“Done enough reading to know your life could be difficult enough as it is. I can just imagine all those guys watching you, complimenting you, hoping to be with you, yet here you are, sitting on my lap. I have no right to sit here being jealous.” I took a deep breath. “Any of your shows end up online?”
“Yeah, there’s not a lot I can do about it, but I’ve checked from time to time. No-one recognises me. I made sure there was nothing on the bed that would lead to me being identified.”
“What about the rest of the family?” I wondered.
“Well, her father’s parents are both dead. They were alive when transitioning. They were more open-minded than her father. Uncle is the same as her father. Narrow-minded dickhead, so he’s obviously not part our lives either. My side of the family, her grandmother dotes on her something fierce, loves the fact she has two granddaughters. Before he died, my father was exactly the same. He didn’t quite understand, but all he cared about was the fact his granddaughter was happy. My brother and sister are the same. It’s a relatively new thing for everyone but they accept Cindy for who she is. Her cousins don’t really remember Cindy as anything other than who she is now.”
“When did she last see him?” I wondered.
“Her father?” Laura asked to my nod. “When she was eighteen. Showed up to speak to her. It didn’t go well.”
“I don’t want to see him again,” Cindy murmured into my chest, “He’ll never accept me for who I am.”
“Have you divorced him?” I asked Laura.
“Of course. I wasn’t going to remain married to a bigoted arsehole. Stephanie doesn’t have a relationship with him either.”
“What he said to my sister that night, Mark,” Stephanie added, “Mum wasn’t the only one yelling at him. All I remember after that is walking into my sister’s room to find her beyond distraught. She ended up in hospital because of it. I’ve spoken to him maybe three times since then. He called me, hoping to talk. I told him, until the moment he grovels in apology to his other daughter, and makes great strides in showing true sorrow for how he treated Cindy for years, then he’s gone from having two daughters to none. Last time I spoke to him was… five years ago, I think.”
“Sounds like nothing of value was lost, in all honesty,” I admitted freely.
That earned laughter from all three women. “Our lives are certainly better he’s no longer in it,” Laura said.
It wasn’t a surprise that we ended up staying for dinner too, enjoying solitary conversations with both mother and sister. The former seemed to just love me immediately. Stephanie and I sat outside, and I did find myself interrogated for a few minutes, just the protective older sibling sort of thing. Within ten minutes, I was being hugged tightly, the older sister almost passing the baton. “Look after her for us,” she whispered, “She’s strong, so strong, but she’s also fragile.”
“I’ll make sure we come visit often. And once she’s met my family, we’ll have to do the whole meeting of the families thing.”
“They have any idea she’s trans?”
“No. That’s up to her to tell them. My family are rather open-minded about things, so I don’t see a problem. If there is, I cut whoever the problem is out of my life. Cindy is my life, along with my kids.”
“Can we meet your kids soon?”
“I’ll bring Natalie over next time we visit, organise it so it’s my weekend. Greg is fifteen. Very much his own little man nowadays, but I’ll sure I can manage to convince him for at least one weekend.” Heading back inside, I had to ask, “You single?”
“I had a shit marriage,” she replied, grabbing me a beer from the fridge, one for herself, plus wine for Laura and Cindy, “He wasn’t an abusive piece of shit, nor did he cheat. He was a worthless drunk.” She looked at the booze. “See, I can now enjoy a beer and not worry you three are going to turn into complete dickheads. Once he started, he didn’t know when to stop. There’s only so many times you can endure it before enough is enough. I told him to dry out or I leave. He chose the booze. I left, came home. Been here three years. Mum likes my company.”
Cindy and I did leave after dinner, hearing words in my ear that were incredibly suggestive. Fairly sure mother and sister heard as she wasn’t exactly quiet. Her mother hugged me tightly as I was leaving. “Look after her for me. Love her for us all,” she asked softly, “She’s needed a good man in her life for so long now.”
“I love her to bits, Laura. Trust me, she’s in safe hands.”
“Good. Hope to see you both again soon.”
Cindy was in a great mood during our drive home, leaning over to kiss me every time we stopped at a red light. As soon as we pulled out up outside our apartment complex, she dragged me upstairs and we only just made it to the bedroom by the time we were naked and lube was being applied where necessary. She pushed me back onto the bed and practically leapt on me, my cock sliding inside her, wasting no time bouncing up and down on me.
“Mum already loves you,” she moaned, “Fairly sure my sister would love you to fuck her.”
Despite her riding me, I couldn’t help laugh. “So I made an impression?”
