Family Tradition

But Joe was adamant that his marriage to Millie had been completely worth it, even with the knowledge of what was to come. If this situation had been presented to me as an outsider I would have told the guy: 'Run. You already know she's going to cheat on you.' But not only was I not running, I was pretty much sure I was going to do it. I love Mary that much.

*****

The week crawled along. I was pretty much useless at work unless someone literally grabbed me and got my attention. Everyone knew I was getting married on Saturday so it was chalked up to nerves and everyone was very supportive. I was thankful for that as it allowed me to focus on the real reason for my distraction.

I'm not normally a procrastinator but I found myself unable to pull the trigger on the phone call, and by now it was Thursday afternoon. A decision would have to be made, and made soon.

I was still having trouble with the idea of Mary having sex with another man, even 20+ years in the future. Several times I had decided to go for it only to have that image flash in my mind and I'd waver again.

I had heard nothing from Mary or her family after my conversation with Joe. True to their word they had left me alone to make this decision, which was probably the most important one I'd ever make. They had brought no pressure whatsoever on me one way or the other, which I had actually expected. It was explained to me so that I could understand it, and then the rest was up to me.

I wondered what Mary was going through. Had I somehow harmed our relationship by taking so long to make the decision? Would Mary think I didn't love her as much as I did since I hadn't more readily agreed to this? I certainly hoped that wasn't the case; that she would understand the internal struggle I was experiencing. That would remain to be seen.

I stopped and picked up some takeout on the way home and resolved to make a decision and make the phone call. I ran it all over in my head but in the end it came down to a single question: Was I better off with Mary or without her, even with the foresight afforded me? After that the decision was easy to make.

I dialed Joe and Millie's home number. Mary answered, apparently seeing the caller ID because she knew it was me.

"Hi honey. We've been waiting for your call."

Her voice did not have the confident tone that it usually carried, so she was obviously worried about what decision I had made.

"Hi Mary." I paused just a moment for effect. "May I speak with your mother, please?"

The smile on her face was clear even over the phone.

"You sure can, baby."

*****

Millie knocked on the door at precisely 6:30pm. It had been decided that she would come over to our apartment and then out evening would start from there. I felt this would be awkward enough without my having to pick her up with Joe and Mary there, not to mention taking her back in the morning.

"Hi Mrs...I mean, um...I'm nervous."

"Henry?"

"Ma'am?"

"Since your cock is going to be in my pussy before the night is over, let's stick with first names, okay?"

"Yes ma...Millie."

"Can I come inside now?"

"Of course."

I backed away from the door feeling pretty stupid. I hadn't been this nervous since, well, ever before. Suddenly I was even worried about my ability to perform when the time came.

"Henry, I understand this is a little strange, but I'm just a woman like any other."

"Millie, I appreciate you wanting to put me at ease, but I promise that you are not just a woman like any other, at least not to me. But I will try to think of you that way."

"Would a drink calm your nerves, do you think?"

"I probably shouldn't have any more than I already have."

We both laughed and that seemed to break the tension. I took Millie's overnight bag and took it into the master bedroom and set it on Mary's dressing bench, and then we left to go out to dinner.

We ate at a small Mexican food restaurant, taking a booth back in the corner so we could talk.

"Henry, let's talk about what's going to happen later."

"By later you mean..."

"When we're fucking, yes."

"Okay."

I was a little taken aback by how open she, and really the whole family, was about it. No euphemisms, no polite words, just flat out 'this is what it is'. I had grown up in a family where talking about it was tantamount to doing it on the living room floor in front of the parish priest - it just wasn't done. And to be honest, I liked this new way much better. You never had to worry about saying the wrong thing.

"Henry, when we get into bed I want to make clear exactly what I expect, and you should do the same. I don't want there to be any confusion."

"All right, Millie. I think I'd be more comfortable if you started."

