Stratton Stress, Part 2

Walking down the hallway, Rachel slowed down as she passed the bathroom. The sound of a toilet flushing led to the shower turning on. Assuming that Clive wouldn’t be the person taking a shower in that bathroom, his wife continued walking. After a pair of soft knocks, Rachel entered the suite’s bedroom.

Clive sat on the edge of the bed with his head hanging low. If Rachel noticed how rough her husband looked, it didn't register as she felt even worse. Unsure how to begin the conversation, the redhead opted to ask the obvious question.

“Is Peyton taking a shower?”

“Yeah,” Clive replied with a nod. Then, he lifted his head to look at her. “Oh, gawd, Rach, I’m so sorry–”

“Hun! You look terrible. Is your hand causing that much pain?” Rachel interrupted once she recognized the agony on her husband’s face. “Aren’t the painkillers working?”

“Those damn things,” Clive growled, staring daggers over at the cursed bottle which sat on the nightstand.

“They aren’t helping?”

“They helped with the pain. It’s the damn side effects that caused…Now, I feel even worse for Sean after experiencing the same thing.”

“Sean? But you don’t have the same prescription as him,” Rachel responded. Suddenly, she recalled part of her conversation with Peyton from last night. “Hold on. Peyton said something similar…What are these side effects?”

“Uh, erections. I mean, these intense and painful hard-ons. It feels like you’re going to explode. I’ve never felt this way before in my life. That’s why Peyton went to get you.”

“Oh!” Rachel exclaimed, recalling the blonde’s expression. “I’m sorry. But you were able to take care of it yourself?”

“With this?” Clive questioned, holding his cast-covered right hand.

The gears in Rachel’s brain turned as her mouth opened and shut. Left unasked was her question about using his left hand. After over two decades of marriage, Rachel understood that her husband could be called the exact opposite of ambidextrous. Eventually, she began to get a clearer idea of the puzzle. If Clive hadn’t taken care of his problem, and she hadn’t, that left only one person.

“Peyton gave you a handjob?” Rachel questioned. Her tone seemed to be a mixture of disbelief and humor.

“She, uh, started by saying it would just be a medical procedure,” Clive explained, slowly and carefully choosing his words. “Well, things kind of, um, escalated from there. I swear, Rach, I never meant it to go so far. Like I said, the need to cum is intense. How was I to know that Peyton actually has some of her mom in her?”

“She does?!” Rachel gasped, her mind whirling at all the revelations. “Peyton fucked you?”

“What?! No! I’d never, ever do that to you. I have some control. Peyton only, well, she used her mouth.”

“Peyton…uptight, Miss Follow The Rules Peyton, she blew you?!”

“I am sorry, Rachel. What I did is unforgivable. I’d like to blame those damn painkillers, but I can’t. I’m to blame for not stopping her immediately once she moved her mouth onto me,” Clive apologized with glistening eyes.

He watched in trepidation as Rachel covered her face with her hands. Not a word was uttered for an agonizing minute. Finally, Clive couldn’t stand the silence.

“Please don’t let this one horrible, awful mistake ruin what we’ve had for all these years. I swear, I’ve never done anything like this before.”

Rachel didn’t answer. Still, a strangled cry sounded behind her hands. A second followed, then a third. Eventually, Clive realized his wife wasn’t sobbing.

“Are you laughing?!” he asked in disbelief.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, hun. I just can’t believe that Peyton has any of Bridget in her,” Rachel stated, dropping her hands to reveal her tears from laughing. “Is she that bad at blowjobs? Bridget is going to be so embarrassed if she is.”

“What?! No! I mean, she was good, but that’s not what matters here!” Clive declared incredulously.

“It does on some level! If she’s terrible at sucking you off, then it would be even worse that you didn’t stop her,” Rachel explained, winking at her stunned husband. “Bee is going to love this story…someday when it’s safe to repeat it.”

“B-But I ch-cheated on you,” Clive stammered. “I did a terrible thing.”

“No, you did a bad thing. I’m the one that did the terrible deed,” Rachel countered. Any signs of mirth had vanished from her face. “Clive, I did so much worse last night. I had sex with Finn.”

The red-haired mother braced herself for the reaction. Her husband’s face ran the gamut of emotions. The bombshell caused shock, disbelief, anger, fury, and sadness before ending in puzzlement.

“You…and Finn? Why?” The question came from a strained voice.

“Because I’m a terrible wife,” Rachel said. Her eyes began to glisten from an emotion much different this time.

Silence filled the room again. The previously happily married couple stared at each other in uncertainty.

“Just like you, I lost control. However, I don’t have side effects from painkillers to blame. My concern for consoling Finn is all I can point to.”

“Consoling him?! That’s not even close to what you did!” Clive snapped. He winced in pain after slamming his injured hand down onto the mattress.

“I know! But we’ve both been so concerned about him this week. The anniversary of Cassie’s ****, setting up her foundation, Fred losing his mind, and then all the stuff last night with Lana, Teresa, and that bitch, Farah. Finn was hurting, Clive. Far more than at any other time since the accident.”

