“Yeah, Mom?”
“Sit,” I said.
He sat close and leaned and kissed my cheek, just like always. But it didn’t feel the same. Not after what I had heard that morning.
“I talked with your Aunt Gail this morning.”
“And…?”
“Don’t act all innocent with me. She told me about three weeks ago. About the pool.”
“AWWW! I KNEW IT!” He got up and paced back and forth.
“Sit!” He sat down again.
“I knew she would tell you. Even though we promised each other we would never tell anyone else.”
“This is serious, Doug. What were you thinking. She’s your Aunt, for God’s sake.”
“Not my real aunt, not like yours or Dad’s sister like.”
“That doesn’t make it any better. She’s treated you like her own son your whole life. And now you’ve crossed the line, a very serious line.”
I had to hold back because I had promised Gail I would let HER tell Doug she was pregnant. I had to respect her wishes with something that sacred.
“Aww, Mom, it just happened. That’s all. It just happened.”
“It doesn’t sound like it just happened to me. You don’t get that idea in your head on the spur of the moment.”
“Okay, so maybe for the past couple of years I wondered what it would be like.”
“Wondered what would be like?” I asked, curious about how this all came about.
“Yanno, like I wondered what Aunt Gail looked like naked. I always thought she was beautiful, even when I was real young. But then a few years ago, maybe when I got into high school, I began thinking she was sexy too.”
“Look, all boys have fantasies, but they stay fantasies. You took it too far. Way too far. I can’t believe you did that!”
“It all just kinda fell into place. I’ve looked at Aunt Gail swimming there and she’s bragged about her swimming naked at nights lots of times. So when she told me it was okay for me to swim naked, I just put two and two together when she got into the water. It was a joke to start.”
“It didn’t stay a joke, did it. It led to something that’s outrageous. How did it get so out of hand?”
“Do you really wanna know? Or are you just talking?”
I had heard Gail’s version, but I didn’t know if I’d be too embarrassed to hear any details from my own son.
“Maybe your mother isn’t someone—”
“Oh, so you ask the question and then don’t have the courage for the answer. You only want to accuse me, like it’s totally my fault and don’t want to hear my side of it. FINE!” Doug stormed out of the room and I heard his bedroom door slam.
I waited, thinking over what he had said, and realized I was wrong not to let him talk. I knocked on his bedroom door, “Doug?”
“Go ‘way!”
“I want to hear what you have to say. Please, can I come in?”
I didn’t wait, and opened the door. He was sitting at his desk with his computer. He closed its cover when I entered.
“I didn’t say come in, yanno.”
“I know, but this is important. I want to give you a chance to explain. You know we could always talk about anything.”
“So, are your going to interrogate me, or can I just talk?”
“How about a little of the first, and a lot of the second?” I smiled, and Doug smiled too.
“Yeah, that sounds fair.”