A Haunting Love

by Lubrican

Chapters : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17

Chapter Sixteen

That night, when Ramona got home, she was preoccupied with wedding plans and sat at the kitchen table with stacks of lists and invitations and other things associated with the wedding. When Debbie offered to help her she waved her hand, saying that it was fun, even though she didn't look like she was having that much fun.

Debbie took her brother and pulled him to her bedroom.

"I love you," she told him, standing in front of him almost close enough that her breasts touched him.

"I know that," he said in typical male ignorance of what a woman wanted when she said that.

"Do you love me?" she asked.

"Of course I do. You know that," he said, digging himself even deeper into a hole he had no idea was forming around him.

"Do you love me enough to not make love to me for a while?" she asked.

"What?" he said, unsure what that meant.

"Do you love me enough to not make love to me for a while?" she repeated. It didn't help that her fingers were toying with his shirt collar.

"Um ..." Robby knew suddenly that there was a right answer, but, for the life of him he didn't know what it was. He had a suspicion that he should respond in the affirmative, but was afraid to say "Sure, no problem" because that sounded like he didn't cherish what they shared. And he did cherish what they shared - a lot.

"How long is a while?" he asked.

"I just need to do some thinking. We haven't been using anything to stop me from getting pregnant. I've been thinking about that. That might be a problem, you know?"

When it comes to problems, the difference between men and women is that women want to talk about the problem, while the men want to just solve it and move on.

"So have mom get you some birth control pills," he suggested helpfully.

"You don't want me to have your baby," Debbie said. Her voice rose at the end of the sentence, as if it were a question. But it didn't sound like a question somehow to Robby.

Robby, like his sister, hadn't really thought at any length about what could happen as a result of what they did. There had been a time or two that he had fantasized his sister with a swollen belly, but it was hard to put her face on that body. It just wasn't her.

"I don't know," he finally said. "I haven't thought much about that."

"That's why we need to take some time and think about ... things," said Debbie. "I don't want to get all pregnant and then find out you don't want to be a father." Her voice was rising steadily. "I don't want to ruin my life, and give up everything just so you can do what boys always want to do to girls!" Somehow Debbie had gotten mad. The fact that she had six or seven hours of think time that Robby wasn't aware of didn't cross her mind. She had thought about the consequences, and somehow expected him to have thought about them too. She was beginning to think more as an adult. He just hadn't caught up with her.

Robby didn't know what was going on, but he knew that tone of voice. In the past he had just run and hidden, waiting for her to calm down. But he did realize that this was a serious subject, even if he hadn't taken the time to think much about it.

His hands came up and gripped her shoulders. She tried to pull away but he held her tightly.

"Look, I love you. I don't want you to be mad at me. Whatever you want me to do I'll do, but don't just get mad. If you don't want to get pregnant, then fine. If you do want to get pregnant then I'll ... I don't know what I'll do, but it will be the right thing. If you want to wait and stop then I'll do that too. Just tell me what you want."

Debbie heard the honesty and care in his voice, even if he wasn't very eloquent about it. She felt those flutters in her stomach again and suddenly wanted to go to bed ... and not alone.

"That's the problem," she moaned. "I don't know what I want to do. I don't know what to ask you to do. I just need some time to think about this and talk about this and decide."

"Then that's what we'll do," said her brother simply. "I can live with that."

She kissed him then, hope surging in her heart that somehow everything would be all right.

When the kiss broke Robby looked at her. "Can we start not doing it tomorrow?" he asked hopefully.

She didn't get mad. She laughed instead.

"I'll do something for you that we used to do a lot. And you can do it for me too. But that's as far as we can go, okay?"

"I'm your man," Robby said, striking a pose.

They did end up in bed then, naked and panting. But their heads were at opposite ends as they loved each other with their mouths. They lasted a long time, dragging it out. In the end it was Robby who had to stop her from sitting down on his hard prick.

She cried.

But it was tears of happiness.

To the delight of the workmen, Debbie began spending a lot of time at the Nettleton mansion. She didn't tell her mother, because she was arranging things at the house and wanted to surprise her. She told Robby what she was doing when he got curious about where she went all day, and he started going with her. He began to work with his uncle on refurbishing the root cellar, making it into a more useful place with a new roof and door that could be secured. Robert didn't want any workmen in that space, because he didn't want anyone to know about the secret entrance to the mansion.

