Chapter 1214: Chapter 1209 [3.5K words]

Chapter 1214: Chapter 1209 [3.5K words]



Susan stayed in the kitchen for a few more minutes until her libido calmed down. With renewed resolve (and reasonably dry privates), she went back to the table and did her best to be "normal." Before long, she was as involved in the conversation as anyone else and even managed to ask a number of good questions.

Eventually, Glory finished answering the basic questions being asked about her, and the center of attention switched to Alan.

Suzanne said to him, "By the way, Sweetie, congratulations. I hear you mailed off your applications to UC Berkeley and UCLA. We can all breathe a lot easier now."

He looked around the room and noticed that no one seemed surprised. He asked, "How'd you know that? How do you all know?"

Suzanne said, "Word travels fast. You told Susan earlier, and let's just say that everybody knows by now."

Susan was beaming. "Son, you make me so proud! So happy!"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

He looked down, slightly abashed. "Thanks, Mom."

Susan added with even more pride and love, "I wish I could tell every single person in the world that my son is going to get into one of the top ten colleges in the United States!"

Alan replied modestly, "I don't know about that. First off, please don't say that to anyone until I actually get a letter from them saying if I got in or not. And secondly, I don't know if it's in the top ten or not. What do you think, Glory?"

Glory replied, "Eh. Maybe. Depends who you ask. I'd say it's right around number ten. But you can definitely say it's the best public university in the U.S."

Susan beamed even brighter. "I like the sound of that! Number one!"

Glory smiled at Susan's endless love for and pride in her son. But on the inside she had a terrible sinking feeling, because the conversation reminded her of the fact that Alan would be going off to college somewhere next fall. If not Berkeley, then probably some other far-off place. She hadn't discussed this with him at all recently, mostly because their relationship was in such an uncertain state. But the thought that he'd be that far away was almost unbearable for her.

She thought, Damn! I've got it so bad for him! This isn't good. He's the master of an incestuous harem! Of all the people to fall in love with... why him?! And what will I do when he moves away?! Would I move there with him?! Do I love him that much?!

She decided that this wasn't the time or place to worry about such things, so she changed the subject to something that would occupy her full attention. She said, "You know, we all know Alan very well as he is today. There's no need to repeat what we already know. But I don't know much about his childhood. What can you tell me about that?"

The faces of all the other women lit up. Then Alan groaned and slumped in his seat, muttering, "Oh no!"

The other women started telling amusing and often embarrassing stories from Alan's childhood.

But there was a lot of information imparted as well. Glory's curious nature saw the golden opportunity to ask details about his life and his childhood that she'd never asked before, and that's just what she did.

Before long, Susan hurried off to get her book of Alan's and Katherine's baby pictures.

Alan had been through the routine before; like many mothers, Susan absolutely loved sharing those baby pictures with anyone who showed any interest at all. Since Alan and Katherine were both adopted, there were no pictures of either of them younger than six months old, but there were more than enough pictures of them after that.

Both Katherine and Alan knew that photo album extremely well. They took turns pointing out the most embarrassing pictures of each other, so before long everyone was laughing heartily. When Alan had been being potty trained, he'd had a portable practice toilet. Katherine absolutely loved to show one picture of him sitting on the toilet in the middle of the living room during some adult party. He was wearing a red fire truck hat and shouting "Poopy! Poopy!" when the picture was taken.

Showing that picture always made Alan blush and want to crawl under the table, and this time was no exception.

But what really struck Glory was the love shown by all the others as they looked through the photo album and reminisced. Everyone gathered around her seat to get a close look at the album and before long all the others were linked in a big loving hug just behind Glory. It was clear there was nothing sexual about it, especially since the focus was on baby pictures, but the feelings were intense, yet at the same time somehow gentle and warm.

Another thing that struck Glory as the group went over the photos was how many of the pictures showed the Pestridges too. It was like they were all one big family back then, and even Eric, Ron, and Brad appeared to be very much included in everything.

Glory's attention to emotional nuance suddenly reached its peak and she had a flash of insight.

They're not two families; they're one family! They've been that way since the beginning! NOWI understand. This didn't start with Alan's sexual power over them - Suzanne told me the truth that her scheme started it, and the others fell for it because they were doing their best to help Alan.

So I've been deceiving myself about him being a dominating villain to justify breaking up with him. Maybe I should anyway, but for me, not because of him. Oh God, I was wrong. I shouldn't be hasty about this - whatever happens, don't do that today. Sleep on it - no, not that term, not now. I'm so confused!

Suzanne didn't seem to mind seeing pictures of a much younger and loving Eric, but Susan grew increasingly agitated looking at pictures of Ron playing the role of a loving father. This was the first time in a long time she'd gone through this photo album, making it the first time she'd seen such pictures since she'd had her falling out with Ron.

Katherine, by virtue of where she stood next to Susan, was the first to notice Susan's bittersweet and even tormented facial expressions, and took the book away before the group had reached the end.

