|In 2018, a thirteen-year-old Sterling crawled up in his bed weeping on the edge. His pillow was drenched in his tears as he held onto it tight. Ophelia slowly opened the door to see her son struggling. She lay down beside him and touched his shoulder. "It's alright, sweetie! Mommy is here! Tell me what happened!"
"I didn't do anything, Mom! I just wanted to go on the trip with Brenna and Catherine. Is it too much to ask for? Why does he treat me like a piece of shit?"
"I know, baby and I'm going to ignore the language! It's not your fault. Your dad was concerned about the uniform they were wearing."
"Mom, they're my sisters! I'm not a predator."
"Sweetie, why would you say something like that?"
"I'm not dumb, Mom! Their uniform was revealing and he forbade me from going with them. You know what that means? Dad thinks I'm a pervert who would do stuff with his family members. That's why he's keeping you girls away from me as much as possible. Something is wrong in his head!"
Ophelia held onto his shoulders and wrapped her arms around him. "Well, he can't keep me away from my big boy. As long as you need Mommy's comfort, I'll stay by your side."
Sterling stopped crying and grasped her embrace. "Thanks, Mom! I needed this!"
Ophelia stayed comforting her son on the bed.|
Now a nineteen-year-old Sterling just felt that embrace after so many years. After checking if her son had any anomaly in his body Ophelia grinned ignoring the third person. "Hi, Ophelia! I found your son."
"Oh, Eva! Sorry I didn't see you there."
"Look at him, how buffed up he is! He's an athlete now!" Eva elbowed Sterling gently.
"An athlete? Wow, that's amazing."
"Thanks, Mom!" Sterling rubbed his shoulder in an awkward silence. "I think you should go see the doctor. I just saw Dad and it seems they had a situation. Mom, it's serious."
Ophelia looked away. She rubbed her arms before directing her gaze towards her son. "Sterling, would you mind coming with me? I don't think I can handle it alone."
Sterling glanced at Eva as she nodded agreeing. Sterling took Ophelia's hands in his hands. "You don't even have to ask, Mom! I'll stay by your side as long as you need." That statement took Ophelia by surprise. For a moment, she just saw a vision of her little boy growing into the tall man standing in front of her.
Eva just stood there watching the despondency of a mother and son turning into bliss. "I'll leave you two then. My parents will be waiting for me."
"Oh, thanks, Eva! For driving me here!"
"I'll see you around, Sterling!"
After she left, Ophelia bumped her fist gently on Sterling's chest asking, "Did I catch you flirting with your sister's best friend?"
"You call that flirting, Mom? That's just how people talk!"
"Maybe I'm getting old!" His face fell.
"You know that ambulance driver is staring at you, right? You have your charms, Mom!"
"Okay, I'm going to ignore the fact that my son just said that. Well, I still got it."
"And I'm going to ignore the fact that my mom just said that!" They were both laughing as they entered.
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A couple of hours later, Sterling and Ophelia returned home. Ophelia entered the house with a disappointed face. Sterling approached her and held her right shoulder standing by her left. He pressed her against his shoulder.
"I got you, Mom! You don't have to face them alone." Ophelia placed her hand on his and opened the door to enter.
Catherine was eagerly waiting for her mother.
"Mom, what happened to..?" Her attention turned to Sterling. He had no idea how to handle the situation. He didn't prepare to face his family when he got there. Catherine had changed a lot since he last saw her. She had blonde hair with a big bust on her front. She was wearing a white dress as she stepped forward.
"Catherine, I..!" She raised her arms as Sterling closed his eyes. To his surprise, they went below his armpits.
"Different physique but the warmth is same. I'm glad you're back."
Sterling regretted leaving her behind. She placed his right hand on her head while the left one was pressing her shoulder against his chest. Sterling patted his little sister's head saying, "I love what you did to your hair."
"I missed you, Sterling! Why did you leave me? Promise me you won't leave me again!"
"Like hell, he will!" Sterling's big sister, Brenna stormed in pulling Catherine away from her brother. "Don't touch her!"
"Brenna, what are you doing?" Ophelia caught Catherine from falling.
"Why did you come here? You know how much you hurt her by leaving without a word?" She grabbed her shirt by her shoulder.
"That's it! Brenna, leave him be! I have more important issues to deal with here. Your father might not wake up again!"
"Say what now?"
"Now you're listening? Brenna Catherine, go to the living room! Sterling, you know your way to your room! It doesn't have a lock so you have to deal with it!"
"It's alright, Mom! Are you sure you don't need me?"
"I can handle it on my own. Just take a shower and get some rest!" She then turned her attention to her daughters. "And Brenna, you didn't even realise at first but you pushed Catherine. Apologies to her and get going!" Brenna checked her sister and apologised before leaving for the living room.
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Sterling was thinking while taking a shower. 'I feel like an asshole for abandoning Catherine. But Brenna, what happened to her? I understand why she's mad at me but that was extreme. She was furious. I need to patch things up with her and...I need to know what's on Dad's notebook.' Sterling picked up a towel and dried his body. He went on to check his body in the mirror and started flexing his muscles. That was when he heard a noise as the door opened. Brenna entered with a purple towel covering her body. After noticing what could happen, Sterling turned around. "You should knock!"
Brenna was ogling over his muscles replied, "I didn't have to knock when you were absent, idiot!"
"I don't remember being in a nudist family. Knocking on a door before entering is common sense. You should be the one apologising for what you did right now and ripping my sister off of me."
