The Things You Make Me Feel Ch. 11

Their brother shook his head and slammed the door.

***

Early in the morning the next day, Oliver awoke the sound of his daughter banging on his door. He put his trunks on while smiling at his nude sister, who kept on sleeping through the racket. He knew she was exhausted, taking him twice more until the wee hours of the night. He cracked a window open as the room was suffocated with sex and unlocked the door.

Together, he and Michela woke her mother up, tickling her torso over the thin white sheets. Ellie feigned sleep as long as she could before bursting out laughing and tickling Michela back. After they showered and got dressed, they joined the rest of their family for breakfast. The embarrassment from last night instantly painted Alice's cheeks in beet-red.

The siblings weren't any less mortified, realizing their own mother had observed them for a full minute making love. Specifically, the grand finale of Oliver spurting inside his pregnant sister, who was whimpering like whore as he did while submitting to him her bare tit. After they quickly gobbled their food up, the ladies strolled to the pool while the guys left to the tennis courts for a friendly match.

The women soaked in the pool by the in-water bar while Michela was wrapped around Ellie. The conversation was vapid at first, revolving around the rights of pregnant women at the workplace. Soon, however, they all excitedly discussed Kara and Dave's upcoming Vegas wedding, and the fact that all three of them had buns in the oven.

They considered possible baby names and their most likely signs before Gena and Kara, sensing some tension between the blondes, waded with Michela to the waterfall and the big pool slide. Ellie wanted to go with them, but her mother insisted she stayed.

"About last night..."

Ellie sighed, pulling her damp hair back. "Dear god, are we really going to talk about this?"

"I just wanted to make it clear that I wasn't..."

"A peeping tom?"

"Yes—I mean, no!" She shot Ellie a look, resenting the criticism. "Do you really think I came there in hopes of catching you in the..."

Her daughter shook her head in a blend of exasperation and embarrassment, especially when her mother seemed to be incapable of finishing her sentences. "Mom, it's cool. Now, I beg you to drop it before I die of embarrassment, and believe it or not, I'm closer than you might think."

"Fine; I'm dropping it. We shan't speak of it ever again, I promise."

"Thank you."

After an awkward minute of which neither had spoken, not with their mouths at least, Alice bit on her lip, seemingly torn about something.

"What?" Ellie sighed testily, almost tasting the inner struggle.

"I just have one question, and then I'm done, I promise."

Her daughter shook her head, rolling her eyes as she did. "Yeah?"

"When he was doing those things to your um... to your"—she swallowed—"your bum, were you—"

"Oh my god!" Ellie snapped, blood mounting up in her cheeks. "You said you were there for only a minute!"

"And how would you know it wasn't a minute?"

"Mom, he was... he was inside me way more than a minute. I can't believe you! You actually stood there and watched through the whole thing!" Tears flowed down her flushed cheeks. "How could you? I feel so violated..."

"I'm so sorry, baby," Alice sighed remorsefully. "I'm so ashamed of myself; I really am. I was"—she shrugged—"for the lack of a better word, intrigued, I guess."

"Intrigued?" Ellie echoed in perplexity. "Mom, this is borderline sick."

"Now don't give me that; especially, not you. You're not really going to lecture me about morals after what you've been doing with your brother, are you? It's simply human nature, to be curious about such matters. Now, are you ready to talk about this like an adult, or are you going to sulk and pout like a child?"

"Yeah! Let's be adults about it and talk some more about... oh, god..."

Alice disregard the little fit her daughter was throwing. "Were you enjoying it, when he... was doing things there?"

"Eating my ass!" Ellie cried in ire. "That's the term, Mother. You know, since we're not going to be little babies about it..."

Alice darted her eyes about, making sure no one had heard her daughter's profane mouth. She scowled at her, disliking her attempt at making it more awkward. "As you wish. Eating your ass. Were you enjoying it?"

"Couldn't you tell?!"

"I think you did," Alice murmured tentatively, genuinely reflecting. "It seemed like you were enjoying it."

"Tremendously," Ellie stressed, wanting to weird her mother out. "Now, are we done?"

"You know, Ellie, it's not like this is the first time we've talked about your love life. You told me all about Jason, and before him—"

"But this is different, isn't it? Do you really wanna be learning about your son's prowess in bed?"

