All Comments on 'Gifted'

Thanks for sharing.

Is this story based on any historical facts (or legend)? Just curious. It's one hell of a story either way. (If it is not purely from your imagination, it would be nice to see you add a footnote to that effect. Thanks.)

Minor point, but I believe that around here the men you mention are "cuckold" rather than "cuck."

The difference being that ANY man whose wife sleeps with another man is a cuckold, even if he BTBs, while a cuck is a man who either willingly or unwillingly accepts it.

The best part is that no goats were harmed in the making of this story. That's always a plus. Nice job. Randi.

Why did the author refer to Shona's "friend" Fiona? Isn't the proper term "procuress"?

So the Gifting led to probable suicide of the man Shona considers her "Dad", but no one considers that maybe this is a good reason to stop with this tradition. Love how Rob ended up in charge of the Scottish Highlands Infrastructure Team, i.e. the S.H.I.T.

Followed by a lifetime of bitterness.

The saddest part is that he left his son in that fetid environment.

.

The top TOP Five Things Fedoberto did RIGHT and WRONG in ' Gifted '

1)RIGHT :This was a lively , engaging stomach - roiling read. I admired once again how masterfully Fredoberto uses the local countryside to set the stage for his marital dramas.

2)WRONG: The discovery of the infidelity and discovering it's infuriating rationale was too straightforward. How do you boil a frog ? Gradually. ..bit by bit , raised degree by raised degree. Let the story simmer as couple moves in to new digs. Introduce Callum and Fiona obliquely before their assigned roles are cemented. Fiona could have told the ancient Morag rape story in way more organic then the preamble.

3)RIGHT : Excellent main and supporting character sketching . You may not have liked the players, but thanks to author's skill, their motivations and rationales were made clear.

4)WRONG : At some point of story Callum and Rob the narrator needed to face off over Shona. It didn't need to be physical or even conclusive, but the drama potential was left to wither.

5) RIGHT : I admired that Rob found a credible middle course between BTB and RAAC. As a bonafide greedy reader, I only wished that spotlight lingered longer on the far less deceptive females after leaving Shona , but overall thought conclusion resolved the most important dramatic questions.

Bottom line: Untraditional setting, Strong and defined characters , out of box, subversive and effective reaction to betrayal were all enjoyed greatly by this reader. Ergo the obvious rating.

Full marks * * * * *

He seems pretty sure that he can cause a huge problem for Heather. But if her current adultery doesn't do the trick, maybe Donnie needs to know that Heather was fucking Robbie's father regularly all the while that clueless Donnie was getting ready to propose to her. Just saying.

Oh, and I like the Donnie thing because it would hurt Fiona too. Sometimes BTB is what works best

Good tale, ignore the trolls

Yah, it's fiction, and Fredoberto wrote a good strong tale. What I woulda done (not that it matters) was have Rob (who seems to be a bright sort) use modern mass media to put an end to Lochmagandie's backward tradition, starting with the twentieth-century relic of print. I'd reckon Edinburgh and Glasgow have a lurid tabloid or two, and certainly the Daily Mail would be interested in the story of a strong, faithful husband and father ensnared, through no fault of his own, into a sinister sex-cult tucked away in the Scottish Highlands. Coupla a pix, from his own collection, of the lovely Shona in lingerie or less, added to a few snaps of Fiona and Callum reacting angrily to being ambushed by said newspapers' photogs, and you have the makings of a proper (improper) scandal. Probably won't even have to plant it on social media yourself - it'll find its way there soon enough. Then we'll see how many upstanding, available young men from outside the village will want to be marryin' the young lassies of Lochmagandie.

With previous comments but old Shona, two tokens short of a free gift that one or is she?. She still has her home and child (children) with the financial support for the lad and she not going short in the loving department. Remember folks it was her who wanted to move to her home village, did she know that she may be "gifted" and counted on hubby being a mug as had others before. Yes he was a hypocrite so there are no hero's here. No violent reaction but surely a confrontation with young Callum would been more realistic but no one was reaching for their Glok or Magnum which makes a nice change, but of course Scotland is a civilized country.This story could taken a different course but a good yarn, well done.

Don't think you perhaps meant it but you comment about being ready for any challenge (or thereabouts) because he was a trained maintenance engineer, had me giggling. But it did get my attention and glad that it did. 4 stars for the story and an extra one for the above comment!

Thanks -- 5*

Not bad but had all the impact of bringing a BB gun into a gunfight.

Limp toss.

Still, a decent plot.

But kind of low impact.

Pretty reserved and flat responses to an archaic practice.

Entertaining but missed 5* for not destroying the stupid ring of cheating whores.

that kept me on the edge of my chair while reading, and rereading portions. Very well presented and tidy in beginning, middle and end. Thx for sharing your talent.

