The Jumping-Off Point

As for Claire, she got a lot out of it too... She valued the diversity of input and no longer had to carry heavy tables.

Today, Claire, the project leader, was in a particularly good mood. She hummed softly while she tied gift baskets on a plastic table. Under her innocent facade lurked a sinful, secretive grin. Nobody else in the room knew, but her son's jizz from yesterday had just fallen out of her. Eeee! Hehe.

*****

5:54. Claire read the dashboard in the SUV as she pulled into the garage. Noah's Mustang was surprisingly parked next to her. She rolled her eyes lovingly, thinking back to when her husband swore spending forty-thousand dollars on a sports car was actually an "economical" and "practical decision" for the family. She obviously wasn't going to stop him from getting his dream car after how much he did for the family, but she sat there and played devil's advocate like she knew he wanted her to.

"Hey!"

"Hey."

Claire barged through the front door with bags of groceries. "You're fine. Stay on the couch." She dismissed the offer of help.

"You sure?"

"Yeah!" The bags were dropped in the kitchen. Then Claire walked back to the living room with a huff. "I didn't expect you to be home."

"Oh. Why not?"

"I thought you had chess after school today?"

Allen turned away from his tablet and stretched. "No. That's on Tuesdays now."

"Oh, okay. That makes sense."

The room quieted as Allen went back to poking at his tablet.

Claire scoured her brain for more questions. "Did you try out your brother's birthday present?"

"Yeah, it fit."

"Good, I'm glad the case worked out!" Claire was thankful she guessed the right size of Allen's laptop for Daryl.

As a mother, she found it hard for her two babies to be away from each other. It was even harder two weeks ago when she had to delay Allen's birthday party by a week to make sure Daryl would be home on break. As usual, Allen shrugged off the suggestion and said he was fine with his older brother not being there. But Claire knew better. "So, how was school?"

Allen looked up again. "Good."

"Happy to hear it," Claire smiled. "Anything I need to sign? Permission slips? Prom forms?... Suspension paperwork?"

And there it was. The corners of Allen's lips curled imperceptibly, and his blue eyes lit up a shade brighter. His smile was the reason Noah referred to him as "Mona Lisa" sometimes when they talked about Allen in private.

Claire understood Allen—or at least better than anyone else. When Allen was young, his one-word answers and lack of social involvement were concerning. Over time, it became clear that he wasn't emotionally disconnected in any way. He was polite, looked people sincerely in the eye, had great social awareness, and had a couple of good friends. According to Daryl, he had a girlfriend once, too.

He's just a quiet kid. He's an introvert. That's who he is, the mother always said to herself.

Allen was a brilliant kid who would rather sit back and observe a room rather than be the center of attention. For years, Claire struggled to understand him. She understood him now, though.

It had taken a lot of work, but they had developed their own type of communication. From just a slight change of tone or a shift in his eyebrow, Claire knew what Allen was truly meant. As Claire liked to recall, once, when Allen's face was buried in a book about indigenous tribes in Africa, he ran into the kitchen to excitedly tell her how native Namibians could distinguish between twenty variants of the same shade of green. Claire replied smugly, "Well... I can distinguish between forty variants of when you answer a question, 'Good.'" The sides of Allen's mouth curled then, too.

"One more question. Do you know where your dad is?"

"In the shed."

"Ohhh... Doing what?" Watching Allen's ears and eyebrows subtly rise, Claire nodded. "Yeah, I don't know what he's up to either."

"When's dinner?" Allen caught her before she closed the sliding back door.

"Uhhh, probably 6:30?? I'm just making a rice dish. It'll be fast."

"Okay. Thank you."

Allen smiled appreciatively. Or, at least Claire read it that way. She tiptoed over to the couch, kissed his cheek, and jostled his dense, black hair—annoying him, as her motherly duty demanded.

-

"What's up, sexy builder man...?"

"WHAT? That is the worst roleplay I've ever heard," Noah chortled, slamming his drill down. "Builder man?"

"No! Wait, wait, wait. Let me try again." Claire composed herself and forced a seductive tone. "Excuse me, sir. Are you the handyman? Because I need a man who's willing to get-"

"Don't you dare say it!" Noah keeled over onto his workbench, his face bright red. His wife leaned against him to laugh. They hugged and kissed deeply, followed by a few pecks on the lips.

"How was your day?" She scratched his back.

