Laura
I sat up with a start, suddenly awake. I immediately felt for Tommy, but he wasn’t there. I knew what was happening and I had to help in whatever way I could. I jumped out of bed ignoring my nudity and rushed to the door. I pulled it open and rushed onto the landing, straight into a worried-looking Tommy. As he pulled me to him, I could feel the cold clamminess of the sweat on me and I felt filthy. It was only really as my foot rebelled at me trying to run on it, that it fully sunk in that it had all been a dream.
“Whoa, there! Are you okay?” he asked. Tommy gathered me into his arms just as my foot gave up.
“Oh, thank god, yes. Yes, I am. It was just a dream.”
“Want to tell me about it?” he asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
When I had finished telling him, he looked at me for a moment.
“Mum and dad were there?” I nodded. “And they approved?”
“It was just a dream, Tommy, but they nodded to me and kissed each other, before going. I know they would want us to be happy. I think it was my subconscious telling me not to worry.
“Who were the seven? Who were the other two?”
“Diane and James, Tina and Luke and Kazumi were five. They really don’t come as a surprise as they have supported us without question. The other two of the seven were Bev and John." The two that appeared after mum and dad were my best friends.
“Bev and John were probably because of the ‘not exactly vanilla’ comment by Tina. Funny how your friends appeared where mum and dad were. They are a vestige of our life before, like mum and dad.”
“Yes, that’s probably a good thought. Do you think we could invite Kazumi round for dinner again?”
“Of course. Pervert? Do you want to show off in front of her again?”
He deserved the slap, “I want to have a chat with her about us and everything that’s happened and hopefully sooner rather than later.”
“Sure, any reason for Kazumi or the rush?”
“Although the others have been supportive, it’s Kazumi that was brought up with the 'who' not being as important as the love. She may have more thoughts on how to talk to people about this.
“Also, if Tina sees me, I’m sure she will know. She sussed us as brother and sister, and I wouldn’t be able to lie to her. So, after speaking with Kazumi, I’d like to get the others around and talk to them and let the dice land where they will.”
“The more that know, the more likelihood of it becoming public knowledge. Are you comfortable with that and the possible consequences?”
I whispered into his ear, “We’ll just have to be careful no one gets hard evidence.”
“What about your friends?” I smiled and chuckled to myself, Tommy had his serious head on now.
“I don’t know, Tommy. What about people at your work? Hopefully, we can get some ideas from talking to Kazumi. Maybe the others when we talk to them.”
Tommy twisted and sat me on the bed; he got up and walked toward the bathroom.
“What about the end of the dream, what was that all about?” He asked, looking over his shoulder.
Tommy
As Laura had run into me, I noticed her pull up her foot and wince. As we sat talking about her dream, I tried to look at her foot and she seemed to be holding it out a little. The last part of her dream felt like it would need some more in-depth talking. I could tell all of this had Laura on edge. Her quip about hard evidence told me she was trying to find a way to lighten the mood.
I wasn’t going to mention it directly, but she had obviously been sweating in her sleep and was clammy when she ran into me. She often called me stinky, but she said it in jest. Asking her about the end of her dream seemed the right point to stop and give her some time to think. I went to the bathroom and gathered some items as I asked.
“Foot up,” I said when I returned.
Laura complied and I put a towel under it and started to remove the bandage.
“The bandage has stayed in place this time.”
“Huh?”
“Last night, it had ridden up your leg.”
Laura’s other foot was fine, and she pushed me back with it, laughing, “The difference is you don’t need an excuse to gaze upon my divine beauty with your nudity rules.”
Smiling, I put the bandage to the side and peeled off the dressing. I was worried it would be weeping the way she had pulled up; it seemed fine.
“Let’s get you in the shower,” I said, as I scooped her up. “Grab that.”
“Why?”
“Then you can support yourself while I clean you.”
I sat her on the loo, and she pulled me in and kissed me, “Thank you, Tommy.”
“Told you, when I need it, you’re going to have to carry me about. I’ll give you a second.”
I turned the shower on a little to start the hot water flow and then left her to do what she needed to. In the meantime, I ran downstairs and turned off the cooker rings and grabbed a fresh dressing. As I walked back into the bathroom Laura was trying to get into the shower and it was a disaster waiting to happen. She had her bad foot hovering in the air, her crutch in the bath and her good foot on the floor.
“Back off, I can do this!” she told me, as I entered.
I put the dressing on the side and hovered waiting for it to all go south. I couldn’t hold back and after a minute of watching her struggle. My pig-headed sister had stubbornly refused to admit she had approached it wrong.
“Take your crutch out.”
“It’s already out, pervert.”
“Crutch not crotch,” I sighed.
Laura sniggered as she took it out of the bath. “Next?” she asked.
“Sit your arse on the edge of the bath and swing your legs in first.”
As she slowly stood with her crutch in front of her, I glanced in the mirror and could see she was grinning. As soon as she had taken a step, I moved to the end of the bath and climbed in. I stepped up behind her and put an arm around her waist, kissed her ear and then reached past her to get the showerhead. Slowly, starting with her hair I began to wash Laura from top to tail. I must admit to getting a bit carried away about halfway down but got my focus back thanks to Laura’s encouraging words.
As I started to rinse her hair through ready to wash it, I asked, “Any thoughts?”
“About?”
“Any of it, all of it, really I was thinking about the end part.”
“Hopes, dreams, wishful thinking? I don’t really know.”
“Imagine, just for a minute, it was all real. What do you think you would mean by ‘Tommy’s mine’? Would I be your property, a chattel to do with as you please?”