I really liked your story. I think it showed how a normal man would handle the situation. He took just enough revenge to ease his mind, and that's all that counts. Scorched earth, while enjoyable to read, isn't all that real. This was.

I truly enjoyed this story, though it took a few minutes for me to really get into it. The basic premise of the story, the whole "gifting" thing was intriguing to say the least, and his reaction to the situation was, to my mind, fairly restrained is its scope and reach. I agree with some of the other readers who feel that Rob should have done more to bring the entire village down, but then, I have been told that I am a vindictive SOB sometimes. I usually blame it on my 17 years in the US Marine Corps and say that I'd just "call in an airstrike" and level everything in sight.

The saddest thing to me about the story is that Shona was so willing to give up her marriage and keep shagging Callum because it was tradition. I am an absolute sap when it comes to Redheads, and especially Redheads with an Irish or Scottish accent, so loosing her would have crushed me, so I am not sure I could have gotten over her betrayal as easily as Rob did.

Sorry if I rambled a bit, The story is absolutely 1st rate, please keep writing.

perfect gotta get those bitches somehow would like to hear more about donnie and the rest

Surprised rob didn't tell shona about her father and his death, to see what gifting did.Rob though was no Angel, encouraging his son to take Heather was despicable, he is hurting her husband the way he was hurt and he is no better than Fiona, he is just as sleazy.Heather for that matter did nothing to him, other than having sex with him as a fwb. Rob is just as hypocritical as the female led mafia he despises.

Great story. Please keep em coming.

why didn't he tell everyone he could that he was the one to sabotage Callum's marriage, and why didn't he tell his ex and her mother about the mother's husband committing suicide because of their "wonderful" tradition? Still, full marks from me.

In the final paragraphs. Haha.

Cuck shit. 1*

Fredoberto. THANK YOU!! Terrific yarn. I enjoyed it thoroughly and I hope you keep up the great work. I am also impressed with the comments from some of my favorite authors who all have given this a thumbs up. I am glad we are on the same page here.

And the gifting concept is interesting too. But the telling lacked passion. In fact the characters were all too lackadaisical about their relationships. If the people of Scotland are this dull, I don’t want to meet them.

Pretty good, although he and his son are no better than his wife and Callum now. Gotta feel for poor Donnie. I wouldn't be so sure that he'll only want revenge on his wife.

One little detail I wish had been included was him confronting Shona about the ring with their initials that she gave Callum. That didn't seem to be part of the tradition as explained to him, but above and beyond.

Thanks for a fine story.

Cog

Loved it! One small point, the saying is "...cut off your nose to spite your face". The way you said it, "...cut off your nose despite your face", made no sense. But thank you very much for posting! This was the best story I have read on this site for a long time. I look forward to your next.

Although my ancestral Clan Stewart Blood was boiling at how much crap our poor hero put up with without going "Rob Roy" on a number of Magandie assholes. He's a far more tolerant Scot than I by a long shot.

Shona stopped being a wife and became a pregnant whore, for a higher calling? Obviously Callum wasn't too proud of his behavior or his daughter, so it was just a young punk taking advantage of stupid women. Nothing knew there. I especially like the revenge and retribution, and I can see it continuing for the rest of Callum's and Shona's lives. I think its telling that Callum doesn't even stop by get memory fucks from his first whore, or does he? Its hardly likely that Shona stays celibate, or single, unless her ex-hubby continues to shadow and reveal her past to future husbands. I didn't see any restriction that prevented Shona from being "gifted" again if some young stud fancies her well experienced panties. A future potential husband would probably want to know that, just to prepare himself.

Wish we could read the account of the new chieftain and her mother getting to experience the same humiliation and divorce that Shona experienced. Wonder if that might finally bring a close to the gifting tradition?

Thanks for a decent LW story, for a change. Its been a while.

"No Reply", except that tradition lasted only a week and did not result in pregnancy, and the husband loved the wife enough to live with the situation. That and he had enjoyed the warmth of an older married woman's bed when he was young, so it helped even the scales. The general public wanted to burn the writer, much like the villagers wanted to destroy Frankenstein, not realizing the genius involved in the plot.

This story was much more involved, but was basically the same plot. The wife sleeps with a young buck because of tradition. Major rewrite had a good comment. The story was well written and humorous at times, but where was the anger and passion? Amy was right about the guy may as well gone for the scorched earth approach rather than wimpy, half-assed revenge. Nice story and well written! Thanks for the work!

This is like the fourth story I've read about traditions like this. The first one was by HDK.I know nothing about Scottish traditions or any other traditions, but a tradition that has people cheating is one that needs to go. I thought it was good.

One thing has me curious. What was BR1958 talking about with the goats? I'm dying to know.

