Tiny Tim

Chapter 23

The rest of the night was quiet. I kept holding Ava close to me as she cried herself out on my shoulder. I have no idea how long we just lay there, but she made me repeat my declaration of loving her as well as Mia two more times before she finally calmed enough to fall asleep.

The next day started out a lot earlier for me than for those two, since I had to show up in the office, while they didn’t have to go to school. After I had showered and gotten dressed, Mia and Ava were still cozily wrapped in my sheets.

“Love you.” I told my girlfriend, after giving her a loving kiss.

“Love you too, Muffin.” Mia sleepily replied, closed her eyes again, and was out like a light.

Then I moved over to the other side of the bed. Ava was awake and looking at me with a mixture of a pout and insecurity. I smiled, placed my hand on her cheek, and leaned forward. Her eyes widened a little, before her brows furrowed like she wanted to start sobbing again, but I stopped that by giving my sister a tender morning kiss as well.

“And I still love you too, Princess.” That made her smile, though her eyes were still a little moist.

“I love you, little Brother.” she whispered. “I swear I will never forget it again.”

Wherever Mom went before Mia showed up, she wasn’t back yet, so I made my way to the office after only drinking my coffee instead of enjoying breakfast with her.

Since my contract was for a twenty-eight-hour week, I normally worked for four hours a day from Monday through Friday, and then a full eight-hour day on Saturday. But whenever I didn’t have to go to school, I opted to put in six hours from Monday through Thursday, and finish with a half day on Friday. That allowed me a full free weekend!

At least that was the plan.

About an hour before quitting time, John called me, telling me that there was a problem and he’d like to meet me at the condo we had bought near the community college’s main campus. Sighing, I told him the time I could be there and he eagerly confirmed that he would meet me then. After I finished my day, I drove over to the condo while pondering on what would be waiting for me.

“Tim!” I heard John call out, as he jumped out of his car.

“John!” I mimicked his tone, before quickly dropping to a neutral voice. “So, what’s the problem?”

“Let’s go inside first.” he said, before unlocking the door and beckoning me to enter.

“Speaking of which ... What the hell happened with the door?” I asked, pointing at the entrance that had been widened significantly.

“Wheelchair accessibility.” he responded while shrugging his shoulders. “With this place being so close to campus, only having a single floor, and your tendency to get seriously injured, I decided to put up a little extra money and make the whole place disability-friendly. I’m also doing the same with the house for Mom and Dad. They don’t need it right now, but at their age ... You never know. I’ll show you all the other changes later. First, we have to talk about something.”

After we walked inside and he closed the door behind us, he reached into his jacket, pulled out an envelope, and presented it to me.

“What’s this?” I asked after checking over the ten pages of legal text I had pulled out of the envelope.

“Essentially, it’s a partnership agreement.” he grinned. “I created a Holding and I want you to be the controlling partner, since it’s your money that I used for funding. And I named it ‘T.B. Holding’, so it would be kinda weird for me to have a company named after you. If your first name started with a ‘P’, though, I would’ve named it ‘PB&J’. Shame, really.”

“Wait ... what?” I asked perplexed, partly because I didn’t understand how he could simply create a company with me as a partner without telling me, and partly because I worried about his sense of humor.

“I created a holding company.” John started explaining, a little slower this time. “I then transferred the cash you gave me to that company and used it to buy this condo and the house, so both belong to the holding now. The partnership agreement would make us both directors of that holding, but you would be the majority partner calling the shots.”

This time I understood what he said. Though, I still was confused about the details.

“How in the hell did you simply transfer all that cash to a company!?” I asked.

“It wasn’t simple, but it’s possible. You see, the holding is currently owning three assets. The condo, the house, and an imaginary software for online warehouse management that we’re licensing out for $6,500 per warehouse. I know someone, who knows someone, who, in turn, knows someone across the border. I gave them the cash, they split it across twenty of their people to each buy one of our licenses, and the money arrived in our bank account as legitimate revenue.”

When he finished, he stood there with a smug grin on his face. If my math was correct, whoever helped him took roughly a thirteen percent cut. That was ridiculously little as far as I knew, but maybe a thousand dollars per person was worth more south of the border. I had a sneaking suspicion I needed to check, though.

“So ... You gave that money to someone who has twenty Mexican warehouse managers who can smurf the money back into your bank account. What do they use their warehouses for?”

“Avocados.” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

I decided then and there to not ask any more questions, hope this wouldn’t come with strings attached, and never use their services again. I also decided that I should try to find some time to create some kind of online warehouse management software. It didn’t need to be good, or actually work, but I should be able to point at something in case the feds ask questions about it. Maybe it would be enough to modify some open source software that already exists.

