The Talk Ch. 06

"Don't you think we might run the risk of undermining their trust?" she asked. "I mean, what would that say to them? That we don't trust them enough so we have this little insurance policy in place, to keep everyone in check? And then there's the issue of performance. Can YOU have sex in front of a video camera? And who'd do the recording?"

"One at a time, honey, one thing at a time. First, we can get a tripod and have the camera at a fixed angle, which means we'd have to do the recording in a big room like the TV room or the living room. As for how it goes over with the kids... well, I can't speak for them, but I think it's a logical enough thing and makes sense. They're pretty smart, honey. I think they'd understand. As for performance issues... even though I've never done it in front of a camera before, I don't think I'd have any problems with it. And I don't think the kids would, either. Not after the show they put on for us tonight."

Kathy nodded. "All right, that last point is pretty solid. But I'm still not sure it'll go over well with the kids. That said, it IS an important issue that should be addressed. We'll ask them and see what they say. Deal?"

"Agreed," I said. "So... what else is on your mind?"

"Well, you never did really answer my question about why you're so ready to open a sexual relationship with our children. You said it's a physical thing, but you never answered my questions about issues of intimacy and trust, from a psychological point of view."

"You said that you wanted me to avoid psycho-analysis for the time-being," I countered.

"As far as *I* was concerned," Kathy said, her tone at a slight edge. "You're being evasive."

I took a deep breath through my nose and closed my eyes. "Okay," I said as I looked at her again. "Issues of trust and intimacy. Right. Well, let's see here. Whose sense of trust and intimacy are we most concerned with here, hmm? The kids or us? I don't think the kids are much of a worry, not after tonight. They both seem to have given this whole thing a lot of thought and are apparently very comfortable with each other- and us. You and I, on the other hand, are clearly worried that we wouldn't be able to trust ourselves or our children, otherwise we wouldn't have brought up the whole thing about the video taping. And our intimacy issues are pretty clear, too. The kids had no problem having sex in front of us, whereas, when we were too horny to hold back any longer, we made a bee-line for our bedroom, where we could be intimate with each other -"

"Enough!" Kathy cried out, her hands held up defensively and laughing lightly. "All right, already. I get the point. THEY are fine. It's US who've got to get our heads together."

"No, my love," I said, "it's YOU who has got to suss out how you're feeling. If you want my honest opinion, my true feelings on the matter, I'm perfectly okay with the idea of me and Sue having sex as well as you and David. As a matter of fact, I'm looking forward to it."

"Looking FORWARD?" Kathy repeated. "You say it like it's a foregone conclusion."

"Isn't it?" I retorted.

That, apparently, was the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question of the evening, for Kathy clapped her mouth shut. She had nothing to say against it. Finally, she rolled her eyes and said, "I guess it is. Damn it. That's twice you foxed me into a bold admission like that."

"I swear, honey, that one was unintentional. The shrink has left the building for the moment and this is just me, your husband Paul."

Kathy searched my eyes for any duplicity and, after a long moment, found none there. "Fine," she said. "THIS time, I believe you. Okay. So there we have it." She took a deep, pensive breath and then said, "Paul, my husband, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to bed your daughter while I, your wife, will make a concerted effort to do the same with our son."

"No shit?" I asked. "Just like that?"

"Who am I kidding here, Paul? Like you said, we all want it, so why deny ourselves what we want? It's not hurting anyone and, if we ARE all very careful, no one will ever find out. It's not like the kids are KIDS. They're OUR kids, but they're adults, too. They know how to be discreet. We're already breaking the law anyway, so why not just go in for the full monty? Why the hell not?"

To hear those words from my wife left me not only elated, but winded from the surprise that she'd actually said them. "Good lord," I breathed, "we're actually going to do this, aren't we?"

"All I have is one condition, honey. And just one."

"Name it," I said immediately.

"This is OUR bed, like you said earlier. At the end of the day, this is where WE sleep. The kids both have their own rooms. If they want to shack up with each other every once in a while, that's okay, but when it's time to go to bed, it's the two of us, alone and together. The kids can JOIN us in bed, it's big enough, but only if the two of us are there with them- either of them. The only exception is if and when either of us is out of town for some reason. Deal?" She held out her hand.

I took it and shook once. "Deal."

"When?"

"Well," I said, "you made an appointment for Sue to get a Depo shot tomorrow. Ask the doctor when it'll be safe for her to have sex again and then we'll all set a date, make it a family event."

Kathy put her hand over her eyes and said, "Oh, God, that sounds so insufferably reasonable AND depraved at the same time." She took her hand away and said. "Let's do it."

I couldn't resist the joke that suddenly bubbled to the surface of my mind-blown, adled brain. "What? AGAIN? Honey, really, I'm tapped." I pointed down to my groin. "Even viagra would be a lost cause at this point."

She grabbed my cheeks, pulled me close and kissed me. "You're incorrigible."

I hugged her close to me and said, "I'm tired, is what I am. Aren't you?"

My wife sighed, her head hung tiredly over my shoulder. "Honestly? Yeah. I'm pooped. But there's always tomorrow, hmm?"

I let her go and kissed her again quickly on the lips. "In the light of day, we'll see how much damage you caused to the little guy downstairs-"

"Little? Don't sell yourself short, honey."

"Har. Har. Anyway... right now, let's just knock off and see what tomorrow brings, okay?"

Kathy fell sideways and looked up at me with exhausted but lovingly bright eyes. "THAT sounds like a superb idea."

I reached down to the floor and found my undershorts. After I donned them, I laid down beside my wife and kissed her one more time tenderly. "I love you," I told her.

Kathy's eyes were already half-lidded, but she smiled sweetly. "I love you, too, sweetheart. Do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"Kill the lights, please?"

I got up and turned off the lights in the bathroom and the bedside lamp. By the time I returned to tell her that the job was done, I could see by the dim light of the moon that my wife was already asleep, doubtlessly on her way to dreaming of the amazing ways our family had changed in so short a period of time.

I laid down and began to breathe slowly, letting my mind wander. As exhaustion began to take me away, I heard myself sing softly, "What a difference.... a day makes..... twenty-four.... little hours....." I chuckled to myself quietly and then, finally, let sleep claim me.