Actually, with respect to Harddaysknight, this reminded me of both "No Reply" and "Family Tradition." My reaction to both of those stories was much the same. I liked them, but they pissed me off at the same time. What really saved them is that both stories had reasonable alternate endings written by other authors. Honestly, I really enjoy the stories of both Harddaysknight and Bigguy33, but the alternate perspectives by GeorgeAnderson and tnoldguy left a better taste in my mouth.

So, what did I want from this story. I wanted the women of the town to know the truth. I wanted the hero of the story to point out to his ex-wife and her mother that she wasn't really a miracle gift, but the sole cause of her "father's" suicide - that the two of the them (and the other 'gifts' of the town) are really no better than the four young men in 1774. They are really rapists and murderers of their vows, marriages, and husbands. The young men that they claim to help are also no better than the four gang rapists because they are just using the wives for sex. Part of me wishes our hero had told the whole story to reporter, and burned the whole group of them. This village needs to vanish after the lives it has destroyed.

Would have liked to have seen some more passion and emotion from the protagonist. Other than tha tit's a good story and I enjoyed it.

1. Having his son screw Heather as part of the tradition ,after he divorced the cheating shank who carried another mans child. Not letting Shona know that her father commented suiside as part of him finding out his wife was a whore in the family tradition. She would have to live with that in her head till her dying day . The mother another whore. Rob sleeping with Heather for sex. .

Some people may wonder why the protagonist showed little emotion. That's actually not true, he showed his emotions in the way of a no nonsense sort of a man of the Highlands.

Also, this story was told from someone looking back on the events of nearly 20 years previously and the distance of time does smooth things out a little.

I generally enjoyed the writing I thought it was superior to most of what is offered here however I did have some issues with the plot.

Rob Roy only needs to start a new tradition. One where the gifted wife is immediately divorced and leaves the marriage with whatever she started with. The the injured husband grabs a shillelagh and beats the idiot 18 y.o. male until he spends two in hospital, has a permanent limp and his reproductive organs no longer function. If in fact this was a true custom (I do so hope it is fiction) it would explain why so many of the men of Lochmagandie so frequently wear skirts, they got no balls. I will now investigate the other works of fredoberto. Thanks for your efforts.

anonjerry

Reminded me of that story as well but I hated the characters in that story with white hot vitriol. It was well written but I have more respect for herpes than the folks in that tale even though well written.

I found more to like in this one.

Despite some of the comments, I enjoyed the tale.

I like your style of writing.

Thanks for sharing

This writing and dialogue are very good. The plot is interesting. However, to me it is sad that the village's dysfunctional tradition continues unabated.

Greatly enjoyed this. We have been in a literary drought here for so long (I hate reading cowboy crap as recently offered en mass), this is a breath of great fresh air.

More please.

Excellent tale, though sad. The concept of keeping the young lads satisfied is pretty far-fetched, and the very idea that hard up males would naturally turn to rape is quite silly and actually offensive to us “non-rape inclined” males. Nevertheless, it is all told in a concise way and the descriptions were very good. The idea that a woman would commit adultery because it is tradition, and a husband would accept it is the stuff of fiction, but what a fine coincidence: that’s what this is! We never learned if Shona found another lover or some small satisfaction beyond being a mother. At the very least, the village should give her a medal or something. At least Rob didn’t tell her that her father killed himself due to her mother’s gifting. Would have messed up her romantic notions about her gifting destiny.

A story that has characters, a beginning, a middle and an end.

Well written, well done.

Yes , I was thinking as I read this that this was the Anti - HDK/ BG33 stories !

Although both he and his son were certified S.O.B. 's in their actions , it seemed to be justified IMO .

It's refreshing to read the exact opposite reactions of the Protagonists in the earlier stories . I guess certain asinine traditions should be met with equally heartless countermeasures.

Well done Fredoberto .

According to rules, she was only to be with lover when husband was away.

By breaking rule they were caught.

Would have been better if you wrote about Donnie's bitch burning.

He spelled it correctly, which isn't easy, (I looked it up) but it's usually associated with Ireland, rather than Scotland, but still a funny comment.

You write feelingly and well about a place I've never been, with enough affection to make me want to visit: though not marry from there! You didn't make the hero perfect, nor the wife totally evil, which I appreciated. (The original Rob Roy had his faults, too.) Like Crkcppr and others, I noted and appreciated the contrast with HDK and BG33's "tradition" stories.

A few loose ends kept me from giving this a rare 5*:

Was clan chieftain Donal MacDarrell any relation to Morag MacDarrell? If he was kin to her, wouldn't he have been bound to exact vengeance?

Did Shona give Callum the ring? Did he wear it? If so, you could have had Rob take off his wedding ring: "Only one man at a time can wear your ring."

