TABOO TALES(erotica)

“You were stolen, Bethany, by a man who’s now sweltering in a hell-hole prison, thanks to Jamie, and sold to another man who’s going to hang in a Chinese jail one day soon. Jamie and I wanted to find you, but not so we could tell you to turn your back on everything you know and love and come with us because you belong to us; we came to find you so my mum, who lost you so long ago, can finally know her little girl is safe, and well, and happy; that’s all. I look at your face, and I see my mum; I look at you and I see my features as well, so I know you and I are family, the children of Anh Thienh Lo and all she’s concerned about is the happiness of her children; you, me, and Jamie.”

Bethany looked at me. “You’re my… brother?”

I grinned. “In a manner of speaking. After you were abducted, mum had to be smuggled out of Vietnam and into Laos, because the man who took you wanted her as his own personal plaything, and he’d already had no qualms about killing her husband. She was still only a young teenager with no family to protect her; her husband was dead, her mother died in the war and her father died in a border skirmish, all she had in the world was her husband, and you.”

“In Laos, she met a missionary family from England. When they came back to England, mum was still only a teenager, and she came with them. The missionary couple were my grandparents, and when they died mum and Laura, their daughter stayed together. Laura was my mother, she met my father at university but she died soon after I was born. When she found out how sick she was, she gave me to mum, her adopted sister, to be her son. Eventually mum married my father, and they had Nia; she’s your half-sister and my half-sister, on both sides of the family.”

Bethany nodded sombrely. “She’s had quite a life, by the sound of it. What’s she like?”

Nia looked at me, so I started. “Mum is… mum; she’s funny, wise, smart, she’s tiny and beautiful, a fabulous cook, she makes the best bread on the planet, and I’ll fight anyone who disagrees, she puts up with my dad’s awful jokes, she’ll feed anybody at the drop of a hat, and she makes mango ice cream all the time; I virtually live on it. You’ll like her. She calls me ‘Huynh’, which means ‘Big Brother’, but mostly she calls me ‘little boy’, which is a bit rich, coming from a tiny little lady like her! How about you, Bethany, have you any children?”

Her eyes went soft for a moment. “We have two; Ryan and Jodie. Would you like to meet them?”

Nia’s eyes lit up. “Oh yes, please, but when?” and Bethany grinned.

“They’re in the Lobby with Detective Regan; I couldn’t get a sitter, and I didn’t know where you were staying, so I called him, and he offered to bring me and the kids. I’ll go get them!”

Bethany came back with two adorable little kids, a boy about six, and a little girl maybe a year younger, Ryan and Jodie. Ryan took after Corey, with a shock of jet black hair and grey eyes, but Jodie looked amazingly like Nia when she was that age, more proof, if any was needed, that these were her family.

We ordered dinner in the suite for everyone, and Corey and I watched Nia connect with Bethany, talking about their lives, kids, college… and our marriage plans.

Bethany looked puzzled at that.

“I thought you and Nia were half-siblings?” she asked, and Nia explained how we’d come about. Bethany was surprised and intrigued by our relationship, but chose not to make an issue of it.

“I won’t hide anything from you,” she’d told Bethany, “this is our family, warts and all. I’ve always loved Jamie, and he fell in love with me, we got engaged a few weeks ago, and we intend to get married as soon as we can. In fact, Jamie, you may as well know, the date booked for the church solemnization is July 16th, so no pressure, Polar Bear! Bethany, please come to my wedding, it would mean the world to me, and to mum, if you would!”

Bethany looked thoughtful for a moment.

“Just over two months away, I’m sure we can work something out. Corey?” Corey agreed, and so we were set. During our conversations one useful fact emerged. I happened to mention that we were getting married in Hong Kong, as per Nia’s original plan, and Corey asked why we didn’t just drive over to Reno and do it there. Because we were foreigners, all they needed was a photo document issued by a foreign government, and Nia and I both had UK driving licenses, which were acceptable as ID. They had different addresses, in different towns, so the names could be explained as coincidence, as Nia was not obviously my sister.

One odd incident; While Bethany and Nia were chatting, Bethany suddenly took hold of Nia’s wrist and held up her bracelet, looking at it curiously. Nia asked her if there was anything wrong and Bethany shook her head, then said “I dreamed of a bracelet like this the other night, it was flashing blue light onto a tablecloth, and then my dream got all garbled, but I’m sure I’ve seen this bracelet before somewhere…” Nia looked oddly at her, and spoke slowly.

“I was… doing that… on Monday, in here, and I dreamed I gave you my bracelet, and you gave me a… a coin, or a medal or something, red, it was red and gold…” she trailed off as Bethany showed her the token the little boy Jamie had given her. Nia looked at me in confusion.NôvelDrama.Org: text © owner.