Sterling turned around and passed by her ignoring his sister completely. Brenna was embarrassed by what she did. She took her anger on her brother without realising how much trouble he must have gone through being alone for four years. Brenna closed the door locked it and entered the bath.
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A couple of hours later, Sterling knocked on Catherine's door. "Who's it?"
"It's me! Mom told me to get you. The dinner is ready."
"I'm not hungry!"
Sterling sighed and asked, "Can I come in?"
Catherine hesitated for a moment. After a minute, she answered. "Come in!" Sterling entered her room just to see Catherine, crawled up in her bed eyes filled with tears. Sterling sat on the edge of the bed showing his back to his sister.
"Dad asked me to come here!"
"What?" Catherine looked up. "So, you didn't..!"
"Let me finish!" Sterling rubbed his thumbs against each other. "I wanted to earn enough money so that I can take care of all of you. That's why I didn't return. But when Dad called...I thought he changed his mind but still, I wanted to own up to what I started. So, I went to meet him just to flip him off but when I saw him at the hospital..." Catherine moved her butt towards her brother. "He apologised and asked me to protect you all...like he was handing his mantle to his heir."
Catherine extended her hand as Sterling grabbed it. "I will stay here. I will take care of your problems and when Dad wakes up, I will give him a happy family." Catherine wrapped her arms around Sterling's chest.
"You're the only one who gets me!"
Sterling looked around the room. A white room that was filled with pictures of Jesus. He could see god everywhere except in one spot where he saw a godly figure.
"Is that..?"
"Her name is Sydney Sweeney." Catherine pointed at a poster of Sydney Sweeney from Immaculate. "I like her. In fact, I dyed my hair blonde because of her."
"Wow, I like her too! In fact,...wait...your birthday is coming in two weeks, right?"
"Yes...it hasn't been that fun without you. Dad didn't let me invite my friends over!"
"Maybe it was a good thing he went into a coma! You can invite your friends this year."
"That's harsh, Sterling! I know you hate him."
"I don't...he was mean to me but I didn't love him like a father. I need to know why he treated me that way."
"You didn't ask him when you met him at the hospital? Mom said you had a talk with him before he went into a coma."
Sterling looked at her realising how close their faces were from brushing each other. "He apologised and..! Let's talk about you!"
Catherine released her grip and they sat as they faced each other. "How was your school? What have you been up to? And how is Amber?"
Catherine grabbed his hands and started talking about her life. Sterling sat there listening to her without cutting her. She stopped after fifteen minutes.
"Wow, I can't believe I could still talk that much." She let a deep breath out.
"Let's go, Cathy! I haven't had dinner with you for four years. Don't let me wait any longer!"
"Wait!" Catherine grabbed her by his hand when he got up. She got up and grabbed his neck. She pulled in to give him a friendly kiss. "Mom kisses all of us to show her love so I thought I could do the same."
"Oh, that's what it was. Then let's go!"
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At the dinner table, everyone was eating. After Ophelia finished her plate she started talking, "I know that all of you are worried about your Dad, including you Sterling. But we can give up. He's been fighting for us so we need to do the same. The medical bill is piling up so I asked your grandfather to help me!"
"Grandfather?" Catherine asked.
"I thought Grandpa Johnson died when Dad was a kid." Sterling followed.
"I think she's talking about her dad. I remember meeting him when I was five I think. Then he disappeared," said Brenna.
"Brenna is right. My father spent some away from the family. I think he heard about your Dad's situation so he offered to help us with the medical situation. Given the fact that I don't have a job and with your dad's debt, I couldn't refuse his offer."
"Wow! That's very generous of him!" Catherine clapped her hands once.
"Unlike some men in the family, Grandpa is helpful." Brenna rolled her eyes.
'Weird, Dad has been in a critical condition for months and now that he's in a coma. Grandpa is offering to help. Does he have something to do with those who want my dad dead? Is he still mad about getting his daughter pregnant with Brenna? That's more unlikely. But I should have a chat with him when he gets here.'
"Mom, I can help you with that."
"Sweetie, I can't ask you to pitch in. The fact that you're here is enough for me. I'll find a solution soon.
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The night fell, and Sterling was in his bed waiting. Once the noise outside stopped he went outside and checked everything. Nobody was around so he tried to go to the basement where his father left the notebook. Before he could get there a sound got his attention. He looked around to see lights coming out of Brenna's room. The door might have been ajar so he tried to pass by without getting her attention. Right when he was about to pass, he realised the noise he heard was actually a moan. He gulped as he tilted his head to the right where the gap between the door and the wall was, the vision he saw just made his head go blank. Inside the room, Brenna, his elder sister's naked back was facing the door while she was riding a sex toy on her bed. Sterling backed away as he couldn't erase the memory of his sister's naked back, he quietly moved onto the basement.
'What the hell did I just watch? Dad's in a coma and she's spending her night with a sex toy. Is she that much addicted? And holy hell, that body is a turn-on! What am I thinking? That's my sister. I shouldn't think of her like that. But it's just a fantasy, right? It's not wrong as long as it stays a fantasy, right?'
When Sterling was entering the basement someone else was inside the house other than the girls. He was checking a camera that was placed in the bathroom. The man was about to leave the bathroom but something caught his attention.
"Smell of a man? I should check the footage then!" He grabbed his back as it hurt from all the effort with a disgusting drooling mouth.