The gifting/fucking seems to have started well before Callum's 18th birthday. Was that allowed?

Clearly the class of the week; very well done, and thank you for posting.

-GA.

He is no better than any of the assholes he judged. Its ok for him to fuck a woman in a relationship but his wife is offlimits? Hes a fucking hypocrite while Shona, at least, was consistent.

Then, to make matters worse, you turned him into a sex god. Wow, cliche much?

thoroughly enjoyed it , keep up the writing

Aside from Britese's The Rose and Crown, this story disturbed me more than any other on literotica. Maybe it was because of the fidelity to one's past rather than one's husband; maybe it was the complete disregard, or approval, by seemingly the entire town for what was going on. I'm not sure. All I know is that it was powerful and very, very deserving of a 5.

Many thanks to everyone for their feedback. Of course I will delete anything that I find offensive, but I try to keep as many comments as possible. I particularly appreciate the suggestions about how the story might have been told differently. The characters are not real, as most folk understand. For those who have difficulty understanding the concept of fiction, I promise to have a firm word with Rob Roy, Shona, Fiona, Heather, Callum, wee Robbie and the rest of them. Nothing in life is perfect, so that's the way I see it. This story draws on the historical reality of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 and its subsequent impact on the Scottish Highlands. Butcher Cumberland and General Wade are real. The MacDarrels are fictitious. On a lighter note, well spotted AK_Gunner and Britease. S.H.I.T and maintenance engineers, hah! There's one more little gem in there for anyone who has studied Latin.

This is a very well crafted story which caught me out completely as it is in my opinion better than some of the books that I have read recently. I have been far better entertained by this story than the sIambamthankyoumaam tales that are frequently found on this site. Nice job Fredoberto!

I've read all the comments too and disagree with some of you. By not turning into Rambo Rob preserved his own liberty. While some of what he did is over the top to me, it didn't happen to me either. Ruining Heather's and Donnie's lives serves no purpose to my mind as they too are victims here.

You get points for creativity, but more taken away for unbelievability. Not just the situation, but the narrator's reaction to it. First the idea that this arrangement would prevent rape is nonsense. Worse, the idea that there would be only a few problems from it. Once the menfolk realized what was going on, they put an end to it pronto. Then there is the narrator's reaction. It's too civilized and unemotional. Not only has his wife been carrying on an affair, she had to have known that she was going to do that before she married him. Which means she hid a major fact, that had he known, would have caused him to not marry her in the first place. His marriage is a fraud. He has to realize that. And he doesn't give her an ultimatum? He doesn't say stop or I'll divorce you? And then all he does is divorce her? And dhe leaves his son with her in the village? No. Here's an alternative or two. One is, he goes to wife and tells her to break it off with Callum and abort any fetus, and move away with him, or else he will divorce her and make sure that the entire affair gets on the national news. Or two, he goes to wife and village, tells them that he is divorcing her, and she must abandon all rights to their son, accept no alimony or support, and the village has to pay him a nice chunk of change, or else he sues the village for alienation of affection and conspiracy to defraud, and it again goes on the news and he names names. You've created an insane situation. You went big, which is creative and commendable. To make it work, you have to finish big. Your narrator isn't nearly hurt and outraged enough, and he doesn't do nearly enough to justify the set up. Also, instead of having the preliminary narrative, put that in the form of the conversation with Fiona telling him the story of how the tradition started. That way the reader finds out at the same time as the husband.

‘Nuff Said

Makes for a very interesting story.

The women in that town do seem to be callous and lacking empathy, and you have to wonder about any men that stay there.

Who seems to have fallen in love with Shona. I had already formed my comment before skimming through other comments.

Shona was so committed to the tradition she refused to acknowledge the hurtful consequences of participation. Most likely she cajoled her husband into locating there so she could carry on tradition. Her defiance in defending theiinstitutional adultery was bolstered by her being born as a result of her mother being gifted. She was obviously proud of that fact.

Rob never stated he would keep the old man's story of Shona's father's suicide to himself. Rob should have informed Shona of the consequences of her mother's infidelity. Precisely that Shona's conception due to the tradition-which she so proudly defended as harmless-was the direct cause of her father's suicide.Shona deserved to hear that truth as certainly those of her mother's generation we all aware of the fact but chose to hush the incident up-insurance fraud anyone.

I also have doubts that if Cullum had married local girl, he and his family would have allowed his wife to stray. He would have made sure to never leave home.

Which validates my supposition that Shona moved back to area for sole purpose of being gifted over and over as her husband was away all week. Most likely the clan contacted her when other couple left town. Could not have the boys gifting pool being drawn down.

