Schrödinger's Hot Tub

Author's note: This is my dozenth story for Literotica, and, as with my of my stories, it is long -- 19K+.

Schrödinger's Hot Tub

Chloe and Zach's 4th of July Sibling Reunion

Ron Ehrs

How was I supposed to know what was going to happen when my sister came to visit me for a long weekend? We hadn't seen each other in years. And if I had known, would I have done anything differently? There was nothing like this between us in our past. Would everything have been different if I hadn't had a hot tub for us to get naked in? Should I have just called her visit off?... And missed out on the beautiful things that never should've happened?

* * *

The last week of June, my sister Chloe called to see about visiting me over the Fourth of July weekend. We talked to each other over the phone occasionally, but we hadn't gotten together in quite some time. All this even though she had gotten a job in the same city as me when she graduated from college a year ago.

It wasn't about any bad blood between us, not at all. It was entirely about our parents' divorce. I had been two years ahead of Chloe in school and after graduating from high school, I couldn't wait to get the hell out and leave for college.

By that time, it had probably been a total of about four years since our parents' marriage started falling apart. A few months before I finished high school, our dad moved out, but the whole of the previous year and quite a bit of time before, the atmosphere in the house had been toxic.

Neither Chloe nor I had any special feelings about who was at fault in the collapse of our parents' marriage. Our mom had become a realtor a few years earlier. Originally, it looked like a way for her to help add to the family income and make life more comfortable for everyone. Dad had a steady job at an insurance agency; it wasn't a particularly interesting job but the pay was decent and the job was secure. Whatever his feelings about going to his office each day all those years, he knew he was taking care of his family.

Both Chloe and I were in junior high then; she was in sixth grade and I was in eighth grade. The thing was, our mom discovered she had something of a flair for selling real estate. She had been stuck at home with us kids for all these years, and now she was out, working with other people in her office and showing houses to clients and -- most importantly -- selling houses and making commissions. Far from being the part-time activity we had all initially expected, her job quickly became all-consuming, and often she would get home well after our dad had come back from work. Needless to say, there were a lot fewer home-cooked meals and a lot more frozen dinners and pizza deliveries than before.

Not surprisingly, this led to tension in the house. Dad had initially thought it would be nice to have a little extra money coming in, but now there were months when Mom made more than he did, and truth be told, her job was a lot more exciting and satisfying than being a stay-at-home mom (or working for an insurance company).

We probably all hoped, at least for a while, that things could still work out, but ultimately there was no chance of that. Dad felt threatened, and humiliated; not only was his wife now earning more money, but he resented the fact that she was able to make money and enjoy her work in a way that he had never enjoyed his job.

The result was that the whole idea of being united as a family began to crumble. Dad had always had a drink when he got home from work, but now the drink after work was followed by a drink at dinner, and then a drink or even two or three drinks after dinner. Mom was not cooking dinner, but was often showing houses into the evening, and found herself less and less interested in rushing home afterwards.

Before mom started working, she had been the one monitoring our schoolwork and doing what she could to help us do well. Now that had fallen by the wayside, and Dad had had no interest in taking over that role, if in fact he even knew it existed.

Chloe and I had both been excellent students, but now our support system had disappeared, and the atmosphere at home became a corrosive distraction. It wasn't that we started getting F's, but instead of being the "A" students we were used to being and enjoyed being, we were now limping along with fewer As, a bunch of Bs, and the occasional C.

When we reached high school and it was time for me to look for colleges, my original dream of getting into an Ivy League school had vanished. Instead, I applied to the main branch of the University in the next state -- the two states had a reciprocal tuition agreement so there were no financial consequences, and with mom doing so well in real estate, it didn't matter much anyway. I could've gone to college in-state, but I wanted to get as far away from home as possible.

* * *

Getting away to college was like a dream for me. Aside from quick visits at Christmas and possibly Thanksgiving, I basically never went back. I took additional courses or found internships to fill up my summers, and then quickly found a job that started right after graduation.