Grunting, I read through the partnership agreement. I’m no lawyer, but the language was easy enough to understand. I would be the majority partner, so, while John took care of legal matters because I was a minor, he couldn’t just do with my money and assets as he pleased. It also contained all the procedural details for when he would remove himself from the holding after I turned eighteen. It sure looked like he didn’t intend to screw me over, so I signed both copies and handed him one.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” he smiled, before he continued in a business voice. “Now we have to talk about the condo. The contractor did a fine job. Until now, that is. Apparently, they have another project that takes precedence right now, so they stopped showing up.”

“Oh. How long is that other project gonna take?”

“He couldn’t give me a detailed timeframe, but they definitely won’t be back before Ava and Mia are supposed to move in here.” he sighed.

I looked around the rooms and, while they had indeed fixed the damages the previous owners had caused to spite the bank, the interior was still unfinished. There was no paint on the walls, no lights installed, a few drywalls had to be sanded, and the bathroom with the big door for wheelchairs was missing all the fittings.

“So, get someone else.” I proposed, and he sighed again.

“Already tried. I think we’ll have to finish this ourselves.” he answered in a tone that told me, without a doubt, that he had no desire to do manual labor in any capacity.

“And by ‘OURselves’ I assume you mean...” I let my voice trail off.

“You and the girls, yes.” he nodded with a straight face.

“Thought as much.” I grumbled, silently reminding myself of the money this would bring in. “I changed my work schedule over Spring Break, so I’ll have some time in the afternoons. And Saturday is completely free. But leave the girls out of it. I’m not sure about Maggie, but if I ask Ava to hang a single picture, I’ll have to learn drywalling afterwards.”

That made him laugh.

“Yeah, I’m afraid I also neglected to teach my little girl about home improvements. But won’t this be too much for you alone?”

“Looks worse than it is, I think. The most complicated thing is the bathroom fixtures, because I have no idea what wheelchair bound people need. But I learned how to take care of the essentials when Tess had a dripping faucet. Not much you can do wrong. Worst case scenario, the warm water will come out of the cold water tab and vice versa. When I’m done with that, I’ll sand the walls and paint everything in a nice white. That way, the girls can easily decorate however they want. What about furniture?”

“Trip to Ikea after they got a good look at the rooms?” he offered.

“That’s gonna be your job, then. I’ll do the manual labor and you go shopping with the girls.” He actually groaned about that. “And don’t forget about the bathrooms and the third bedroom. Pick some general stuff for those as well.”

He nodded, but then shoved his hands into his pant’s pockets to just look at me as I pulled out my phone and started walking from room to room, taking photos of everything that still needed fixing. When he had quietly followed me through the condo for quite some time, I finally had enough.

“What is it?” I asked with a wary voice, and I could see on his face how he was trying to decide how to approach whatever subject had him worried.

“Well, you mentioned spring break.” he said before pausing. This was visibly uncomfortable for him. “So, Logan came back.”

“Okay? You do remember me telling you that I don’t want anything to do with him, right?”

“Yes! Yes, I do. But, since he’s back from college, and my parents are still in town, the family is using that opportunity to have a little get-together tonight. If you’d like to join u...”

“No.” I flat out refused before he could even finish his sentence, which he acknowledged with a single nod. Though, he did seem surprisingly sad about that.

“Danny said you most likely won’t be interested. I still thought there may be a chance. You could just stay away from Logan?”

That display of his was intriguing! It really looked like he genuinely wanted me to participate, though he didn’t seem to understand why I would never want to contribute to that shitshow.

“Why are you so eager to have me attend?” I asked him with a single raised eyebrow. “What, now that you’re five girls to four guys, you’re afraid you’ll need help or something?”

“It’s three guys for four girls, actually, given that Aaron is not invited until he properly apologized to Ava, and Claire ... Well, Claire is not in the mood to participate.”

His face showed an undeniable level of bitterness that piqued my curiosity.

“Not in the mood?”

“Yes. First, she took your advice to heart and doesn’t want to do anything that would allow Logan to think his behavior was condoned. She and Danny talked about it the whole day yesterday, and they agree that Logan needs to realize his behavior can have consequences. So, he, much like Aaron, will have to make sure he treats everyone with respect if he wants to participate.” I took notice of him saying ‘they agree’, not ‘we agree’. “Second, she flat out refuses to do anything that you’re not part of.”