"To an extent... yes. It wouldn't bother me. I have long accepted your relationship. I thought you'd he happier about this, honestly, that I'm being this accepting. I wasn't expecting you to question my morals and make me to be this depraved being..."

Ellie studied her mother's aching face, and rage began seeping from her.

It was true. She and her mother had always had a very special, very open relationship. She'd been divulging to her mother details from her sex life from the moment she'd been deflowered. Alice, on her part, was never judgmental toward her daughter. She was truly her best friend, and they had talked about Ellie's sexual explorations the way best friends do.

They would drink and laugh, praising the best while mocking the worst of Ellie's partners. Nothing was off limits. Ellie had shared the size of her boyfriends' members, the positions they'd been doing it... the lot. She had even taken interest in her parents' love life, and unlike most daughters, she was sensitive and mature about it. She had allowed her mother to share with her intimate details, and while Alice had never informed her of her husband's actual size, Ellie had gotten the impression that her father was satisfying, if not technically big.

Ellie held her mother and kissed her cheek the way a loving daughter would. "Mom, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you were perving on us or anything like that. I'm just embarrassed and mad, mostly at myself for doing that in public. It wasn't your fault that you... and I would've most likely been just as intrigued had I come across such a thing. You have nothing to be ashamed of. I am the one who should be ashamed."

"I don't want you to be ashamed, baby girl. I'm just curious, that's all."

"I understand. And if we weren't talking about Oliver, I would've told you everything by now; you know that. But this is different. He's my brother, your son. And even I felt that I could share with you stuff, I couldn't betray his trust. I couldn't do that to him."

"Fair enough. But I... you never did that thing before—at least you never told me you had—and I just wanted to know how it felt, that's all."

Ellie sighed, feeling like the villain all of a sudden. "You were right, when you said that I had never done this before him. I so would've told you if I had," she giggled. "And now that I have"—she gulped, her body tensing up—"it felt really good, Mom."

Alice's face lit up. "Yeah?"

"Oh, yeah," Ellie confirmed while splashing water on her breasts. "I don't know if it would've been that good with some other guy, but with him... it is mind-blowing."

Alice gave her daughter a sly smile. "Good to know. It makes me proud of him."

"Oh, Mom, let me stop you right there. You should be so proud of him, like walking around with his face printed out on your shirt proud of him."

Alice giggled, pleased that her daughter was so excited about it that she was carelessly volunteering information. She was going to milk her for everything, she knew. She ordered a martini with a lemon twist for herself and a coke for her daughter before she cocked a brow. "That proud, you say?"

"Mom... oh my god like proud."

"Wow," Alice remarked, pondering the best way to squeeze more out of Ellie. "You know, it's funny because Oliver doesn't strike me as a guy that level of proud. He just doesn't give me that vibe."

"Looks can be deceiving," Ellie cooed, not realizing she was being played for a fool. "Oliver is the very definition of that, in so many ways."

"Such as?" Alice said casually, her eyes belittling.

"Such as everything," Ellie whispered, disliking the disbelief on her mother's face.

"I'm sure he is, baby," Alice blurted dismissively and sipped her beverage, hoping her daughter would be aggravated enough to feel the need to do some more sharing.

Ellie shook her head with a scowl, finding her mother's tone insulting. "Oh my god, you don't believe me, do you?"

Alice smiled inwardly, knowing her daughter had taken the bait. "No, no, I believe you. It's okay. I understand."

"You think I'm bullshitting you," Ellie hissed in anger, wanting to slap her mother. "You were there last night. You saw how good he made me feel, how hard I... came for him."

Alice bobbed her head, excited about this breakthrough. "I did. It certainly looked impressive."

"It felt impressive, too. He felt impressive, if you know what I mean."

Of course Alice knew what she meant. A deaf and blind mute would know what she meant.

"Yeah, he looked... quite substantial."

"And he felt every bit as substantial," Ellie added, not realizing she was totally talking up her brother to his own mother. "Especially when..." She paused, wondering if she wasn't going too far with the details.

But Alice was not going to let her dwell on it. She was breaking new ground here with Ellie, and if she wanted to be kept in the loop, she needed her daughter to tell her everything, so in the future, they wouldn't need to tiptoe through that awkward, tentative phase.

"When... he finished?"

Ellie swallowed and jerked her head up and down bashfully, feeling awfully embarrassed.