“No, no. Nothing like that. It would mean that you have said you are mine, that you have committed to me. I think my sub-conscious took your thing with the ring and read it as you doing that. If I had accepted, I would be saying I was yours too. It’s hard to explain, but we would be honest, open and loyal. Within certain circles, we would put each other before others. All this is part of loving one another. By offering ourselves to each other it is a promise to carry on loving, but more to fight to protect that love. To protect each other, to make sure we are the centre of our worlds. What about you?”
“Not far off what you have said. If I was your man it would not be in an ownership capacity or even any sort of submissive-cum-dominant relationship. Being honest and open would not necessarily mean burdening you with all my worries and concerns; you don’t need to know about all of my work issues. What did you mean by certain circles?”
“Pretty much when you are with me... he... ooh-that’s-good,” I had finished her hair and was rubbing the gel into her shoulders and upper arms. “I could not expect you to put me before people at your office when you are working. Maybe if there is an emergency but otherwise, that’s a world I don’t really have a position in. Does that make sense?”
“Yes, I think I get it. Where do you see us now?”
“If we went through this but with mum and dad still alive, I think it would be more like Kazumi said. We would each have partners, but those would have to accept us as a pair. Oh, shit Tommy, stop teasing me!” I was cleaning her boobs now, with special attention to her nipples.
I snorted, “Do you honestly think you could have a man accept me as part of the package? A brother is one thing, but as close as we’ve become, even without the benefits? I can’t see any man being happy about that.”
“Ha! That’s you. You wouldn’t be happy; you wouldn’t tolerate it. God help any man that tries to take me from you.”
“Okay, flip it around. Look at that girlfriend I had.” Laura looked at me questioningly.
“The one that suggested I marry you, in so many words. So, it’s not a 'me thing' or even a dick thing. Can you say you would be happy about me being with someone else? Do you think they would be happy with our closeness, even ignoring the sex?”
“Tommy, the heart has an infinite capacity for love. I have always loved you, in different ways, but always in one way at least. That didn’t stop me loving mum and dad or my friends. It didn’t stop me falling in love with him.”
Laura
I took hold of Tommy’s hands, which were washing my belly and lower back, before continuing, “I still hold a little love for him. Shhhh. I hate what he did, how things changed, but I can’t deny I loved him. The love I still hold for him is love for the spectre of our relationship before we were married.”
“How can you do that? You know I hold only hatred for him, for every single second of pain and anguish, he caused you. That was before mum and dad’s last visit, imagine the fury in me now.”
All this time, I knew I had these feelings, I could not explain them and was confused that I had. Suddenly, in that moment, it became perfectly clear.
“The physical heart has two chambers. The emotional one is no different, one chamber for love, one for hate. Unlike the physical one, if we need more room for love or hate, our emotional heart grows. Unlike the physical one, we can have a complete mix of love groups. Theoretically, we have an infinite capacity for both.”
“Yes, sorry, I’ve got a penis…” he started.
I reached behind and took hold of it, “Yes, my dear, I am well aware,” I said giggling, “and you use it to mark your territory. Yes, I’m your territory, I don’t need any more marking… for the moment, anyway. It doesn’t stop you using your emotional heart, though.
“Back to your question. If you found a man and he accepted I was the major person in your life, I would be willing to at least talk about it. If I liked him, I might accept him having a little of your time. If we got closer than liked, I might accept sharing time with you both.”
“But…” I just burst out laughing at Tommy’s objection.
“Oh, my sweet brother, you are so easy to play at times. Oh, you fucker!”
Tommy had resumed cleaning me. I had noticed where he was and was enjoying his gentle ministrations, both front and back. I could feel the tingling that was building, it was soft, with no urgency. It was a tingle that felt good but did not need to be taken further, it could stay at this level, it could drop off and leave me feeling warm. It would need to be finished at some point; Tommy could do that later.
When I laughed at him, I felt more pressure, then when I told him I was playing him, he thrust fingers into me, front and back. As my legs buckled, it felt like I was driving myself further onto him. Then he stopped, pulling his fingers out and holding onto me.
“Sorry, my sweet, I thought someone was laughing at me,” he whispered.
I had to laugh again, “You really are a fucker.” He laughed with me this time.
I caught my breath and continued, “Anyway, irrespective of your interest that way, the example stands.”
I knew I was playing with fire and Tommy had squatted to do my legs. He prodded at my pussy and when I looked down at him, we just grinned at each other.
“Think of a pride of lions or pack of wolves, they have their alpha male, who has an alpha female. She accepts other females just so long as they know their place. Other males are allowed to join, under the same principle.”
“Yes, but that’s animals,” he said. “All that alpha bullshit doesn’t apply to humans, not in the same way. Animals have a territory and the alpha is the leader of the pack there. Humans don’t have a fixed territory in that sense. There is work, home, social situations, etc. When we walk into different territories, we don’t expect the alpha to screw the females. If John had tried to fuck you when we went over to the welcome party, Bev would have been a widow.”
“Yes,” I replied, “and I would have helped you. There is a difference. Animals have packs or prides within a territory. Humans have physical territory, home for example, but also emotional territory. John trying to screw me would not be him taking his right as an Alpha, more like him invading your territory. So, the fight would not have been about alpha-ness, but a territorial dispute.”
“So how does your pack example work then?”
“We can think on multiple levels, yes, even you with your penis. The house is our territory, with no one else having a say. At work, your office is your territory, but it is within Horace’s territory and his is within his boss’. At work you have your pack, Kazumi is one of your betas, you don’t have an alpha female as society doesn’t work like that. But your pack is a subordinate part of Horace’s.