“Wait, what!? Are you telling me that she’s been at your place since yesterday and you never fucked?” I asked, my brows raised high in surprise, ignoring his scowl at my choice of words.

That would certainly explain why he didn’t seem too happy with me at the moment, but I had trouble believing Claire never joined in on the fun.

“Yes.” he said, then he seemed to realize something and rushed to continue. “But that’s not why I’m inviting you! I’m inviting you because I also want you to feel like a part of this family, and I regret that you’re not interested. Though, I can understand that you’d rather stay away than be confronted with your brother.”

I had to stop myself from laughing. Not only did he still not understand what my problem with all this was, he also didn’t seem to realize how much contempt he’s been displaying for me since the topic fell onto Claire refusing him.

“Logan has nothing to do with it.” I said firmly, causing him to look rather confused. “Well, Okay, not nothing, but it’s not because I want to avoid him. I just don’t think anything good could come of me participating.”

His face contorted in confusion. “How could it be bad if...”

“Because a pity fuck won’t make me feel like being part of any family!” I interrupted him with exhaustion straining my voice, feeling my patience tested from having to explain myself, and continued with my voice slightly raised when I saw him open his mouth to protest. “Yes, yes, it’s not a pity fuck, sure. Even if that were true, that’s how it’ll always feel to me. If you really wanted me to join, you would’ve asked after you found out that I turned sixteen, and before your fun time with your sister depended on it. If the girls really were interested in doing anything with me, at least one of them should’ve shown some interest after I lost all that weight, and before they felt like they owed me. Now I have a girlfriend who actually wants me, and, since I don’t see sex as a recreational activity like you all seem to, I’m not planning on fucking around behind her back.”

He sullenly looked at the ground for a good while, before he spoke with a voice befitting his expression.

“You’re right. There’s probably nothing I could say or do to convince you that we’re not just asking you out of guilt. Because we do feel guilty. But we don’t see sex as a recreational activity! We show our love that way. It has brought us closer tog...”

“DUDE!” I interrupted him with a shout as I felt a sudden anger explode inside me, and he looked at me taken aback. “You’re about to have a family orgy with the guy who LITERALLY tried to sell out your wife, your daughter, and your sister to a bunch of rapists to save his own skin! The guy who left your sister, his own MOTHER, behind when she needed his support! Don’t fucking tell me this crap brought you all closer together, because that’s bullshit and you know it! It’s about getting your fucking rocks off, plain and simple. That’s why I was excluded when you all thought my dick was too small for your liking, and it’s why Logan is still included despite not giving a SHIT about you all. What you do has NOTHING to do with love!”

He stared at me wide eyed and open mouthed. The uninhibited anger in my face and the borderline rage in my voice stunned him. But the asshole just didn’t get it. Sure, since they were barring Aaron from attending their get-togethers until he showed that he cared about Ava, maybe what John said was actually true and it really was about showing their love to each other. But did he seriously not understand what that meant for me? For the one guy in the family they excluded from being ‘shown their love’?

“I have to make a few trips to Home Depot. Thanks for the invite, but maybe it’s best if we just remain business partners.” I concluded after taking a few seconds to calm down. “Tell your family that if they fuck Logan, they deserve him!”

Without waiting for him to pull himself together, I walked through the door and got into my Jeep.

When I entered my apartment, I found Ava sitting on the couch alone. Mia had gone home already, so she got comfortable with a bucket of ice cream, wearing a way too big and worn out sweatshirt with faded sweatpants. Everything about her appearance said she was planning on having a relaxing night in, which confused me for a moment. When she saw me, she instantly jumped off the couch to practically throw herself at me.

“You’re back!” she beamed after giving me a kiss that would be more appropriate from a girlfriend than from my sister. Even if I was fucking my sister.

Being greeted so happily, right after John’s reminder of how none of them wanted me, did a great job in raising my spirits. I found myself smiling as I wrapped my arms around her, squeezed her ass, and returned her kiss. Going by the increase in strength of her hold on me, and the soft contented moan she let slip out, it seemed to please her.

“I see you’re all set to enjoy a relaxing evening?” I finally commented with her body still pressed into mine, eyeing the bucket of ice cream.

“When school’s out, I like to use the first few days to refuel.” she giggled. “Why? You have something planned for us? Or do you wanna join me?” I felt my smile widen when she looked genuinely hopeful about me spending the evening with her.

“No, sorry. I’ve gotta get changed and make a trip to Home Depot. Promised someone I’d help him fix up his place. But I thought you would go out tonight?”

“Huh?” Now she looked genuinely confused. “Why would I go out?”

