Love and Friendship

Starting about in middle school I developed a very special relationship with one of my cousins, Marie. Everybody described us ‘two peas in a pod’ because of all the time we spent together and the closeness we shared. We were the same age and in the same grade at school. She was somebody that seemed to know exactly how I thought about things, and I seemed to have an uncanny knack at knowing what was on her mind.

Some accused us of being ‘kissing cousins,’ or somehow romantically involved. It wasn’t ever anything like that, though at some point we did begin to share a kiss every time we met and parted. But I really didn’t care what they thought—Isn’t that what someone does with their best friend in the whole world? It was more like a brother-sister relationship than anything else. She was an awesome friend to travel through adolescence with, and someone I felt comfortable sharing anything with.

Adolescence progressed to young-adulthood, and we eventually entered college. She went to a different college than I did, but we still kept in close contact, and visited each other as often as we could. We talked about lots of things.  One of the things I liked about her was that anything was fair game to talk about, and that it was nice it was to have a friend where each felt free to say whatever was on their mind without fear of what the other would think.

One of the most difficult things I remember was getting the call after her long-standing boyfriend broke up with her. She was devastated, and I remember feeling so glad I’d driven immediately the three long hours to see her. She was sobbing uncontrollably, and I held her in my arms for a very long time until her heart-wrenching cries subsided. Her eyes were puffy red, and her cheeks wet with tears. She explained to me that her boyfriend had left her for another woman that would be willing to “put out” for him.

I felt so bad for her, but didn’t know just what to do to make it better. I knew she’d been very close to her boyfriend, and had even wondered if he would be “the one.” I’d tried to reassure her that he wasn’t worthy of her if this is how he was going to treat her, and that someday a real man would sweep her off her feet and win her love. She always told me how much she appreciated that I was there for her in this dark time. But how could I not be? Hadn’t she been with me and helped me in other ways for so many years?

My cousin was and is a dear friend to this day, a soul I cherish and love. Eventually, Stanley did come along for her, and man enough to wait for marriage to experience the main event. I rejoiced for both of them on the day of their wedding, and gave my cousin a huge hug in going through the greeting line.

“Enjoy yourself tonight, cuz,” I whispered in her ear. Standing back from her, I looked into her blushing face and smiling eyes.

“I will,” she said softly, her eyes shining with delight. “I’m SO happy!”

And likewise I was happy for her. I congratulated Stanley too, telling him, “Take good care of her, Stan, you’re getting quite a special lady.”

He smiled in appreciative agreement and said, “Thanks for all you’ve done for her. She’s shared the many things you two have experienced over the years. In some ways, I feel like I’m stealing a good friend from you.”

“Nonsense!” I said. “We’ll still be friends, but it will just be a little different now. Hey—enjoy your honeymoon and… and in becoming one with your lovely bride. It’s a precious time for both of you.”

He shook my hand vigorously and grinned at me. “I sure will. I most certainly will. Please come and visit us anytime, okay?”

I can remember it almost like yesterday. Our relationship did indeed change, but not in the way I would have ever imagined. If anything, it deepened, because now it included her husband. I was still single, and they’d periodically have me over for supper or for some special time together. Where only my cousin had helped me before, now I had a good friend in her husband to also talk to.  Stanley proved to be a good match for Marie, and I appreciated his friendship as well.

Marie was instrumental in helping me find my beloved wife, Lisa. Lisa was probably my cousin’s best girl-friend at college and ended up working at the same place, so that was how we became acquainted. How I missed meeting her in my visits to Marie at school I’ll never know, particularly since they roomed together, but I was most fortunate to have found such a lovely person to travel through life with. I found Lisa to be a sweet soul and a kindred spirit—She would be good for me. And on top of that, she was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. I didn’t want to pinch myself, lest I find out this had all been a dream. Our engagement seemed impossibly long, but we were waiting for that one special moment to consummate our love, knowing just how beautiful it would be when it came.

