A Mother And Her Twins, Part 6

A Mother and Her Twins

CHAPTER 6

"Hello girls," Beth said quietly, "enjoying your night?"

Both twins looked confused. Kate was quite clearly smoking, and had almost
filled the ashtray that Beth usually uses when Ellie comes over, and yet
their mother either did not seem to notice or to care. What kind of torture
was this?

"Kate, I think it's time we had a little chat," offered Beth. "It's up to you
if you want Anne to stay for this."

Kate looked at Anne, and realised how much her twin had meant to her in the
last couple of hours. With the unspoken bond that twins seemed to have, it
was acknowledged that it was okay for Anne to stay and hear what sort of
punishment Beth was going to dish out.

"Take a seat, girls. I'm going to open a bottle of wine. Would you like
some?"

It was unusual for their mother to offer them alcohol, usually only on their
birthdays or special occasions since they turned 13, but sensing the wine was
as much for Beth as it was for them, they both agreed - wine seemed like a
fine idea.

Kate was still holding her half-finished cigarette in her hand. She had not
taken a drag since her mother had returned, and she needed to de-ash as soon
as possible before she made a mess of the furniture. Somewhat surprisingly,
it was Beth who came to her aid.

"It looks like you'll have to tap that ash off, dear. We don't want to get
the carpet all dirty now, do we?"

Kate looked relieved as she approached the ashtray and tapped her ash in. She
then decided things might go a little easier if she was not smoking during
the next few minutes, and made a motion to crush the cigarette out.

"It seems like such a waste to leave your cigarette half-smoked," Kate was
stunned to hear her mother say. "Aren't you going to finish that?"

Kate (and indeed Anne) were both shocked to hear what appeared to be Beth
giving Kate permission to smoke. Somewhat tentatively, Kate raised her
all-white menthol cigarette to her lips and took a drag, expecting at any
moment her mother to turn on her. Instead, Beth was busy pouring three
glasses of wine, seemingly oblivious to her daughter smoking.

Beth carried the glasses of wine towards the dining table, motioning Anne to
grab the bottle from the kitchen. "And don't forget your cigarettes and
ashtray, dear," she said to Kate as she walked past her. Kate was now totally
bemused. Not only was she getting permission to smoke, she seemed to be
getting encouraged. What was going on?

"Right girls, let's start by making a toast," Beth offered after they were
all seated. They clinked their glasses together, unsure where this was
headed. "This evening, I'm sure you'll agree, has been one of the strangest
we have ever had as a family. A few revelations have come out, and a few more
are set to arrive," Beth added intriguingly towards the twins. "First off,
Kate, let's discuss your smoking."

Uh-oh, here it comes, thought Kate. This is where mom finally comes to her
senses.

"It looks like you have made the decision to start smoking. Are you
addicted?" Beth asked.

"Erm, I think so," Kate responded. "I've been smoking for a while now, but I
do miss it when I don't get the opportunity to smoke. Are you going to punish
me now?"

"God, no," Beth laughed. "Maybe if you had asked me that yesterday, I would
have responded differently," Beth replied, echoing what Anne had said earlier
on, "but things have taken a strange turn tonight which has changed my
thinking completely. My dear, you look like a rabbit caught in headlights,"
Beth commented, "would you care for a cigarette right now?"

"Erm, okay, yes please," said Kate, reaching for her cigarettes. Anne stared
in amazement as Kate withdrew a cigarette from her packet and put it in her
mouth. 

"Here, let me light you," said her mother, leaning forward with Kate's
lighter in her hand. Kate, still looking stunned at current developments,
leaned forward and accepted the light. She immediately felt better as she
inhaled her first permitted cigarette in front of her mother, and decided to
let Beth know how much of a smoker she was by double-pumping on her next
drag.

"Hmm, it does look like you know what you're doing, Kate," Beth commented. "I
take it from now on you would like permission to smoke?"

"Uh, yes, I would. If that's okay with you, I mean?"

"Yes, dear, but there will be some rules." Beth added. She was still holding
her daughter's lighter and now looked at it thoughtfully, as if trying to
come to a decision in her head.