“John told me. They’re having one of their get-togethers.” I said, finally releasing my hold on her and moving towards my bedroom. “With Logan back from college and the grandparents still in town, it’s a rare opportunity.”

“Oh! No, I’m really not interested.” she replied casually, before her voice dropped to a suggestive tone. “I already told you, you’re the only one who gets to pound this little pussy of mine.”

That almost made me stumble as I missed a step.

“And besides.” she continued, casually again. “Dad still hasn’t apologized, and Logan’s still an asshole. So I’d rather spend my time on the couch with the brother I love and that actually cares about me. And takes care of me.”

She added that last part with another sultry look. Though, the beginning of her sentence had me thinking about something else as I entered my closet and got rid of my clothes.

“Well, I understand that Aaron isn’t invited until he makes amends for the crap he pulled on you, and Logan can’t participate unless he treats everyone with due respect. And Claire’s already been there since yesterday, so, if you wanted to go, I’m sure she would keep an eye on Logan and make sure you’d have fun.” I called over my shoulder as I pulled on my worn out work clothes that I had also used when renovating my own apartment.

I didn’t even register how there was no reply from her, until I came out of my closet and saw Ava sitting on my bed looking rather alarmed for some reason.

“What?” I asked, after noticing her expression.

“You’re mad that Mom went.” she said softly, but with concern in her voice.

“Why would I be mad?”

“If you’re not, why did you call her ‘Claire’ instead of ‘Mom’ just now?”

That made me stop dead in my tracks.

I hadn’t even noticed that I did that. I also never realized, until that moment, that I had not only called her ‘Mom’ since the day of my first P.T. session, but even thought of her as my mom since we had that talk about Tess. And now she was back to being ‘Claire’.

I sat on the bed next to Ava, who immediately reached for my hand to hold it, and leaned into me.

“I guess I am a little annoyed that she’s taking part in it.” I lied. I wasn’t just annoyed, I was pissed. But it was clear she knew that already.

That bullshit John had just thrown at me, about how this is their way to show their love for each other, must have played a bigger part in my current opinion of my mother than I had thought. Though, I didn’t think I should tell Ava about that conversation with her uncle. It would just cause more unnecessary tension.

She started wringing her hands while keeping her eyes fixed to the floor, before she took a deep breath. “I don’t think she’s taking part in anything.”

“What do you mean?” I eyed her suspiciously. “John also told me she wasn’t in the mood, but I have to admit ... I find it hard to believe that she would spend two days in his house, watching them all go at it, and never join in on the fun.”

Ava sighed as her shoulders slumped a little. It looked like she was surrendering to her fate or something.

“Look ... I didn’t want to point that out because I was scared that you’ll think I’m trying to influence you ... but that’s exactly what Mom’s doing. She watches them have fun, but doesn’t join in.”

“Why not?”

“It’s her punishment.” Her voice was dire and full of regret when she said that.

“Sorry, what!?” I couldn’t believe what I heard.

“She refuses to do anything, unless you’re involved and willing.” she nodded. “Remember the day of your first P.T. session? She didn’t even try to get something out of that for herself. She called me into the room to take care of you, but she herself was happy to just hold you.”

“And what if it’ll take me quite a while before I’m willing to do anything with her?”

“Then, I think, she’ll be going without for however long it’ll take you.”

“I would’ve thought ... with you two sharing a bedroom...” I said, and Ava started chuckling.

“Oh, no! Mom doesn’t swing that way. Maggie and I enjoy it. Danny will join us on special occasions, like you saw on my birthday, but she doesn’t get anything out of it. Mom is completely straight.”

I could only shake my head as I stared at Ava. Though, once my mind started wrapping itself around the idea, I realized John’s bitterness might’ve been about something other than Mom’s refusal to fuck him. It may have been on his sister’s behalf, as he feared for her happiness.

“How in the world did she come up with that?” I finally asked.

“We spent years enjoying ourselves while excluding you, so now she makes her satisfaction dependent on yours.” Ava shrugged. “Honestly ... I kinda understand her. I’m doing the same thing after all.”

“I mean...” I sighed. “I don’t understand it, honestly. I really meant it when I told you that you’re free to join them. What’s wrong with this family will not be fixed as long as we continue excluding people just to please someone else, so I will never ask you to do that. That’s what caused this whole mess in the first place. I know all that. But, the thought of them fucking Logan, after everything he did ... it just pisses me off!”