Just prior to our wedding day, I got a phone call from Marie, and she asked me, “Say, cuz, would you mind if I borrowed Lisa tonight and talked to her for a while?”

Not wanting to just give up my beloved without a ‘fight,’ because I wanted to talk to her too, I said, “Well—I guess so. But… what do you need to talk to her about?”

“Well, here’s the thing,” she said. “And I’d only do this if it’s okay with you. I wanted to talk to her just a little about her wedding night. You see—she doesn’t have the benefit of a parent to go to on this kind of thing like you do, and, well… I don’t know. It was just an idea that came to mind. She’s a special lady, and you’re a special man. You’ve done so much for me. And this isn’t any sort of a ‘repayment,’ I’d just like to talk to her to help her with any questions she has, to allay any fears she might have, and to do whatever I can to help her have an awesome experience on your first night together.”

It was something I honestly hadn’t thought about. Probably should have, but didn’t. Marie was right. Both of Lisa’s folks had died early in her life, and right when she needed them the most.  Her life’s outlook despite this never ceased to amaze me. She was such a blessing to me and seemed so appreciative already of even my own folks, most likely because she brutally understood what it was like not to have parents. And yet, she somehow was able to come through the experience of losing her parents without a bitter thought in her head. There seemed to be room only for sweetness in her heart, something I marveled at and longed to protect and cherish with every fiber of my being.  I would learn later that it was Marie that had helped her the most through this horrible time, as well as the fierceness with which she guarded her best friend’s feelings.  When Marie got something locked in her head, there was no stopping her, and Lisa was locked in there tight!  Marie would try to tell me later that she did it just for me… but that was just her trying to convince me I owed her something.  Which I probably do.

“You know I can’t tell you ‘no,’” I laughed at her. “I think that would be wonderful. We’ve talked about it a little, but I know you two are good friends, and could probably share a whole lot more freely about it than even what we’ve been able to so far.”

“I don’t know about that,” she replied, “but I’m so happy to do it. I love the both of you so very much and want the best for you and her.”

“Thanks!” I told her. We hung up and I wished for a moment I could be a mouse in my cousin’s pocket that evening while she and my wife-to-be talked about love, and becoming one with a man. A man, I reflected, that didn’t even deserve this delightful woman that had agreed to marry him, but one who was so very thankful, and counting his blessings. Lisa and I had talked about it… probably both of us blushing more than we even realized, and we did okay, but this would be nice, very nice. If it somehow made it better for Lisa, and I was sure it would, well, it set my mind at ease. It illustrates the type of friend my cousin was to me, and to my wife-to-be.

The wedding day came and went, as all things do eventually. Stan and Marie wished us both well on our honeymoon. Marie gave me a kiss and whispered in my ear, “Enjoy the fireworks, cuz! You’re going to like her—she’s stunning!”

“I know that already!” I breathed, and then smelled a rat. “Did you two—”

She grinned impishly back at me and whispered again, “Of course I saw her. She’s even borrowing some of my lingerie that we picked out to share with you last night. She just had to try it on, of course. Trust me—she’s gorgeous. Have a great honeymoon.”

Speechless, I didn’t know what to say. Marie laughed at me (it wasn’t the first time she’d rendered me speechless) and patted my cheek before walking off. I shot a glance over to my new wife, who looked at me briefly, and then avoided my gaze, a cute little grin on her face.

And she sure was… and is. Wow! Even more beautiful than I thought she would be. Our honeymoon was filled with laughter and love, as we discovered the joy and bliss of becoming one as husband and wife. Pretty? She was a knockout and possessed the loveliest figure that I’d ever laid my eyes on. Sure, there are lots of pretty women in this world, but she was special. She was mine!

With all that we’d been through, my cousin and I continued to be close, and so, our relationship as couples grew closer, too. At least a couple times each month we’d spend some time together. Sometimes we’d travel together, other times we’d simply be in one another’s homes to share a meal and visit and talk.