"Eh, same as usual. No complaints. We had a birthday in the office, though. So, we all had cake."

"Free cake. Sounds like a better day than usual?"

"Yeah..." Noah patted his stomach.

Noah had a bit of a "dad-bod," but Claire found it mature and unbelievably sexy on him. "So, what did you rush home to build today?"

"Well, nothing right now. Well—I am building something, just not the main thing I'm going to build. These are just footings."

"For what?"

"The new shed."

"Oh..." Claire mulled. "We're going ahead with that, are we? I thought we were waiting on that till later in the year?"

"We are. We are. I just wanted to get the foundation set now. Now that I know the size of the riding mower I'm getting, I can actually get the blueprints set."

Oh, I'm sure, Claire rolled her eyes. This was the man she had been married to for decades. And he had wonderful traits. She also knew once an idea burrowed in his mind, his excitement and impatience took over. There was no point in trying to slow him down. "Well, looks fun."

"Did you wanna talk about anything?" Noah sensed the unease in her stance.

"Yesss... But, later would probably be better."

"Uh-oh." Noah winced. "Am I in trouble?"

"You're always in trouble." Claire kissed his neck and hugged him from behind. "No, it's just something I've wanted to talk to you about. Not urgent or anything."

"Okay."

Claire walked back across the yard and went inside.

*****

Dinner for a family of three was normal at this point. They had done it enough times. But with Daryl making a guest appearance for the last week, tonight felt incomplete. It sounded too quiet.

Claire and Noah conversed while eating their rice and broccoli. They took turns asking Allen questions, who otherwise would've been content to eat in peace and listen to them talk.

"Did you see that Rose, from down the street, got a new puppy?"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. It's a Doberman."

"Doesn't she have a cat?"

"Yeah, haha," Noah swallowed. "We'll see how that shakes out."

"Fluffy dinner," Allen nonchalantly shrugged. Noah cracked up and clanged his fork on his plate. Claire covered her mouth and shook her head. "Aww, no! Ha! Don't say that!"

While she ate, Claire found herself glancing at the empty wooden chair where Daryl usually sat. Their sex life was private. They never flirted or discussed their favorite activity around the house. That was reserved for when they were both horny, naked, and alone.

During dinner was usually when Claire would glance down the table to find Daryl's eyes lingering on her chest or face. Whenever she would catch him, his cheeks turned pink. They would both look away, then return to eating their food. It would be after the table was cleared when Claire would send him one simple text: "Laundry room at 10?" "Shed at 11:15?" Or, if Allen and Noah were going to be out for the evening: "Pool after everyone leaves?" "Your room when they head out?" Claire always received the same reply: "Okay."

~~

Dinner these days was different—in many ways. Claire eyed up Allen. He was reserved, but he was just as happy as everyone else in the family. He doesn't like this, Claire deduced. There was no way Allen liked being the only "kid" at the table. Suddenly, a young man, who you could easily forget was in a room with you, was the center of attention.

As sorry as she felt for him being in this position, Claire knew it was good for her son. Yes, she accepted who he was and loved what made him unique. But Claire wanted to know more about him. She didn't like having to pull words out of him every day. Daryl was socially popular, a well-liked player on the baseball team, and he had an active dating and party life in high school. Allen... He could be more like Daryl if he wanted to. He needs to take up more space for himself and open up more!

Claire was forever perplexed. She folded her hands and studied her son. Allen had her straight, white teeth and smile—when he chose to show it. He had her full lips and deep-set, blue eyes. He had a more chiseled and angled face, rather than a smoother one like she did. And his skin was lighter. The real anomaly was his hair. Claire had the same thick, black head of hair when she was a child, only hers turned brown when she was five. Allen's forgot to turn.

Allen was the best-looking member of the family, Claire believed. But because of his passive demeanor, people tended not to notice. Some people noticed, though. Once when Daryl asked Allen if he wanted to go to a party with high school seniors, Allen had surprisingly said yes. And when Daryl came home that night, he immediately staggered to Claire, who had been waiting up in the kitchen. Claire remembered Daryl telling a story of how Allen actually drank beer, talked to people, and even gave Katherine Sanders his phone number when she asked. Claire didn't understand until Daryl showed off Katherine's Facebook profile, and she saw the gorgeous blonde, who was two years older than Allen.

"Why did she flirt with your brother?" Claire asked, sounding unintentionally rude.

