The Player

I didn't hear anything on the other end. "Are you still there?"

Vicki let out a loud moan and then giggled. "Yeah ... yeah, I'm definitely there!" When she finished exhaling, she said, "Wait, that's terrible. Why'd you do that without telling him?"

"I told you, I was young. I made some decisions that were ... unwise, even if they worked out okay in the end. I knew he was applying for jobs all over the country, and I wanted to make sure he stayed around. I shouldn't have needed that, since we were already engaged, but I was insecure. I'm not letting your dad off the hook for his affairs. He was an adult, and he was responsible for his own actions. Still, sometimes I think about things I did and wonder if any of them drove him away. Another time we were really into it, and he asked, 'How'd you like to fuck TWO cousins sometime?' I don't know if he was serious, but I didn't immediately say no. Long after your dad and I split up, I remembered that time and I realized that the taboo part of the relationship was part of why I stayed with him. I'm not saying we shouldn't have gotten married, but we should have waited until we were sure we were really in it for love. Like I said when you first told me about you and Bill, you've been much wiser than I was when I was your age."

"Thanks, Mom," she said. I recognized the intonation as that of a tired pregnant woman.

"Need anything else?" I asked.

"No. We stocked up on everything I like to eat, and I have a bag ready just in case the baby's early."

If I'd ever thought there was anything wrong with Vicki and Bill being together, that idea evaporated when I saw my granddaughter Jody for the first time. I actually cried. I told Bill, "I'm sorry. Well, not sorry, really, 'cause that sounds like I would have done something different. If I'd known that the two of you were fooling around when you were young, I would have tried to stop you. But I'm sorry you had to hide what you had from me for all this time. I wish we could all have been together from the beginning."

"It's okay, Mom," Bill said.

"Don't call me Mom," I sobbed. "Call me Molly. I don't deserve to have you call me Mom. Even when you lived with us, I resented you. I divorced your father rather than let you stay in my house."

Bill put his arms around me. "You're Vicki's mom, and ever since we told you about us, you've been as good a mom as anyone else." He was tearing up too. "Besides, I haven't had any kind of mother since you and my dad split up. We're an unconventional family, and I have an unconventional mom. I like it."

A month later Vicki told me, "You're right. I want another one."

"You don't mean right now, do you? You're not supposed to sex for six weeks, and even then they don't recommend getting pregnant again that soon."

"Oh, not right now! I want to learn how to take care of one baby before I'm ready for two. But I definitely want at least one more."