As a matter of fact, it was on one of our vacations together that ‘it’ happened. We’d taken a special trip to Hawaii since it was a place our wives had always wanted to go. Frankly, I wasn’t all that wild about it, since my preference is for the trout streams and lakes in the mountains, but what would it matter?—I’d be with my dear wife, and with good friends. So, we went.

And then the unexpected happened. Somehow our hotel reservations were fouled up. We had asked for two rooms but ended up getting only one room. It was over a holiday, so every place, including the one where we were staying, was booked solid.  Marie tried valiantly to get this changed, but evidently, they hadn’t heard in Hawaii that nobody says ‘no’ to Marie.  So, this one room was it.

After deliberating at length about what to do, we decided that one room is what we were given, and one room is all we were going to get, so we’d take it and make the best of it. After some good-natured arguing over who got the bed, my wife and I agreed to take the floor for the first night. Then we decided to go see those wonderful Hawaiian beaches we’d all heard about.

“Okay boys, turn around,” my cousin ordered, laughing. “No peeking!” Stan and I turned obediently away, shrugging out of our clothes and putting on our shorts and tee-shirts while our wives changed into their swimsuits. I glanced over at him and we shared a grin. In short order, we were all ready to head out for the beach.

We managed to find a somewhat secluded section of the beach and set out a blanket to lie on. Stan and I were feeling lazy, so we laid back on the blankets to read or just talk, but the ladies insisted on dipping their toes in the ocean. Fine. If they wanted to get wet and have all the sand sticking to them, let them. Stan and I were treated to the loveliest view a man can ever have, that of his wife. The ladies quickly stepped free from their wind-covers and stood before us in glorious beauty. I felt a lump in my throat as I looked at my beautiful lover standing before me clad in a sexy, form-fitting blue bikini. What was this? Both of them wore exactly the same thing; the two must have planned it this way. My lands. My cousin looked very pretty in her suit, too.

“Stan—put them back in your head,” I commanded, once I remembered to breathe.

“What?” he asked.

“Your eyes,” I laughed. “I thought I heard them pop out of your head.”

“So they did,” he laughed.

The girls laughed at us, kicked a bit of sand our direction, and then strolled off to the water’s edge holding hands.  We later heard them screech when a wave caught them unaware.

“Wow,” I breathed. “Stanley—we’re the luckiest men alive. Just look at the women that agreed to marry blokes like us!” My eyes followed the beautifully shaped hips and heart-shaped bottom of my wife as she walked. Wow! And my cousin was a ‘looker,’ too. I’d always known that, but it sure was brought up front-and-center now. I felt so thankful for Stanley, one of the finest men I’d ever come across in life, that my dear cousin’s beauty was his to enjoy.

“You said that right,” he said. “We are truly blessed.”

What an afternoon of relaxation! Stanley and I visited and talked about various things and dozed the rest of the time. Eventually the women came back and settled down to work on their tans. Then it was my and Stanley’s turn to take a stroll down the beach to stretch our legs. The day stretched on to evening, and we eventually headed back to the hotel.

We enjoyed dinner in the hotel dining room and eventually headed back to our room to sleep. After getting on a schedule to work ourselves through the showers, we settled in to sleep. It must have been about eleven o’clock at night or something. Well, I must have just dozed off, when all of a sudden I awoke with a start because of some noise in our room. I opened my eyes to collect my wits for the moment, heeding the good ol’ “fight or flight” reaction of being waked from sleep. The room was dimly lit. What was that I was hearing?

For a moment I wondered if I was dreaming.  The sounds that reached my ears were one of indescribable passion between two people very much in love.  Maybe Stan and Marie had tried to wait until they figured we were asleep. As long as they could anyway. I’d had so many special conversations with my cousin in the past.  She’d been happy, sad, mad, exasperated, you name it.  But I’d never heard her like this!  She sounded so happy. As strange as it may seem, my heart flooded with happiness for her, really for both of them.  In some ways it felt kind of strange, but in other ways, so natural, and so beautiful.  Except for my wife, I loved these two people more than any others on the planet and rejoiced in their love for one another.  Their love was pure, and they were faithful to each other.  The light was very dim, and I couldn’t see much at all, though my eye did catch movement in the mirror at the foot of the bed.  I hope I might be forgiven for saying so, but the sight of Stanly pressing himself in and out of my cousin while her smooth legs wrapped around his back was arousing, I must admit, and my heart started pounding inexplicably.  Instantly I turned towards my dear wife.

