Sharon Sutton - The widow_s family

Things had been tough for Lauren since the death of her husband two years ago. She had married young to a man fifteen years her senior and now, at the ripe old age of twenty-nine, had inherited two teenage stepsons and a teenage stepdaughter. Just what any man would want, she used to think to herself. Marry a widow with a ready made family.

Oh, she had her share of dates since she went back to active involvement. There was the cute banker who literally ran out of the house when he met the kids. There was the store owner who, though he at least stayed around for a few drinks, had never bothered to call her again. And there had been others but the ending was always the same. One date, meet the kids, gone. After nine or ten different guys, Lauren about gave up on it all.

Lauren used to sit and wonder exactly what had happened to her. She was a fine looking woman with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She had kept herself in great shape through aerobic exercise and hard work. Before she met her late husband, she had never had any trouble at all. Within the span of six years though, Lauren had lost both parents and her only brother in an auto accident and then lost her husband in a freak hunting accident. Married at 21 to a 37 year old widower, widowed herself at 27.

There were times when Lauren thought seriously about just taking off and leaving the kids. Once she had even packed and made plane reservations. But, at the last minute, she decided she couldn't. The kids would have been well taken care of by her brother in law so that wasn't the problem. It was simply that she had grown so attached to them.

Carl, the oldest, had just turned 17. He had his fathers features and there were times that Lauren felt that she was actually looking at her late husband. Carl had grown up as a great kid, never gave her any trouble. When he got his first job last year he voluntarily had given her half of his net pay as room and board payment. He never complained about having to help around the house and willingly did his share. Lauren was constantly amazed at his attitude.

Brad was 15 going on 30 and was everything that Carl wasn't. Always in trouble in school Carl constantly seemed to try to push Lauren to the limit. But Lauren saw something in Brad that most others would have missed. Underneath that hard exterior he put on was a kid who's heart was gold. She remembered the way he reacted to his fathers death. He took it harder than the other two kids and, even now, two years later, Lauren would sometimes hear Brad crying in his room at night. She never let on that she new, of course.

Karen was 14 and was about the cutest kid Lauren had ever met, both in physical terms and in personality. Karen was only six when Lauren married into the family and she immediately accepted Lauren in as mother. Karen was tall with a dark complexion. She had blossomed early. Lauren remembered well sitting with her four years ago discussing the "facts of life," which Karen took in with amazement. Then, at age eleven, Karen experienced her first period. Lauren ended up sitting up half the night holding Karen's hand because the cramps hurt so much.

No, Lauren couldn't leave. These kids were as much hers as if they had been born to her. They were her family and her life. It was rough and would get rougher as time went on but, she thought to herself, it was worth it.

One of the hardest parts of being single again was a lack of physical affection. Lauren had been sexually active since she was 15 and now it had been over two years since she had slept with a man.

During her six years of marriage, Lauren had always remained faithful, actually for two reasons. The first was that she honestly and dearly loved her husband. The second was that he was the best lover she had ever had. He always seemed to know exactly what she wanted and how to please her. Pleasing her was always more important than pleasing himself. Many nights since the accident that took her husband away from her, Lauren would lay in her bed and remember their lovemaking sessions. At times, caught up in the throws of passion, Lauren would bring herself to deep orgasms and moan loudly before coming back to the realization that her stepchildren were asleep in adjoining rooms.

Lauren made a commitment to herself though, that, no matter what happened, she would keep her family together. If it meant that she would never find another man, so be it. If it meant a remaining life of celibacy, then she would bear up. Nothing would separate them.

Then, one warm summer evening an incident would happen that would change Lauren's life, forever.

The incident took place on a Friday night in July. Karen was spending the night at a friends home and Brad was at a church camp for the weekend. Carl had come home early from a date and, after a little small talk with Lauren had headed to bed. Lauren sat up watching television for a while before becoming bored and heading to bed herself. As she walked up the stairs, she saw a dim light coming from Carl's room and as she got closer she noticed that his door was cracked open just a bit.

Not one to break in on her kid's privacy, Lauren couldn't help but glance through the space between the door and the wall. Carl was laying on the bed, on his back, with a Penthouse magazine held up in front of his face. The blankets were pushed down and, through his undershorts, Lauren could see that Carl was built every bit as well as his father had been. As she quietly watched, she saw Carl reach his hands down under his shorts and retrieve himself. As he pushed them down, his penis sprung to attention. Still reading, Carl began slowly stroking himself.

Lauren unconsciously found herself running her left hand over her breasts and felt her right hand slip to her crotch. As she watched Carl she felt a burning inside and memories came flashing back to her of her lovemaking sessions with Carl's father. She felt guilty about standing there watching her stepson but could not pull herself away. Carl continued to rub himself and Lauren continued to watch. Only a few minutes went by before it became obvious that Carl was about to explode. Fingering herself through her jeans, Lauren felt that she was about to do the same, doing everything in her power to maintain silence.

Suddenly Carl lay on his side and moaned lowly. He rubbed himself hard and began to come, spurting across the sheets. Lauren found herself unable to maintain her composure any longer and shuddered with the first wave of orgasm. The silence broken, Carl jumped and pulled the covers over himself. Realizing what she had done, Lauren quickly regained her posture and lightly knocked on the door. The light pressure of her knock caused it to swing open.

Laying on his back, Carl attempted to pull his legs up to hide his still raging hard-on. Lauren smiled and told him that she just wanted to say goodnight before she turned in. As she spoke, her eyes remained transfixed on the bulge under the blankets. Carl, following his stepmother's eyes, felt himself both embarrassed and excited, not quite sure what to do next.

The two held silence for a few moments before Lauren walked over and sat down on the bed next to Carl.

"Carl, we've always been honest with each other hon, and I have to tell you that I'm not proud of what I just did. I just watched what you did and I didn't leave you to your privacy."

Carl felt himself flush red. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, hon. It's OK. There isn't anything to be sorry about."

Carl just sat there in silence. Inside he was burning. He was surprised to find that he was still rock hard, normally he would have shrunk down by now.

"Hon, what you were doing is fine with me. It's normal and natural. What was wrong was me watching you. I'm the one who's sorry."