“My father? He’s the old friend you’ve been talking about?” Bobby cried in disbelief.

“Yes, Bobby, your father,” she said calmly without apology.

“What? When? How?” he stammered, searching for what to say or ask next.

“Sit down, and I’ll tell you about it,” she said, indicating a dining room chair. “Can I get you something to drink? A glass of wine, maybe, to calm you?”

He sat as requested, but his head was spinning with this news. That he had no facts yet beyond their getting together a few times escaped him, as he just couldn’t get past the memory of all the things his mother had said over the years about him. He didn’t even consider the most recent discussion where she accepted more of the responsibility for his leaving than she had before. She’d drilled it into his head that he was this horrible man who cheated on her and left them both for this other woman, and he couldn’t imagine what could have changed her feelings so much to have even agreed to meet him, let alone start anything serious with him again.

“No? Okay, where do I begin? First, he’s tried to reach out to me before, but I ignored his calls and letters for the reasons you’ve probably got in your head right now. I was still bitter about the whole situation, but he wasn’t the only person I was angry at. Truthfully, I’d become angrier with myself, but it took a long time to admit and accept that. I am so sorry, Bobby, that I infected you with my animosity all these years, but it really was seeing you and Mandy so happy that helped me finally see the light and accept my mistakes. Together, you both remind me so much of what your dad and I were like.”

“Don’t call him my dad!” Bobby demanded indignantly.

“Okay, your father then,” she corrected, knowing she had to give him as much leeway for reaction as possible. She couldn’t imagine how hard this was for him to digest and accept, and decided to hold off on pointing out the parallels with his losing and finding Mandy for the time being. “You can’t possibly understand the degree to which I shunned your father. I accused him of not caring about you when he’d say that he needed me too. He didn’t go looking for someone else, but when that someone else – her name is Barbara – made herself available to him at a home showing, she caught him at a weak moment, and he accepted.”

“So he did cheat on you, and it’s my fault you pushed him away!” Bobby challenged, almost in tears.

“NO! Well, I mean, it was because I cared about and loved you so much that I just wouldn’t let anything or anyone get in the way of that, but there was another reason for that,” she paused for a moment to gather strength. “I was pregnant once before you, but we lost her,” she said, getting choked up. “You would have had an older sister, Bobby!”

“Oh, Mom! I can’t handle any more of this!” he cried with real tears now. He felt like so much of his life was being torn apart. One belief after another, shattered in these revelations.

“Bobby, I can’t possibly understand how all this is affecting you, but I need to tell you more before you try to absorb and understand it on your own,” she said.

She got no response from him, and when she got up to hug him, he pushed her away. She couldn’t blame him, but still it hurt. She’d always wondered if a time would come when she’d have to tell him the whole story, the true story, afraid that she could actually lose him in the process, but it was too late to stop now. He had to know the rest.

“Losing Linda was the most painful thing either of us had to endure, so when you came along, we were both so grateful, but also so careful. We couldn’t have handled it if anything had happened to you, Bobby! We both felt that way, but your father managed to get past the fear and worry much better than I did. Anyway, he told me about Barbara after the first time, admitting it was a mistake and saying he only wanted me, but I couldn't accept that. That was the beginning of my fooling myself, lying to myself. I still loved him so, but I couldn’t believe he still loved me if he’d cheated on me like that.”

Bobby just sat there, unmoving, still having no idea what to think about it all. He’d almost forgotten what started this; his father and mother possibly reuniting, but even that wasn’t clear at this point. He wanted, more than anything, to run to Mandy and cry on her shoulder. She was the only person he felt he could rely on now.

“So, I pushed him away and into Barbara’s arms, and though he didn’t want it, we divorced, and he eventually married her. He didn’t contest any of my demands in the settlement, except one. I didn’t want him to have any contact with you. You were still young enough that you could make a life without an absentee father in it, confusing you or trying to take you away from me. Right up to the final signing of the decree, he tried to change my mind, but I wasn’t going to budge.”

She let it rest for a while with Bobby still sitting there like a statue, with the streaks of tears still visible. With no comment or reaction from him at all, she couldn’t tell what he was feeling, though his lack of reaction was predictable. She felt like she’d told him enough before getting into what it all meant now, and would have to wait for him to want to hear more. He’d had enough truth about the past, and for now, the future could wait.

“I think that’s enough for now, Bobby. Do you want to ask me anything?” He shook his head almost imperceptibly. She accepted and understood that he had a lot to take in, and this was the best place to stop for tonight. “Okay. I’ll just say goodnight then.” Standing, she wanted so badly to hold him, to try to make him understand how much she loved him, but with his earlier rebuff, she knew now was not the time. She waited a few seconds for some kind of reaction, but wasn’t surprised that none came. “Maybe we’ll talk more in the morning.” She turned and left for her bedroom.