"Certainly. The important thing is that I don't want you to hold back in any way. I don't want you to feel like you need to stop and think 'Is this something I should do with Mary's mom?' If you want to do it, do it."

"Anything?"

Yes, Henry, anything. I'm a woman that loves sex of all types. I plan to suck your dick and I expect you to lick my pussy, and several times each. Mary tells me you're quite good at it so I hope to be impressed. It's never been a particular skill of Joe's. I've tasted myself many times so will have no issue taking you in my mouth after you've been inside me or kissing you after you go down on me. And of course, the one that always seems to be the biggie, I absolutely expect you to fuck me in the ass. I enjoy it a lot; in fact, I'm the one that convinced Mary to try it with you and you know how much she enjoys it. In short, I'm open to absolutely anything, so just do it."

I was stunned by the speech she had just laid out for me, and the smile on her face suggested that's precisely what she was going for.

"I don't...really know what to say."

"Sex is supposed to be fun, Henry, and I intend for us to have fun. Now is there anything that you want to do that you're concerned I might object to, or anything you aren't comfortable with me doing to you?"

"No ma...Millie. After what you just said I'm not sure there is anything else." She smiled. "Millie, can I ask you how you feel personally about this whole thing? Or maybe the better question would be how you felt about it when you were the bride-to-be."

"The girls in the family are brought up from an early age knowing what's going to happen. I was actually very excited about the idea, just like Mary is. I don't know if she let you know that."

"Not really. She made it clear it was required and that she didn't have an issue with it, but she didn't say anything about being excited by it."

"Well, she is. She would watch if she could, and even asked if we could record it. I told her it was something private between you and me and not for her eyes."

"And you had no problems about it affecting your marriage with Joe, with him having this intimate relationship with your mother?"

"I had no concerns whatsoever. It has brought all of us closer together. It's just one or two nights in a long and happy marriage, and he was with the woman I love more than any in the world. I was happy to share him with her, and vice-versa."

I hadn't considered that angle, that Mary was not just choosing to share me with her mother, but also to share her mother, the woman that raised her and was closer to her that any other person in the world, with me. It was actually something of an honor for me, though I hadn't realized it until just now. Wait a minute...

"Did you just say one or two nights? I thought this was a one-shot deal."

"The family takes these occasions to...renew, shall we say, some of those moments. While I'm spending tonight in your bed, where do you think Joe will be?"

"He told me he'd be getting drunk and sleeping it off in a hotel because it would be hard to think about you and me together."

"No, darling; Joe is right now in the company of my mother."

"He's with Agnes? Are they..."

"Possibly. That's entirely up to them."

"But Agnes is, what, in her sixties."

"So what? My parents are still very sexually active. Mom may not get wet on her own anymore but they have things to help with that, and once that's taken care of she very much still enjoys sex. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they get intimate."

I just lowered my eyes and shook my head as this new information filtered through my brain. So I might have to endure Mary doing this again? Dammit. As if reading my mind, Millie continued.

"Yes, that means Mary might actually do this twice, but don't forget that would mean you'd get me twice. Henry, I know this is all quite a lot to take in, but we've been doing this for generations. We've never had a divorce or had a spouse stray, and none of the men to my knowledge has ever expressed regretting their choice."

"What about the next morning? I mean, you're going to leave my place after having sex with me and meeting up with your husband, who in all likelihood just had sex with your mother. Won't that be awkward?"

"Only if we let it be, but the fact is that what we do brings us all so close that it feels perfectly natural. And we have what I guess you would call a ritual that helps with that."

"A ritual?"

"When I leave your apartment tomorrow morning, Henry, I expect to be well and thoroughly fucked. But before I go I will climb into your shower and clean myself thoroughly. I have everything I need in my overnight bag. I'll put on an outfit selected just for this, which is also in my bag. Then I will go back to my house and present myself to my husband for his pleasure. He will aggressively and assertively do whatever he feels is necessary to make me his woman again. And then we will go and give our beautiful daughter away to the man of her dreams. And then our lives will go on as they have for the past 24 years as a devoted couple very much in love with each other. Nothing has ever threatened that and nothing ever will."