“No it’s not … possible, just coincidence, a fluke… Jamie?”

I made sure I was deeply in conversation with Corey so I didn’t hear her; whatever had happened between Bethany and Nia, I had no explanation, and I wasn’t about to start reaching for one.

We followed Corey’s suggestion, and two days later, we were legally married in Reno, the chapel even taking our documents to the courthouse to get the license for us. Nia had finally decided that she didn’t want to work for UNICEF, she was wary of being posted abroad for years at a time; we’d talked about starting a family and we couldn’t very well do that if Nia was seconded to Yemen or Djibouti or wherever. I decided I needed a legal advisor, and she had an International Law Diploma, so I asked her to come and work with me.

So now, because we suddenly had no pressing reason to return home, no deadline date for Nia to start work, and I had a couple of weeks before I had to go away again on any assignments, we based ourselves in San Francisco for a few days, sightseeing properly, spending time with our new family, and bonding closer with Corey, Bethany and the kids

++++

Nia and I were pacing around the arrivals gate at Heathrow Terminal 3; Bethany’s flight had touched down almost 40 minutes earlier, and Nia was getting impatient. I was trying to be reasonable; Heathrow in the summer is always a nightmare, it’s the third busiest airport in the world, and it shows. The Arrivals lobby was heaving with people, and Nia resorted to standing on a seat to see if she could spot Corey anywhere, but so far no luck.

At last, she pointed, and I looked in the direction she indicated, seeing Corey’s mop of black hair in among the crowd, so we waded toward them, Nia in my lee, holding onto my belt to avoid being swept away by the crowds. We finally caught them, Nia and Bethany hugging and sniffling at each other, and Cory and I exchanging handshakes. We’d left mum at home, waiting on tenterhooks, as we didn’t think an airport was the place for a family reunion, so we headed down to the parking garage to load up and get back to South London.

The reunion was kind of what I expected; Bethany had been quiet, almost subdued on the drive back, but I noticed she had her hand tightly locked in Nia’s, and Corey was stroking the back of her neck and whispering to her the entire time. When we arrived home, Nia took Bethany inside while Corey and I distracted the kids, unloaded the luggage and gave mum and Bethany a little time.

When we finally went inside, mum and Bethany were having their own moment of non-verbal communication, and Nia was smiling and crying at the same time, holding on tight to dad as her mother and sister reunited. Mum saw the children, and that’s when she lost it, and I must admit, I had a fairly sizeable lump in my throat while I watched her hold and kiss her grandchildren for the first time ever.

Eventually, mum noticed Corey and I, and beckoned us over. Corey introduced himself, and mum hugged him, then pulled my head down to kiss me.

“Thank you little boy!” she whispered, and patted my chest, “now all my children in one place; I have my daughters here, and I have my little boy, and new son as well, you have done well, my little boy, sister is very proud of you, I can hear her laughing; listen carefully, and so will you!”

The wedding, our proper wedding, went off perfectly. We were married in church in Streatham, South London, in a Church of England church so Nia could have the bells ringing for her wedding day. She looked absolutely stunning in her white dress and long veil, with a silver tiara dad and I had bought her, and a trailing bouquet of white and pink roses dotted with vivid sky-blue Forget-me-nots. Bethany was her Maid of Honour, and she, Julie and Shelagh all wore pale blue gowns, Nia’s favourite colour. Ryan was Page Boy, although he nearly rebelled when he saw the outfit Nia had picked out for him, and only some fast footwork and a couple of twenties persuaded him to accept his fate. Little Jodie was our flower girl, in a white crinoline dress and carrying a basket of rose petals (I know, but it was Nia’s idea, her wedding etc.)

Mark stood as my best man, and Corey and Shelagh’s boyfriend acted as Ushers. It was the wedding Nia had always dreamed of, the day we’d looked forward to for so long now; Reno was to legalise our union, today was when we would really become man and wife, in our eyes, and in the eyes of our family and closest friends.

We made love that night as man and wife, the culmination of all those years of being so close, a lifetime growing-up together, and the final act in our quest to be together. When I took Nia home, she really was my wife, in my heart as well as in fact, no longer my girl, not my sister anymore, but my real, true wife, and she was everything I’d always wanted.

I helped her out of her wedding dress, almost drooling with anticipation. We’d stayed apart for the last week, Nia at mum’s and me staying alone in the flat. She’d wanted our wedding night to be special, and now I was bursting with the need to make love to my beautiful wife. Wife! I still couldn’t believe we’d finally gotten here.