And, as they worked together, as often happens when people share a task, they became friends.

The next month passed amazingly quickly, considering that neither couple was engaging in sexual intercourse. For Robby and Debbie it became a sort of game in a way, to see which one would be the first to ask for more than oral sex. Debbie taunted her brother, while she sucked on his cock, milking his balls for their fruit. She told him she'd made her decision, but that she wasn't going to act on it until the wedding. When her mother started her new life and began using her old name, Debbie would begin her new life too, with Robby. She wouldn't tell him what her decision had been.

For Ramona and Robert, it was more of an attempt to build the suspense until they could be together as husband and wife. Ramona went to the house a few times, but the temptation to drag Robert into a bedroom and fuck his brains out was too much. It was easier just to stay away and meet him for dates in public, where it was easier to control herself.

Ramona was also doing something else that no one knew about. She contacted an attorney at the home office of the bank, which was in another state. As a representative of the bank, and as handler of the Robert Nettleton account, she asked on his behalf what his sister would have to do to satisfy the bank, so that she could make withdrawals from her account. The attorney did the research into the account, which had not been touched since 1951, when an order was received to pay Elizabeth Nettleton's tuition at a college. The lawyer wrote back to Ramona that all that would be required legally was an updated signature card, which could be supplied either by having Ms. Nettleton come to the bank and execute it there, or by having her provide a duly notarized card by registered mail. Once the new signature was received, she could access funds again with no problem.

Twelve days before the wedding, Ramona announced that she had to go on a short trip. One of her girlfriends from college was getting remarried and wanted Ramona to be there. She'd only be gone from Friday to Sunday. Everything for her own wedding was on track.

Being in the house alone together was nerve-wracking for the twins. Robby had dreams of forcing his sister and was so upset by them that he asked his Uncle Bob if he could stay at the manor the rest of the weekend. He told his sister exactly why he was doing this and apologized, even though he couldn't control his dreams.

Ramona, who really did visit her old college roommate, didn't have to go to a wedding because there wasn't one. Michelle was happily married with three children. But Michelle was a licensed Notary Public, who knew Ramona Shanks was also Elizabeth Nettleton. Things like that are almost impossible to hide from one's roommate, and secrets are often shared in the dark of night when sleep comes slowly. Ramona was nervous about her plan only because she had to tell Michelle about the incestuous marriage. The only reason Ramona felt she could do this was because, in the dark of night, back in college, the secrets Michelle shared with Ramona involved lurid descriptions of her love affairs with her father and two brothers, all of whom hoped she would graduate college and come back home. While Michelle loved all three men, there was competition between them for her that she didn't love, and she decided to live a more normal life.

But Michelle would understand why Ramona was doing what she was doing. And more importantly, she'd keep her mouth shut about it.

Michelle notarized the new signature card, placing various stamps and seals on it and mailed it to the Carver State Bank in Nettleton herself. She charged Ramona one dollar for processing the document.

Then Michelle, who worked for a tax attorney, began filling out the paperwork for the other thing Ramona wanted to do. That process would cost ten thousand times as much as the notarizing of the signature card, and then roughly five or six thousand dollars a year after that in administrative and legal fees. But the law office would provide all the help needed for Ramona's plan for as long as it was needed.

Kissing Michelle on the cheek, Ramona drove back to Nettleton to get married.

The wedding was scheduled for the fifteenth of September. That was because that was the date that Elizabeth and Robert were reunited in foster care after being separated at boarding school. By sheer chance, that was one day after the twins celebrated their sixteenth birthday. Ramona and Robert talked to the kids about why they wanted that particular day for their wedding. Both kids didn't care about the proximity to their birthday and, since this was their first birthday since they had ... consummated ... their relationship, they even thought it was kind of appropriate.

The birthday celebration was a quiet affair, amidst the storm of emotion that surrounded the wedding. That was okay too. Ramona was busy with last minute wedding arrangements, but took time at lunch to have a small party. After that, Robert drove them to the Driver's License Office, where they took the test and were issued brand new licenses.