I would call home from time to time; I was always happiest if Mom was at work and just Chloe was home to talk to. But aside from asking how she was doing, there wasn't a lot to say anymore. I really didn't want to have her tell me how bad things were for her.

I would call my dad occasionally too, but I didn't like trying to call him at the office, and in the evening after work I would have no idea how drunk he would be. The most important thing in my life right now was not having to be at home.

What bothered me most was my feeling of guilt at having abandoned Chloe by going off so far away to college. It let me get away from home, but it left her there in a situation that hadn't had time to become emotionally resolved. She was living with our mom most of the time, but would get together with our dad at least once a week.

The thing is, Chloe and I had gotten really close during all that god-awful mess. We were the only ones either of us could count on to be there for each other. Our mom probably felt bad about what she was doing to us, but instead of making her want to be there for us, it just made her more defensive about what she was doing with her new life. As for Dad, he didn't seem all that angry, but he was probably hiding it the way he had been hiding so much for so long. And obviously, that was the start of his drinking.

When her turn came, Chloe went to the University in our home state. Fortunately, the school was about 200 miles from home so she had the same sense of freedom and relief that I had felt. She loved living on the campus and went home as rarely as possible.

She and I had continued to talk by phone from time to time over the years, along with occasional emails, but we hadn't gotten together all this time. It was strange, "home" really didn't exist for either of us anymore -- in some way, the two of us were the only home that each of us had.

Chloe had finished college last year, and was now working as an assistant designer for a firm that produced high-end fashion for women. The company was located in the same city where I lived and worked. I had become a consultant selling high-tech medical devices, and was making pretty good money for someone my age.

Even though we worked in the same city, our offices were located at different ends of town, and our lives and our jobs had kept us too distracted to make an effort to get together. And even though we still had a strong bond, getting together in person might just bring up too many memories of bad times at home.

So, when Chloe called me to see if she could visit Fourth of July weekend, I was excited, but also apprehensive. It would be really nice to see her again, but suppose it didn't go well? How did she even feel about me after what I had done? There was just so much baggage.

It was funny, I kept thinking of Chloe as still being in junior high. She finished her sophomore year in high school by the time I left home, but maybe all the problems at home had kept me from paying attention to the fact that she was growing up. So, in a lot of ways, I had no idea what to expect.

* * *

WEDNESDAY -- WELCOME TO THE HOT TUB

Since the Fourth fell on a Thursday this year, it was a four-day weekend, and Chloe was eager for a change of scenery. A relationship she had been in had broken up, and there wasn't much point in just hanging around her apartment.

Chloe decided to get a jump on things by taking all of Wednesday off as well so she could head out in the morning before traffic got heavy. Technically we lived in the same city, but she lived on the outskirts on the east side, and I lived in a suburb on the west side, and with holiday traffic it would probably be a longish drive.

About a year and a half ago, I had bought a ranch-style three-bedroom house in a cul-de-sac in the suburbs. The house looked out over a lake in back; it even had a small dock and a canoe.

The nature of my job allowed me to work from home some of the time (I had set one bedroom up to serve as a home office), and in any case, there wasn't much business leading into the long weekend. I went grocery shopping in the morning, and returned home to await Chloe's arrival. The bed in the guest bedroom was made, so after I put up the groceries there wasn't much left to do.

I knew it was going to be a while. I turned on the TV, but there was nothing of any interest, so I turned it back off and kind of leaned my head back on the sofa. Without intending to, I fell asleep.

I had intended to keep an eye out for Chloe's car, and to be outside to greet her when she drove up. Instead, I found myself awakened by a knocking at the door.

Oh shit. I snapped awake and hopped up to go open the door. There was Chloe, in a T-shirt and a pair of shorts that covered her ass but not much more.

"Zach! It's great to see you!" She leaned forward and gave me a big hug.

I still felt a little off balance from his having fallen asleep, but with Chloe hugging me, I felt myself coming back to life.