He continued to sit motionless, apart from a few new tears flowing down his face. He’d just gone from the happiest times he’d ever had in his life – an amazing holiday shared with his mom, Mandy, and her family, and even more in love with Mandy –  to the lowest he’d ever felt. All those things she’d said about his father and the behaviors ingrained in him, based on his poor treatment of them, were now cast in doubt, and he didn’t know what to do with that information.

He thought of calling Mandy, but it was late, and just talking to her wasn’t going to be enough anyway. He needed to hold her more than ever.

The following morning, after a sleepless night, he practically ran out of the house, ignoring his mother’s offers of breakfast and requests to talk further. He grabbed a breakfast sandwich at a fast-food restaurant and got busy on his lawns. He made it through the work on autopilot while his mind tried to sort out what he’d learned. He wasn’t making much progress.

With the last lawn mowed, he rushed to Mandy’s house.

“Bobby!” she said happily when she opened the door, but saw the look on his face. “What’s wrong!” she cried, fearing some catastrophe, and was practically knocked over when he threw himself into her arms and hugged her tightly.

“Hi, Bobby!” Amanda said, coming from the den, having heard Mandy say his name, but could quickly see that something was wrong. She only watched for a few moments, but it was enough to see he was crying and hugging Mandy to death. “Why don’t you go in the den, Mandy?” she said softly as she walked past the pair still standing in the open doorway. She heard the next statement before retreating to the kitchen.

“It’s my father! Her old friend! It’s my father!” he sobbed, with the effort to hold it in all day finally too much.

“Come, Love,” she said softly, guiding him to the den as her mother suggested.

“Tell me what she said,” Mandy encouraged once they’d sat down with the door closed.

Bobby recounted the whole story in disjointed fashion, each new startling revelation sending him off on one tangent or another. Mandy gently guided him back on track, with tears coming to her as well as the story unfolded. She couldn’t imagine what it was like, living their, albeit short lifetime, believing one story of your past only to find out it’s all quite different, and your mother is the one who misled you.

Mandy had the benefit of distance, not having been the one lied to, and a female perspective. She could feel his pain, but could also have more understanding of his mother’s pain as well. She also knew she had to tread carefully so as not to be seen as taking his mother’s side.

“I can’t believe it! I mean, I don’t know what to believe anymore!” he finally said, the retelling of the story having quelled his tears. “You’re the only one I feel I can believe in, Mandy!”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“I needed to see you! To hold you! And it was after midnight, so I didn’t want to wake everyone up!”

She stroked his cheek, allowing a small smile with the realization that even in such pain, he worried about others more. She leaned in to kiss him, and what was intended to be a short, tender moment turned into a long, loving embrace.

“So, what does it all mean? Are they getting back together again?”

“I guess so. I don’t know. I was so stunned by what I’d learned about the past that she stopped talking before telling me. She was going to be named Linda! Can you believe it? Linda! There’s got to be some sort of cosmic connection to my Linda,” he said, for him a very strange observation. To Mandy, it meant he wasn’t thinking as clearly as he usually did.

“We can’t imagine how losing a child before she’s even born affects you. My aunt, my mom’s sister, had a miscarriage, losing what would have been her fourth child. She and my mom were devastated. Mom said it’s not unlike losing a living child.” He didn’t seem to be getting her point, so she continued. “When your mom lost what would have been her first child, her only child at that point, you can see how worried that would leave her when she got pregnant with you, can’t you?”

“I guess,” he replied reluctantly.

“My mom says her sister blamed herself for the miscarriage. Like she did something wrong to make it happen. Your mother might have felt the same way, so she overreacted when dealing with your father, who didn’t share her worries and fears. She thought she was protecting you, but went way overboard in the process.”

“After he cheated and told her about it, he said he loved her and only wanted her back, but she didn’t believe him. How could he love her and yet be with another woman like that?” He paused a few moments, taking it all in again, but with Mandy’s insight to help, it didn’t feel quite so bad. “She still insists that it’s seeing you and me together that made her admit to herself the mistakes she made and want to – how did she put it? Live my life instead of just enduring it,” he added with a tone of disbelief.

“I can see that,” Mandy replied, a giant piece of the puzzle falling into place for her.

“You can?”