She met my eyes and smiled. “The exact impression I knew you’d make, Mark.” She stopped and leaned forward. “I should go see them more often.”
“We should, you mean.”
Resuming her movements, I wasn’t surprised when cum erupted from her cock rather quickly, coating my chest as always. Sensing her relief, she kept riding me until I left a load in her too, sliding off me so she could snuggle into my side. “So your parents this weekend?”
“Yep. Natalie hasn’t seen them in a while, so two birds, one stone.” Gently squeezing her, I added, “They’re going to love you, sweetheart.”
“I hope so,” she whispered. Noticing we were falling asleep, I managed to drag us both into the bathroom for a quick shower before we did return to bed and drift off together.
“You were right about one thing, mate,” Mike said at lunch the next day, “Not about anything between me and Chris. I don’t think it’ll work. We’re mates, not lovers. And neither of us want to do anything to jeopardise the friendship.”
I nodded as I tucked into the pasta Cindy had made me for lunch. “But you’re thinking about something.”
He nodded. “I think I let what happened with Richard get to me way too much. I mean, you were left reeling by what Megan did for almost the same length of time. But while you’ve now clearly moved on, I haven’t.”
“Mate, I understand. Megan cheated on me with one guy, and I discovered it quickly enough that I was only left pissed off, not completely embarrassed to be taken for a complete fool. He had the wool pulled over your eyes and was fucking anyone from here to Manly. No wonder your trust in anyone is broken.”
He sighed. “That’s the thing. I loved that fucking arsehole. We’d bought the house, I thought we were settling down together, building a life. Then I’m told he’s sticking his dick in any man that just shows a hint of an interest. I’m just glad my STD check came back clear.” He bit into his sandwich, gathering his thoughts. “I guess I haven’t really been helping myself though, right? Sleeping with god knows how many young men since then. It’s been fun, but it’s not very fulfilling.”
“Maybe you just need to take a break, reassess your priorities.”
“Mark, that was the first Saturday night I slept alone in… months. But it was actually nice. I woke up and didn’t have to worry about the awkward morning after. And half the time, they’re barely out of high school. Old enough to fuck, but… It’s fun fucking them, but we have nothing in common otherwise.”
“So maybe you should find someone more age appropriate.” He gave me a look. “Yes, I know Cindy is twenty-five, but she has a degree, a full-time job, owns her apartment, pays her bills, and is a functioning, responsible adult. And now that I’m living with her, we’ll share responsibilities.”
“Though she’s going to cook for you, it seems.”
“She insists that she’s going to look after her man.” I paused before admitting, “I’m already looking at places we might be able to buy. A townhouse or something, with a backyard.”
“Shit, so it’s ultra-serious?”
“Mike, I already know I want to marry her. I obviously won’t be proposing for some time yet, but… she just makes life worth living.”
He chewed on his sandwich again. “That’s what I want, mate. A bloke that just makes life better.”
“He’s out there, mate. Don’t give up yet, but maybe change how you search. Though I’m not saying stop going out. Have you fun, but maybe change where you’re looking or something.” I shrugged. “I don’t really know, considering I did meet Cindy in the same place. She just happened to fall into my lap.”
“So you had a threesome?”
“Yeah.”
“How was it?”
“Fun.” I closed the lid of the box I was eating out of, my stomach now full. “Cindy and I have talked about certain things. I’d like to share, but you know I don’t like to go into details about our sex life. I actually don’t think she’d mind, but it’s never been something I do. Though Megan would have had a shit-fit if she found out. Cindy? I don’t think she’d mind.”
“So you bottomed for Cass?” I gave him a look which made him chuckle. “Far out, never thought you’d do that.”
“Honestly, it’s quite enjoyable. But I’m still not attracted to men. Cass and Cindy are women.”
“Never had you picked as such a liberal, Mark.”
“I don’t think being a ‘liberal’ has anything to do with it. It’s about being a human being and viewing Cindy, Cass and anyone else as a human being. It’s about having empathy and understanding. Don’t forget, I stood by your side when you campaigned for equal rights as a gay man because you should have the right to adopt children, get married and do all the other bullshit heterosexual people can do. Want to get married and be miserable like the rest of us? More power to you!”
“Is Cindy that involved with it all? You know, trans issues and whatnot?”
“She just wants to live her life in peace. And I’ll do my best to ensure that’s what she has. If that means I’m by her side, facing down a picket line of bigoted fuckwits, so be it.”
He grinned. “You really love her, don’t you?”