Funny that purpose was to keep boys from taking advantage of girls before boys turned 18 but also to keep boys from leaving the area after they grew up. Seems all it

did was keep boys virgins while having time to make the selection of a sex slave.

Finally I know it is fiction but keeping this tradition secret from cheated on husbands would be impossible. Boys talk, and certainly the husband who dragged his wife away would have let every husband whose job kept him from home know what was going on.

I believe you are excellent writer but I did not care for this story

Shona must have fallen in love with lover. Why else would she be upset with thought that Rob ruined her lover's engagement.

I wonder just how many times Shona would have gifted herself if Rob hadn't divorced her...or was she still on the list of available whores

This story may not be everyone's cup of tea but it is absolutely a first rate professionally written story! I love the folksy Scottish setting, I almost felt as if I were there. Though the story wasn't overly erotic it was written to tell a tale which you did very well. I haven't read any of your other stories yet but I certainly will. Thanks for an entertaining escape on a rainy, cold day in from all places, Inverness Florida. Five Stars!!!

What a strange story!

Well written and good buildup.

Thanks for that Fredoberto.

Tradition is, of course,

no excuse for sluts and

cuckolds.

And our hero was certainly

a cuckold with a big "C".

And having his son fucking

Heather was no revenge,

it was just.....well, disgusting

is the only word, that comes to mind.

What a bunch of losers, all of them.

I need a wee dram of whisky after

reading this one, lol.

Being no fan of sluts and cuckolds,

the best I can do is not rating

this story.

Love your work though Fredoberto.

Hope you continue to surprise us.

To be the same kind of cunt he just got some burning for fucking his wife?

Wow, for the kind of guy that pretended to care how his son turned out, he seems to oddly have no problem with the little punk about being the same kind of asshole who cucked him.

Gifted, I love this idea, I for have love to have a gift like this when I was 18! And later on my wife would have enjoyed, too!! It is a win/win.

But at the end, he proved he was a hypocrite. He passed on to Robbie the very selfsame traits he claimed to abhor. Pitiful story. And it had so much promise.

Sad ending to a fun story.. hypocrisy aboundeth in Highlands apparently.

Surely a case study in the impact of inbreeding on IQ levels.

But I think it went a bit of the rails with the ending. Having been intimate with Heather himself and her helping him in a bad situation, why would he turn on her at the end?

5*

A well written and very entertaining story with some interesting cultural quirks. Similar in theme to Harddaysknight's "No Reply" but with a far more plausible sounding excuse (especially from Shona's POV), for maintaining the tradition but with greater and more far reaching consequences of the betrayal.

But in this case, betrayal it was due to Shona's initial deception and for so for her cheating at the party. Wasn't it supposed to be only when he was away? I felt the ending could have been a bit more resolute though. And I thought it was a bit of a gap in the story's logic that he received smirks or pitiable looks from his neighbours for something the whole glen was supposed to have accepted as normal.

But that aside, it was richer in description focused in thr protagonist's resolve than Harddaysknight's classic. Although since the aim was supposedly to keep young men in the glen it would have been cool if Robbie was all set to leave when he finished fucking Heather. If Callum could, why should he stay?

Nice work though and thanks for the fun read.

The high-society family of Callum's fiancee would certainly have run a background check on him before the relationship became serious. Info on daughter and being named in divorce would have popped right up!

Basically you have written about a town of willing cuckolds with few knowing identity of their father.

Reminds me of story by other author where tradition demanded man beds his future mother-in-law and then must allow with to have sex with future son-in-law

Since Fiona, her husband, and her son thought arrangement so grand, Rob should have insisted Fiona gift herself to him. She being no stranger to adultery and her husband having accepted it, that would have tested their commitment to the tradition.

Make sure to set up hidden cameras and at sometime a few years down the road send videos to Callum, letting him no cost for blithely bedding Rob's wife!

This is the best story I’ve read on this site in weeks. I don’t know what some of these idiots are commenting about. This is a story, damn it. Not real life. Enjoy!

Time to stop this bullshit before someone else flys off a road. If these women were fucking Limey soldiers after Culloden then thats treason and surely would a been dealt with by the locals.

Any news teams investigative reporters would love something like this, sex sells. An article or two about GIFTING would sure shine a bright light on this practice and drive these sluts back into their holes........

As a McGregor and distant relative of the real Rob Roy, I can tell you that young Callum would not have lived the day out after Rob found him out. Scots, like our Celtic cousins the Irish, live for the feud. Blood would be required and no Highlander worth his name would be a cuckold. Never happen.

I say again. I am a BTB fan - loved this story and I do not wish to get bogged down with whether this is a tradition or not. Here in South Africa we have this same argument - tradition is seen as an inherited habit. As a story I liked it. This man gets revenge and even a dose for his son. He seems a bit of a hypocrite for allowing his son to take part because its someone else's daughter. But the wife Shona should have made provisions - you can't cuckold a man and then give birth to you lovers child. Too much for any man to accept and it has nothing to do with his ego as most cheater wants you to believe. But all in all - It is a very well written fictitious story!

