The Grand Strategy Ch. 13 - Epilogue

And that's the way I remember it, just as I've told you. That was almost 20 years ago. Much has changed, and much has remained the same.

Almost all the gang are married now, with wives and kids of our own, mortgages, and all. I think we're happier than the average group of old high school buddies. We're still close, and have a rotating monthly get-together where we go to the home of the month, drink all the beer, and trash the place. Our Moms always join us, since really they were the core of the gang. Since we're all older now, Moms and Sons, there is a lot of light-hearted sexual banter that goes on. I guess we're still teen-agers at heart. It does make me wonder, though, how much cross-pollination there was between our Mothers and us. I suspect, now that I'm older and wiser, there was much more than I suspected. Funny, every one of us has a refrigerator in the garage for the beer. Moms and Sons seem to always go to the garage to get beer, and it sure takes a long time to find it, I guess. No one mentions it. It just happens.

We can have our monthly get-togethers because we all moved back to the hometown to pursue our careers and families. It seems we all wanted to stay close to our Mothers.

Robbie has not married yet. He says he might, someday, but since Aunt Ellie has no one but him, he says he needs to devote all his energy to her. I like that. Aunt Ellie has always given so much. She deserves all of Robbie's love. Robbie's a good guy.

I have three kids: Billy, Tamara (after her grandmother), and Mary Margaret (after her other grandmother). Mary Margaret is smart and focused, with bright red hair and a flaming temper. Tamara is just as beautiful, just as studious, and serious. Billy is smarter than his old dad, plays basketball and baseball, and got several scholarship offers to colleges around the nation. He wants to go to law school. He's in his freshman year at the local university, because he said he just wasn't ready to leave home yet.

I know what you're thinking, and I think you're right. I've noticed the looks he and his Mom give each other when they think I'm not noticing. I walked into the yard shed one afternoon a couple of months ago and when I got the door open - it was blocked for some reason - Billy and his Mom were standing on opposite sides, out of breath, and looking at the yard tools. Why would you be out of breath from looking at yard tools?

I frequently travel for the firm, and either Billy or my wife always text me to see if the flight is on time and if I'm safely aboard. I laugh every time they do it, and imagine what must be going on. To use the old phrase, "Been there, done that."

Then there was the time, a couple of weeks ago, that almost gave me overload. We had all gone to visit Tam Tam and Granddad. Mom and I slipped into the garage to get some more beer, and who was huddled in the corner but Billy and his Mom. They were looking for more paper towels, they said. After they left, Mom and I laughed uproariously. Mom dropped to her knees in front of me, unzipped my pants, and had my dick in her mouth almost before they had closed the door behind them. She looked up at me and said,

"Do you think this is what they were doing?" I blew my load immediately.

About a half hour later we walked back in, still laughing. No one seemed to have missed us. Billy was in the kitchen and his Mom was nowhere to be seen. We walked into the den to see if Dad wanted a beer, and she was sitting on his lap while they played a video game. Mom looked at me, raised her eyebrow, and we both smiled. Hmmm. Mom did say that Dad had a prescription for Viagra.

I love it. I love my entire extended family. Besides, I could hardly be one to criticize, could I?

I stay pretty busy, but I always find time to visit Mom at least once a week. Dad's playing a lot of golf now, and Mom makes him text or call her after every hole to tell her how he did. There have been more than a few times that she has had her hand on my dick and my mouth on her tits while she's talking to Dad. Some things never change. I love her more every day. Our relationship has evolved so that we are not so driven by physical needs, but it's still there for both of us when we need it. It's our special bond. Our Mother-Son bond. In her mid-70s now, Mom is still a beautiful woman, but I have become paranoid about her health. I cannot imagine losing her.

My mother-in-law is just as beautiful, and I must be the most doting son-in-law in the country. My father-in-law is kind of a klutz, and can never repair anything around the house. Seems like every week I have to go repair something, and he always disappears to the country club.

My wife, Laura, is everything I ever wanted in a wife. She is a partner, a lover, and a friend. She's also a great CPA, who works from home now, and a loving Mother. She has red hair, just like her own Mom.

Oh. I didn't mention that? I married Roger's sister, Laura. She was not at all the studious and boring CPA I expected, but a vibrant and exciting woman - just like her Mom. I didn't ask her out when we had that family cook-out, but I wanted to.

I waited until I could talk to Mary. Laying in bed together, I broached the subject. I expected Mary to be opposed to the idea of my dating her daughter, but she was delighted. She admitted that the whole joint family cook-out was hatched by Mom and Mary for the purpose of getting Laura and me together. It worked. Laura and I hit it off immediately.

The first time I kissed Laura, I asked permission. The first time we made love, she was insatiable, just like her Mom. I almost cried the first time I had Laura naked before me. She was the vision of what Mary was when I was a kid. She got those long nipples from her Mom, along with that fire-red full bush. But it's more than sex with Laura. I love her more than I thought I could ever love any woman, other than Mom and Mary.

Which, since I'm older now and often wax eloquent (in my own mind) I have to say, that says it all, doesn't it? We love a lot of people, or at least I do. I love my buddies. I love my other friends. I love everyone in my family. But there are some people for whom my love transcends normal bounds, and I have to admit that sex is a huge component of that. I do not love all the women with whom I have had sex throughout my life. But I love Mom, and Laura, and Mary, and Carol, and Aunt Ellie, and Bridget. Those women, collectively, formed me into the man I am today. I do have my faults, I know, but I love those women because I know they taught me how to love.

When Laura and I announced to the two families that we wanted to get married, Mom and Mary burst into tears and hugged each other. We had convened another family picnic, and everyone was there. Mom and Dad. Mary and Roger's Dad. Roger and his fiance, Susan. Laura and me.

I think Mom said it best. "Mary, I've always thought of you as a sister. I know you always have thought of Bill as your own son," and she winked at Mary, "just as I have considered Roger and Laura to be my own kids. Finally, our families are together."

I have no idea what that wink meant, and I ain't asking.

Remember how Mary had told me the first time we were in bed together that she wanted to dance with me at my wedding and whisper in my ear about the lovemaking we had the week before?

She did.

Roger and I get along great. I think Roger knows about his Mom and me and I think I know about the two of them. Roger is very close to my Mom, and I won't even speculate about what has happened between them. He's never asked, I've never asked, and neither of us has ever said. Between Roger and me, neither Mary nor Mom want for anything, I'm sure.

Pretty complicated, isn't it?

But it doesn't have to be. I can say, in the case of my gang, our love for our Mothers improved and became much stronger once we all realized that Moms and Sons are still men and women. I'm older now and much more sentimental, as middle-aged guys get. I admit that my heart leaps for joy every time I see a Mother and Son walking along, holding hands, and talking like old friends.

As I said before, a player can identify another player.

There are more of us out there than you might imagine.