“Of course it does! You’re not asking Mom and me to exclude him, and we’re not doing it to please you.” she reassured me, but quickly backpaddled, just like I did in my conversation with John. “Okay, we are partially doing it to please you, since we are feeling guilty for what we did to you. But I want to be only with you because ... well, because I feel like you’re the only guy who’s worth it. And Mom wants to be only with you because she wants to make up for the past. But even without that, what Logan did proves that he only sees us all as readily available pussy, not as family, and letting him have us will only encourage that.”

We sat quietly for a while, with her hugging my arm and resting her head on my shoulder. I have to admit, Ava telling me all that made me feel even closer to her than I felt after her affectionate greeting.

“Why did you forgive me?” I heard her whispered question.

“You made up for it.” I said, and she raised her head to look at me questioningly. “You stood up to your friends to make them stop calling me by that stupid nickname. Then you took my side instead of covering for Aaron, when he emptied my bank account. And ... Mia told me that you spent the past few months working to improve my reputation and undo the damage you caused. A lot of the things happening in school make a lot more sense now.”

Now she looked a little embarrassed.

“She told you?”

“Yeah. I’m glad she did. It convinced me that I have a sister that cares about me.” I said, turned my head, and kissed her forehead.

“I really love you, Tim. I don’t think I can ever make up for the years of hurt I caused you, but I’m damn well gonna try. You did so much for me ... Even after I was a bonafide Bitch to you and didn’t deserve your help, you still came through.” I felt her grip on my arm to tighten. “I never thought that what I did to you would have consequences. I just wanted to make Logan and Dad happy. Until I saw you lying in that pool of blood after you got stabbed.” She shook her head. “I thought you’d die protecting us, while Logan just ran away! And the more I thought about everything I did, the more ashamed I became of myself. You deserve so much better than what you got from me. Last year, you asked us all what changed for us to suddenly care about you. That’s what changed for me. I will do everything I can to be the sister you deserve, and make sure you know how much we love you. Because you’re the best thing that ever happened to us.”

That made me smile. I believed her.

“I love you too, Sis.” I patted her hand that was almost cramping from holding onto me.

“Can I come with you?” she suddenly asked.

“With me?” I had completely forgotten that I was getting ready to start working on the condo. “Oh, uh ... that’s gonna be a lot of dirty work. So, the direct opposite of what you wanted to do. You sure you want to come?”

“Yeah!” she nodded eagerly, and I realized that I could really use her help, even if she didn’t get to hold a hammer.

“Alright.” I shrugged, and she jumped off the bed to rush out of the room.

I found her already waiting for me by the door when I came out of my bedroom after stuffing my pockets with some cash. I decided to drive her to the condo first, so she could get a look at it.

“Wow. Looks like you got your work cut out for you, huh?” she commented after walking through every room.

“Looks worse than it really is. But I think I could actually use your help. As you have seen in my apartment, I lack taste.” That made her chuckle. “If I do this alone, I’ll paint everything gray and call it mission accomplished. So ... imagine you’d live here, how would you decorate?”

That made her whip her head around to look at me suspiciously through narrowed eyes.

“Really? You’re asking your sister how she would decorate? Your friend gives you a lot of leeway when it comes to decorating his place, don’t you think?”

“Why? Maybe he’s even more autistic than me when it comes to this?” I grinned.

She accepted that with a smirk and got to work by familiarizing herself with the condo.

“So, if I’m to imagine myself living in this room...” she asked me with a raised eyebrow after checking out all three bedrooms, the smile never leaving her face. “ ... who should I imagine living in the other rooms?”

“Maggie.” Now the smile died. She had obviously expected - or hoped - for a different answer. “The third room ... Don’t know yet. Maybe you and Maggie can think of someone.”

She thought about that for a while, but seemed to quickly catch on and understand what this was for. She made a few notes on her phone, and then we drove to Home Depot. While she got the different paints and wallpapers she had thought up, I went through the different isles with my phone in hand, getting all the tools and parts that I needed to finish the renovation.

She seemed less motivated to help since she learned that she would live here with Maggie instead of whomever she had hoped for. That impression got confirmed a few hours later.

I had spent about two hours installing all the fixtures in the bathroom, followed by another hour of sanding and priming the drywalls in the living room, before I checked in with Ava. She had decided to paint her room in a very faint mint green, which I found horrible, but I didn’t have to live in it. For the first few minutes, she simply ignored my presence as I went about reinstalling the covers for the power outlets where she had finished painting.

“You don’t want us to live with you anymore?” she suddenly asked with a level voice, not turning around to look at me.

“That’s not it.”