“That doesn’t mean you screw him!”

“I know. But I was also a mess. This ball and getting the foundation set up properly have been stressful. Then, everything starts to fall apart. Our daughters and their damn scenes, the allegations against you, Bridget’s…well, you know, and then you punched Fred.”

“So this is my fault?”

"No, no, no, I'm saying that. What I did is entirely my fault. I should've let Peyton handle Finn last night. But he was so pissed at Lana I didn't want to get her in the middle of them. She's already done that enough in the past. So when I left you in here, Finn was in the shower. I think I heard him fall down. That's why I peeked inside the bathroom and saw him crumpled in a ball." Rachel paused with tears running down her cheeks, remembering how hurt Finn looked and what came next. "I know that taking off my clothes to get into the shower was the wrong move. But I just went into mommy mode and had to take away his pain."

“I don’t think people would call that mommy mode,” Clive remarked sarcastically.

“Fine. I went into slutty mommy mode,” Rachel admitted.

Clive nearly replied with a retort about Gabby but held his tongue.

“Jesus, Rachel, you probably screwed up Finn even worse. You didn’t help him by hopping on his dick or whatever you did. If you’re not like a second mother to him, you’re at least his favorite aunt. He looked up to you.”

"You think I don't know that? Finn's in the other room, freaking out. He's worried that everything is messed up now between us and that it's his fault."

“Great. Just great. My relationship with him is likely destroyed,” Clive proclaimed grumpily.

“Don’t say that! Finn’s freaking out because he thinks you’re going hate him,” Rachel revealed.

“Hate him? I probably can’t even look him in the eye.” Catching Rachel’s reaction, he added, “How can I? He fucked my wife and probably lost all respect for me.”

Clive didn’t see the slap coming, but Rachel managed to change its direction to his shoulder rather than his face as she first intended. The glancing blow didn’t hurt, but it worked to snap him out of his depression.

“Why are you slapping me?”

"For even implying that about Finn! That boy loves you dearly. It's why he's in despair right now. You've been the man in his life for the last decade, not Fred. You're the father figure he goes to for advice, and you know it. He would never, ever lose respect for you. And you won't blame my fuckup on him. You will blame me. I'm not only a terrible wife; I'm a terrible mother. Everything that happened is because of me."

Snapped out of his initial anger and self-pitying, Clive watched as his wife collapsed onto the bed while sobbing. Usually a calm and collected man, Clive suddenly saw how everything could spiral out of control at this moment. He didn’t want that for himself, Rachel, the girls, and Finn. So, he stepped forward to de-escalate the situation before it irreparably harmed his family.

“Stop that. Stop putting all the blame on your shoulders. I’m not innocent here, either. Neither of us is a monster, and you’re a wonderful mother,” Clive declared.

“Yes, I am. I’m the only one who pushed you toward Peyton. I **** you to kiss her under the mistletoe and teased you by trying to roleplay her in bed. And I shouldn’t have told her to do whatever was necessary to help you. It’s my fault that you slipped with her,” Rachel pointed out.

“And I still could’ve stopped Peyton,” Clive stressed.

"But…" Rachel bit her tongue. She decided it might be best if Clive didn't know about Lacey watching her with Finn. She was his little cupcake, after all.

“Also, let’s face it. Plenty of last night can be blamed on the ongoing soap opera that is Lana and Finn,” Clive added.

"I don't know what that girl was thinking, sending a Zuccaro after Finn to save him," Rachel remarked, shaking her head.

“It did sound as if it half-worked.”

“Of course, it only half-worked. Lana’s plans always come out halfway successful. But that’s on me as her mother. I should’ve put my foot down years ago with the first whiff of anything happening between her and Finn. We all knew it wouldn’t end well.”

"We made an effort, but it was already too late. When does our forbidding Lana from doing anything not make her want it more?" Clive asked rhetorically. "We're just fortunate they managed to stay friends…up to now."

"Harumph! Did you know she had a serious talk with Finn about letting him go? It happened just days ago at the cabin. Then she turns around and pulls all this shit. I think it's time I sat her down for a stern discussion," Rachel announced.

“I think we have more than enough to talk about.”

“Clive,” Rachel whined, her worries about her marriage growing.

“We’ll be fine, Rach. We love each other too much to let this ruin us. However, we do need to talk about it more. Something like this can’t happen again…from either of us.”

“Oh, hun,” Rachel responded, lunging forward to wrap her husband in a firm hug.

They held the hug for several minutes before Clive broke it off.

"We'll have that talk after we get back home. I think we should also sit Finn and Lana down. They can't keep doing this to each other. However, I need to go have the most dreadful conversation with Finn."

“I-I’ll go talk to Peyton,” Rachel decided.

“Good. She doesn’t sound quite as upset as Finn does, but I could see the guilt written all over her face,” Clive relayed, standing up and heading toward the door. When he reached for the handle, he paused. “Gawd, I thought the talk about sex with Lana was going to be the most awkward conversation I ever had with Finn. This one has it beaten by miles.”

