Merila Teymourian of Iran

"No cellphones at the dinner table, dammit, Adam, you know the rules," Merila Teymourian-Doherty said sharply, and she flashed her family a tight-lipped smile, one that let them know in no uncertain terms that she meant business. At home and at her downtown office, Merila liked to run a tight ship, and anyone around her had to take it or leave it.

Merila's husband Matthew Doherty shot her a borderline reproachful look, but returned her smile, while their son Adam rolled his eyes and put away his cell phone. It was his first time home from Ryerson University where he'd gone to study Computer Systems Programming. Already Matthew was starting to miss his quiet apartment located close to the campus. At least over there he made the rules.

"It's good to be back, Mom, I've missed those draconian rules," Adam Doherty replied, and he finished tucking his cell phone into his pocket, then looked at his parents. Matthew clapped his son on the shoulder and nodded at his wife, silently telling her to lighten up. They hadn't seen Adam since September, and he was home for the Christmas vacation. Why spoil it with a petty disagreement over rather small things?

Matthew Doherty and his wife Merila Teymourian-Doherty had been going through something of a rough patch lately. Like a lot of couples in their age bracket, they were suffering from empty nest syndrome. On the surface, everything seemed alright. Matthew worked as a logistics director at the Ottawa International Airport, and Merila worked as a team lead in the auditors division of the Canada Revenue Agency in downtown Ottawa.

To the outside world, Matthew and Merila appeared to be living it up. They lived in a nice townhouse in a new section of the opulent Barrhaven neighborhood, not far from the local Wal-Mart, and a nearby condominium complex. When they went to church together, they were always smiling and holding hands. They volunteered at local soup kitchens once in a while. They donated to the right charities and rubbed elbows with the city elite at events like fundraising galas held at the National Arts Center. Yet they lived in their own private hell.

Matthew and Merila tried everything, from going to couples counseling to taking regular weekend outings to places like Vancouver, Kingston, and Montreal, whenever they had the time. There was a growing gulf going on between the once-happy couple, and Matthew was at his wits end trying to figure out why. He sincerely hoped that having their son Adam home would thaw things between him and his wife Merila. Indeed, he was starting to forget what her smile looked like...

"You two, play nice, I'm going to say Grace," Matthew said, and he looked at his wife, then at his son, and cleared his throat loudly. Adam rolled his eyes and Merila shook her head, then nodded. Closing his eyes, Matthew began to pray loudly, thanking the Lord for his family's safety, and their son coming home, and asking for the Lord's help in the days ahead. The whole prayer last five minutes, then Matthew opened his eyes and smiled.

"Let's eat," Adam said enthusiastically, and looked at the platters of traditional Iranian food prepared by his mother. Merila had outdone herself in honor of her only son coming home. Traditional Zereshk ( barberries ) fluffy rice and chicken, plus a serving of Western-style dishes like lasagna and meatballs, Shawarma-style sandwiches with hummus, plus lots and lots of orange juice.

"I figured my favorite guys needed a pick-me-up, it's been so quiet here," Merila said, and she sipped some orange juice in a crystal cup while looking at her husband and son, her light gray eyes growing moist. Matthew, who was about to take a bite out of a forkful of meatball put down his utensil and laid his hand on his wife's arm, nodding gently at her.

"I've missed you both, I had fun on campus at Ryerson but it's really good to be home," Adam said, echoing his father's thoughts, and Matthew beamed at his son, nodding in appreciation of his words. Matthew took a good look at his son Adam, who was his spitting image, for lack of a better term. My lad is definitely all grown up, Matthew thought with pride.

At twenty, Adam was six-foot-one, three inches shorter than his father, but much taller than his mother, who stood only five-foot-seven. His skin was light brown, and he had light gray eyes like his mother, but inherited his father's kinky dark hair, and strong chin. The young brother had his father's penchant for business and his mother's talent for deep analysis, hence why he majored in the IT field while studying at Ryerson.

"So, son, any young ladies at Ryerson you want to tell us about?" Merila asked, and Adam positively blushed while Matthew pursed his lips and looked away. A few months ago, Adam called his father after a drunken night during which he confessed to breaking up with his long-time girlfriend Shari...and admitting to a stunned Matthew that he was sexually attracted to both women and men. Yup, Adam was apparently bisexual...

"Um, there's a lot of hot girls at Ryerson, but I haven't been feeling them since Shari and I split, but, ahem, there's this guy named Josh, we are more than friends, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm bisexual," Adam said hesitantly, and he looked at his father, who nodded, while his mother dropped her fork which clattered loudly on the floor. Adam looked at his mother, and a somber, wrathful look came over Merila's lovely face.

"Adam, you are my son, and I love you, so what if you're bisexual? I still love and support you, just be safe and wrap it up," Matthew said, and he gently laid his meaty hand on Adam's shoulder. Adam looked at his father and smiled faintly, then turned to look at his mother. Merila sat there, silent as ever, and a weird little smile crept into her face.