"Kate, may I have one of your cigarettes, darling?" 

Beth asked this as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Both twins
gasped and exchanged a glance with each other.

Kate was the first to speak. "Sure, mom, I guess so. But you do realise you
don't actually smoke, don't you?"

"Well, before tonight, that was certainly true," Beth said, extracting a
cigarette from the green packet on the table, "but as I said earlier, there
will be a few surprises tonight!"

Beth put the cigarette in her mouth and lit it. To prove she also knew what
she was doing, she inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly while both her daughters
stared in amazement. Another glance was exchanged between the twins, which
seemed to say: "Is this really happening? Is our mother REALLY smoking?"

The silence was broken by Beth, who said almost to herself, "These menthols
are really nice. Much more minty than the cigarettes that Ellie smokes."
Then, directing her next comment at Kate, Beth said "I see why you like
these. They're lovely. I could really get into these." As if to prove it,
Beth performed an almost perfect nostril exhale on her next drag, and was
surprised to see some smoke coming out of her mouth a good ten seconds after
she thought she had finished exhaling.

Finally, the silence was broken by Anne, who said "Mom, pardon my French, but
what the fuck is going on?" Kate was stunned to hear her sister talk this
way. In all their years together, Anne had never once swore in front of her,
even censoring herself when she was singing along to her music. Beth,
however, just looked amused and continued to smoke as she talked.

"Well, girls, it's been a long, strange night, and lots of things have been
going on. I thought we were always open with each other, but according to
Ellie, it looks like I may have gotten that wrong. Anne, you have always been
the quiet one; is there anything you would like to share before I ask you to
leave the room?"

Anne thought for a second, then responded, "No, mom, I think I've grown up a
little tonight. I have learned to be less judgemental and to be open to more
experiences. But why are you going to ask me to leave?"

"I'm glad to hear you're growing up and becoming a fine young lady. I'm going
to ask you to leave because Kate and I have something very personal to
discuss, and I don't think the time is right for you to hear it."

"Is this about Kate being a lesbian?" Anne blurted without thinking, the wine
having an effect on her.

"ANNE!" yelped Kate in horror, not wanting her mother to find out this way.

"It's okay, Kate, Ellie told me," said Beth, trying to break the sudden
tension in the air. "God, was I the only person who didn't know?" Beth said,
attempting to calm the situation.

"You know?" said Kate attempting to regain control of the conversation. "Does
it bother you?"

"Why should it?" said Beth. "After all, it's your body and you can do
whatever you want with it. Speaking of which, can I have another cigarette?
That last one was really tasty!"

Kate looked on as her mother shook two cigarettes loose, placed them both in
her mouth and lit them. She then passed one to Kate and continued to smoke
her own before hitting Kate with another bombshell.

"So, who's Anya, and is she that hot that you learned to smoke just for her?"

This made Anne look over at Kate, who was blushing furiously. This was a part
of the story that Kate had missed out earlier on, so Anne was as eager as her
mother was to find out more.

"Anya is the love of my life, only she doesn't even know it," said Kate
quietly. "I only hang around with my so-called friends because Anya is part
of the group. She was originally from Russia, but moved here when she was
five. She transferred to our school about a year ago, and since then, I
haven't been able to stop thinking about her. She was the first of our group
to smoke; in fact, she's been smoking since she was twelve, and sort of
taught all of us. Except of course that I couldn't get the hang of it, no
matter how hard I tried. It was only when I approached Ellie and asked her to
help me that I started to appreciate smoking. At first, I still couldn't do
it. Ellie's Richmonds were better than Anya's Marlboros, but not much. Then
she suggested I try menthols, and after that, it became much easier. Soon I
was smoking in front of Anya, and at last she began to notice me. I would put
on a show for her sometimes, trying different exhales or standing
provocatively to make her notice me. I know she's into girls, but I also
think she's more into girls who smoke. That's the impression I get when I see
her watching me.