But still, a generally jovial mood remained. The fact that everyone had been steadily drinking wine for a while helped keep everyone loose. Glory's gift bottle was finished and they'd broken out some more.

Amy realized that, of all the women in the harem, she was the one who could speak most openly about sexual things in front of Glory, since her role as official girlfriend was the most socially acceptable one. So, as the photo album was put away, she tested the waters to see how Glory would react to a sexual joke. Drawing from the fact that many of the pictures of Alan as a toddler showed him naked, she said, "Phew! And to think: my boyfriend was well hung even back then!"

Everyone laughed. (In fact, Alan's penis as a baby was a tiny thing no larger than the average baby penis, but that's part of what made it funny.)

But the holding of hands and the prayer had calmed Susan's ardor quite a bit, and she replied, "No, there's nothing really special about that. I'm just trying to remind Alan that he's eighteen now and he's a man, no longer a boy. With that comes new privileges, such as

carving the turkey, but also new responsibilities. You know, call me a simple farm girl, but when I was growing up my parents taught me that responsibility..."

Susan proceeded to launch into a moralistic lecture of sorts about the importance of being

responsible. It was all very clichéd, but it helped calm the remaining jitters in the group. Glory was lulled into at least temporarily forgetting her incest worries. Alan's erection subsided too. He was relieved about that since, for once, there was no

prospect of relief for him in sight.

Suzanne was impressed with her best friend. That was touch and go there for a few moments. I had my stomping foot all ready to go. I can tell that Susan is deliberately switching into some sort of prudish mode and dredging up bits of speeches from her childhood to make us all seem more normal. Good for her. It looks like she's picked up a bit of my scheming ways after all. Suzanne's suspicion that the speech was largely an act was confirmed when Glory's attention

was diverted. (She was admiring Alan in his dark blue suit, and not for the first time that day.) Susan briefly turned to Suzanne, winked, and then grinned.

But Susan wasn't the only one who got horny. The family had gotten into such a habit of

constantly flirting, teasing, and sexually joking that the danger of offending Glory always lurked. Most of the time, they were alert and watching what they said and did. But as the meal progressed and the group relaxed, sometimes their guards went down.

Susan had been repeatedly praised for her cooking by everyone, but halfway through the meal

Glory realized that she hadn't said anything about Susan's stuffing yet, and there was almost a rule that guests had to compliment the stuffing on Thanksgiving. (Not to mention, the stuffing and the rest of the meal was quite delicious.) So Glory said, "Susan, I just loooooove your stuffing. It's so good!"

Before she could said more, Amy giggled and said, "Me too! But you should really try Alan's... Um..." Amy was going to say "stuffing" in a voice filled with innuendo. She'd been happy with herself that she'd come up with a sexual play on words just like Katherine or Suzanne could

do, but then she realized this wasn't the time or place. She rather lamely finished the sentence, "...cooking. Yeah. He's a real good cook." She blushed and turned away. Glory turned to Alan. "Is this true? I never knew."

In fact, Alan couldn't cook to save his life, since Susan was always ready and eager to cook for

him or Katherine anything they wanted at almost any time. He lied, "Well, I can cook a few

things here and there." Then he said more honestly, "But it's nothing like MOM's cooking. I think Amy exaggerates."

Glory was no fool and actually was amused by Amy's intended comment about "Alan's stuffing." She didn't mind much since it was coming from Amy. But she diplomatically pretended not to understand what was really meant and diverted the conversation into a

discussion about cooking.

There was another minor touch and go moment a few minutes later when Glory mentioned to the others that she would have eaten an unremarkable meal all alone had she not been

invited, due to the fact that she'd recently broken up with her boyfriend and canceled plans

with him.

That was news to Katherine, who said, "That sucks the big one."

Those words caused Susan's eyes to glaze over as she began thinking about her son's "big

one" and the joys of sucking it.

Luckily, Suzanne was keeping an eye out for this very type of thing and snapped Susan out of it with some discreet stomping on her foot. She was relieved that Glory had been looking elsewhere the whole time.

But Alan was a quick thinker, and at the same time Suzanne was stomping, he said, "You know

Glory, this is like the tenth Thanksgiving that our father has been absent from the dinner table. In fact, he's missed too many holidays in general. It's not that I'm counting ten to one;

on the contrary, what I am saying is that Katherine, Mom, and I know what it is like to be left alone at Thanksgiving. We've had a lot of bummer holidays. That's why we were all keen on inviting you when Suzanne found out that you didn't have any special plans."

He reached out for Glory's hand. She let him hold it and then he squeezed it reassuringly. They looked each other in the eyes and shared a special moment.

The interesting thing was that, while Alan had been goaded to say something to divert attention from Susan's "big one" dreamy gaze, he really meant every word that he said. Glory

responded to his sincerity because she picked up on his genuine emotions.

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