A new morning is here, and so are the troubles following it. Right when I walk out the door, I see Amber eagerly waiting for me. Why so early in the morning…
"Were you waiting for me this whole time?" I question her. Instead of replying, Amber tilts her head as she continues wagging her tail.
"Sigh, come here." She listens with zeal and lowers her head in front of me. I pet her again like yesterday. She makes some sort of humming or purring noise. Looks like she is enjoying herself. I am not willing to continue this for one hour right in the morning though. Why did I give in to her request… I should've persisted on denying her.
"Amber, how about we take a break? We can continue this later."
"Mike, more petting." She insists.
"C'mon Amber. It's too early in the morning. Don't you want to be petted throughout the day? Remember, you only have an hour's quota of petting."
She seems reluctant, but after some convincing; she lets me be for some time. Just don't give me that look as if I am bullying you.
Going down, I notice Isabel cooking breakfast. No sign of Amelia yet again. My guess about her being an introvert might've been right. I come up to Isabel and strike a conversation.
"Hey, Isabel. Do you need any help?"
She notices me and gives me a bright smile.
"Good morning, Mike. Sure, I'll take up your offer. If you're free, just cut around six tomatoes for me. We'll be having sunny side-ups with bacon, bread, beans and tomatoes."
Breakfast sounded good. I can't wait to have it.
"Alright, just tell me where the stuff is."
She instructs me where the tomatoes are. After getting a few of them, I swiftly slice through them. Isabel looks at me, impressed by my skills.
"You're quite handy with the knife. Have you done cooking before?" She asks.
"Yeah, since I lived alone for most of my life, these skills end up being a necessity."
"Oh, sweetie. Don't worry about that here. The entire family is here for you. I am sure with some time, both Amelia and Amber would warm up to you."
Isabel didn't know my petting time with Amber, so she wasn't aware that had already happened. Amelia on the other hand is a different story.
"Thanks. I am fine though. I really appreciate you guys willing to burden my presence."
"Aww, don't talk like that. You're part of the family now. Everything will go just swell. Well, since you seem to be an adept cook, how about helping me with some eggs and beans? I am sure the girls would love a man cooking for them. Men cooking for their girls is a great privilege here."
"Sure, I'd love to," I respond. We continue cooking before finishing the meal. Everything goes pretty smoothly. Cooking with other people makes the job much easier than I first imagined.
"It really is nice to have someone to help around. Others are too busy with their own stuff most of the time, and I can't make my friend's daughter help me out with the household work. Thank you, Mike. You've been a great help." She praises me before patting my head. Kinda ironic how I was on the receiving end this time, but it feels nice to be pet if you were to exclude the embarrassment.
Isabel turns around and hands me two plates.
"This one is for you and the other one is for Amelia. If possible, try to use this opportunity to get close to her."
"About her, Isabel, I wanted to ask you something." She looks at me attentively. I wonder if it is something insensitive to ask about their daughter, but at least the person in question isn't here.
"Is she an introvert?" I ask her. Isabel just smiles and answers me.
"Yeah, unlike Susan, Amelia spends a lot of her time inside her room. She has a hard time socializing like Amber, or she just doesn't want to do that. It doesn't matter though. As long as my daughter is happy, then I am also happy. It's just… I hope she can make some real friends who can help her through hard times." Looks like Isabel has her own fair share of problems.
"Don't worry. I'll help out. She's my girlfriend's sister after all." I reassure her with a confident smile. I hope it can help appease her worries. She smiles in response. As I am about to leave, I feel a hand reach out to me.
"Ah, before you go…" her arms coil around and pull me. This is… not again, please.
"I am not letting you go until you call me mommy ♡." It's like I expected. I struggle to get out of her grasp, but like always, she is very strong. Just how inhumane is her strength?
"But it's embarrassing…" I try to resist.
"C'mon sweetheart. Just once. It'll make up mommy's day." She isn't letting me go. The food is getting cold, I feel pressured by the time going wasted.
"M-m-mommy-y," for some reason, the more I say it, the more embarrassing it feels. I wish she would not force this shame onto me, I am an adult after all.
"Aww, I love you Mike." She squeals before burying me in her breasts and wriggling around. The same treatment as always.
After almost suffocating me in her huge boobs, she finally let go. I quickly take the dishes and head up before her mind changes. Isabel just giggles as she watches me scurry away. I am a grown man, you know. Don't treat me like a child…
After I go up and knock on Amelia's door, I hear a quaint voice behind it.
"Coming," Amelia says as she opens the door.
Her gaze goes straight to the food.
"Thanks for the food, mom-," she flinches when she notices it's me.
"Oh, it's Susan's boyfriend." She mutters to herself as her gaze lowers down to the two plates on my hand again. There's an awkward pause left for a moment. I try to speak up, but Amelia gives me an unexpected offer.
"D-do you want to eat here?" She gently asks. The discomfort is apparent in her voice. Perhaps she isn't as averse to talking to me as I first thought.
"Yeah, I want to eat with you, Amelia. If possible, I want to know more about you." She blushes a bit before fiddling.
"Let yourself in." She guides me to her bed, it looks pretty neat, it even has a slight floral scent to it.
"You can sit here beside me." There aren't any chairs except for one meant for gaming. Looking around, the whole area has a mix of a girly and tomboyish vibe to it, with some plushies here and there. There are some posters too, something that looks like a 90s metal album cover. Her gaming setup is quite decent though. She has dual monitors, a PC with water cooling, a gaming mouse and other sorts of related gadgets.