“Honey—” I breathed in her ear.

“Yes,” she whispered back.

“Oh, you’re awake,” I said.

“Yes,” she replied. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Do you—do you hear what’s happening?” I asked.

“Yes,” she whispered, and I could tell a grin was filling her cheeks.

“What?” I asked. “Did you—”

“Marie and I talked about this when we were swimming this afternoon,” she said. “We wondered just what to do, both of us knowing we’d want to make love with our husbands despite sharing the same hotel room.”

Stunned, I just laid still and said nothing, so she continued, “So… she said she didn’t care if we were in the same room anyway, and would just wait until we were asleep.”

“You two talked about all that, huh?” I asked dumbly.

I gave a tremble as I felt her soft hand reach between my legs to hold my manhood. “Yeah—and it looks like you don’t mind the idea at all, either,” she smiled.

“Lisa—” I pleaded, whispering.

It seemed to happen so quickly. We shrugged out of our clothes under our blankets and lay nude together, listening for a few brief moments as Stan and Marie continued their lovemaking on the bed above us.

“Look,” my wife pointed, and we again looked at the mirror. This time my cousin was on top. All we could see was the silhouette of her back as she pleasured her husband from the top.

“Aren’t they beautiful together?” my wife whispered.

“Honey—” I whispered back. “Make love with me.” I pulled her to me and gently lifted her on top of me. She smiled sweetly down at me in the dim light, and we both felt thousands of pricks of pleasure as she gently opened her smooth legs and settled down onto my throbbing penis. Oh wow, what a woman! My heart beat quickly as she impaled herself on me in one smooth stroke, taking me just as my cousin was taking her husband on the bed above.  I could tell she was trying to stifle her giggles, as she hunched over, hoping she wouldn’t be seen above the bed.

It was hard to keep quiet, but it sure didn’t take us very long to reach the path of our marital glory. She felt so good to me, and my eyes were locked on hers, yet peripherally taking in her glorious full breasts as they swung above me, periodically pressing against my chest, her rock-hard nipples lightly tickling through my chest hair. Stifling a moan and a laugh, we came together, and I threw my head back in orgasmic bliss, my seed fountaining into her. And then I simply held her in my arms as her body shuddered with release, as she tried equally valiantly to stifle her pleasure into soft whimpers. How dear, how precious this woman was to my soul! What kept us from breaking into laughter over the sheer naughtiness of it all, I’ll never know.

Eventually, her trembling subsided, and she rolled off of me, snuggling in beside me. Above the bed was quiet. I wondered—had they heard us, too? But I didn’t wonder long, for soon we settled into slumber, and sleep overtook our senses.

After what had happened, I would have thought that the next morning would be kind of awkward, but somehow it wasn’t. Marie’s face radiated with warmth and beauty, perhaps a reflection of the joy she had shared with her husband the night before. Having been blessed with the charms of my wife, I know I was smiling! But nobody gave any indication that they had heard or seen what had happened. In some ways, I kind of felt guilty about it. But my wife reassured me that she and Marie had discussed it and she only felt bad that she had wakened us.

The week was eventually over, and we returned home to ‘normal’ life, with some very fond memories of our time in Hawaii.  I knew two things:  (1) I loved my Lisa even more now than when we’d gone on the trip, and (2) the same for Stan and Marie.  Okay, a third thing, too – Hawaii was more fun than I thought it would be.  None of us knew then that our friendship would actually deepen as a result of this trip, but it did.

By: Jason Meredith