Natalie would admit to herself that she didn't really expect much from her brother when he offered (read: forced) her to move in with him. At this point, they were both well aware that he wasn't exactly a bastion of emotional support, and that included being a silent shoulder to lean on. For as long as she knew him, he didn't handle emotional situations particularly well, and it's only gotten worse since he started living on his own. Forced apathy and avoidance were his go-to methods of dealing with emotional pains, and she couldn't even hold it against him.
God knows sometimes she wishes she didn't care so much, but that's just not the type of person she was.
Neither was her brother, to be honest, but that square blockhead was determined to force himself into that circular role. That said, it was clear to Natalie that a lot happened in Stan's life during the time when she wasn't in contact with him. As early as their first conversation in the hospital, she picked up on the differences between the man standing in front of her and the man she left months before. There were the obvious drastic physical changes, of course, but beyond that, Stan seemed mellower and, dare she say, more mature than she remembered.
Then there's the fact that he now had a girlfriend, and needless to say, her curiosity was piqued. It was one of the main reasons why she didn't really put up a fight against his demand and let herself be confined to her brother's house for the foreseeable future, putting a pin on her travel plans. While a large part of her decision to stay with her brother hinged on curiosity, there was also apprehension, especially where his girlfriend was concerned.
Because, let's be honest, Stan finding a girlfriend is already suspect, but finding one who looks the way Ezraphel did and who isn't some gold-digging bitch is just improbable. But wait, there's more! Not only does she not care for his wealth but also accepts him for who he is, is patient enough to weather his not-so-great personality, and whose continued influence has managed to essentially sand the edges off said personality.
It was too perfect; she was too perfect, and it made Natalie very suspicious about her. As the old saying goes, when something is too good to be true, it usually isn't. At least she had that much in common with her brother, but for obvious reasons, Stan wouldn't be in the right headspace to be critical in this situation. For all that Stan liked to vehemently decry relationships, his vitriol stems from a place of not necessarily ignorance but inexperience.
It's easy for the Stan she remembered to brush off intimate relationships, but only because he's never actually been confronted with one. Because, as much as she loved her brother, imagining him in a healthy intimate relationship, especially with a woman like Ezraphel, seemed more like a thought experiment than anything close to reality. But then again, reality is often stranger than fiction, and Natalie could admit that the reality right now is even more outlandish than any what-if scenarios she could think of.
With her time unfortunately cut short, Natalie wanted to make sure that her little brother wasn't going to have a hard time without her. This meant putting on her doubting skeptic hat and big sister pants to thoroughly vet Ezraphel and make sure that there were no shenanigans.
Because Natalie would be God damned if she left her little brother in the clutches of some gold-digging bimbo bitch with great acting skills.
One week later...
"Holy shit, she's the real deal."
That was the conclusion Natalie came to after a week of staying at her brother's house. Though it's more likely to say that it was just as much Ezraphel's house now considering that the woman undoubtedly made her mark there. Stan didn't necessarily care for interior designs aside from his man cave and airsoft collection. Otherwise, he's content as long as things are functional. For years, the inside of his home looked the same, which made it all the more shocking when she saw the changes.
New furniture and appliances replaced the old ones, and she knew that they weren't the cheap stuff just by looking at them. The walls had a new coat of paint, the carpet was replaced, and so were the drapes. The most drastic change was, by far, the remodeling done to some of the rooms. Now it's one thing to get Stan to buy new things, but getting him to pay for remodeling entire rooms?
That was an act of God, if she ever saw it.
The changes don't stop there either, because not only did Ezraphel do all the domestic work. That meant she did all the housework—cleaning, laundry, and cooking Stan's meals. Natalie had an initial problem with the setup, but this wasn't something Stan forced on the woman. Ezraphel genuinely loved doing these things, to the point where she felt insulted when Natalie suggested Stan share the burden of doing some of the chores. According to her, it was her duty as a woman to maintain the house while the man provided for the family.
...that is some Stepford Wife bullshit right there, but apparently it's a cultural thing where she's from. And speaking of, it was never made clear to her where Ezraphel came from. Apparently, her home situation is complicated, and she didn't want to talk about it. Natalie understood and let it go, if only because most of everything else about her checked out at that point.
What didn't check out with Natalie was the story of how the two actually met since, knowing Stan, there was no way he actually asked her out. For the briefest moment, Natalie thought that the escort theory would be proven right. It didn't, but once again the reality was stranger than fiction, as the two apparently met when Stan found Ezraphel passed out in his backyard.
The how and why she ended up in that situation was glossed over for the most part, but according to Ezraphel, she "did something foolish without proper preparation."
What the hell does that even mean?
Natalie had no idea, and Ezraphel didn't elaborate, which seemed to be a theme when it came to her background. In any case Stan ended up saving her, and according to the woman, it was love at first sight. Normally, Natalie wouldn't believe such a thing, but Ezraphel was so damn sincere that she couldn't believe her. Then, after a few arguments where Stan threatened to call the cops, Ezraphel managed to convince him to let her stay.
Stan did not deny this when questioned, and Natalie had to take the absurdity at face value, meaning that Ezraphel basically bribed her way into Stanley's life using her body. This would have set off all of Natalie's sisterly alarm bells, but the reality of the situation was a bit more complicated and damn confusing. Whatever intentions Ezraphel may or may not have started with clearly didn't end up being nefarious as far as she could see.
