Delivery

What she didn’t count on was the sex life that being in a religious relationship would bring. In her case, it was what it didn’t bring. They had conceived their daughter and that event signaled the end of their active sex life. After some discussion, she calmly accepted his position on the subject and never brought it up again. She wasn’t the type to give up easily on a passion of her such as sex, but she gave in to him in lieu of arguing against his religion.

She could never understand how he could have sex with her to make children but not for any other reason.

He just tolerated me, she often told herself when thinking about how he could fuck her for that reason but no others.

It wasn’t long after that she took up having sex with people she would either never see again or never be in a position where it would happen again. It never stopped, not even when her husband caught her in the act. Catherine was already grown and out on her own when it happened. Denise’s husband walked in the house from work close to his normal time and found his wife bouncing up and down on the lap of a package delivery man. Her pants were off, panties still wrapped around her ankles and her shirt was still on. Her husband observed the scene for a moment before slamming the door shut.

Denise stood up calmly while the delivery man cautiously shifted his eyes between her and her newly arrived husband. Nobody said a word as the man slowly crept around her husband and ran out the door. He even opened the door and closed it after his wife’s lover departed. He stared at his wife, and she stared out the window. Neither said a word for several minutes. He finally told her what was on his mind.

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. I have to assume this is not the first time. That said, any step I would ask you to take to heal this breach would probably fail. Is that a fair assumption?” he asked calmly.

She waited a few moments then turned her head. There was nothing she could bring herself to say. She knew he was right, but she wasn’t ashamed of her actions. She knew he wasn’t being a wimp by not fighting for her. He would never change his position on sex, and neither would she. She still felt like a child who got caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

She nodded.

His lips curled into a position of reluctant acceptance of the situation.

“I’ll get my things another day,” he said before walking out.

She never saw him again. She came home one day to find everything he cared about, except her had been taken. She later learned his mother had come to get his things. She knew she had broken him and did not have a harsh word inside her for how he went about everything. She wandered slowly through the house looking to see what he requested his mother to bring back to him. He could have taken everything, and she would not have blamed him.

What struck her was what he left for her on the table. It was one of their first purchases as husband and wife. On it, his ring, the pictures he had of them in his wallet and a short letter.

“May you find what you’ve been missing out of because of me.”

Had it been written by anyone else, she would have laughed. She would have framed it and hung it in on the front door. Instead, she nearly cried as she gathered the items up, put them in an envelope and stuffed it in her dresser. That night, however, she called for delivery and fucked the unpleasant emotions away.

***

“Your father left because neither of us would change our views regarding human sexuality. I don’t know about him, but I can promise you I still have not changed. You know this about me, Catherine. When the young man leaves, come and sit with me and tell me what happened, okay?”

Catherine sighed in acceptance and walked away toward the living room. She looked around and recalled many childhood memories. Each object in the room seemed to have a memory attached to it. Her eyes continued to scan the room until she came to the opening that was shared between the entrance of the house, the hallway, and the living room. Her mother’s hand was planted against the wall Catherine could see her mother’s breasts swaying back and forth. She could see the man’s hands on her mother’s hips and the lighted portion of his torso moving back and forth.

She felt a different way than expected.

“At lease she’s letting him finish,” she thought, rolling her eyes.

She crossed her legs and waited for her mother to arrive and sit next to her. Denise walked in, still buttoning her shirt. She didn’t bother to put pants on. The young man casually walked out without acknowledging Catherine and she was fine with not having to engage her mother’s booty call.

As Denise sat down, she was reminded how much her daughter inherited her looks but little else.

“Now, tell me what happened,” she told her daughter.

Catherine put aside the awkward feelings she experienced and told her mother everything she knew about what happened.

“…and he just stood there and didn’t say a word?”

“Infuriating, isn’t it? No apology, nothing!” Catherine responded.

They talked over every detail and her mother asked questions to help derive a reason behind why the panties were in her husband’s suite. No question’s answer revealed information that would either exonerate Catherine’s husband or convict him. He alone had the answers and Catherine was not ready to go home and confront him again.

“Would you like to stay with me for a while?” her mother asked.

Catherine said she would appreciate it and offered to pay for however long she needed.

“Help out with a couple utilities and the grocery bill. The house would be here whether you lived here or not. Speaking of groceries, are you hungry? I’ll throw something together for us.”

Catherine smirked and asked, “Didn’t the pizza boy bring you food?”

“Yeah,” Denise said as she turned the corner into the kitchen, “it was a sausage pizza without the dough, sauce or cheese.” There was a pause before she added, “…with extra sausage!”

They both chuckled. Denise ate the pizza that the young man brought with him. Catherine opted to eat something that didn’t remind her of her mother having sex pretty much right in front of her.

***

Over the next several days, they both went about their lives. Catherine tried to piece together the reasons her husband went astray. No question she had resulted in an answer that logically explained his behavior. She resisted efforts to contact her husband and ask him the questions directly, but she knew she was still too angry to handle any response from him like a rational adult.

Denise was starting to feel the impact of her daughter being in the space where she relieved her sexual needs. It had been more time between encounters than she was used to. She could have snuck someone in her bed, but she often avoided typical coital spaces as they reminded her too much of her ex-husband. She wanted to get the situation between her Catherine and her husband resolved but wanted to give Catherine time to work through things herself.

That weekend, mother and daughter were on the subject of infidelity when it came time for dinner.

“What is there to eat?” she asked her mother.

Denise was leaning into the fridge searching for a meal for two. She sighed loudly and closed the door.

“We should probably have gone shopping today,” she admitted.

Catherine stood and told her mother she was going to see what was in the pantry.

Denise chuckled lightly and asked out loud, “We could always order pizza!”

“Mother!” Catherine said as she stomped back into the kitchen. “Having sex with some pizza boy is not going to make me feel better about my husband cheating on me!”

“Okay, well, you eat the pizza and I’ll eat the sausage,” her mother replied seriously.

Catherine couldn’t help but laugh. She repeated her concerns, though.

“Mom, I understand I’m intruding into your lifestyle by showing up here unexpectedly. If you want to do that, just take him to your room and close the door. Try not to be loud, either.”

Denise hesitated to explain why she didn’t want to do that. Catherine took note.

“What is it, Mom?”

“I know your thoughts on love and sex and religion and all that. I don’t want to bring someone into the house for that purpose while you’re here in this situation, but if I did…” she said, fidgeting with the silverware on the table. “…would you be highly offended if it was a girl this time?”

Catherine’s body involuntarily shivered in response to her mother’s words. Her mind freely imagined a lesbian scenario taking place between her mother and some young thing who was still trying to find her way in the world. She felt her body responding in a way that felt unusual. If it were only that response, she would call her body a traitor and swear it was betraying her. All she could think about was her mother’s face between the milky-white thighs of some barely legal hussy.

“A girl?” Catherine responded. “When did that start?”

Denise sat next to her daughter.

“One of the pizza boys brought her with him one time. She was new at the parlor, and he knew she liked women. After some talking, he discovered her affinity for older women.”

“Okay?” Catherine prodded.

“Well, all three of us had sex that night. Now, I can summon one or both of them depending on what I order.”

“Obviously sausage for him. What about her?” Catherine asked curiously.

“Beef,” Denise responded quickly.

Catherine’s brow furled in confusion.

“You know,” she said as her hand made a waving motion between her legs, “roast beef?”

Catherine shook her head a single time in confusion. She replayed what just transpired in her head and began to cackle with laughter to the point she nearly choked. Denise joined her in laughter, and they spent minutes mimicking Denise’s joke and howling out loud. After a while, her mother took on a serious tone and asked again.