Its a good story very well written, but for me, a very sad story. From my experience it took me many years to get past to my former wife's behaviour and attitude about her actions. Good Luck.

The reputation of the Scots is that they don't give out their money very readily. In this case, it extends to their wives as well.

Good story with a pretty good ending.

Carry on,

Tiny Tim

Quite a few deleted comments here. My second time leaving a comment.

Fredoberto you ruined the protagonist in the story. You didn't even need a 2nd chapter like in "Red Riding Hood" ,lol😆😆😆.

I'm not repeating the rest as Fredoberto doesn't want to hear it.

AMerryman

As usual, I'm writing these as I go, so some comments may be over-taken by future events.

"I needed to know more about whatever was going on before I took any drastic action." - No, no, no! Why do we ALWAYS see this? What the fuck more do you need to know besides the fact that your wife is fucking another man! I would hazard a guess that the CS on thew ring stands for Callum and Shona!

Maybe I'm dense, but how did Dougal give him evidence that the fuck wasn't spontaneous? I think the ring gave more evidence!

"Thanks, Rob. I'll ask Fiona to have a quiet word with Callum." - Why can't HE have a "quiet word" with Callum?

Shona had no idea taht he knew? Didn't Fiona clue her in?

He's worried about being polite? This woman just let her son fuck your wife, and you're worried about being impolite?

"I can't think of a better person than Shona to teach Callum about love, respect and responsibilities" - How much "love" and "respect" is involved with cuckolding her husband!

The women whose husbands died couldn't remarry?

Yeah, a young man that is taught that it's okay to fuck another man's wife will be a fine, upstanding citizen!

He should say, "Okay, while I'm away and you're fucking Callum, I'll be fucking some hot babes. After all, I won't be taking anything away from you, when I'm here, you'll have all of me." Be interesting to see how that would go over! He should also be asking her about protection. He doesn't want to be raising Callum's baby, and how can she be sure that she's the only woman he's been with, so what STD's might he be carrying?

"I'll agree to wait a few days if you agree to stay away from Callum in the meantime." - Since she's only supposed to be with Callum when he's away (which brings what he saw into question!), that shouldn't be a problem for her.

"I can't just turn round and refuse him." - So much for her implied agreement to stay away for the few days that Rob was thinking things over!

I agree with the comment about "despite your face," LOL!

I don't know why people are calling him a hypocrite for fucking Heather.

"You knew it was only a temporary arrangement, Rob," - Parenthood isn't temporary, especially knowing how he felt about the whole "gifting" situation, how she could even THINK that he would accept Callum's child is beyond me.

If Shona received a financial settlement from Callum's family, why should his fiancee be worried about his finances?

I just hope Robbie doesn't marry a girl from Lochmagandie!

I’ve read most of the comments and I think I have something different to offer. In the story on Lit page 3 is this:

"So, Fiona, apart from the occasional unlucky bastard baby, there must be other consequences for the women who are gifted to the young men?"

"Not really. There have only been one or two small problems, but it's generally a very positive experience. Occasionally we intervene if it looks like there might be a problem. The last time was when John and Mary MacDonald moved away to Glasgow, not long after you moved here."

"So that's why they left. She was clearly very upset to be going, but he couldn't wait to get away."

"Yes. I'm afraid she got too emotionally involved with the young man to whom she was gifted. She wanted to continue the relationship for longer than a year."

"So are you telling me she got more than just the one roll in the hay?"

It seems to me that you have a way to write about this same tradition while also taking a different reaction than what you wrote here. So if, after seeing the reactions of the mob, you are having second thoughts about this story you have a way to write something else and keep your original story too. Just a thought.

This was an entertaining read, thank you for writing. As I read the story I kept rooting for our protagonist to say a few things though, and he didn't.

The question was begging to be asked, but he never challenged his wife with it, and that is if she intended to let her lover get her pregnant. I felt this was the one real negative in the story, that he didn't lay all of his cards out, and explain to her that he was 95% out the door already, and that would be the final 5%. It would have added a little depth to her character to hear her response given that ultimatum.

This was also not a spur of the moment thing. She knew when she was saying her vows to her husband that this was a large possibility, and she was never upfront about it. He should have challenged her on that.

Good story though, thanks for writing.

Frankly, I would have just taken Robbie and left town (hopefully after secretly recording Fiona admitting about the "Gifting"!).

If she fights him, he threatens to releases the tape. Hell, release the tape anyway! Show her to be an unfit mother, and the town as the cesspool it is.

though the descriptions ran a bit long in places. Not sure I liked the ending too much, the story seemed to fizzle once Rob started the divorce proceedings.

