Dorsai: Friends and Lovers

Plainly baffled, Nadia asked "How would you see your brother when he was excited like that?"

Still calm, Janet answered "I'd see him like that because we were together, just like he could see that I was excited."

It took a couple of seconds for that to really settle into place in Nadia's mind. When it did, though – "You*have*? You've really done stuff that made both of you feel like that -" together? "

It didn't sound like Nadia was freaking out on us, only amazed; I wasn't surprised when Janet told her "It wasn't just what you and Danny were doing – it was more, too."

Again, it took a bit before the full implications of that hit Nadia, prompting her to demand "Really? You two have -"

"Made love together. Yes." Janet finished for her. Nadia turned to look at me, and I matter-of-factly told her "Yes, Janet and I have made love with each other."

Nadia got quiet then, and looked at each of us several times over the next few minutes before finally saying "Wow. I mean -*wow*. I never would have thought. I knew you were a lot better with each other than any of my other friends are with their brothers, and that you were close" -" she blushed furiously about the word she'd used -" "but that – Wow."

When Janet and I looked at each other, both of us were amused by Nadia's reaction. We watched her as she got her mind around the fact that Sis and I were physically intimate with each other, and were paying close attention when she came out a little reverie to look at me, then Janet, before asking "When did you – how – what do you – Uh, are you okay to talk to me about it? I mean, I really want to know. I've kinda wished that I had a brother, you know, so I could maybe see guy stuff sometimes, but I never thought about anything more than that."

Out of consideration for me, Janet didn't include the details of just exactly why we'd gotten together the first time we'd done anything sexual together, but as she told Nadia about how we'd gradually gotten more comfortable with each other, we'd increased the intimacy between us -" and made sure that her friend understood that it wasn't just a physical relationship, that we really did love and care for each other, more than anything else. Nadia also got to hear that the things we did with each other were essentially the same as any couple. She also learned that Janet and I didn't just make love with each other -" that we were as likely to just snuggle or play a little literal grab-ass, or even just sleep with each other for the pleasure and comfort of having another person next to us.

As Sis and I explained our relationship to her, Nadia gradually came to understand that the physical part was just one piece of the bigger bond between us. When we were done, she sat quietly for several seconds before telling us "Now that you've told me about it, I can see how it happened, and even kinda understand it. I mean, everybody that knows both of you -we've all said something about how you're not like other brothers and sisters we know -" even for twins. And I've been around your mom and dad enough to know that they're*way* more special than my parents, or anybody else's that I know. I don't think it would be okay for anybody else I know to get involved with a brother or sister like you have, but with the parents you've got and the way you've grown up -" yeah, it's cool for you two."

A moment later, Nadia wanted to know "Jan, didn't it make you jealous or anything, me being with Danny? What if he meets a girl at school he really likes, and wants to do stuff with her? And Danny – what Jan being with another guy?"

Both of us just smiled at her before Sis answered "No, I wasn't jealous or anything. Why should I be? You already know how much we love each other, so what reason would I have to be upset that he still has enough love in him to make you feel good, too? If he meets another girl that he likes -" loves, really -" enough to want to be with her, then I'll be happy for him – and her, because I know who she'll be getting, and how happy he'll make her."

To that, I added "I'm the same way about Sis being with another guy -" I*love* her, not own her, so it isn't up to me to decide anything like that. What she said about me meeting another girl is how I feel about her and another guy. We're brother and sister, and we love each other, and nothing can ever change that -" so why be upset or anything if there's other people that each of us loves, too? I wouldn't want to be with him, physically, 'cause I like girls too much -" but I bet I'd like him, because I know that he'd have to be pretty special guy for Sis to love him."

Nadia looked a little uncertain, and Janet explained to her "Look, love isn't something that you only have so much of, like blood in your body, or anything like that. Maybe Danny and I understand it so good because we grew up learning it from Mom and Dad, but love is something that you've always got enough of that you can give some to other people. I mean, think about it: you don't love just your mom or just your dad, do you?"

Nadia shook her head, and Sis went on "With us, it's the same thing, only more. It's even easier for us, too, because we don't love everybody exactly the same way, either."

"What do you mean?", Nadia wanted to know.

I was the one to ask her "Do you love your mom and dad in*exactly* the same way? Or do you love them differently? The same amount, just not the same WAY?

She considered that for a bit, then smiled at us, saying "Okay, I can understand that. No, I don't love them the same way, but how much I love them is the same."

Janet looked at me and said "I kinda wish Dad had let us keep going to the private school, so we could take Mom's class, or maybe talk to Momma Jan. I'm not sure how to really explain everything."

Before I could reply, Nadia wanted to know "Momma Jan?"

Sis laughed before telling her "Yeah, Momma Jan. She isn't really our mom, but she's one of Mom and Dad's friends; she's the one I'm named after. There are five of them, and all of them helped take care of me and Danny when we were growing up. They were around so much that we started calling them 'Momma', because they were so much like our real mom. We still call them that, 'cause we know they like to hear us say it."

Intrigued, Nadia asked "Who are they? Why would you want to still be in private school so you could take a class from your mom, or talk to Kelly?"

"Jan still teaches at the high school level at the private school we started at. Mom and Dad each teach a class at that high school, and Mom's is the one where she teaches the kids about love and everything. Dad says it's his losing battle to teach them to think, but we know he doesn't really mean it", I explained.

"How can she teach people about love? Isn't that something you feel in your heart, and either you feel it or you don't?" Nadia wanted to know.

Janet and I looked at each other, and I told her "You explain it -" you're another girl -", to which Sis retorted "As if that matters!" before she faced Nadia again.

Nadia was listening closely as Sis told her "A minute ago, we talked about you loving both of your parents the same amount, remember?"

Her friend did, and nodded. Janet continued by saying "Now think about the other people you love. Do you love all of them exactly the same amount? Or do you maybe love, like, your grandparents more than you do some of your cousins? Or one of your aunts or uncles more than the rest?"

"Okay, I can see how it would be different amounts." Nadia answered after a few moments.

Janet's next question was "Have you ever really thought about why that is?"

The blank expression on Nadia's face was answer enough, and Sis went on "I may not be explaining this exactly right, but I think I can help you understand -" at least a little bit. For starters, loving somebody isn't just what's in your heart."