Then the kids were left to their own devices for the rest of the day. Debbie, just dripping mystery, told Robby that she had ordered his birthday present in a catalogue, but that it hadn't arrived yet. He tried to find out what it was, but she wouldn't budge. Robby, at the suggestion of his mother, had gotten Debbie flowers. He had gone to the florist shop on Broadway. It had been hilarious.

"Yes, can I help you?" asked the middle aged woman behind the counter in the sweet smelling store. Her name tag said "Madge".

"Uh ... yeah ... I need some flowers," said Robby.

"Wonderful! What kind of flowers do you want?" asked Madge.

Robby blinked. "Um ... I don't know. What kind do you have?"

Madge stifled her groan. "How about this? Who are these flowers for? What's the occasion?"

"Oh!" said Robby. "It's my sister's birthday."

"I see" said Madge. She'd made up literally thousands of bouquets of flowers, but flowers for a teenaged boy's sister's birthday was a new one for her. "And how much do you want to spend?" she asked.

"Gee," said Robby. "I didn't think about that." He pulled out his wallet and peered inside. He pulled out three crumpled one dollar bills. "How much are flowers anyway?" he asked.

Madge sighed. "You've never done this before, have you?"

"Done what?" asked Robby, looking from the three dollars to Madge.

"Gotten a woman flowers," said Madge.

Robby ducked his head. He didn't know why, but suddenly he felt like he was supposed to have gotten somebody flowers a lot of times already, and dropped the ball. "Uh ... I don't guess I ever did," he admitted.

Madge eyed the bills in his hand. "How about I put a nice rose in a bud vase and put a ribbon around it and you can give that to your sister.

Robby thought about that. He remembered how happy Debbie had been when Uncle Bob had given her a whole bunch of flowers, and one didn't seem like very much to him.

"How much would a whole bunch cost?" he asked.

"Of roses?" asked Madge.

Robby had a flash of brilliance. "Yeah, like maybe sixteen of them."

Madge eyed the boy. "Now you're talking closer to fifty dollars," she said.

"Fifty dollars!!" yelped Robby. "I don't have fifty dollars!"

Madge wanted to chuckle. The boy looked so distressed. "Well, they're three dollars apiece," she said. "Look, I'll give you two roses and the vase for the three dollars you have. I need to get back to work. I have a ton of things to do. There's a big wedding tomorrow and I've never handled anything that big."

Robby was still shocked by the idea that sixteen flowers could cost that much. Her comment gave him something to say. "Yeah, that's my mom's wedding."

Madge blinked this time. "Your mother is Ramona Franklin?"

Robby nodded, looking at his three crumpled bills.

Madge's attitude changed dramatically. "How would you like to earn the flowers?" she asked.

Robby looked up at her. "Earn them? How?" he asked.

"I have to get so many flowers over to that mansion that it's going to take four or five trips in the station wagon. You help me get them all over there and I'll make you up a nice bouquet of flowers for your sister. Are these flowers for the wedding too?" she asked.

"No" said Robby. "It's her sixteenth birthday today. That's why I thought about sixteen flowers."

Madge sighed. What a sweet boy to think of his sister's sixteenth birthday like that. She exploded into action and directed Robby, who loaded up the station wagon and rode with Madge to the Nettleton mansion. Madge had a sort of map of where everything went, both in the house and outside on and around the gazebo. It took six trips in all, but when they were done Robby left the shop with a long white box containing sixteen pink roses and two dozen long stemmed red roses, artfully bound together with ribbons and baby's breath.

"I think she'll like these," said Madge, handing the box to Robby.

"You don't think she'll be upset because there's no vase?" asked Robby.

"Trust me" said Madge. "If you weren't her brother you'd get a whole lot more than a thank you kiss on the cheek."

It was a fairytale wedding. The weather was beautiful, with a dark blue sky filled with fluffy clouds. The weather had cooled enough that the heat wasn't as oppressive as it had been only a few weeks before. There was a light breeze, but really all that did was make the decorations move around a little. As much trouble as Ramona had gone to to plan this wedding, there were only fifty or sixty guests present when the ceremony began. Everyone from the bank had come, of course, and another dozen people Ramona had become acquainted with over the years. Sixteen missionaries from Robert's old group showed up. They brought with them a quilt just like one of the ones Ramona had made and given away. Hers had been used as a pattern and dozens had been produced with painstaking labor in a village thousands of miles away. Making them had become the primary income producing venture for a group of widows in the village. There were differences, primarily the design in the center of the quilt, which was a beautiful rendition of an African looking pair of masks, stitched in beautiful detail. Robert laughed when he saw them, and explained that they were fertility symbols.