"Anyway, I never meant to get hooked. After I finished that first pack at
Ellie's, I went out and bought another pack to show Anya what I could do.
This was to be the one and only time I bought cigarettes for myself. However,
the more I smoked for Anya, the more attention she paid me, so after I
finished the second pack, I decided I could probably smoke another pack
without becoming addicted. But when I arrived at the store, this time I
noticed the variety of cigarettes out there and wondered to myself why there
was so many brands and what the differences were between them all. I had some
money in my purse and decided to buy a few different brands and try them out.
I preferred menthols to regular cigarettes, so I just bought one pack of each
of the menthols! The cashier must have thought I was weird, but I didn't
care. I took my purchases over to Ellie's and asked if she would mind keeping
them for me. She had no problem with that, but looked a little surprised to
see me buying so many cigarettes. She warned me that if I smoked all of
these, I would end up getting addicted, but I told her everything was okay
and I was only doing this to get Anya to notice me. I think by this point
Ellie could see I was lying to myself and that I was well on the way to
getting hooked, but as she had originally encouraged me, found herself in an
awkward situation.

"What it did mean having all of these cigarettes over at Ellie's was that I
was spending more time over there, and spending time at Ellie's meant smoking
much more regularly that I would normally have had occasion to. It soon
became a ritual to head over there 2 or 3 times a week at night and have long
chats and smoke the whole time. I still didn't think I was addicted until one
day at school, when I was particularly bored, that I suddenly found myself
wishing I could have a cigarette. Suddenly, that was all I could think about,
and by the lunch-bell I was practically running over to the place where my
friends hung around. I didn't often join them for a cigarette at lunch-time,
but Anya saw the desperation on my face and simply offered her cigarette to
me when she saw me. She smiled when she saw my hunger to smoke, and even
though it was a Marlboro Red (which I still don't like), I gratefully
accepted a second cigarette immediately after the first and wolfed this down
also. Since then, I have joined the girls every day before, during AND after
school, and then going over to Ellie's at night. I have even smoked with
Ellie sometimes out on the porch when you send her outside!"

Kate seemed to be relieved to be unburdening herself of all her worries, and
automatically reached over for her cigarettes. She now no longer felt
self-conscious about lighting up in front of her mother, and smoked easily in
front of Beth and Anne for the first time.

"Well, that's quite a story," Beth said. "I think I understand how you feel,
chasing the woman of your dreams. In fact, this is not the first story of
unrequited love I have heard tonight. Would it surprise you guys to know that
I was the subject of a similar story tonight, also?"

Anne, looking puzzled, said "But you've only visited Ellie tonight. What do
you mean? You mean, you and Ellie...?"

Suddenly seeing where Anne was going with this, asked "Did Ellie come on to
you tonight. I mean, she told me she has the hots for you, but you're not
into women, right, mom?"

Beth looked on coyly and said, "Kate, it's very impolite not to offer your
mother a cigarette when you're sitting there smoking."

"Sorry, mom, here, have one" Kate said, throwing her mother the packet. Anne
had been playing with the Kate's lighter for the last couple of minutes, and
Beth asked her, "Anne, would you mind lighting me up?"

Anne had never lit a cigarette for anyone before, but couldn't see the harm
in it. She leaned over the table, got the lighter working, and lit her mom's
cigarette on the first attempt. Feeling strangely proud of herself, Anne
continued to play with the lighter and drink her wine while waiting for Beth
to continue her intriguing story.

"I must say, I've never really thought about women in a sexual way before
tonight, but Ellie let her feelings towards me be known for the first time. I
don't know what to make of the events that ensued (which I'm not going to
divulge to you, girls!), but let's just say I'm more open-minded about
certain possibilities than I was in the past. I was with your father for so
long that it never occurred to me I would end up in another relationship, and
since we split up the topic never came up much. However, tonight's events
have shaken the status quo, and I suspect things may change. How would you
girls feel, for instance, if Ellie and I were to date?"

The girls were stunned by the latest revelation, and sat in silence
contemplating their mother's question, Kate smoking and Anne playing with the
lighter.