"So, Adam, how long have you kept this from me?" Merila asked, and Matthew winced, knowing where his wife was going with this. Merila was born and raised in the Chaldean Catholic Church of Iran. In fact, she'd grown up in a predominantly Christian part of Tehran, the Iranian capital. Matthew knew that in Iran, like all of the Middle East, gays and lesbians were considered haram or dirty. Being gay, lesbian or bisexual could get a person sentenced to death in that part of the world.

"Mom, that's exactly why I didn't feel like telling you, I knew how you'd react," Adam said, and with that, the young man got up and left. Merila slammed her hand on the table and ordered her son to stay put, but Adam shook his head and walked away. Moments later, the sound of a car's ignition was heard, and Adam drove away in the bright red Sedan that his father Matthew bought him as a graduation present a while ago.

"How long have you known?" Merila asked angrily, and Matthew looked at her, a warning in his glance. When it came to their relationship, Merila was the calm before the storm, while Matthew was the storm beneath the calm. Taking a deep breath, Matthew forced himself to be calm in front of his wife's unreasonable fury.

"Merila, cut it out, Adam just got home, and you drove him off, yes, he told me he's bisexual and I offered him my unconditional support, I don't want our son feeling suicidal or lost like so many of them young queers out there," Matthew said, and Merila glared at him, a hurt look on her face. When she rose from her chair, her shoulders sagged.

"Matthew, dammit, I'm not mad at Adam for being bisexual, I'm mad because he kept it from me but told you, I had my suspicions, I mean, the lad has posters of Serena Williams ass and Lebron James shirtless, side by frigging side, on his bedroom wall," Merila said, shaking her head. Matthew looked at her, and smiled faintly.

"We need to talk, Merila, about our son and about us," Matthew said, and Merila nodded, her fury gone, replaced by sadness. This was definitely not the pre-Christmas dinner that she'd envisioned with her family when she was cooking all those tasty dishes in the kitchen. Matthew had a somber look on his dark, handsome face, and Merila had a sickening presentiment that she knew where this was headed...

"Matthew, I know where this is headed, I haven't been taking my bipolar medication, it makes me feel weird, bloated, and I know I've been more of a bitch than usual, you want out," Merila said, and she flashed him a sad little smile. Matthew looked at Merila, this wild, crazy, beautiful and unpredictable woman who looked almost exactly the same after twenty five years of marriage. They'd met as freshmen at Carleton University in Ottawa, on the first week of September 1996. From that day forward, they were inseparable...

"Merila, dammit, I love your crazy ass, why did you stop taking your meds? I honestly thought you'd just fallen out of love with me and started to hate a brother," Matthew said, shaking his head. Merila looked at Matthew and smiled, and then she went to him and hugged him, this big, at times annoying teddy bear of a man who she'd fallen in love with almost three decades ago.

Merila recalled how her parents, recent immigrants from Iran, staunchly disapproved of her falling in love with Matthew, a newcomer to Canada by way of Guyana. When her parents put her out, Merila went to Matthew, wondering if he felt strong enough about her to let her stay with him. Matthew welcomed Merila with open arms on that long-ago night, and they'd been together since. They moved in together, graduated, got married, had a son, bought a house and were supposed to live happily ever after.

"I still love you, Matthew, I never stopped," Merila said, and she looked Matthew up and down, giving him the let's-get-busy look. Mathew licked his lips and pulled Merila close, and just like that, they got their freak on. Matthew laid Merila on the kitchen counter, and yanked down her fancy green pants, while she hastily pulled off her black T-shirt, revealing breasts which were still mighty fine.

"Hmm, I love you too crazy woman, now give me some of this bipolar pussy," Matthew said, horny and jovial, and Merila rolled her eyes, smiled coyly then spread her legs for him. Matthew inhaled her womanly scent, and then began eating Merila out. Matthew did this for a while, until Merila, bossy even in the bedroom, came up with a request.

"Matt, can you go grab some hummus from the table?" Merila asked innocently, and Matthew rolled his eyes, knowing that his wife was up to something. When he returned with the hummus, Matthew was in for a surprise. Merila was on all fours on the counter, her thick round ass spread, exposing a rather obvious target. Merila winked at Matthew in more ways than one, and he felt his dick harden...

"Oh you are so going to get it tonight, babes," Matthew said, laughing and stroking his dick as Merila shook her big round ass for him. At the age of fifty, his beloved Merila looked hotter than most young women half her age. Matthew rubbed his dick against Merila's ass, and she turned around, flashed him a bright smile and then took him into her mouth.

"I see someone's definitely missed me," Merila said, and she tugged on Matthew's dick, stroking him hard before she resumed sucking him off. Matthew nodded in agreement as Merila deep-throated him, still wowing him with her sexual skills after well over two decades of marriage. Merila took her sweet time pleasuring Matthew. After decades of exploring each other's bodies, Merila definitely knew what Matthew liked. Making her husband cum took a bit longer than expected, on account of Matthew being over fifty and not as active as he once was, but Merila still got the job done...

