My brother, Oliver, was visiting us for a couple of weeks while his wife went on a cruise with some girlfriends and he had business in town. (He hated the name "Oliver", so when his friends started calling him "Patch" because Mom put a patch on the rear of his jeans one year, he happily adopted that as his permanent moniker.) My hubby, Pete, had gone off to a conference for three days. So Patch and I were home alone toget...

I had just turned thirty when this happened, before my liaison with my brother, and I'm not proud of it. I was the only "girl" in a software group and got my share of attention because of that. It wasn't always welcome, but this was before #MeToo. My coping method was to play along, and I admit to a fair amount of flirting. The Christmas party took place on a Wednesday night in mid-December. Most everybody was there with...

Little Emily was 18 months when this happened. We'd been using Kara to babysit for over a year and she was maturing into a lovely young lady late in her senior year of high school. Still, it came as a bit of a surprise when, as we left for a play, she asked, "Is it OK if I have a friend over after Emily goes to sleep. ... To, uh, work on homework together?" I looked over at Peter. "Male or female," I asked. "Well, it's my...

My 20th high school reunion came around way to soon for my liking. How did I get to be 38?!?!? I signed up to go with my husband, Peter. We were still living in the town where I grew up. I had met Peter soon after he moved into town to work at a local Navy contractor. The night before the big event, there was an informal gathering in the lobby bar of a Weston's closer to the city. People were flying in from all over the w...

I picked up Peter at the airport when he returned from his latest trip to Brussels and Madrid. I was prepared for a late dinner at home together. It was simple. Tortellini with a marinara sauce I had made that afternoon. And of course, a nice bottle of chianti to honor his business success in Spain. And when we were done, I gave him my sweetest come-hither flirt. He pushed back his chair and I sat across his lap. Everythi...

Our swinging affair with Alice and Karl had already gone on for a couple years. We admitted to each other that we were quite fond of them, even romantically. We would meet every month or two, having a splendid, raunchy time. Our marriages survived in spite of this because both couples were deeply in love. Peter's and my parents unwittingly supported this by watching the kids when we "went out". Sometimes it was just me an...

I couldn't wait to hear what Peter and Alice had been up to. For that matter, we needed to tell them about our adventures. We set up a Zoom call on all four of our cell phones. It was already Sunday. Peter went first. "We also went to a clothing-optional resort, a place called Serenity Springs, a place with a bunch of cabins, all arranged around a pond." "The cabins were total luxury, ours even had a heart-shaped hot tub,...