She fidgets. Her focus wasn't on her meal. Instead, her sight shakes around in panic.
"I-it's the first time I had a boy in my room. M-make yourself at home." She says to me. No wonder she is acting so uncomfortably. I assume she has barely met any boys, much less talked with them. To not make things awkward again, I quickly respond to her.
"Thanks, Amelia. Let's eat our meals before they get cold." I change the subject and suggest something to keep her occupied for a bit. It will give her some time to calm down.
After she has her fill, I look at her.
"So, Amelia. I heard from your sister that you like games?" Her eyes wander as she answers me. She's a complete nervous wreck right now.
"H-huh? U-uh y-yeeaah, I p-play a bit of games." Is it me or did her stammering get worse? And I am sure her definition of "a bit" doesn't do justice to it when I can hear the rumbling sound of her speakers till 1 AM.
"Hmm, can you introduce some to me?"
"You want to play games… with me?" She questions me.
"Yeah, I'd love to." Amelia quivers as I show my interests. Is something wrong?
"AWESOME!" She screams. My eardrums almost burst. Is it really that exciting?
"I am getting to play games with a boy? This is so awesome. All my friends will be jealous. Oh, I have so many games I want to try. Do you like action? FPS? Obstacle courses? Oh, or maybe something more unique like roguelike or puzzle?" She holds my hands up before firing off words one after the other in excitement. She looks like a new person already, a stark contrast to her earlier meek demeanour. In some way, she sort of reminded me of Kyle from how she was acting. He was also a big game addict.
Amelia suddenly calms down as her face becomes flushed after looking at our held hands. She quickly pulls them back before apologizing.
"S-s-sorry. I just got too excited."
"Nah, no worries. It was pretty cute." I joke around, but her face flushes redder than an apple. She might've taken it a bit too seriously.
"C-c-cute, me? Do you really mean it?"
She took my complement more earnestly than what I expected. Though it might seem more affectionate than need be, I see no harm in trying to praise her. She seems unconfident in her charms. As her family, it only ends up with my responsibility that she realizes her good points.
"Yeah, I am sure normal boys would be head over heels over you. Not to mention, nobody would say no to a girl who likes to game," I try to praise her. I believe this is what she needs to help her with her habits. It could help her open up more to other people once her self-image improves.
"R-really?"
"Really. 100%. You have my guarantee."
It isn't as if I am lying, though. Every monster girl is a jaw-dropping beauty.
Amelia opens her mouth, but she doesn't know what to say. Instead, she lowers her head from shyness.
"So Amelia. What do you wanna play?"
"A-ah, let's start with this game. I need to get this co-op achievement, then we play…" her face perks up and talks about numerous games which I had never heard of, but I am happy to see Amelia look so excited.
She continues to talk continuously about the game and the mechanics as we start playing them. I ask for help when I'm stuck, and she always assists me with those problems. I have to admit, the games are a lot better here. Not only did they have better graphics, but also more complex mechanics and lively NPCs. Amelia is having a blast, she giggles like nothing every half a minute. I am enjoying it too. It is reminiscent of my time with Kyle. I hope he is doing fine right now. He must be depressed, but I am sure he will get over it soon enough. Kyle is the kind of person who never backs down.
"Mike, focus on the game. Use your CC!"
"Ah okay, sorry." I get distracted by my thoughts for a second. Let's just focus on the game for now. It would be rude of me to ruin the lively mood. After playing for quite a while, Amelia gets up to leave for the bathroom. While she's gone, I try to familiarize myself with my console, but as I am going through the game icons, I notice an invisible icon which highlights upon selecting it.
"What's this?" I click on the icon and a bunch of games pop up. Don't tell me, is it what I am thinking it is?
click
The first game video's preview plays. From first glance, it looks like an RPG game, but the more damage the guy in the video receives, the more his clothes get ripped off. All his opponents are scantily clad monster girls who are trying to violate him. The scene switches to some barely censored sex, showing various lewd events in quick succession. I didn't expect Amelia to play games like this…
"I am back, you didn't wait for long, did you?"
After hearing her voice behind my back, I panic. I quickly try to switch back to the menu, but the video preview goes up in full volume because of a misclick.
"Please nooo~"
"Ahhhnnnnn~"
"You're ours to use now ♡."
I slowly turn back. There's a deep shadow on her face. I am not sure what expression she is making, but it surely isn't anything nice. She comes to me and snatches the controller, switching it back to the menu screen.
"You didn't see that." Her voice is devoid of emotion. It's kind of creepy. I nervously nod to her, too scared to speak. She comes and sits beside me again, but the air itself feels heavy. Giving my controller back, she turns on one of those extra gorey game and starts playing them. I said not a single word. Her hands adeptly pull off combos and killstreaks, but she looks as if she has died inside. I can sympathise with her feelings to some degree… even though her case is much worse since she had her porn games revealed to her sister's boyfriend.
We quietly play in this uncomfortable mood for some time. There's too much pressure, I want to leave! Thankfully, my saviour arrives soon.
Knock, knock. "Mike, you inside?" Someone speaks behind the door in a soft voice. I knew it is Amber.
"What do you need him for?" Amelia responds. She clearly is in a foul mood.
"Ca-... b-borrow Mike?" Amber asks in a hesitant voice. Midway through her sentence, her voice becomes inaudible before rising again.
"You can leave," Amelia says with a deadpan face. I quietly get out of my seat and head to the door.
I will never speak of what happened in that room, otherwise, I fear my life would be in peril.