It was pretty obvious that Shona's father had committed suicide. Perhaps an alternative path could be a story along the lines where she learns of that, that her existence caused another person's death, and see how she feels about gifting then.

The basic plot has been handled in other stories on the site, This was a good attempt - except for the too long descriptions at the start and the weak ending.

The true test of these "traditions" is how would they react if the situation was reversed? What if the HUSBANDS were "gifted" to initiate the young ladies into the joy of sex? Somehow I don't think these women would think that was such a good idea.

In the story about the fiances sleeping with the future m-i-l, I can't remember if it was ever made clear if they ever had sons, but if they did, how would the wives feel about their husbands having sex with the future daughters-in-law?

As I mentioned in one of the other tradition stories, and it applies here as well, what if the woman is a lesbian? Is she still expected to allow herself to be "gifted" to a young man?

To fuck with the entire town's dirty little secret. While he was waiting to dump the cheating bitch he should have been gathering information on everything happening and made it public to not only the 'unsuspecting' husbands but to the entire countryside. Imaging the countryside finding out that Lady Fiona is pimping out the women of the town to the young men. There should have been a little retribution (other than her daughter getting dumped in the future) against the whore Fiona because she seemed to be the only person keeping the tradition alive. I also can't believe the men folk didn't put can end to this practice. A totally 'fucked up' town.

Did the church sanction adultery? If yes, they lost their relationship with God! Intentional sin leads to spiritual death....... I would have gone to church on a Sunday, and would have stood in front of the congregation and pastor and ask if they sanctioned the adultery going on? This is one screwy story...... beyond the possibility of truth in a Christian community.

I cannot stop reading this story over and over. The pain, anger and sadness seems so compelling. The sex was secondary, it was the betrayal and break down of the once happy relationship that I can't get off my mind.

I do have one question that I have not seen brought up:

Why did Rob wait until Shona was pregnant to serve her with the divorce papers? Was it to cause the most pain? After Fiona offered him Heather, he stated he would get even with his betrayers. Several times he stated that he didn't want to reveal his intentions to early. It wasn't clear to me. Was Rob trying to lull Shona into believing that they could reconcile and then hitting her when it would hurt her the very most? Did he expect her to get pregnant?

I don't think Rob was a hypocrite for screwing Heather. The two relationships were completely different. With Shona & Callum, there was the pain and break down of all trust when Rob found out about the deception at the beginning of her affair. There was none of that with Heather & Rob. Everyone knew up front about Heather and she and Rob treated each other as equals. Callum didn't respect Shona and that caused her to disrespect Rob. Screwing Heather would never end Rob's pain, but it would help Shona with her conscience. I thought it showed how little Shona understood what was wrong.

The only addition I would like to see is a paragraph or two, at the end, about how life is for Shona. I know that Rob purposely tried to avoid any interaction with her but their would have been times when they did communicate - ie. birthday parties and school graduation.

This is my favourite story on this site by far. Thank you Fredoberto!

I particularly enjoy the conversations between Rob and Fiona. While she is trying to espouse the importance of the tradition and characterize it as something marvelous and glorious, Rob is calling a spade a spade.

My only nitpick: Robbie and Flora are not step-brother and step-sister. That would imply no biological relationship and that they were brought together by the marriage of their parents. They are half-siblings, which is to have only one parent in common.

Hi great effort with this story however i seemed a bit empty without any of the story written from Shona's POV her experience and though processes would love to see you write the story from her side as well

I almost didn't read it, but I'm I glad I did.

This was a marvelously well told tale. I enjoyed every syllable. It got a well deserved five from me.

I only have two quibbles...

For one, who are the assholes giving a story like this low scores? This story should be in the 470's at least!

Second, I would have hoped our hero would have gone to visit Shona one last time and told her the true reason why her "marital father" was dead. I just would have wanted to give her the opportunity to consider the cruelty of her and her mother's actions.

Thanks again,

Jedd Clampett

I agree with Carvohi, it deserves a much better score. Well, written and enjoyable from begining to end. You got great input about how to make it better and I hope to read more from you in the future

The best story I have read on Literotica, ever.

I hated any use of "gift" as a verb, until now.

I started off with a little interest in the story, but as you got going, I loved it! Thanks!

Low key, but very well written story about a tradition that mutated from its original purpose. Vaguely similar to the famous, and much more shocking, story "The Lottery", by Shirley Jackson.

I hope you'll take my two criticisms in the spirit of having liked everything else.