“Then what is it?” Now she did turn around. She looked sad and was clutching the side of her shirt, showing me how this was bothering her quite a bit.

I stayed seated on the ground where I had sat down to reinstall the power outlets, and beckoned Ava to sit in front of me. She quickly followed my suggestion and then waited for me to start talking.

“Promise to keep this a secret.” I said.

“I promise.” There was absolutely no hesitation on her part, but her face also didn’t show the slightest hint of her not taking this seriously.

“How much do you know about ... how we solved the problem with Logan’s bookie?” I asked carefully.

“How we solved it?” She mocked. “As far as I know, you went to Austin in some cloak-and-dagger operation, stole the money from their partners, and then pinned it on the bookie.”

I nodded.

“Do you know what happened to the money?”

“I never asked.” she said matter of fact. “But I assume some of it is in your bedroom.”

That surprised me.

“How...”

“Oh, please, Tim. When you came back from the hospital, Mom and I were practically glued to your side since you couldn’t even tie your shoes by yourself. We’ve never seen you use an ATM, but you still paid for most of our shopping with cash. You also paid Mom in cash when she acted as your nurse, and you give us our allowances in cash. Even just now at Home Depot you pulled a wad of cash out of your pocket. And you always go into your bedroom when you need some more.”

“Does Mom know too?” I asked after I recovered from the surprise.

“No idea.” she shrugged. “But I think she’s had too much else to worry about, to also think about where your money comes from. We see you working enough anyway. I just never knew you could buy entire houses in cash.”

“You can ... but we didn’t.” I grinned, and she perked up after hearing me say “we” again. “If you spend too much at once, the government comes knocking to check where it came from. I gave John the cash to buy this condo and a house closer to his, but he used funds from his new business to pay.”

“You also bought a house?”

“The grandparents are gonna ‘rent’ the house.” I nodded again while making air quotes. “The idea is to let you and Maggie ‘rent’ this condo, since this is so close to the HCC campus. Then John banks a few hundred bucks of the cash every month as your rent payments. After you and Maggie finish college, we could collect actual rent payments from the next tenants.”

“You’re giving Gramma and Grampa a house? After...?” Her voice trailed off, but I knew what she meant.

“Maybe it’ll help.” I shrugged. “I’m thinking about buying a winemaking set for Granny and a craft beer homebrewing set for Grandpa. Maybe they’ll take it up as a new hobby and stay around, instead of fucking off on another year-long cruise.”

She sat there staring at me, visibly stunned by my revelation. Then her eyes dropped to the floor while she seemed to be thinking it over. I don’t know what kind of conclusion she reached but, after about a minute, she suddenly looked at me with admiration in her eyes, which was somewhat lessened by the sad smile on her lips.

“Why don’t you tell them?” she finally asked quietly. “If they knew that you’re the one making all of this possible, and not Uncle John, I’m sure they would do anything to get back into your good graces.”

“Yeah, great, cause that’s what I always wanted.” I said with disgust. “Grandparents who only give a shit about me when they find out that I have money. Let them think it’s John who’s making this all possible. It’s better that way. As soon as any of the others find out about the money, there’s no way I’ll trust anything they say or do anymore. That’s why I really want you to not tell anyone about this.”

She got on all fours, crawled into my lap, and cuddled herself into me.

“My lips are sealed. I promised.” she said, and we sat there for a while before she spoke up again. “So ... you’re not kicking me out? I don’t have to move here?”

“No, I’m not kicking you out. But, honestly, I would prefer it if you moved in here with Maggie.”

“Why?” She sounded business-like. I was sure she would try to negotiate.

“Well, let’s be honest here, we are three people living in an apartment with two beds.”

“Given what we do in those beds, there shouldn’t be a problem if it’s a little cramped.” She giggled. “And now that your girlfriend is sharing you with your sweet and loving big sister, why don’t I just move into your bedroom and let Mom have the guest room for herself?”

I sighed, realizing I had to address this carefully.

“Ava ... Do you think this is healthy?” I asked. “When you told me that you want to devote yourself to me, it made me happy. And horny. I’m not gonna deny that. But don’t you want to find a boyfriend for yourself?”

“And who would that be? I already told you that you’re the best thing that ever happened to us.” She sounded defiant, almost insulted by my suggestion. “Look at the other girls in the cheer team. Their boyfriends are all boys who never accomplished anything. Boys who think with their dicks and believe they somehow deserve everything. They’re all like Logan. You want me to hook up with one of those assholes just to have hooked up with someone?”