---

Peyton cringed as she heard the expected knocks on the bathroom door. After her shower, she heard the raised voices from the bedroom next door. Although the blonde couldn't make out any words, she knew it was about what happened between her and her best friend's father last night.

How did I lose control last night? What’s happening to me? First, I slept with RJ, and now I gave Mr. Stratton a blowjob. At least RJ and Prissy aren’t together right now, but everyone knows they’ll end up married. She’d my friend and he’s her guy. I just hope she never finds out. I’m such a homewrecker!

“Peyton, it’s Rachel. Please open the door.”

Nodding at the order, Peyton braced herself for the upcoming tirade. The one that she richly deserved. So prepared for her pending execution, Peyton opened the door.

“It’sallmyfaultAuntRachelI’msososorry!”

Although she couldn't tell precisely what Peyton rattled off, Rachel knew the gist of the apology. So, without saying anything, the redhead wrapped the trembling coed into a warm, motherly hug.

“Shhh!”

That shush was the only sound in the bathroom for several minutes besides the exhaust fan and Peyton's crying. Eventually, Rachel spoke in a soothing tone.

“I know what you and Clive did, and it’s okay, Peyton. I’m sorry that I put you in that position. No, no, don’t argue. I should’ve listened when you tried to bring up the side effects. I’m sorry that it left you with no real choice but to help Clive.”

Partially breaking off the hug, Rachel kept one hand on Peyton's side while bringing up the other to gently wipe some tears off her cheek. She smiled at the girl, who often seemed to take after herself more than Lana did.

“You’re a good person, honey. I’d never hate you for anything.”

“But I shouldn’t have—I tried to think of it as only a medical procedure, but something took over me and…”

“Yes, Clive said you finally showed a little of your mom inside of you.”

Peyton’s eyes shot wide open along with her mouth as an astonished expression took over her face.

“My…my mom?”

“I won’t tell her…for now. But she’ll be pleased to learn that you have a part of her wild side buried deep down,” Rachel teased playfully.

“I’m not like my mom,” Peyton stated after gathering her wits.

“Would you prefer that you take after Brandy?”

“Gawd, no!”

“And I don’t think you want to hear about your grandma and sex, do you?”

“Is this **** about me and…last night?” Peyton asked.

“Nope. Just pointing out that you should be happy to be Bridget’s daughter. Now, I’m going to tell you a secret that you need to keep safe. I know that’s difficult for you when it comes to Lana, but you can’t ever tell her. Maybe someday, if or when I do, okay?”

“Um, okay.”

“I’m doing this partly to ease your mind about what you had to do for my husband,” Rachel said before taking a deep breath. “Alright, last night I did something I shouldn’t have done to help calm Finn down. Let’s just say it was similar to what you and Clive did.”

“What?!”

“Shhh! You need to keep this quiet. Don’t even bring it up with Finn unless he needs someone to talk to about it. Clive’s in the master bedroom, reassuring Finn that he doesn’t hate him. I suspect he’ll drop a hint about what he did with you if it’s necessary. So I want to prepare you in case he comes to you. Got that?”

“Y-Yeah,” Peyton mumbled, in a daze at the revelation that Finn and Rachel did something sexual.

“Good. You brought your clothes up here last night, right? Then, I’d suggest getting changed and waiting for us to finish with Finn. He’s going to need you around to help calm him down about the stuff with Lana and the other girls.”

“Is Lana back?”

“Come on, Pey. It’s way too early for her to be up on New Year’s Day.”

With those parting words, Rachel exited the bathroom. She felt guilty about dropping that bombshell on the poor girl and not staying around. However, she needed to make one more stop before joining Clive and Finn. Making her way to the other bedroom in the executive suite, Rachel didn’t bother knocking. She knew both her daughters would sleep in after late night.

Entering the bedroom, Rachel walked over and sat down on the side of the bed before gently nudging Lacey awake. Lacey proved tough to wake, but eventually, her tired eyelids rose enough for her to see her mother.

“Mom?”

“Sorry to wake you, honey. I just need to know if Finn saw you watching last night.”

“As if he could pry his eyes away from your big boobs,” Lacey grumbled.

“It’s probably for the best that he doesn’t know that you know. So let’s keep it that way,” Rachel stated, making it sound like an order. “And stop whining. You still have more time to grow a little larger.”

“Don’t bother making me feel better,” Lacey replied, barely able to wave her mom off in her sleepy state.

“Listen, I told your father about what happened last night. No, not about you watching. I think it’s best if he doesn’t know. This is a secret you don’t tell anyone. Got that?” Rachel shushed her youngest daughter when she started to ask about her dad. “Your father isn’t happy, but we’ll get past it. In the meantime, the two of us need to have a talk later once we get home.”

“About what?”

"About you watching last night and a few other things. I think we need several discussions in this family after everything. Now, go back to sleep. It still looks icy outside, so I don't know when we'll return to the cabin."

"I…just need a little more…" Lacey struggled to say before falling asleep.