“Yes. She pushed him away because she felt he didn’t love her, but he really did, and now he’s trying to get her back!” she explained, but could see he hadn’t made the connection. “He admitted to being with another woman, but it was your mother he loved all along, and apparently he’s been trying to tell her that for a while now.” She could understand that he was still struggling to absorb it, to understand it, so when he still wasn’t getting her point, she made it even clearer. “Bobby! It’s almost like us! You and me! But over a much longer period of time.” She could see understanding beginning to dawn on him. “That’s why it’s seeing you and me together that’s changed her way of thinking about it!”

“Oh, my God!” he said with fresh tears, and falling into Mandy’s open arms. “I knew I needed you to help me! I love you so much!” he cried.

She let her comforting arms speak for her, feeling like she was returning the favor of him holding her the way he always did. While she still felt his pain, it seemed to ease somewhat with this epiphany, and she was also happy that, in a time of such distress, she was the one he turned to.

While they were in the den, Mandy’s dad came home from work and, upon entering the kitchen from the garage, called out, “Where’s Bobby? I saw his truck in the street.”

“Shhh!” Amanda shushed him. “He’s in the den with Mandy. He’s had a bit of a shock, apparently.”

“What’s wrong?” he asked with genuine concern for the boy he was growing fond of.

“I don’t know. All I heard was it had something to do with his mom seeing someone she’d referred to as an old friend, who turns out to be his father!” she said, her face showing both concern and confusion for all the possible issues that could present.

“What do you want to do now, Bobby?” Mandy asked when the tears had dried, and he could speak again.

“I guess I should apologize to my mom. And then find out what it all means,” he said with a clarity he’d lacked since the news was broken. “Will you come with me?”

“Are you sure? Shouldn’t that be a private discussion with your mom?”

“But I’d feel so much better with you by my side. Besides, you can help me understand when I get confused again!” he said, certain there was more confusion to come.

“Your mom might not want me there,” Mandy countered, not trying to get out of it, but not wanting to make it any worse either.

“I’ll ask her! In fact, I’ll call her now so you can come home with me if she’s okay with it!”

He got on his mobile and dialed his home number. It rang long enough for voicemail to pick it up. “Hello, Mom? It’s me. Bobby. Pick up!” he said, assuming she was home but couldn’t get to the phone in time. He hung up when she didn’t answer.

Mandy had gone into the kitchen to say hello to her dad. They both looked at her expectantly, but understood when she wasn’t forthcoming.

“I heard enough when he came in to know it has something to do with his father. Has he returned in some way?” her mother asked.

“No. Not yet anyway. I’ll let him tell you about it if he wants to,” Mandy replied just as Bobby walked in.

“Hello, Ma’am, Sir,” he said, acknowledging them with a subdued voice.

“Are you okay, Bobby?” Amanda asked.

“I am now, thanks to my beautiful Angel!” he said, hugging Mandy, who smiled proudly, still so happy he’d come to her the way he did. “Mom didn’t answer the phone. I wonder where she could be?”

“She’s probably working. Day after Christmas? Tons of returns?” Mandy replied, trying not to sound condescending.

“Oh yeah. I keep forgetting she’s working now.”

“You’re welcome to stay for dinner, Bobby!” Amanda offered, and Mandy looked at him hopefully.

“I don’t know. I’m kinda grungy. I haven’t been home to shower after my lawns.”

“At least you’ve got a shirt on!” Mandy laughed, alluding to his usual bare-chested lack of attire when he worked.

“It’s fine,” Amanda added, “You don’t want to eat alone now, do you?”

“If you’re sure it’s alright?”

Bobby got to see what a normal dinner at the Bonham’s was like, with Brad sharing his day and Mandy complaining she was bored and looking forward to returning to classes after New Year’s. Bobby was mostly silent, and no one pressed him for any more of his story. He thought about sharing some of it, but decided to wait until he knew the whole story.

After dinner, Mandy announced she was going to Bobby’s with him, and she’d likely be home late. Even in college, she had a curfew, but when she was with Bobby, they relaxed it quite a bit, having come to trust him, in addition to liking him, so no mention was made of when she should be home.

Mandy rode with Bobby in his truck for a change. She didn’t want to leave him alone, but the drive was short, so she didn’t get into any of the questions she wanted to ask him, assuming she’d have time at some point during the evening.

When they got there, they found a note saying she’d gone to work, would be off at nine, and there was a casserole in the fridge he could microwave for dinner. She signed it, ‘I love you, Bobby!’ leaving him with a sad smile.

“I’m gonna take a shower.”

“Can I come?” she said with a cute, but suggestive, smile.

“I’d like that!” he replied, taking her hand and leading her to his mother’s bathroom with the larger shower. “No, let me!” he said when she started to pull her top off.

