The Daughter-in-Law God Put in My Path

I often think that my son Adrián didn’t come from my blood. We don’t look alike at all, neither in face nor in character. I married young, at twenty-three, because the girl who was my girlfriend then got pregnant, and I was widowed before the boy turned ten. Since then we’ve lived under the same roof like two polite strangers.

Adrián turned out quiet, soft, hooked on politics the way other people get hooked on football. He spends hours with his headphones on, listening to parliamentary sessions. I’m a carpenter, I have a workshop that runs wonderfully, and at forty-six I’m strong, whole, and with a head full of gray hair that, apparently, women like.

Because I’m not short of women. Since I became a widower, my sex life improved instead of fading. Clients of every age have passed through the workshop, and I’ve done nearly all of them some fix that never appears on any invoice. I don’t want a steady partner: I live very well, I choose a lover according to the plan of the day, and I owe no one any explanations. I’m fine this way.

The surprise came when Adrián turned eighteen and told me, excitedly, that he had a girlfriend. When he introduced her to me, I was speechless. Noelia was a beauty: petite, blonde, blue-eyed, with a shyness that made you want to protect her. Modest, devout, at Mass every Sunday. What is a girl like that doing with my son, I thought, if he’s incapable of looking at anything that isn’t a screen.

In time, Noelia started coming to the house more than my own son did. She liked me explaining things about the workshop, she helped me with the paperwork because she studied business administration, and she got excited when I decided to build a pool on the property, with its pergola, its barbecue, and its outdoor kitchen. She designed the spaces and chose the furniture. Meanwhile, Adrián kept to his own world, shut away with his debates. The house, for the first time in years, had life. And the life was brought by my son’s girlfriend.

***

One Sunday in early summer I had arranged to meet Marisa, a client whose invoices I’d let slide and who paid me in kind. She had her husband in the hospital and wanted to spend the day fucking by the pool. I hadn’t counted on Adrián and Noelia showing up for a swim.

—Stay, I’ll make barbecue for everyone —I told them.

Noelia signed up at once, happier than my son, who lay down with his headphones and disappeared from the world. In the water, Marisa and I played at dunking each other and throwing one another around. Noelia watched us from the hammock with a sadness that made me feel sorry for her.

—Come on, Noelia, get in with us —I called.

She came gladly. I grabbed her by the waist, lifted her in my arms, and tossed her into the water. When she surfaced, I dove between her legs and sat her on my shoulders. She laughed like I’d never seen her laugh. When I set her down, I let her body slide down my chest until she felt, against my thigh, what my swimsuit was barely hiding. It was only a moment. But her skin prickled, and it wasn’t from the cold water.

Later, while Marisa and I prepared the meat inside the kitchen, things turned up a notch. She got me on my knees against the washing machine and sucked me off eagerly. In the reflection of a mirror hanging on the wall I saw a shadow in the window: Noelia, spying on us, motionless. Knowing she was watching me sent me through the roof. I positioned Marisa so the girl would get a perfect close-up, and I finished where I knew it would look good. When we went back out to the garden, Noelia was already at the table, blushing, pretending nothing had happened.

***

Over the following weeks, Noelia and I became inseparable. One Saturday she came to make some desserts in my kitchen just when I had invited Verónica, another lover I had to be careful with because she was a town employee and married. I asked the girl for a little privacy.

—I won’t bother you —she said, and gave me a wicked look before laughing.

Verónica and I spent the afternoon in the garden. It was a rough fuck, the kind that leaves marks and rips out screams, and I’m sure Noelia watched us more than once. When I went into the kitchen afterward, wearing thin wet boxer briefs that hid nothing, I noticed how she couldn’t take her eyes off me. She was trembling. I came up to her, put my hand on her waist, and kissed her tenderly on the cheek. She expected more, I know it, she wanted it. But there was no more: I went to my room. Let her go to bed with her cunt burning. It’s a dangerous game, but I’ve already started playing it.

***

The day of lunch with Noelia’s parents brought me the surprise of my life. When her mother came in, we both froze. Elvira had been my client for years, ever since the storm in which I rescued her car from the river with the workshop tow truck. Since that day she’d thanked me from time to time in the most intimate way possible. In her house they called me “the hero.” Her husband, Tomás, was a good-natured cuckold who only knew how to talk about politics, just like my son. It turned out they knew each other from some forum and hit it off at once.

Noelia bounced with joy seeing how much trust her mother and I had with each other, without imagining where it came from. I suggested a swim. I went down in a tight swimsuit, aware of how much it showed, and got into the water to play with the two of them while the men argued on the loungers, oblivious to everything.

I dove and sat Noelia on my shoulders, like that first day. With her perched there and laughing, I grabbed Elvira from behind, moved her swimsuit aside under the water, and with one shove I put it all the way in. Her mother stifled a moan.

—What’s wrong, Mom? —Noelia asked from above.

—Nothing, sweetheart… a nail… —Elvira panted—. Andrés is fixing it with his foot, ah, ah…

—With his foot?

—Yes, sweetheart, yes… —and her voice broke.

