopped by for breakfast there and you could hear Angelina questioning her quite loudly about denying her a connection with the Walsh family. When things settled down, Angelina relayed to Marissa that Peter's parents hadn't liked Carmen much, so she kept her pregnancy a secret from them, while later telling her daughter that they actually had rejected her. Whether they would actually have done so was lost to history, since they died not knowing about Angelina.

While this was going on, Annie whispered, "Are you going to keep dating Marissa, now that you know she's family, too?"

"Why not?" I responded. "She's only my second cousin. That's legal in every state, not just California. It's not like we grew up thinking of each other as family, either. Not that it formed that much of an obstacle between you, me and Mom. What if it had turned out that she was related to both of us on Dad's side instead? Would that change things between the two of you?"

Annie responded, "I see your point. I just think the two of you are meant for each other, big brother, as much as Riss and I love each other. I don't want anything to get in the way of that."

I hugged her to me. "We're good, on the way to being great, Annie. I got this."

Marissa got off of the phone, saying, "My Mom is both stunned and ecstatic. She wants to invite the three of you over for dinner tonight. She's going to call your grandmother to introduce herself and invite her and your grandfather too. Then try to arrange a bigger family reunion with Peter's other siblings and their families for later in the summer."

~~~~~

Dinner at the Gutierrez house was, to say the least, chaotic. Marissa and her five siblings, her parents and maternal grandmother, plus my maternal grandparents, mom, Annie and me. 14 for dinner, using a combination of dining room table, kitchen table and card tables. Angelina made beef enchiladas and arroz con pollo. It was all delicious, although I noted Marissa limited herself to one small portion of each.

Her mom Angelina was Marissa's height, but carried 70 pounds more weight, in bust, hips, ass, tummy and thighs. She was still beautiful a beautiful woman, but I could see where Marissa's concern about her weight came from. Her dad Ramon, on the other hand, was slender, so I hoped those genes would help Marissa stay as fit as she wanted. I realized I didn't actually care that much. If Marissa gained weight, it wouldn't stop me from loving her.

After dinner, I was coming back from going to the bathroom when I overheard a conversation between Marissa and her mom in the kitchen.

"Which of them is your lover, Marissita?" Angelina asked.

Marissa answered, "Would it bother you, if I said 'both', Mama? I was with Annie on Friday night, Tyler last night. I think I might love them both."

"Niña, be careful," Angelina warned. "It's dangerous, being involved with two members of the same family like that. People will talk. You'll need to choose, sooner or later."

"We're doing nothing wrong, Mama. I haven't been with both at the same time."

Angelina audibly inhaled. "Please don't tell me there's a 'yet' missing from the end of that sentence."

"Okay, I won't," Marissa said, walking away from her mother, bumping into me around the corner.

She took my hand and walked me outside. Once we were out of earshot, she asked, "You heard?"

"Enough to worry that your mom is going to guess our secret."

"I think she might already have guessed, Ty," Marissa said. "At least you and Annie. She's pretty intuitive. I just don't think she wants to actually ask, because then she might have to decide what to do about it. Would reporting the two of you hurt me or help me? She knows and likes Annie pretty well, but you and your Mom are strangers, even if you are newly discovered family. Even if she becomes convinced, I think she'll look away from it and stay quiet. I hope so, anyway."

"Yeah, me too."

Mom, Annie and I wound up returning home pretty late, so the three of us went straight to sleep, only snuggling in Mom's bed until the alarm went off in the morning.

~~~~~