"I don't know. He was just standin' there, and I guess she found him mysterious," Daryl laughed, then ran off to tease and congratulate his little brother.

That night, Claire pushed open Allen's cracked-open door to see him prancing about his room and listening to music. When she asked him how his night was, he smiled widely. "It was a great night! Daryl's friends are COOL."

The following weeks, Claire nosily nudged Daryl to see if anything more had happened between Allen and Katherine. Daryl honestly didn't know. "Katherine just said, 'Yeah, your brother's nice.' And that was it." Claire knew Allen wouldn't kiss and tell. He barely told anything ever. But since then, she and Noah encouraged Allen to have a beer or two at family parties and events. It was entertaining to watch him speak in full paragraphs.

*****

The soft penis grazed Claire's smooth, wet, butt cheeks. She felt it wag back and forth against her while the squishy head tickled her. There was security and warmth in the manly arms wrapped around her ribs.

"You were amazing."

"Mmm-hehe. So were you." Claire closed her eyes and turned her head up into the stream of the hot shower. Noah's lips met hers, and they made out, slipping their tongues into each other's mouths.

"I missed you this last week," Noah cooed.

"I TOLD YOU..." Claire gently scolded, "I didn't have to do anything with him once you got home from work. You could've asked me to take off literally every night. It's not like-"

"I know, Claire. I wasn't-"

"Hun, you should've just told me! Daryl and I were home alone together every day for hours. What did you think we were doing, watching TV??"

"Sweetie, I'm- I'm not mad AT ALL. Haha. I wanted you guys to have your time together. And I'm glad you did. I know how important it is and that you've been missing it." Noah kissed her again. "I was just saying I missed you. It's a good thing to do sometimes. And I also missed this-"

"Eeeh!" Claire jumped as the slapping palm stung her butt. She squirmed until he released his grip. "And I already figured you missed that. 'Cause every night when I got into bed, you cuddled up right next to it." She kissed him again.

Claire relaxed more of her weight back into her husband's embrace. She felt the water run down her skin. "By the way, I told him you encouraged me to play with him every night. So, he kind of knows it was a 'gift' from you to both of us."

"Yeah, he told me you told him. He thanked me when we dropped him off."

"Good."

"I knew that between Allen's party and family stuff, you guys probably wouldn't have had a whole lotta time otherwise," Noah explained. "So, you didn't tell me... Did he enjoy his break? Like, did he still enjoy it as much as he used to? Either way, I don't think hiking with me was the highlight of his week home."

"A: I'm sure he loved hiking with you. He actually told me he did. He talked about it for an hour. And, B: Yes. He enjoyed his- Let's just say he took even fuller advantage of his break with me than usual."

"Well, I'm glad, haha. Did youuu have fun?"

Claire's face split into a cheeky grin. Her eyes were shut under the showerhead. "Yesss. I had fun, too."

"Really? Who would've guessed?" Noah shook her in his arms, cajoling her. "I was actually a tad horny last night. But I figured you were wiped out."

"God, yeah." Claire nodded and wiped the water from her eyes. "He didn't have an off button last week. You'd think three or four times a day, would've ended him. But, no, he wanted to go to the shed every night, too. Honey, I think we raised a horny twenty-year-old."

"Hm! Well, to be fair, his mom's a horny forty-four-year-old." Noah reacted to his wife's challenging glance. "I mean, horny thirty-six-year-old?"

"That's better." She kissed him. "And, yes... I am." Claire slipped out of his arms and stepped out of the shower.

"I have a feeling I'm gonna find out again tonight just how horny you are."

Claire looked back and offered an entitled shrug. "Maybe... If you're lucky."

Noah snickered and rinsed the shampoo from his hair. His eyes remained on his wife while she toweled off her slender, naked body. "You know that I try to stay out of the details, but can you just answer this?" His wife nodded. "When you were in the shed, you didn't use the workbench again, did you? That's my one holy place."

Claire pondered into space, reliving a particular night she shared with her son in the shed.

The sweat from his toned chest soaking her back. His hot skin sliding against hers. Their legs flailing and feet tangling together. Her stomach and body pinned down under his lean figure. Claire expending all her energy to tilt her hips and butt higher in the air. Him taking advantage of the deeper access inside her with his bare, throbbing cock.

His swollen testicles slapping against her upper thighs and pussy lips. His hands trapped under her, squeezing and kneading her firm breasts and hard nipples. The corners of their heads pressing together, so throughout every powerful thrust, their flirty, seductive eye-contact was unbreaking.