"It's okay. Don't be embarrassed." Alice caressed her damp blond hair lovingly. "I saw his semen flowing from you when he pulled out."

Her daughter gulped again, blood rising in her cheeks. "Mom, don't you dare tell Oliver that we've been talking about this. He'd kill me."

"Have I ever betrayed your trust? We're best friends, baby! And best friends don't go and tell, now do they?"

Ellie returned her mother her cunning grin. She dove into the water and sipped her coke after she rose, finding both actions extremely refreshing. She was in a much better mood now.

Alice was delighted to see her daughter perking up. Truthfully, she knew that she'd crossed a line a parent should never. Taking interest in her daughter's love life was one thing. Prying into said daughter's love life when her own son was her playmate was another thing entirely. Yet in many ways, Alice had been going through the same things Ellie had. Oliver's five-year exile had triggered a dissonance within her, as well; not as radical as her daughter's, but a meaningful one nonetheless. He'd returned a new man, both physically and mentally, so different from the boy she'd raised. It had changed her.

Last night had proven just how much. By all accounts, she should have been disgusted, revolted by the sight of her children fornicating, and had it been Dave or Jack nutting inside Ellie, she had no doubt she would have. But watching Oliver doing these things to her daughter, using her, pleasuring her, releasing in her... she wasn't. Sure, she'd been shaken up, but she wasn't disturbed, at least not to the extent she should have been.

"Ellie, can I ask you a question?"

"Like I could stop you."

Alice smirked at the quip. "Is it... different, being with him? Does it feel different? Because people on the internet claim it is, that the taboo makes it more... well, more."

Ellie ruminated on it while pressing the cool bottle to her perspiring skin. "I'm not sure. It's different, yes, but I don't know if it's because of the taboo, or because I've never been this in love, or maybe it's because of both; I can't be sure. But it is different. Almost... incomparably different."

"More powerful?"

Ellie replied with a sly grin and polished off her drink.

Her mother giggled as she finished her beverage, as well. "I suppose you do it often, don't you?"

Ellie chuckled. "Wow, you're really intrigued by it, aren't you?"

Alice smiled sheepishly in response, getting embarrassed.

Ellie gave a sigh, feeling like the bad guy again. "Mom, I'm getting more action than hookers. And I'm not talking about the high-end girls, either. I'm talking about those poor Eastern-European girls that are trafficked and cuffed to the bed."

They laughed boisterously, amused by Ellie's metaphors.

"Now, assuming we're done with the questions for today, let's go see what my rascal of a daughter is doing."

***

Later that day, just before dusk, Dan and Oliver returned from a long stroll. Dan entered his and Alice's room while his youngest knocked on his brother's door. He and his father had talked about him needing to right his relationship with Jack. His brother had been ignoring him throughout the vacation, the way he had since he'd beaten the crap out of him months ago. At the tennis court, he had made no attempt to refine his hostility towards him, and on several opportunities, he had seemed to target Oliver's torso instead of the deuce court while serving.

Gena answered the door, her eyes widening with surprise. "Hey, Oliver."

"Hi," he answered nervously. Gena had always been civilized with him, but he knew it was merely a facade, which he was totally cool with. "Is he here?"

"Jack!"

Gena left to lie on the bed, and her fiancé took her place by the threshold, a grim expression on his face.

"Hey," Oliver said, and when receiving no comment, he gulped. "Can you step out for a second?"

Jack stepped outside and closed the door behind him.

"Listen, I've been talking to Dad, and he is not happy with the way things are between us, and I have to say, I'm not, either. We're leaving after Ellie has had the baby, and so... I'd really like to square thing away before we go. I'm not comfortable with the way we left things, and if we can't work it out while I'm still here, I doubt we will after I'm gone."

Jack snorted, oozing contempt. "It's cute, you know, that you actually thought you would waltz in here with that speech, and just like that, I'd forget you ever knocked our sister up, and—"

"Hold on, I'm not asking you to forget anything. I don't regret a single thing that's happened between me and Ellie, and I'm sure as hell not asking for forgiveness."

"Then what the fuck are you doing here?"

Oliver sighed. "Jack, I'm giving you, giving us both, a chance to bury the hatchet. I don't want us to be estranged to the end of our days. I'm your brother, always will be, whether you like it or not. I'm going to be your kids' uncle, just as you'll be my kids' uncle. Is this really what you want?"

