“Paul, honey. There’s something I would like to talk to about.”
Was this it?
Was this the moment that I will be asked to join the family fun?
I felt like yelling out ‘YES!’ to save all the small talk.
OK. Stop over thinking and hear her out.
Staring me in the eyes and with her most motherly voice she said, “Your dad and I know that you have watched the videos.”
“What videos?” came hurling out of my mouth.
“The family videos. You know, the ones that you started watching yesterday afternoon until late at night.”
How on earth did they know when and what I was watching?
“There’s a lot that I want to say, and……… I might seem as though I’m jumping all over the place, but please just hear me out then I will answer any questions that you might have.
“As I’m sure you will.”
She rearranged herself on her chair once again, took a large gulp of wine and then suddenly got up and went to her bag.
She came back with my laptop in her hands.
“Firstly, I apologize about your laptop.”
She handed it to me.
“You didn’t lose or misplace it. I took it out of your bag just before we left for the seminar.
“I’m sorry, sweetie. We didn’t mean to cause you any grief.”
I could see in her face that she was genuinely sorry.
“It’s fine, Mom. I had everything backed up on the cloud, so I still got some work done.
“Why did you take it?” I asked.
“We were hoping that you would use your father’s computer and that your curiosity would guide you to watch the family movies. And, it did.
“Allow me to go back a little. Please, just hear me out.”
Another gulp of wine.
“You have seen snippets of many videos that we have recorded over the years. So, you have a fair idea that we like to engage in sex with members of our own and extended families.
“We are four families and two sets of Grandparents. No outsiders. Just us, for the time being.
“If somebody gets married or is in a committed long-term relationship, they can bring that person into the fold, if, and that’s a very big if……… If………They want to be part of this lifestyle.
“It hasn’t happened as yet, but it could in the future. We’re all open to the idea.
“It’s not everybody’s cup of tea.
“Swinging is rare, swinging with family members is even rarer.
“I don’t know if you picked up on who the four families are, but I’ll tell you anyway.
“Uncle Ted and your aunt Sue, when she was still with us. Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Anton. Your aunt Jo and Uncle Barry and of course, yours truly, your father and myself.
“We, the parents, decided that after the 18th birthday of our children, that’s you and your cousins, we would somehow allow them to, let’s say, stumble upon our sexual activities.
“We would then see their reaction.
“If we felt that they enjoyed what they stumbled upon, we would invite them into our ‘merry band’.
“If, on the other hand what they saw repulsed them in any way, we would make up an excuse for our behavior, hope that they would forgive us and obviously, give no invite. Life, hopefully, would go on.
“It’s a big gamble, as you might imagine.”
I cut in, “Has anybody actually said ‘no’?”
My mother continued, “I feel that we’ve been very lucky in that respect. Every one of your cousins and siblings has wanted to come and participate in the family fun.”
I had to ask, “Brenda, as well?”
My mother smiled at me, “Yes, my sweet little boy. Your sister, as well. Why do you ask?”
“It’s just that, I didn’t see her in any of the videos and I was wondering if she joins in the family fun.”
“Paul, this little thing that we have going is not set in stone. You are free to come and go as you please.
“Do you remember Brenda’s boyfriend, Zack?” she asked me.
“Yeah. Of course, I remember him. They were together for three or four years.”
My mother pursed her lips. “Brenda loved Zack and hoped to marry him one day. Zack was, and still is, a good man. A little too prudish for my licking, but still a good and decent human being.
“He wasn’t in the lifestyle. He was extremely religious and he would have had a heart attack if he knew what we were up to.
“Brenda loved him so much that she decided to stop partaking in our little activities to make a life with Zack.
“She felt it would be like cheating on him behind his back.
“Alas, it didn’t work out between them and they broke up. That was about six months ago.
“She’s since been back a few times to, let’s say, fulfill some of her urges, but hasn’t been in any of the recent videos.
“For your information, she’s in a few of the videos from five or six years ago,,” and gave me a wink as she said it
“Now that you brought it up, about the videos.”
“What about them?” I asked.
“You were only supposed to see two, or maybe three.
“NOT ……… The entire collection.”
Shaking her head from side to side she kept on speaking, “Your father left the wrong folder for you to find. He only realised his mistake yesterday afternoon.
“What’s done is done.”
She shifted her weight again.
“Back to you, my little pumpkin,” she carried on. “You are the youngest and last of the children.”
My mother paused for a few seconds, possibly searching for the words to say next.
“I owe you an apology as to why it has taken so long, after your 18th birthday, to show you, our lifestyle.
“Initially I was planning to have this talk before you went to college. I didn’t because I had to go to Alaska for a project that was facing some major hurdles.”
“I remember that,” I told her. “You were away for a long time.”
“Six weeks. It was a long time away from home.
“The next opportunity was when you were supposed to come back home for a long weekend in late September and …”
“Yeah,” I cut in. “I remember that. I called you up and cancelled the visit because I went away with a few of the guys.”
“A missed opportunity, once again. Then I decided on your visit for your father’s birthday. That too, was a fizzer.”
I added, “Because of Freda?”
“Yes, because of Freda.”
“Jumping around, again,” she added, “We decided that each young adult should be introduced into the family fun by one of their parents, of the opposite sex.
“A few months after your 18th, your aunties volunteered, but I wouldn’t have a bar of it. I wanted to be the one to give you this talk.”
She smiled to herself and shook her head. “Aunt Jo, even volunteered to drive to your campus and give you this talk at your dorm.”
“Now we come to the present.
“We stole your laptop, and again, I apologize for that, in the hope that you watch the family videos. It worked and here we are having ‘the’ conversation.”
“Mom?” I asked. “How did you know that I watched the videos?”
She let out a little laugh.
“Your uncle Barry. He designed an app where we were notified when the family video files were opened.
“Not only did it notify us but also showed a live feed of what you were watching and a live feed of you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked her.
“Half of the screen showed what you were watching.
“The other half was from the camera on your father’s computer screen.”
Oh! My!
I just realised that my parents saw me masturbating.
I covered my eyes and lowered my head in shame.
My mother began to laugh.
“This is precious,” she said.