1) At the end, he seems willing to put his own son in danger based on a hunch. "I don't think he'll blame Robbie ..." is far from a certainty. This is a case to me where the cost of revenge can be collateral damage. If anything bad happened to his son here, I'd have a hard time feeling sympathy for the father. A parent tries to keep children out of potentially harmful situations, not thrust them into it.

2) Rob's attitude toward Heather makes him even more unlikable. Heather was 18, and the story makes clear she wasn't only "doing her duty," but she genuinely liked him. Rob knowing about the traditions of the women there, knowing she was raised there, seems to have expected her to have some sort of sophistication in terms of how relationships work outside the community in which she was raised. Arguably, Heather may have been as much of a victim of the "tradition" as anyone else. She is then set up to be enjoyed by his son, then possibly "burnt" by someone Rob perceives as angry. In fact, Rob is considering setting that in motion. So the two people most likely to suffer violent consequences in this story are Rob's son and his former lover who, at best had genuine feelings for him, and at worst was trying to help (by her reasoning) ease a painful situation for all parties.

These seem to be fairly low on the list of people in this story who should not be victims of rage brought about by an aggrieved husband that might put a gun to both Robbie and Heather, before turning the gun on himself. Given that Rob had heard John had committed suicide learning the news of the "tradition," it seems Rob should have considered any combination of deaths, including the possibility of three. Had that transpired, would Rob feel his revenge had been worth it?

Again, I gave the story 4 stars, because I realize that this story is meant to be one of those where the husband extracts himself from a terrible situation, rather than accepting it. On those terms, the story did succeed in that, and was quite enjoyable.

As a final note, I realize requests for sequels can be a pain in the ass, so I expect this to be taken with a grain of salt. I'd like to see my two notes addressed in such a story, preferably through the point-of-view of either Heather or Donnie. It would also be nice to see a happy ending for both. As long as I'm wishing, I'd also like a pony. :)

An intriguing and fascinating story with an unusual plot. I was getting all geared-up for a creative and unique BTB tale, and felt compelled to continue reading, anticipating savoring such an outcome. However, once Rob absolutely tanked by no serious reaction, and then started his affair with heather, the story was completely washed down the creek. I would much prefer that all of the cheating villagers, all those who facilitated the continuation of the husbands being cuckolded .... including the chieftain and his wife and family ..... all be brought to ruin. I must end by saying that I was very entertained by the story in general, but very disappointed by the final chapters.

One complaint...not enough about Shona after the divorce! She just falls out of the story pretty well. Too bad, it would have made for a much better story imo!

Put them all in the tabloids. An entire village with a giant scarlet A on it.

my clothes and our son's clothes would have been gone. I'd have been on my way to intercept him from coming back and the fucking cunt would never have seen us again.

Where do you asshole authors come up with a stupid and illogical story like this? They live in a small community where he couldn't HELP finding out what she's doing so what intelligent woman would even THINK of doing what you had this one do to the man that she's been happily married to for seven years? You brazenly insult our intelligence and simultaneously show us your lack of it.

Methinks that you, Fredoberto, are 'Gifted' with STUPIDITY. I wish the voting was set up to allow for a ten MINUS.

What a fucking waste of time and letdown. A dozen years later and they're still in business... pulling the same shit on unsuspecting husbands because he didn't pull the scab off and expose the whole fucking bunch of them. And the wimpy asshole gave her most of the property, besides. WOW.... great BTB story. (yeah, rigghhht)

ZERO STARS (with a roll of toilet paper)

but doing the Hokey Pokey described as traditions in a matriarchal society/ TK U MLJ LV NV

And perhaps the village but beyond that amusing.

The village gifts the married woman to the 18-year-old, who supposedly will be taught mature interaction with women. Instead, he learns to disrespect women: he believes the woman to be "a slut for breaking her vows and betraying her husband" but still is "keen enough to take advantage of the opportunity." Furthermore, he learns to take no responsibility for the consequences of his actions.

The women nod and smile at the gifting, but a man who doesn't find out about the gifting of his wife suffers when he learns of the affair and suffers all the more if tricked into raising that cuckoo's egg, supposedly the fruit of a loving marriage, but really of a conspiracy set up by a procuress who pimps out his willing wife for a year, starting with tea and kisses.

How many other men who knew well the roads around the village died by going off one of them? How many other men who had believed themselves loved, honored,respected, fathers died in “accidents” after meeting the unrepentant “reasoning” of a wife who basically told him to deal with it?

This story's “tradition” perpetuated by women does nothing positive for man-woman relations. It ranks alongside of other real misogynistic traditions like raping a woman as a form of marriage proposal and female genital mutilation – right foul.

I enjoyed it just as much this second time through. I think he should have gone to church one last time, stood up and chastised all the women for being the damned adulteress' they are.

I'd also bring along a basket of DNA test kits, might as well let the men know who's who, right? Then sit down and watch the fun.