"Oliver, you decided that for us the moment you started messing with Ellie, who may I remind you is your god damn sister and MY fucking twin!" He glowered at his brother while shaking his head in disgust. "The fuck?! What, you thought I would be like: 'let bygones be bygones' 'cause you wanted to show everyone that you were the bigger man?! Fuck you! You crossed a line, pervo. And it makes me sad to see that apparently I'm the only one in this family who lives by a code of ethics that—"

"What are you rambling about? You're talking to Ellie, aren't you? So spare me your hypocrisy and double standard. You know, your twin has a mind of her own, and she's a part of this just as I am. Your dubious code of ethics seems highly selective, if you don't mind me saying."

"Let me tell you something about Ellie, something I doubt you'll understand: she is my twin sister. Do you know what that means? It means we grew up together our whole lives, practically inseparable until college. Whether she admits it or not, we have a bond, the kind that only twins have, and we have history; history I so would've wanted to overlook, but sadly, I can't. For better or worse, she's a part of me, just as I'm a part of her. If I could've cut her out of my life, I would've; believe me, I would've. However, with you, Oliver... I have no such problem."

"As simple as that?"

"You'd better believe it. You shouldn't have gone there, Oliver. There's a line that we as men in an enlightened society don't cross. We do not fuck our sisters, no matter how confused and sick they are, even if they're begging for it. And we're sure as hell not putting babies in them."

"Got it," Olive said dryly and started away. "Thanks for the sermon, reverend. See you at mass next week."

"Eat shit."

"Right back at ya."

***

September

"Fuck, I'm beat," Dave panted, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

He paused his music player and pocketed his earphones as he got off the treadmill. He took a draft of water from the bottle and hooked the moist towel on his shoulder before he walked across the gym. He stood by the pull-up bar, observing his brother doing endless pull-ups. Legs horizontal to his upper torso while wearing a weight vest, Oliver hauled himself up until his chest touched the bar. He slowly lowered himself before he again rose in the same controlled pace.

Dave sighed in exasperation, knowing his little brother could go on forever. "Bro, let's go! We've been here forever!"

"Ten minutes," Oliver rasped, lowering himself while widening the stance of his grip to better target his back.

"Ten minu—you know, you're being obsessive. For fuck sake, you're not a fatass anymore. I'm getting exhausted just from watching you."

"Then don't"—he pulled himself up with great effort, his breathing strained—"watch."

"Oliver, I don't feel so good. I think my blood sugar is dropping." Dave propped his chest against one of the poles that supported the pull-up bar and tugged on Oliver's foot as the latter was trying to pull himself up. "Oh god, I think I'm fainting... need"—he slipped down against the pole—"Milk Dud"—he slipped farther—"asap..." He collapsed to the floor and pathetically convulsed.

Oliver tried completing his set, but his brother's hysterical sense of drama cracked him up halfway up. Laughing, he released the bar, and his sneakers hit the parquet with a thud. "Get up, you moron. People are staring. Mostly women."

Miraculously, Dave's blood sugar levels seemed to rise, for he ceased writhing almost instantly. Wearing an idiotic grin on his face, he raised his arm, and his brother hoisted him up.

"Feel better?" Oliver quipped while unlatching the weight vest.

"You know, there was a time I gave a crap about those fat, sweaty chicks, but now that I'm a married man..."

Oliver chuckled. "You've been married for two weeks, dude."

"Yeah? So?"

Oliver shook his head in mirth and guzzled his bottle of water, recalling the crazy Vegas wedding that had indeed taken place in an Elvis chapel.

While his brother was hydrating himself, Dave scoped the gym out, particularly, the women. "That one isn't half bad," he mused, eyeing the black babe who was doing sit-ups. "My wife is hotter though. Way hotter."

"Okay, you really need to stop."

"Stop? Stop what?"

"My wife's this, my wife's that... we get it: you've got a wife."

"Oh, poor Oliver," Dave sighed in mock empathy, throwing an arm over his shoulder. "Don't hate the player; hate the game."

Chuckling, they fetched their backpacks and headed out, not before getting a couple of protein shakes. They walked across the street to Dave's new car, if new was the correct term: a secondhand ford fiesta nabbed from a used-car dealer for as low as $4,000.