Finally, Kate piped up. "It would be fine with me, mom. After all, how can I
complain? Tonight you find out I'm gay and that I smoke, and you seem to
approve of both!"

"I don't necessarily approve of your smoking, Kate, but I think it would be
rather hypocritical to deny you," Beth said, drawing again on her own
cigarette. "What about you, Anne?"

Anne contemplated this while finishing her second glass of wine, then said
"Whatever makes you happy, mom. Whether it's Ellie or smoking, I approve.
That goes for you too, Kate."

Tears sprang into Beth's eyes again at this, and after a second she exclaimed
"Group hug" and invited both twins into her arms. They held this pose for a
good 20 seconds, all the while smoke from Beth's cigarette drifted towards
Anne's mouth. Anne, in her inebriated state, decided it might be fun to try
and catch some of the smoke in her mouth, an act that did not go unnoticed by
Beth.

"Anne, what were you doing when we were hugging?" Beth asked when they
finally broke their embrace.

"What do you mean, mom?" Anne asked innocently, thinking her actions had gone
unnoticed. 

"I thought I saw you trying to breathe some of my smoke in. Were you?"

Kate looked pleased at this development, and wondered if she twisted enough,
she could get Anne to smoke. She decided to remind Anne of their conversation
earlier that night.

"Anne, remember when I told you how much I enjoyed smoking after I got used
to it?" Kate teased, "Well, why don't you try it and see for yourself."

Anne looked confused. Before tonight, she had never even thought about
smoking. Now, her sister and mother both seemed to be encouraging her to try
something she had always thought of as filthy!

"Anne, if you want to try it, go ahead," her mother was now telling her, "I
won't stop you."

Anne was torn. She wasn't sure if she actually wanted to do this, but her
mother and sister both seemed to want her to smoke. Ellie also seemed to
enjoy smoking a great deal, and she noticed more and more of the people at
school seemed to be smoking, too. She could easily try one cigarette right
now, with her mother's approval, and no one would ever need to know. If she
didn't like it, she could simply never do it again; tantalisingly, if she did
like it, she would have an endless supply of cigarettes lying around the
house, which was apparently no longer smoke-free.

After weighing up the pros and cons, and considering she was also a little
drunk, she was as surprised as anyone to hear herself say, "Okay, but just
one!"

Sharing a knowing glance, Beth pushed Kate's cigarettes towards Anne, and
Kate moved the ashtray to a place where all three of them could reach it.

Anne looked at the packet of cigarettes in front of her and thought to
herself, "Am I really going to do this?" Before she could change her mind,
she reached into the pack and extracted one of the all-white cigarettes. She
raised it to her nose and smelled it; it was kind of minty, she decided. Then
she popped the cigarette into her mouth and, using the lighter she had been
toying with for the last few minutes, gave herself an even light.

Perhaps because of all the second-hand smoke in the room, Anne felt no
ill-effects as she smoked her first-ever cigarette. She never inhaled, simply
brought the smoke into her mouth and blew it out again, but she enjoyed the
cigarette anyway. Kate and Beth smoked the last two cigarettes in the pack,
while Anne smoked hers in the way that only beginners do, i.e., when exhaling
the smoke feels more pleasurable than inhaling. All three women finished
their cigarettes and Kate asked Anne:

"What did you think?"

"You're right, sis, smoking is way more fun than breathing in other people's
smoke. Can I have another one?"

"Well, normally I would say `yes', but that was the last of them. Ellie has
the rest of my cigarettes over at her house, unfortunately. It's a pity, too,
`cos it's only 11pm and we have another bottle of wine in the rack and none
of us are at school or work tomorrow." Kate said, hoping her mother would
take the hint.

"You know what, Kate, you're absolutely correct. It would be a pity to let
that bottle of wine go to waste. We could ask Ellie over to share it with us.
I'm sure. I could also ask her to bring some of Kate's cigarettes, too. And
it is quite late; would anyone mind if Ellie stayed over in my room?"

Both girls, understanding what their mother meant by that last remark,
simultaneously said "No, mom!", and Kate piped up, "Tell her to bring at
least three packs. I think we're going to need them!"

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