She held out her arms and smiled, a gesture that said ‘Strip me!’ She loved being undressed by him. He took it so slowly, providing stimulation with each new exposure. With her blouse off, he cupped her tits and squeezed them gently. With her jeans at her ankles, he pressed his face into the gusset of her panties while squeezing her bottom.

“Ohhh, are you gonna eat me up, Bobby?” she asked, the ‘eat me up’ phrase a favorite of hers because he always came back for seconds and thirds of his favorite dessert.

He teased her with only slight touches when, first her tits, and then her pussy were bared, wanting to save the good stuff for the shower. Her panties were the last to go, and he kissed her moist lips before standing, stripping his sweaty clothes off quickly, and taking her in his arms.

“I love the way your body feels against mine, and I need that so bad right now!” he said, pulling her in tight.

“Bobby? I want to tell you something,” she said with her head on his shoulder, but he pulled back to face her with a concerned look. “I know this has been very hard for you, and I’m sorry you’re having to go through it, but I have never felt more loved than when you said it was me you needed and I was the only one you could believe in. Thank you! I love you so much, Bobby. Now more than ever.”

“I don’t know what I would’ve done without you, Mandy! I couldn’t have sorted it all out on my own the way you did, and I want to tell you something too. Every day that passes, I feel like I couldn’t love you any more than I do, and then you do something to make it even better!”

She startled him by jumping into his arms with her legs wrapped around his waist and showering his face with kisses. With their bodies conjoined, and her lips still pecking at his face, he managed to open the glass door to the shower and turn it on.

“I love you, Angel!” he said as he brushed her hair from her face and kissed her with all the love he could muster.

She giggled when he stepped into the shower with the hot water falling on their faces. She dropped to her feet and hugged his chest as he closed the door. They simply held each other while their bodies and the space around them warmed from the hot water. Finally, she let go and turned for the bath sponge and body wash.

“Come here, stinky!” she said, giggling as she squirted the soap on the mesh ball.

“Do I really stink?” he said with alarm, remembering sitting at their dinner table.

“Just a little, and only when I’m very close, but I like the way you smell, like a hardworking man; my man!” she said, feeding his male ego after he’d done so much crying.

Starting at the top, she used the sponge and her hand to sensuously clean his muscular body. The sponge left a slippery surface for her other hand to exploit with arousing fingers. Around his neck, where she pulled him in for a kiss. Over his chest with fingers teasing and gently pinching his nipples. Down his back to his cute butt, where a single finger traced up and down the cleft, goosing the clenching opening on each pass. Between his legs, still from behind, cradling his sac before returning to the front, where his stiff cock was a goalpost to be reached as she climbed up his legs.

She looked up, smiling, to see a rapturous look on his face as both of her hands glided up and down his slippery shaft, one teasing the tip and the other his balls on each cycle.

“Oh, God! I’m gonna cum, Mandy!”

“I know! Cum for me, Love!” she said, and seconds later it was shooting over her shoulder, to the floor where it was washed away by the running water.

“Come here, you!” he said, pulling her up into his arms again, sharing the trembles still passing through his body.

“Your turn,” he said after a long, tongueful kiss.

“I’d just had a shower before you arrived, but I’d love to feel your soapy hands all over my body!”

She turned to grab the bodywash again and, after squirting a large blob into each of his hands, turned to press her back to his body. Moaning loudly when his hands massaged her tits with ever-increasing intensity, she arched her back, pushing them into his hands, while feeling his cock between her cheeks behind.

She sighed loudly as his hands roamed the front of her body, but never getting any closer to her pussy than the small patch of hair on her mound.

One still soapy hand returned to her tits, while the other, rinsed clean, slid over the swollen lips of her pussy, his middle finger tracing through her slit as it came out again. Her body responded instantly with her hips rocking and her hand pressing his harder against her sex, telling him she didn’t want soft and gentle, she wanted to cum. And with her tits squeezed hard and two fingers pumping her pussy, she did with trembling thighs and a quivering body, grateful for his arms supporting her.

She turned within his arms to face him with closed eyes and puckered lips, soliciting a kiss that was long and loving. They stared into each other’s eyes for just a moment, still reading desire. She smiled when he slowly knelt with short kisses for her tits and a tongue tracing down her fluttering tummy to slither into her slit. Gasping a vulgar expletive, she pressed his head into her crotch with both hands, begging to be eaten up, eschewing tenderness for raw intensity. It didn’t take long for his talented tongue to bring her to another peak, feeling her tremulant thighs against his face as she held his face, tighter still, to her pussy.

