Meet the Parents
Rachelle was 12 years old when her mom married her step-father. He already had a 16 year old son, Darien, who had been nice to Rachelle from the start. Stephanie Huntington had possessed sufficient taste to ask for a June wedding, and Delancy Drafter had been well enough endowed to grant her request. It wasn't really a “May/December wedding,” but Rachelle considered the term “May/September wedding,” a serviceable substitute.
Stephanie had married her high school sweetheart straight out of high school, with predictable consequences. Her husband had trained as a welder, and obtained employ in the oil industry. His drilling rig schedule would have challenged a healthy marriage, and his own was far from well maintained. Within two years, Stephanie was a single mother. Her native intelligence led her to train as a technical assistant, first for one field, then another, settling on Pharmacy Technician for the stable part of Rachelle's early childhood.
She met Delancy at a Gym. Whatever her failings, Stephanie always maintained a diligent workout regimen, and it paid off. Her sleek physique had drawn the dilettante’s eye, and she had capitalized upon it well. He had made his money in the oldest of traditions: he had inherited it. His wife had been a socialite of his parent's choosing, and her shallow experience of human existence could not compete with Stephanie's intimate knowledge of adversity. By comparison to Ariadne, Stephanie would always be deeper and more genuine.
By their second summer as a family, Stephanie had begun to watch his son, Darien, mature in much the same way that a vine-dresser in a vineyard watches his grapes mature. It was by no means perverted. She simply didn't want his father to hinder his dating life, while at the same time sincerely hoping for him to avoid her own mistakes. Rachelle was present when she passed various remarks at the dinner table intended to inform his attentions to opportunities, and the talent rubbed off on her.
However, Darien's application of the precocious, led him to seek out sexual situations with his tutor. Rachelle's first contemplation that her mom and dad had sex was when she caught Darien trying to watch. At the tender age of 13, she didn't “rat him out,” but it somewhat sexualized her view of her step-father; he occasionally found a place in her nightly ritual. The problem didn't go away, but Darien was a quick study, and took adequate precautions that Rachelle should not discover him again.
By this method, he was soon more knowledgeable than his peers about the bedroom. The result of this mismatch of maturity was hardly predictable.
One Thanksgiving, Stephanie prevailed upon Delancy to spend the long weekend together, away from the children. Darien was quick to abdicate responsibility, and asked that they should provide a baby sitter for his step-sister. He was even prepared to recommend a high school senior (from school) for the task. The girl did not know him well, but easily accepted the assignment; it would be a big payday in baby sitting terms. His parents talked with her parents, and without intending anything of the sort, their long weekend with each other, translated into his long weekend with the baby sitter.
Her name was Sandra, and Rachelle had no clue of the significance of Darien's early risque comments. His steps were not practiced, but Stephanie and Delancy were scarcely out the door before Darien was persuading Sandra to rent an “R” rated DVD for the evening. A curious Rachelle joined him in his efforts, pointing out that, at 14, she could reliably defeat parental supervision at the theater. The first sign that Darien had chosen well was when Sandra acceded.
Saturday afternoon, cuddling on the couch led to the speculative foreplay that teenagers call “petting.” Rachelle took this in stride, and Darien followed initial success with the suggestion that Sandra use the master bath (in their parents' bedroom,) for her toiletries. From there it was a small step to offering his parents' bed in place of the sofa.
Rachelle regarded this escalation of favors with some reservation, and began to watch the two of them like a naturalist watches birds. The use of the master bedroom apparently necessitated running the vacuum cleaner which he asked Sandra to do, only to turn right around and “supervise.” His various cleaning instructions soon precipitated the “accidental” discovery of his parents' KY and so on. Sandra got the idea just before it became ham handed, and tested him by asking him to clean the bathtub and shower. To her amusement, he complied.
Meanwhile, Rachelle had discovered some of Darien's accommodations for spying on the properly authorized occupants. Somewhat understandably, she didn't perceive that they were contrived by another – she simply supposed that she had discovered an oddity. She was far more curious about her step-brother and his quarry than she had ever been about the adults; she would probably not have bothered to secretly observe her parents, but her peers were another matter.
That night, after they retired, Rachelle's clandestine reconnaissance was totally unsuspected by the principle actors in the play. Sandra went to bed, correctly expecting Darien to appear upon some pretext. But Rachelle correctly predicted the same. She made no effort to go to sleep, but instead listened for Darien's sortie. The two love birds were still grooming each other experimentally when she took up her position at Darien's crow's nest. The evening's activities were very informative for a 14 year old.
At the conclusion of the tryst, she was easily able to retreat into her room before Darien finished dressing and returned to his own, and Rachelle fell asleep wondering why Sandra had accepted his advances.