The wedding itself was simple and quick. The orchestra played, and Debbie and Renee strolled up the walk to the stairs of the gazebo, where they met Robert and a man named Theodore Stapinski, who flew in from Pakistan to be Robert's best man. They had served together as missionaries and Theodore had once saved Robert's life. Ramona emerged from a striped tent that had been set up as a dressing room for her. She had opted for a formal gown, rather than a wedding dress, and she was beautiful in it, escorted by her tall, handsome son.

Afterwards there was a reception in the house. No one other than craftsmen had been in the house yet, so there was a great deal of excitement. People gawked at the double curved staircase that led up from the foyer, which was full of flowers and a table with gifts on it. A buffet had been set up in the dining room, with chairs for about thirty people there. Others took their food and spread out into the parlor, and living room, and even some in the kitchen. No one in Nettleton had been in a house like this, and they all loved hob-nobbing with what they thought was the richest couple in five counties. Little did they know, but Robert and Ramona were, in fact, the richest couple in more like five states.

Ramona pulled Robert to the table of gifts and opened them, while Renee wrote notes in a little book about who each gift was from so that Ramona could send thank you cards later. Debbie waited until all the other gifts were opened and then handed her mother one last box from under the table.

"It's from me," she said. "Well, sort of. I had some help."

Ramona opened the box, and when she saw the doll she froze. Tears welled up in her eyes and she reached into the box to stroke the doll's face with one finger.

"I thought she was lost," said Ramona, her voice catching.

"I played with her when I was little," said Debbie, softly. "I didn't know she was yours then." She whispered the next part "Uncle Bob fixed her up and thought you'd like to have her back."

Debbie got a hug and left streaks of mascara on her cheeks and lipstick to go with it.

"Oh!" said Ramona. "I almost forgot. I got you something too. I'll be right back. She walked quickly to the roll top desk in the den and pulled out a large envelope, which she carried back to the foyer.

"You said you could think of ways to help people. Now you'll have your chance." Ramona handed Debbie the envelope.

Curiously, Debbie opened the packet and pulled out a thick sheaf of papers. The cover sheet had a large stylized "F" on it, under which were the words: "Charter of the Franklin Group". That was followed by what looked like paragraphs of legal language, with sentences beginning with "Whereas".

"I don't understand," said Debbie, leafing through the documents. It would take a long time to read them all.

"I set up a foundation for you. It's a non profit philanthropic organization for the disbursement of funds for worthy causes. I put some of my money in an account for the foundation to use. You're the chairwoman of the group. You'll have to put together a board of directors, and hire a staff and rent some office space. Then you and your board will have to decide which causes deserve to be funded and all that. It's going to be a lot of work. I may not have done you any favor at all, but I want you to have the chance to do good with the money."

"How much money?" asked Debbie, still shuffling papers.

"I started with twenty million," said Ramona, like she was talking about marbles, instead of dollars. "The group will have to do some fund raising and investment to replenish funds you disburse."

Debbie's mouth fell open. She swayed and Robert, who had been watching events unfold with barely suppressed delight, steadied the girl.

"Twenty million ... dollars?" asked Debbie, her voice cracking.

"It's about a quarter of my inheritance," said Ramona, smiling. Bobby warned you that money could be an unsettling thing." She hugged her daughter. "We'll help you, of course. That much money will bring out the sharks, but I think you'll do well. Are you up to the challenge?"

Debbie sagged into her mother's arms. "I have no idea. I think I might have peed my pants. I need to sit down Mommy."

Debbie sat, staring at the papers in her hands, as the orchestra started playing and people danced. Robert and Ramona danced first, and then four or five other couples joined in. When the second tune started Robby tapped his uncle on the shoulder.

"Can I dance with my mother?" he asked.

"Most assuredly," grinned the man, and stepped away. It was a slow dance and they danced closely. Ramona pressed herself against him, her lips by his ear.

"Thank you my darling," she said.

"What for?" he asked.

"For being you ... for loving me ... for giving me away," she said.