“Oh, I’m not advocating for those guys, believe me. But, once you enter college, that market should look a little different. There’ll be many guys that are a lot more mature than high school jocks. And you’d have a lot more chances to get to know them if you didn’t live in your little brother’s two-bedroom apartment with your mother.”

She remained seated in my lap, her face now buried in my chest, and her hand clutching at my shirt. I actually got the impression that she looked like a little girl, afraid of being left behind.

“Look at me, Ava.” I continued, and it took her a few seconds before her eyes met mine. “I’m not looking to get you out of my life. And I’m also not going to throw you out of the apartment. If you absolutely don’t want to do this, Maggie can live here alone for all I care. But ... Do you remember the conversation we had last year in my car, when I drove you home because of the social worker?”

She squinted her eyes a little while trying to recall what was said that day. It looked cute.

“Yes.” she finally nodded. “You were afraid that I’d end up as ‘the secret side chick’ of some asshole if I didn’t get my submissive tendencies under control.”

“Exactly! Now, if you want to be with me because that’s what you really want, I won’t stop you. You’re my sister and I love you. But I’ll be damned if I turn into another Logan and abuse this to keep you as my own side chick.”

“But you’re...” she attempted to protest, but stopped herself. Instead, she let out a sigh before smiling at me. “That’s exactly the reason why I think you’re so much better than the other guys. Fine! If you want me to try, I’ll move in here with Maggie. I’ll even keep an open mind and look for someone to date. But I’m warning you! I don’t expect to find someone anytime soon.”

I wrapped my arms around her body and squeezed a little, coercing a content sigh out of her. Without another word, we got up and resumed our work in the room until we had it completely painted.

We had one short interruption, though. After about another hour, my phone pinged to notify me of a new message. It was from John, and only read “You were right. I’m sorry”.

At first I assumed he had told his wife about my outburst and she helped him understand what I meant. The real meaning, however, became clear when we arrived home and were met with a bit of a surprise.

“Hey kids!” Claire greeted us from the couch she was sitting on. She sounded upbeat, but her wavering smile made me think it was forced. “Where were you two?”

“Uh ... Ava helped me with something.” I answered, eyeing her carefully in an attempt to understand why I doubted her good mood. “Sorry, if I had known you’d be home today, I’d have given you a call.”

Hearing my comment, her shoulders slumped slightly and her smile wavered even more.

“Ah ... no problem, Honey. You hungry?”

She didn’t even properly look at me as she asked, and didn’t wait for an answer before she turned to walk into the kitchen to start dinner preparations. Whatever made her uncomfortable, I opted to not force it out of her.

Ava and I cleaned up before entering the kitchen to help, but Mom’s subdued mood was strangely overbearing. We also barely spoke during dinner, since Mom merely poked around on her plate while Ava kept throwing our mother concerned glances. In the end, Mom left her barely touched food on the table and announced that she was tired.

Ava gave me an apologetic look before rushing after her, leaving me to deal with the dishes by myself.

I don’t know if she did it intentionally, but she left their door cracked open when she joined Mom, so I could faintly hear what was happening in there while I placed mom’s plate in the fridge and loaded the dishwasher.

“What’s going on, Mom?” I heard Ava ask softly. “You barely touched your food.”

There was silence for a few seconds, before I heard the sheets rustling when Ava must have been joining Mom on the bed, followed by another uncomfortably long moment of silence.

“Come on, Mom. Talk to me.” I heard Ava’s follow-up.

Again, Ava’s words were met with silence. I started to feel anxious about this whole situation, and looked around the room in an attempt to find something to do with myself. Mom not talking with Ava was too strange to just file away as a bad mood!

That’s when my eyes fell upon Mom’s purse. Maybe I could find some clues to her behavior in it.

Hearing Ava’s whispered voice that was now too low for me to make out her words, I stalked over to the small bag and opened it. There was nothing suspicious in it, but I found her phone. Making a quick decision, I restored its previous appearance and left to start my PC.

Booting up my phone surveillance software, I immediately went for her messages. Sure enough, there was a lot to take in. Chats and messages with the whole worried family over the past few months confirmed that Ava had told the truth about Mom only watching their get togethers without participating. Apparently, she had not joined in on any of their fun since that epic thanksgiving-blowout four months ago. There was only one sole exception to her self-imposed celibacy, which was the night they ‘cared for’ Logan after the bookie had roughed him up, and even then she rather took on the role of a director than letting him fuck her.