"This is how much I've missed you," Matthew said, as he propped Merila on all fours, spread her ass cheeks and began eating her out. Smearing hummus all over Merila's butt hole, Matthew tasted the delicious substance, along with her oh-so tasty feminine ass funk. Merila squealed as Matthew ate her ass like there was no tomorrow, sliding his tongue in and out of her hummus-coated asshole...

"Oh fuck, Matt, eat that ass and then fuck it," Merila squealed, and Matthew slapped her thick buttocks, and did just that. Wriggling his tongue inside Merila's asshole while fingering her wet, hairy pussy, Matthew drove his wife absolutely nuts, and her squeals changed in pitch and tune. Afterwards, he pushed his dick into her ass and, slowly, inch by inch, he got it in. Time to fuck that ass like it's never been fucked before...

"I've missed that ass so much," Matthew said, as he gripped Merila's hips and pushed his dick even deeper into her asshole. Merila's warm, tight ass gripped his dick so nicely that Matthew had to resist the urge to cum right then and there. Bum sex was something they enjoyed only once in a great while, hence Merila's tightness. And Matthew absolutely loved it.

"Fuck me," Merila hissed as Matthew rammed his dick into her, fucking her with wild abandon. This is exactly what Merila craved, and only Matthew could give it to her. She and Matthew went at it for a good while, and then went to their bedroom upstairs to continue with their fun. Thus the rest of the afternoon went by. When all was said and done, husband and wife lay side by side, having reconciled their differences, for the moment.

On the other side of Ottawa, Adam Doherty wasn't having such a good time. The young man sat at a table inside Kelsey's restaurant near the OC Transpo bus station in Barrhaven Center. He thought about all the twists and turns his life had taken lately. First, his breakup with Shari Donnelly, the tall, big-bottomed, red-haired and green-eyed gal whom he once thought of as his soulmate.

"I can't date a switch-hitter, Adam, I'm sorry," Shari told him after he confessed to having bisexual tendencies. They were sitting inside a Starbucks near the Ryerson University campus, and Adam, having worked up the courage to tell Shari about his true self, was quite disappointed when she didn't understand. He sat there and watched her walk away. Heartbroken didn't even begin to describe how Adam felt that day.

"Story of my life," Adam told himself, and he sat there for a while before finally returning to his apartment. Here he was, in his hometown of Barrhaven, Ontario, this time, sitting alone in a bar/restaurant because his mother couldn't accept the fact that he was a switch-hitter. Adam thought about Joshua, the tall, handsome Jamaican guy whom he met at Ryerson and had a crush on. They hooked up a few times, but Joshua had a girlfriend named Estelle and wasn't about to leave her for Adam.

"Look, Adam, you're a good-looking guy but you need to stop being clingy with dudes and with females, we can hook up for fun or we can stay just friends but I'm not leaving my girlfriend for a dude," Joshua said briskly when Adam shared his feelings with him. This was a few days after they'd begun hooking up regularly. Adam thought that he and Joshua could have a thing, then he learnt better...

"Being bisexual means getting used to rejection from all sides," Adam thought angrily. Resigned to his fate, Adam finished his burgers and fries, settled his tab and headed to his car. He drove back to his family home, determined to deal with his mother's hostility about his bisexuality. She had no idea how hard it was for her only son.

Being bisexual, male, and a person of color meant dealing with a world that simply didn't want Adam Doherty to exist because he was the living embodiment of breaking all the rules of society. As the son of an interracial couple, Adam knew that he was seen as different by many. The fact that he wasn't straight also complicated his life. How Adam wished he could make his mother understand. When he got home, however, Adam was in for a surprise...

"Welcome home, son, nice to see you, we were so worried, say, I wanted to apologize for not understanding," Merila said to Adam, greeting her only son with a big smile and open arms as he stepped into the house. Adam looked at his mother and then at his father, who smiled and shrugged. Adam returned his mother's hug and came home, and then he and his parents had themselves a nice, long chat...

"Glad to see you guys in such a good mood," Adam said, and his father and mother were all smiles. They had a frank talk about life in the Doherty/Teymourian household, where there were much bigger problems than Adam's bisexuality. Merila and Matthew promised their son to always be there for him, regardless of whether he ended up with a woman or a man, and then wished him goodnight.

"Goodnight, son," Matthew said to Adam, and then he and Merila went back upstairs. Adam sat at the dinner table, and began to reheat the meal he'd left behind. Not quite the pre-Christmas dinner he thought he'd have, but things worked out better than he thought. Who cares what Shari and Joshua thought? Plenty of gals and guys out there for Adam to find love with. He looked at the darkened sky outside the dining room window, thankful to Heaven for such a wonderful family.

"It's my life, good or bad," Adam said to himself, smiling as he thought of the day he'd had. After reheating his supper, Adam looked for the hummus to add flavor to his rice but simply couldn't find it. He thought about going upstairs to ask his parents about it, but figured it wasn't such a good idea considering the noises he heard from up there. Straight, bisexual or gay, that's one sound that no man wants to hear. Ever. Adam hastily went to his room in the basement. Netflix and chill sounded like a fine way to end such an eventful day...