"I still wish I hadn't done that," he joked.

Ramona squeezed him. "When we get back from the honeymoon I think you and I will find some time to spend together," she whispered. She pushed her mons against him gently. "I think you'll find that while you gave me away, you won't have lost me."

Later, his dick still stiff from dancing with his mother, Robby asked Debbie to dance, also during a slow number. They maintained a respectable distance as they saw people smiling at brother and sister dancing at their mother's wedding.

"Your birthday present got here today," said Debbie, smiling widely.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I can't tell you that!" she giggled. "Birthday presents are a surprise. You wouldn't be surprised if you knew what it was when you see it."

"Can I have it now?" he asked.

Debbie shook her head. "It's private, between you and me. Well, I guess mom and Uncle Bob could see it, but nobody else," she said. "We'll wait until the guests leave. You're a big boy. Be patient."

Robby also danced with a number of other women, mostly from the bank. He enjoyed holding them in his arms and swaying to the music with them. They, in turn, enjoyed being held by a strong young man who they didn't have to worry about. They danced all the closer because of that and more than one left the wedding to drag their husbands back to their bedrooms.

The reception was planned to end at four in the afternoon. That was for two reasons. First, the newlyweds had a plane to catch, and didn't want to have to hurry to get to the first leg of their four day honeymoon. That it was only four days was because Ramona had decided she didn't want to quit work. Not yet, anyway. A lot of her social structure was underpinned by her friends at the bank, and she didn't want to abandon that. And she insisted that she receive no special benefits at work either, because of who she was now married to. She only had four days of vacation left for the year, and that was all she asked for.

The other reason was that, if they kept the guests longer, it would run into the supper hour, and Ramona and Robert wanted their first married supper to be a family meal. That meant that the reception ending needed to be backed up to a time that would allow Ramona to prepare supper, and for the four of them to eat it without haste.

A bell rang and the guests lined up to file past the Nettletons and their two teenaged children. A few of the men claimed a kiss from the bride, who gave them out willingly, not minding strange lips pressed against hers for such a short time. Several of the ladies hugged Robert, but none tried to kiss him, with one exception.

Renee was last in line, her husband preceding her. When he kissed Ramona firmly on the lips, she suggested that what was good for the gander was good for the goose and reached her lips up to Robert.

Ramona had told him what Renee had said about him in prior months and so he gave her a kiss that was much longer, with much softer lips than a lot of people would have considered proper. He also let his hand slip very low on her back, almost, but not quite cupping her left buttock, which was hidden from the others in the room. She sagged in his arms a little and was breathless when the kiss broke.

"Thank you for helping me fight my battle," he said softly. "Were it not for you Ramona may never have given me a chance."

Renee's eyes were a little unfocused from the kiss. "That's okay," she sighed. Then she giggled, her eyes clearing. "If I couldn't have you I wanted the next best girl to get you." Then she turned to Ted who was looking at Debbie like he was considering kissing her too. "Come on Romeo, I have something I want you to do for me." She stopped in front of Debbie and hugged her, kissing her on the cheek. "Weddings always make me so horny!" she whispered. Debbie hadn't been expecting that from an adult, and the shock showed on her face. Renee laughed. "Don't worry about it. You'll understand some day."

Debbie, though, understood very well already. She just hadn't expected an adult to say something like that out loud. The wedding had made Debbie horny too. She looked sideways at her brother and felt her loins tighten up.

Finally everyone was gone. Ramona had already made the lasagna, and had put it in the refrigerator to keep. Now she lovingly re-created the same meal that, last time, had ended so disastrously in her old home.

"You all go change clothes while I finish this up," she said.

The three of them went upstairs and, after he changed clothes, Robert had a suspicion. He quietly let himself into the secret passageway and stepped up the hall to look into his new step-daughter's bedroom. She was just dropping her dress onto the bed, now dressed only in panties and thigh-high hose. She was gorgeous, he thought, her body that perfect shape that went with young women in the prime of their lives. His intent wasn't to spy on her nakedness, though he enjoyed seeing that. As he had suspected, he saw the door open and Robby step into the room. He was already dressed in jeans and a T shirt.

"Um ... do you need any help?" he asked his sister, who turned her head to look at him.

"What a bunch of hooey!" she snorted. "You just want to ravish me."