I walked out with her to get her suitcase from the trunk of the car and carried it in. I took it back to the guest bedroom while she made an overdue pitstop from the drive.

* * *

It was really good to see her again, but now I was feeling even more nervous about the idea of talking about...well, everything. So when she came back out, I said, "I know you just had a long drive, but I've just been sitting inside waiting for you and I wouldn't mind getting out for a little bit. Also, I haven't eaten anything since toast and coffee for breakfast. How would you feel about a quick run to the local pizza place? They have really good pizza and we could get an early dinner out of the way."

Chloe agreed, and we headed out. Nino's was only a couple of blocks away and was a much bigger part of my lifestyle than I liked to acknowledge to myself.

Nino's was one of those old-fashioned pizza places, with metal-legged tables with Formica tops. I would take her someplace nice tomorrow, but fast and informal was just fine for now.

We ordered a large sausage and mushroom pizza. Fortunately, we were just ahead of the crowd, so it arrived fairly quickly.

Other people were beginning to arrive and settle in at the tables around us, so neither of us felt particularly like getting into an involved discussion of what had been going on with each of us since we had seen each other last.

The pizza was excellent. I had thought maybe we would have a few slices to take home with us for reheating, but all of it was gone by the time we were ready to leave.

Even on the drive home, we didn't say much. It wasn't clear whether there wasn't that much to say, or if there was way too much.

When we got back to my place, I got a bottle of wine and two glasses and led us out to the back patio so we could watch the sunset together. We were just in time, since the sun was already headed toward setting and the colors of the sunset were reaching peak intensity.

"I love sunsets," Chloe said. "I can't believe you have such a beautiful set-up here."

There was so much to talk about, but neither of us really knew how to get started; we just sat there and watched the sun slowly drop below the edge of the water. As the sun finally set, the air began to cool off noticeably.

Chloe was looking around the patio. "Zach, is that a hot tub there? The thing with the cover on it?"

"Yeah," I said. "It was here when I bought the house. I use it more often than I would have expected."

"I've never been in a hot tub," Chloe said. "Could we give it a try? This seems like perfect weather for it. And it would probably feel really good after all that stop-and-go traffic I was in getting here."

"Well, I don't have a bathing suit for you to wear. I mean, usually I'm just alone, and so..."

"So? Hot tubs aren't about bathing suits, are they? I mean if it's people you don't really know or whatever, but we're family.

"So we're brother and sister. Big deal. Right? It's not like we're perverts or anything. Although I should probably go get my bathrobe for afterwards, given how chilly it's getting. I don't need my nips sticking out from the cold."

* * *

Chloe went back to her bedroom and got the pink terrycloth robe that Mom had given her the last Christmas the family was all together. She got undressed and put on the robe and came back out.

When I saw her, I went back to my room and got the matching blue robe Mom had given me and changed and came back out. Chloe had put the bottle of wine and glasses beside the hot tub.

We pulled the cover off the hot tub. Chloe untied her robe and tossed it on one of the chairs. Then, naked, she stepped down into the tub. She turned to look at me and smiled, pausing to see what I would do.

I was still uncertain about this whole idea, but somewhat warily, I followed suit, hoping I wouldn't end up with a total boner while she was watching me.

Look, I know you're already picturing this in your mind, and it was definitely weird. There's a strange kind of aura around hot tubs. You wouldn't go walking around the streets naked, and unless you're in some kind of nudist colony, you don't normally get naked with other people, except if you're dating them. But somehow, when there's a hot tub involved, it's supposed to be very natural and all. I mean, let's face it, you know damn well you're curious about seeing the other person naked, but it's kind of like a Schrödinger's Hot Tub -- you see the other person, but at the same time you don't see them, or something like that.

Obviously, this situation meant we both were checking out each other's bodies. While pretending we weren't. So, yes, I saw pretty much everything. But this isn't the place to say anything about that. You know, Schrödinger's Law.