Ezraphel wasn't some gold-digging floozy, and it wasn't just because Natalie never saw her prod Stanley for any money, but that money seemed to be an ephemeral concept to Ezraphel. She didn't ask Stan for anything other than his attention, and the only time money came into the conversation with her was usually within the realm of needed expenses. For example they seem to have an agreement that Ezraphel only had free reign with his money when it came to buying groceries.
The reason for this was because Ezraphel had Stan on a strict diet that he wasn't allowed to deviate from. She was in charge of his meals, and she would only have the highest-quality ingredients for maximum efficiency. Natalie can believe that, especially since the kitchen looked like something that would belong to a professional chef. Considering she makes the best damn food she's ever eaten, there might be some truth to that.
Natalie would definitely want her last meal to be something made by her.
Moving on, the last but by far most shockingly blatant thing to convince Natalie of Ezraphel's authenticity was just her general attitude and personality. Ezraphel was a passionate woman who wore her emotions on her sleeve and in regards to Stan she was genuinely in love. It was a fact she seemed exceedingly proud of and was very open about the intimacy of her relationship. Some might say she was too open since Natalie was sure Ezraphel would have proclaimed her love shamelessly in front of a worldwide live audience if given the chance.
Still, for all that Ezraphel has Natalie's stamp of approval, she would be remiss to ignore the few problems she has with the woman. For instance, Ezraphel seemed reluctant to share details about her home life or what she did before getting together with Stan. There were allusions to Ezraphel being a foreigner; after all, the woman spoke with a slight yet distinct accent that sounded vaguely European, and overall, she acted like someone who wasn't born and raised in the country.
The good news is that she wasn't on the outs with her family, and she admitted as much during their many private conversations. When she talked about her family, it was with fondness. Her parents loved and supported her while she looked up to her older sisters as role models. Apparently she came from a large family who were well off, and on that note, Stan sarcastically commented on Ezraphel's family being basically royalty.
That information, coupled with the way Ezraphel talked and acted, made Natalie come to the conclusion that Ezraphel might have been a rich kid from a wealthy European family who ran away from home to travel. Natalie is familiar with a few cases like this, with the only difference being that Ezraphel wasn't frivolously spending her parents' money and posting about her life online like an obnoxious influencer. She does neither of these things, and given her general attitude and especially her beauty, ending up with Stan might be a better-case scenario.
Still, the lack of personal information on Ezraphel's part made her suspicious. Now normally she would have let it go, especially since Ezraphel was such a sweetheart who she was pretty sure would share whatever troubles she had when she felt comfortable. Unfortunately, Natalie very well might not live long enough for that, so for her peace of mind, she needed to know there wouldn't be anything about Ezraphel that would come to bite Stan in the ass somewhere down the line.
In the future, if something happens to jeopardize this good thing Stan has going on, Natalie won't be there to help him, and didn't that thought make her feel all sorts of anxiety and depression. It also made her impatient and demanding in her quest for answers. Enough so that Stan took notice and had to take her aside to 'politely' ask her to get off his girlfriend's back with the interrogations. Natalie complied, but only because she's pretty sure Stan knows whatever secret Ezraphel is keeping and is respecting her wishes about not sharing it with others.
Natalie messed up there and decided not to pursue further answers about the woman. With that, Natalie decided to switch gears because, while she can trust Ezraphel to have Stan's best interests at heart, all that's left to do is ensure that her little brother doesn't drop the ball. As much of a hat trick of an impossibility that would be since Ezraphel had the patience of a saint and the passion of a thousand horny suns. Seriously, the number of times she tried to get details of their relationship from the woman only to have her not-so-subtly allude to their sex life was frankly ludicrous.
Natalie did not need to know about her brother's sex life—at least not above a certain threshold where she could use it to embarrass him. The way Ezraphel talks about him made it seem like Stan is a literal sex god, and, yeah, no, she did not need or want to know more about it. Ezraphel really was the perfect woman for Stan, and Natalie decided that if their relationship would experience hardships, it wouldn't be because of him.
To that end, for the second week of her stay, she started paying closer attention to her brother. She was curious to see how he handled being in a relationship. Since he's never been in one, the only reference she had for such a case was how he handled his other relationships, so naturally, she was utterly terrified for him. To her surprise, however, Stan was actually doing better than she expected which admittedly wasn't a high bar in the first place.
The fact that he didn't spend most of his time cooped up in his man cave all day every day was a win in her book. He exceeded her expectations by consistently going out with Ezraphel to do things that he didn't need to do such as: planned dates or simple outings without a set plan. Stan seemed to be genuinely trying to move on from his shut-in ways to give Ezraphel the love and attention she so rightfully deserves.
All seems right on Stan's end as far as how he seems to be handling the relationship, even if he can be a little grump about it sometimes. It made her curious about the whole process and growing pains involved in cultivating such a relationship. It couldn't have been simple or easy for them to have reached this point. Invoking such a change in Stan alone should have been a long and arduous process.
Natalie wanted to know. Her curiosity was virtually insatiable with the desire. She wanted a play-by-play of every step taken to get to this point. If she wanted to, she could totally get that information from either of them. Ezraphel would be more than happy to tell of their triumphs, and it wouldn't take long to grill Stan for any missteps, the pessimist. She wanted the details, but that wouldn't exactly be fair since that time has passed.
She gave Stan the third degree about it, but just as he didn't contact her to know about her medical status, neither did she contact him to know about his relationship status. For good or for ill, the most pivotal moments in either of their lives happened to them around the same time, and they both chose to keep it a secret from each other until it was nearly too late. They really are siblings, but after years of worrying, Natalie can finally be at ease because her baby brother is finally growing up.
And Natalie couldn't be more proud of him.