"Okay," agreed Robby happily. "Want to be ravished?"

"Mom took me to the doctor last week," she said, pulling on a pair of terrycloth shorts. "She got me a prescription for birth control pills."

Robby was obviously stunned. "She did?! I didn't know that! Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"Because, my horny brother, you have to take them for a whole month before they're effective."

"A whole month?!" moaned Robby. "We have to wait a whole nother month?"

"Don't you love me enough to wait another month?" asked Debbie. Robby was so upset that he missed the tone in her voice. Their watching uncle, though, heard something disingenuous in her complaint.

"Of course I do," said Robby automatically. "But a whole month?"

"I'll do something nice for you after supper, when Mom and Uncle Bob leave for their honeymoon. How's that? You know how much you like to feel my mouth on you."

Robby sighed. "You look delicious. Maybe I should have you for supper instead of the lasagna." He leered at his sister's still naked breasts.

"Supper first," said Debbie firmly. "Then your birthday present and something else nice for you."

She pulled on a T shirt and they left together. Robert returned to the master bedroom via the secret passage to find his new wife also stripped to her panties.

"Oh!" she said as he came through the bookcase. "You startled me. What were you doing in there?"

"I was returning the favor for your children spying on us," he said, grinning.

Ramona's mouth made an "o". "You don't mean they were ..." she asked.

"No," he smiled. "Robby was most insistent, but your daughter informed him that she is now taking birth control pills, and that he must wait a month. He was devastated."

"That's odd," said Ramona, pulling on the clothes she planned to travel in. "When we got the prescription she didn't seem all that excited."

"She is having to make adult decisions before she is truly an adult," said Robert, taking his wife into his arms. "Is there time before supper? You're daughter's nakedness has gotten me ready for my bride."

Ramona pushed him away. "You didn't say she was naked, you dirty old man. What will you do if they spy on us again?"

"I will do the same thing I was doing the last time they spied on us. I will be doing what I want to do right now."

"Be patient, you ogre," she teased. "We'll be on the island tonight and you can ravish me all you want. Until then you'll just have to think about it." She patted his crotch as he reflected on how much she and her daughter were alike, even to the point of speaking alike.

Supper was charged with emotion, not just because of the wedding and the good food and the family atmosphere. Everybody at the table was horny, though the women would have denied it to preserve their facade of control. The meal itself helped them all deal with their emotions. The asparagus and olives and deviled eggs announced both the importance of the meal, and that this was a time to be together, and to put aside personal desires. It was a good meal ... a good start to their life as an expanded family.

Then there was the leave-taking to get through, during which both women, for some reason, felt compelled to cry. Ramona kissed her son goodbye on the lips, a long, lingering kiss. She let her tongue flick against his briefly and parted from him breathing deeply. She turned to see that her husband had taken the same route with Debbie.

Debbie, when her uncle kissed her, was unprepared for the kind of kiss he gave her. It took things a level higher than their last lingering kiss, on that night when he had presented her with a bouquet of flowers. That kiss had taken her breath away. This kiss made her want to be naked. It was like her kisses with Robby in some ways, as her uncle's tongue invaded her mouth and her own pressed against it. He tasted different, and she felt the stubble of his whiskers on the skin around her lips. Her knees got rubbery and she realized she could get used to being kissed by him, just as she loved being kissed by Robby.

Debbie and Robby stood hand in hand at the top of the steps to the front door as they watched their mother and uncle drive out of the gate. Debbie turned to her brother and gazed at him.

"Go up to your room. I'll get your birthday present and call you when I'm ready to show it to you."

"Okay," he said. He was jumpy with nervous sexual energy. He paced in his room, not sure how to deal with his pent up emotions. He thought about beating off, but knew she planned to suck him, and wanted to be hard for her. She liked the taste of his spunk too, so he wanted a full load to give her. He wondered vaguely what his birthday present was, but it was unimportant, compared to loving her.

He heard the knock on the wall between their rooms and, instead of going out in the hallway, went to the bookcase in his room and pressed a hidden catch that opened a secret doorway into her room. He had helped his uncle service that doorway, oiling the long unused hinges and locking mechanism, and replacing the rope on the counterweights that moved the heavy section of wall. As her bookcase swung open he found her facing him and his jaw dropped.

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