Okay, I might as well get this out of the way. Chloe's body was spectacular. She was an inch or two taller than I remembered her being, since I mainly remembered her from her junior high school days. (This change made it harder for me to keep thinking of her as my "little sister.") She looked lean and athletic, with toned runner's legs -- maybe she had been jogging or going out for team sports to spend less time at home. Her breasts were pretty much a perfect size, full and round, without being at all droopy or saggy, and her nipples were tight and pink. (Were they sticking out hard, or was that my imagination?) She had a wispy blonde bush that caught the dim light. All that, along with her blonde hair and blue eyes -- she looked spectacular. (I ended up with plain brown hair and hazel eyes, although I was in pretty decent shape.)

Of course, just to be clear, I didn't see any of that. She was my sister -- my little sister, so definitely not... I'm not like that. I just want you to be sure on that score.

Besides, there was too much going on for either of us to start thinking about this as a sexual thing. Being naked together was not the best time to start talking about the things that needed to be talked about.

We sat in the hot tub drinking wine but not saying much of anything, other than Chloe saying how good the water felt after her long drive.

* * *

After a while, a breeze came up. "I think it's starting to get kind of chilly, don't you?" I said. We put on our robes and headed into the living room. I used the gas starter jet to light the wood in the fireplace. We sat there on the carpet watching the fire and drinking the rest of the wine.

Now that we were settled in, I finally began. "So, how are you doing, Chloe? I gather you went through a breakup."

"Yeah, I did. It was about a month and a half ago. We had been dating for a couple of months but I realized it wasn't going anywhere. I mean he was a nice guy, decent job, very reliable, and I liked all that, but then I sort of suddenly realized how boring he was. I don't know what you think about my saying it this way, but he was kind of like Dad."

"Minus the drinking, I hope." Yes, I drank, but girls who reminded me of how Dad began drinking were a big red flag for me.

"Well, it was a little hard to tell," Chloe said. "I mean I never really saw him get drunk, but that didn't mean it couldn't go in that direction in the future. I guess that's one of the things I was wary of.

"I keep thinking back to the situation with Mom and Dad, and probably I should be pretty angry, but I don't know, it's hard for me to really blame either of them. Both of them were feeling their own pain, and when you're feeling that, it's kind of hard to pay attention to what other people need. I mean they were supposed to be our parents, for God's sake. But they both got wrapped up in their own stuff, and they blew off their job as parents. People shouldn't do that. But we're sure not the only people that has happened to.

"It would be easy for me to be pissed off at both of them, but I guess I've pretty much given up on that. I just don't want to see either of them right now. Maybe someday, but right now I just want them out of my life."

* * *

"So, how about you Zach?" Chloe said. "You've been out of college for almost three years. I kind of expected you'd be married by now, or at least living with someone or something."

"No," I said. "Maybe it's a little bit like your situation. I mean I've dated women, and even liked some of them a lot. But if they were real go-getters, really ambitious and competitive, it would just remind me of Mom and turn me off. And if they were okay with just getting along, I would just think about how pissed off I was at Dad for not... I don't really know. Not really being there, maybe? I mean I know he didn't do anything wrong, but things fell apart anyway. So I guess I've been kind of stuck.

"Maybe I just didn't meet anyone like you."

That wasn't what I meant to say. Was it? In any case, it definitely wasn't the right thing to say.

"It's sweet of you to say that," Chloe said. "I know exactly what you mean."

We had been sitting next to each other on the rug in front of the fire. Now Chloe raised her wine glass to me and I raised mine. "To us," she said, and we clicked glasses. "I've missed you, Zach. You're the best brother a sister could have." Then she turned and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

As we were finishing off our wine, Chloe took my hand in hers and we just sat there side-by-side, not saying anything more.

* * *

Half a bottle of wine was more than I was used to drinking, and it had been a long and intense day. I was feeling pretty exhausted. I got up and put the wine bottle and the glasses on the dining table. Then I helped Chloe to her feet.

We went down the hall. As I headed into my bedroom, I said, "Good night, Chloe. I'm really glad you came for the weekend."