It only took four thrusts for her to come. I took it out discreetly, tossed Noelia into the water, and stole a quick kiss from Elvira. The two of them were cracking up at what we had just done in front of everyone. And Noelia, once again, had seen it all from the kitchen window.

***

Under the pergola I served vermouth to mother and daughter. Elvira already had flushed cheeks from the wine.

—These two are always at the same thing —she said, pointing at her husband and my son—. Politics and politics. You can see the attention my husband pays me. And from what I can see, your son is going to be the same for my daughter. What a pair!

—Well, let’s see if, for once, the only lucky one in your company won’t be me —I replied, and they both laughed.

—I’m better by your side —Noelia blurted out, looking at me in a way that was no longer innocent.

I played along for a while, until I felt a hand under the table looking for my package. It was Elvira’s nails, emboldened by the wine. If she wanted a game, she’d get one. I slipped one leg over my knee and started stroking her slowly while we talked about anything at all. In one of her spasms, her knee jerked and bumped Noelia, who looked under the table and turned serious. Her lips trembled as if she were about to cry. I had to act.

***

—Noelia, come with me to the kitchen —I said.

Once inside, I got straight to it.

—Your mother and I, from time to time, have something going on. It’s something your father can’t give her anymore. We keep it discreet so as not to break anything. Don’t judge her: today she’s happy, and that’s the only thing that should matter to you.

—It’s hard for me to understand —she murmured—. She always talks to me about fidelity, principles… I’m jealous.

—Jealous of what?

—That she can enjoy you and I can’t. —She lowered her gaze—. Adrián and I haven’t done anything. We want to wait until marriage. I’m a virgin. He hasn’t even touched me, and I haven’t touched him either.

—He’s an idiot —I let slip—. That boy isn’t my son, I know that for damn sure.

I whispered in her ear that night to find an excuse to stay over. I kissed her earlobe and gave her a gentle slap on the ass just as her mother came in carrying a tray. Noelia, that very afternoon, announced to everyone that she would be staying in the guest room to tidy up and clean. Tomás took Elvira home, thanking his god for the luck that a hero like me had entered his family’s life. I preferred to keep my mouth shut.

***

Adrián went to bed early, dizzy from the wine, unwilling to eat dinner. I found Noelia alone, clearing away the pergola.

—Your son doesn’t want me, Andrés —she said—. He doesn’t even look at me.

—Come here —I held out my hand.

I took her to my room and closed the door. She was trembling, unable to look at me. I took off my boxer briefs slowly and she stayed watching, motionless, frightened and eager at the same time. I lowered her swimsuit centimeter by centimeter: small, firm breasts, a flat stomach, a sparse blonde patch between her legs. She was beautiful. She burst into tears from pure fear and shame.

—Easy, sweetheart —I hugged her, stroked her hair—. We won’t do anything you don’t want. If you don’t want to give me your virginity, I won’t force you. And if you do give it to me, I’ll be as gentle as I know how.

—I love you —she whispered against my chest—. I want to be your woman.

I laid her on the bed and held her spooning, one hand on her chest and the other stroking her thighs, her stomach, her hair. I told her in her ear to sleep, that everything would come in time. And she fell asleep clinging to my arm, exhausted, as if she had finally found a safe place.

I woke her before dawn, with my mouth between her legs. I kissed her slowly, without hurry, until she stopped being afraid and started arching and sighing. I taught her, patiently, everything no one had ever taught her. I gave her a massage with almond oil over every inch of her skin until she trembled at the slightest touch.

I sat her on my lap, facing me, and looked her in the eyes. I felt the barrier of her body and stopped.

—Are you sure?

—Yes —she said, and bit my shoulder.

I pushed in slowly, just enough. She let out a sharp, drawn-out cry, with tears in her eyes that weren’t from pain. “I love you,” she kept repeating. We stayed still, kissing, until her body got used to it and began moving on its own, begging for more. She came twice before I finished inside her. When the sun came in through the window, the sheets betrayed the battle. I picked her up and carried her to the shower, where we started all over again.

***

—Andrés, I’m the happiest woman in the world —she told me under the water.

—Remember that you’re my son’s girlfriend.

—Adrián means nothing to me anymore. He doesn’t love me. I love you. I want to be your woman, give you children, run your house. And if you bring friends over or do it with my mother, I won’t mind. Just let me love you.

That left me speechless. That same afternoon I sat Adrián down and told him plainly: Noelia was no longer his girlfriend, she was my woman and, as a bonus, his stepmother. He protested, more because he was losing the girl who would pay for his studies than out of love. I told him I’d pay for university, but he’d be working in the workshop starting Monday at eight. He stormed off to his room, to listen to his debates. He never came back: he finished his degree and stayed in the capital, involved in a party. I know little about him.

Elvira eventually came to live with us when Tomás, who wasn’t that stupid after all, put two and two together and got divorced. I added another room and the three of us slept together. Noelia never reproached me for anything; on the contrary, she lovingly raised the little sister who came along. Sometimes the heart has reasons that reason knows nothing about. I don’t care about criticism or sermons about what we are. We are happy, and that is enough for me.