As all of this worked its way into my psyche, one thought kept coming into my brain: I didn't want to live without Mary, and if this was the cost then I could live with it. I decided at that moment to stop worrying and go with it. I raised my head and made eye contact with Millie.

"Millie, I think the time for talking is over. It's time for me to take you back to my apartment and see to that thorough fucking that you're expecting."

"Now you're talking, dear."

I took care of the check and we made our way back to my place. The anticipation had gripped me the entire way home and I was suddenly looking very forward to this.

We decided to shower beforehand, probably only the first of a few showers we would take, and I admired her body as she stripped her clothes off, noting with interest her shaved pussy.

"Enjoying the view, Henry?"

"Very much, Millie. Very much indeed. You're an incredibly beautiful woman."

"Mary told me you preferred things smooth so I did that just for you. Joe's preferences lie in the other direction."

I smiled at her as she put her hands on her hips and posed her very naked body for me. Damn, she looked good for a woman of any age, but especially for one of 44.

"Millie, let's make a deal." She looked at me with interest. "I love Mary very much, and I know how much you love Joe. I will do my best to put my inhibitions behind me and make love to you like you want and deserve, but let's make that the last time we mention their names until tomorrow. Deal?"

She laughed and said, "Deal."

The specifics of that night will forever be known only to Millie and me. I had a little experience before I met Mary but this was the first time I had ever been with an older woman and it was definitely different. Millie doesn't have the energy or... flexibility that Mary has, but she has learned some talents that must be experienced at least once in your life.

We did sleep a little bit but not much. I had decided that if I was going to do this then I was going to give it all I had, and I hope Millie wasn't lying when she told me how wonderful it was. I certainly thought it was, though it lacked the love that Mary and I have for each other. We did all the things that Millie had talked about (she really does enjoy anal sex) and a few things that she didn't. We christened every room in our small apartment (our time in the shower taking care of the bathroom), and I think we were both a little disappointed when it was time for her to get ready to return to her husband.

"It's been positively wonderful, Henry. I haven't had an experience like that in years and I will always treasure the time we've had together tonight. I will remember it fondly and forever. My daughter is a lucky woman."

"And your husband, Millie, is a very lucky man. I'll also remember tonight forever. I had my doubts about this tradition of yours, but I can't deny that I feel amazingly close to you right now, and actually even closer to Mary as well."

"All these generations can't be wrong. I'll be going now, and I will see you at the wedding."

*****

I stood at the altar with my best friend, Tom, by my side and my parents sitting smiling in the front row. They had just arrived this morning and I was thankful not to have had to tiptoe around them during the events of last night.

I had a sharp intake of air as the wedding march started and Mary was being walked down the aisle by her father. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen (you may not agree but I'm marrying her so my opinion is the only one that counts). Our eyes met and she smiled at me, and I returned it.

At long last she joined me and the ceremony turned out beautifully. I will spare you the details since it was, to the outward eye, a wedding like any other.

We took our honeymoon in the Bahamas and I found what Joe had said was true. I thought that perhaps we might have a 'When in Rome' moment and Mary would want to try out a topless beach but she never gave it a second thought.

"That would allow other men to see things meant only for my husband. I won't even consider it."

But in the bedroom the 'proverbial whore' came out and I spent a good portion of the time exhausted, but extremely happy. I knew I had made the right decision.

*****

Epilogue

That was 23 years ago and I have never once regretted my decision to wed Mary. She has made me as happy all of these years as any man could possibly hope to be, and I look forward to many more years together.

However, I do need to wrap this up. You see, my daughter Cassie is getting married next Saturday to a fine young man that she's been dating for a couple of years now. I spoke to him earlier today and I'm meeting him in an hour at a nearby restaurant. It seems he has some questions and concerns about our family tradition.

*****

fin