“Bobby! Bobby! I want you inside me! Fuck me! Please?” she pleaded, just before he stood and mashed his lips against hers.

“Wrap your legs around me like you did before,” he instructed as he wiped the wet hair from her face with its curious smile. He was going to show her something he’d learned with the petite Mia.

She jumped into his arms, legs around his waist, while one of his arms, under her bottom, lifted her a little higher. With his free hand, he grabbed hold of his more-than-ready cock and guided it to her pussy. Working blind, he traced it between her lips a couple of times before he found the entrance and slipped the tip in, and moving his hands to her ass, he let her slide down onto him.

“Oh, fuck! Oh, fuck, Bobby!” she screamed, as he filled her up and her legs gripped his body tighter than ever.

“You feel so good inside, Mandy! Now, we work together for this, okay?”

“Okay!” she squeaked.

“Lift yourself up. That’s it! Oh, yeah!”

“Oh my God!” she gasped, pulling on his neck to lift her body up, and letting gravity do the work in the other direction, while he rocked his hips to thrust into her descending pussy. “Oh, fuck! I’m gonna … I’m gonna!” she cried, and then she did, taking a moment to savor it before lifting herself again for more.

She came quickly twice more before declaring she just couldn’t do it anymore. Bobby took that as his cue to push her body into the tiled corner of the shower, letting the wall assist in holding her up while he pounded her pussy from below. Her head fell back with eyes closed as she gasped with squeaks and squeals in response to one seemingly endless orgasm until she felt his release come with several hard and quick thrusts.

“Holy shit, Bobby! That was unbelievable!” she cried as she lay her head on his shoulder, still impaled on his cock with her legs still circling his waist.

“Ohmigod!” he panted in one word, lifting her up and off, and setting her on her feet where he took her in his arms the usual way and moved them both under the rainhead of the shower.

They appreciated the calming water cascading over their bodies, recovering from the enormous effort that method had taken. He almost said, ‘I haven’t done that in a while’, but didn’t want her asking questions about it. He needn’t have worried, since she figured it had been a skill acquired from one of his special ladies, and she really didn’t care to know which, but she did wonder if it was one of the weird things he’d spoken of.

With the water cooling, they rinsed off one last time before exiting the shower and grabbing a couple of towels to dry each other off. Still quiet, but for smiles, loving eyes, and an occasional giggle, they gently wiped the water away with the thick terrycloth. Bobby wrapped her body in another towel and set her up at his mother’s vanity with a hair dryer, while he went to his room for some fresh clothes.

All put together, they sat in the TV room, Mandy in her usual spot in his lap, her head resting on his shoulder, and his resting against hers, while they waited for his mom to return.  

“How do you feel about your father possibly back in your life again?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’ll have to meet him first. I have very little recollection of him. It’s not like we have pictures of him around the house, and all my mom’s brainwashing probably eliminated whatever memories I might have had. There’s the garage door. She’s home,” he said with the inner tension rising again.

“Be calm. Be nice. Make sure she’s okay with me being here, okay?” Mandy coached.

“Okay. Thank you for staying with me!” he said, his mouth turning down into a frown and his eyes itching.

“I love you, Bobby!”

“I love you too, Angel!”

“Bobby! I’m home!” his mother called from the kitchen.

Bobby walked out holding Mandy’s hand.

“Oh. Mandy’s here,” she said as though wishing that weren’t the case.

“Hi, Mom,” he said once they stood a few feet apart. Suddenly, he threw his arms around her, saying, “I’m sorry, Mom!”

Stunned by his show of affection, she was caught off guard, having expected him to be sullen and judgmental again, but she caught up quickly and hugged him back, eyes closed in silent gratitude. When she opened them, she saw Mandy standing there, tears on her cheeks and a gentle smile.

“Thank you!” she mouthed to Mandy, knowing she was largely responsible for his change of heart.

“Are you ready to discuss it further?” she asked him, holding him at arm's length and stroking his cheek.

“Yes, I am, but can Mandy stay? She’s helped me so much today!”

“Yes, I think Mandy has earned the right to share this with us. Come here, Mandy,” she said with arms out, pulling her in for a grateful hug. “You’re a very special girl, Mandy,” she whispered in her ear. “Come, Bobby,” she said, holding out a free arm to him, and guided her two kids into the living room to talk.

--===<<<O>>>===--

What's next in the new truths Bobby's learning and what part will Mandy play in helping him deal with it? I hope you're enjoying this plot twist and will offer your 'Likes', 'Favorites', and comments if you do and ... THANKS FOR READING!!