And the smell. The aroma of their salty sweat, leaking juices, and hot breaths steaming up the small shed. Their smell. Their noses and lungs inhaling it with every high-pitched moan or low grunt begging the other to fuck them harder.

"I laid one of the pool floats on the floor each time," Claire recalled. "We stayed on that," she answered honestly.

"That's all I needed to hear." Noah wiped the imaginary sweat from his brow and washed his chest with soapy hands.

*****

"Whatcha reading?"

Noah spoke into his book. "A biography on Elon Musk."

"Really?" Claire rubbed cream on her face. Her husband was in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms, reading until he was sleepy, as usual. "Do you like him?"

"Eh. I mean, I like some of his inventions. I don't need to like somebody to read about them anyway."

"That's true." Claire fidgeted with her fingers. Her heart rate was higher than usual for eleven o'clock.

Noah got up from bed and walked over to the bookcase in the corner of their bedroom. Claire was standing in the middle of their carpeted room, unmoved. Noah knew that stance. "Is there something you want to talk about?"

"Umm, yeah," Claire replied as if the thought just came to her. "It's about what I wanted to talk to you about earlier."

"Okay...?" Noah took a seat in his bedside chair.

"You know, I- I was thinking about how Allen turned eighteen a couple of weeks ago."

Immediately, Noah knew what conversation they were about to have. "Oh?" He had been wondering if she would ever mention it. They had never talked about it before.

Claire realized he knew where she was headed. And heart was in her throat. "Well? What do you think?"

"Sweetie," Noah sighed. He had been preparing for this night. "I don't think Allen is like Daryl."

"Wait, what?" Claire was caught off-guard. What does that mean?

"I've thought about this carefully. I don't think Allen is the type. Think about it... Do you really think he's into the mom-son fantasy—the taboo of it? Or even the kink-space? Or any of it?" Noah lamented. "Daryl is like every other horny boy his age. Actually, much more than that. Remember how obvious it was that he wanted you? Allen's had girlfriends. He may have even had sex. I wouldn't discount it. But he's just not wired the way guys like Daryl are. I'm not even wired the way Daryl is. I wouldn't have done it with my mom. If Allen were really into sex, he'd be out at parties more, he'd be in after-school clubs that weren't all guys, and he'd be dating a lot more."

"He is into women. He's just quiet about it. Remember, we used to think he was gay or asexual when he was younger. Remember that? Then next thing we knew, he had a girlfriend."

"I know he's into women. Believe me, I'm not doubting that. It's just, I catch Daryl checking you out. All the time. It's something men naturally do when they're interested. I've never seen Allen do that. Have you?"

"No." Claire turned away slightly. She moved her jaw and thought before speaking. "But, I just know he'd be into it. I can feel it."

"Sweetie," Noah spoke softly, "I'd be happy for both of you if that was true. Quite frankly, it's probably more important for him to learn from you than it was for Daryl. I just don't see it in the cards."

Claire swayed with her arms crossed. "So... what? I give one of my sons all of me? Enjoy a special relationship and bond with one of them, but not the other? How is that fair?"

Noah scratched his chin. "I don't know if that's the right way to think about what 'fair' means, though. I mean, the point of doing this is—yeah, it's a lot of fun for you, and pretty great for me too—but the point of doing this is for our son to have a great relationship with his mom. And that might mean one thing for Daryl and something different for Allen. The fair thing would be to love them equally, but in the way they need it. "

No, but- You're not getting it! You just- Claire's scrunched nose showed her disappointment and angst. It was obvious how careful and thorough her husband was. She could tell he was upset for her. And it made her love him even more. Still, his diagnosis was hard to hear.

"Look. I know you might be thinking that I'm imagining things because I want it to happen." She watched her husband admit it was true. "I'm not, though. I feel it in my bones that he wants it, too. You're the one always calling me 'The Allen Whisperer,' so believe me when I say, I can feel it. He may be all shy and quiet, and no he doesn't check me out, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have the same desires Daryl has."

Noah sunk into his padded chair.

Claire let her husband think. Her anxious toes played piano on the carpet. Are you gonna tell him now? The guilty wife and mother had to come clean at some point, and now seemed like the right moment. "You're right—I don't know if he's into me. There's no evidence of that. But I do know he's into mom-son. The fantasy of it, at least."