The Other Side of the Family

As I walked inside our front door, I heard Francine call from the kitchen, “Darlin’, we have company.” I went to the kitchen doorway and saw a tall redheaded woman sitting at the table with Francine. “Darrell, meet my sister in law Norma,” Francine introduced us. Norma stood up to shake my hand. Her curly shoulder length red tresses framed a lovely, high cheek boned oval face wearing a bright smile. “I’m pleased to finally meet you, Darrell,” she said. Francine has told me so much about you. Norma was wearing what the women call skinny jeans, and a button down collared shirt with the top three buttons undone. I couldn’t help glancing down at the saucily freckled cleavage between her braless D cup breasts.

Norma stood at least two inches taller than me in her black patent high heeled pumps. “Hon,” Francine spoke as Norma turned to sit back down at the kitchen table, “I’m sure you remember me telling you about my brother George in Rockford and his family.” I didn’t, but I replied “Oh, yes,” anyway, and asked Norma “How is everything with the other side of the family?” Norma only said, “George and I are doing fine, and my mom Sara sold her home and moved into our guest bedroom after dad died. How are you all doing?” Before I could say anything else, Francine chimed in. “Let’s eat. The lasagna is getting cold,” she said. As the three of us ate the delicious pasta Francine had prepared, and drank a bottle of Rosso di Montalcino from our cellar, we talked of Caroline and Christina’s visit, focusing on the Renaissance Faire and the Michigan Avenue shopping trip, and leaving out some of the other details.

As we finished our lemon ices, Francine announced, “Norma came out by herself to talk about some difficulties her daughter Brenda and granddaughter Marcia are having, darling. I have proposed a solution we might provide to help out her, George and Sara, but of course it would be subject to your approval. I’m going to turn in. I set out after dinner drinks for you and Norma in the library. After you finish the dishes, the two of you go in there and she can explain everything to you for your consideration. I’ll be sleeping, so I won’t mind if she keeps you up all night.”

Norma said, “OK, I’m going to change out of these jeans,” and followed Francine down the hall toward the bedrooms. I washed, dried and put away the dishes, and went into the library. Francine was in there in her nightdress. She picked up the bottle of golden honey colored Glenmorangie she had left on the coffee table, and poured two fingers of the fragrant single malt into each of the two crystal tumblers sitting on the tray. “You and Norma have a nice long evening,” she said. “be good to her and think carefully about what she tells you. And, like I said, you are free to spend all night with her if that’s what she needs.”

I took a single sip of the whisky as Francine left the library, and waited to see what this was all about. A few minutes later Norma walked in, wearing a long, flowing jade green silk bathrobe tied at the waist. The color of the robe was the perfect complement to her red hair and all over freckles. She sat in the straight chair across from mine, picked up the other glass of whisky, and said, “Thanks in advance for hearing me out. Cheers.” We clinked our glasses together, and each took a deep sip of the liquor,, letting its warmth settle into our tummies. As Norma raised the glass to her lips, the front of her robe opened seductively, shoeing me just enough of her cleavage and the freckled tops of her thighs to reveal she was not wearing anything at all underneath that robe.

“Here’s the situation we have,” Norma told me. “Brenda’s husband fell in with the wrong crowd of drug users at his work, and got arrested with two of them in a car carrying a trunk full of cocaine.