She was silent for a moment then said, ‘Ok baby, I promise.’ I pulled the car back on the highway.
After a bit, she asked, ‘I’m just shocked. Don’t you think that’s disgusting?’
‘Honestly mom, not really. Curtis is one of the smartest, nicest, well-adjusted people I have ever met. If that’s the product of mother-son mating, perhaps the world could use a little more of it. Anyway, I have found most societal taboos to be hardly anything worth freaking out over.’
We drove the rest of the way home in silence. I wasn’t sure if mom was mad at my attitude about incest or if her mind was just blown by the story itself. It was getting late by the time we got home. We watched tv for an hour then she went to bed. I crash soon after.
The next day was busy for both of us. I visited friends I hadn’t seen in the last few months while mom was out running errands. We met back at the house for dinner and told each other about our day. Afterwards, we walked down to a local ice cream parlor to treat ourselves. We sat in a booth eating our cones when I decided to ask about last night.
‘Were you mad at me yesterday?’
‘No honey, why would you say that?’
‘We didn’t talk after I told you about Curtis. I thought it was because of something I said.’
‘Oh no, baby… well, I guess I was a little wierded out by your attitude. I mean, you don’t think sex between a mother and son is disgusting?’
‘I understand it is natural to feel reverence for your mom. She’s your protector, provider, disciplinarian. Those emotions normally stomp out any sexual feeling. This is true. But under certain circumstances, I find it conceivable a mother and son could develop an attraction to each other.’
‘I see. In that case, can you imagine a situation where you and I become lovers?’
I laughed mid-lick into my butter pecan cone. ‘Moooom!’
‘I’m serious.’
‘You’re a beautiful, sexy, 36 year old woman. If we were estranged for a few years then met again, I’d be on your tail in a second.’
‘Oh, really?’
‘Yep. You would not have to worry about lack of swimmers, either. Your pool would be overflowing.’
Mom laughed out loud at my ‘swimmers’ reference. ‘I guess I can see that. You’re the type of young man who could fill about any pool he wanted. I couldn’t say no.’ She beamed a beautiful smile at me as she reached out with a napkin and wiped a bit of ice cream off my nose. ‘But I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if we, ah-hem, did it and it drove you away like it did Curtis’s brother.’
‘Mom, if we, as you say, did it, it would be a totally different situation. I would be helping you make a baby. I would love and respect you every bit as much afterwards as I do now. If anything, I’d be around even more.’
‘Woah,’ I thought, ‘this conversation is going too far.’
‘We could never tell your father.’
‘Of course, I would never dream of it.’
She looked at me in silence for a moment, shook her head, smiled and said, ‘You’re something else.’
I breathed a sigh of relief. The tension of the last couple days seemed to vanish. I felt now she and I could relax for the rest of my break. We held hands in a sweet, innocent manner as we walked home. We decided to stay in and watch a movie. I felt a little grimy from the long day. We both agreed we’d clean up and meet in the den.