The rest of the family did not seem too happy about her decision. While most of them were simply worried about her wellbeing, I now realized that this had played a big part in Aaron’s suddenly heightened resentment towards me. His own wife was refusing him pleasure, and he held me responsible for that. When his daughter then denied him bareback sex shortly after, it made him snap and try to forcefully take back his women. As that failed so spectacularly, he held me responsible for that as well, since Ava only demanded the use of condoms because of me.

Most insightful were the newest messages, though. None of them went into details, but something happened between Mom and Logan shortly after they had all gathered in John’s house, and none of the family members ever got to even take their clothes off. There were multiple messages from John and the grandparents, asking if Mom was alright. Danny, however, had sent her multiple messages telling Mom that she was ‘doing the right thing’ and comforting her. That was quite interesting. In any case, John’s message about me being right was suddenly put into a new light.

I had shut everything off, when I noticed Ava standing in my doorway.

“Tim...” she started, looking forlorn as she fidgeted around with her hands.

I understood what she wanted without her having to explain, got up from my chair, and gave her a quick peck on her cheek as I passed her on my way to their bedroom.

Mom was still in their bed, above the covers, positioned in something that was halfway towards a fetal position. I watched her for a moment, her chest slowly moving as she breathed, it almost looked like she had fallen asleep. But then Ava probably wouldn’t ask me to check on her. So, I sat on the edge of the bed, causing her to stir a little.

“Sweetheart” I heard her small voice. “I told you I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”

I lay down behind her and, as I slid my left arm underneath her head and wrapped my right arm around her torso, heard her gasp when she realized that I was not Ava.

“I find that a little hard to believe, Mom.” I said softly, pulling her closer into me and feeling her hand affectionately grasp the arm I had wrapped around her. “We can talk about it, or we can just lie here for a while.”

I worried about overstepping. Whatever was bothering her, she obviously didn’t want to talk about it, so maybe me forcing my company onto her was the wrong move.

Those worries were quickly eliminated when I felt her hand squeeze my arm, and push herself even closer into me. We silently lay like this for a few minutes, before she took a deep breath.

“I don’t know if I should tell you.” she suddenly said.

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to undo the progress we made so far. I’m scared of losing you again, Honey.” she whispered, and I could actually feel her lightly tremble. I believed her claim about being scared.

“I take it this is about Logan and Aaron?” I asked, and felt her grip on my arm tighten.

“Just Logan.” she sighed. “I’m ... trying to reach out to him.”

As soon as she finished that statement, her body tensed up significantly, and it felt like she was even holding her breath.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” I asked, feeling her body twitch in surprise. She turned her head to look at me astonished.

“Aren’t you mad?” Her voice was a perfect fit to her expression.

“Mom ... I never wanted you to simply cut ties with the rest of the family. I had to tell Ava the same thing today, so it’s probably my fault you thought that was what I wanted.”

Now she turned her whole body towards me. Though, her eyes told me that she wanted me to elaborate. So, I did.

“I didn’t say those things in John’s house so you’d abandon Logan. He is your son. You should care for him. We both know from experience, if he’s left to his own devices, he’ll fuck up his life in a matter of months. He needs your help.” I said with every ounce of conviction I could muster. “I wanted you to realize that, if he doesn’t get a wake-up call and pulls his head out of his ass, he will pull you down with him. That’s what I meant back then.”

Within a mere second, her whole body relaxed, her eyes glistened, and she threw her arms around my neck.

“Oh, Honey, thank you! I was so worried you’d think I went behind your back!” she cried out, albeit quietly.

“Well, I’m not gonna lie. When John told me about your plans for tonight, I got pissed as all hell.” I continued, and felt my words restore the tenseness in her body. “I just couldn’t understand how, after everything we went through, and after everything he did, you people would still fuck him.”

Instantly, her elation evaporated again as she pushed herself off me so her face was about a foot away from mine. Then she looked at me with a shocked expression, before she spoke in a hurried and pleading voice.

“Honey, I swear to you that is not what happened, and not what we had planned! Danny and I had come up with a gameplan. Logan needs to learn to respect us. So, when he arrived, we all sat down to talk. That’s all we wanted. Just talk a little to learn what he was doing this whole time and why he basically left his sister and me behind. The plan was to make sure he understood that he could no longer simply expect us to do anything for him. But ... Just as you said in John’s house ... He just wanted us to get out of our clothes instead.”

“Sounds like him, alright.” I said in a dry voice, causing Mom to sigh.

“Well, Danny said that we must not give in. Not that it was very hard at that moment, because the more he pushed back, the more frustrated we got. So, finally, we told him that, if he wanted us to treat him as a member of this family, he must first treat us the same. Then he got angry.”

That did somewhat surprise me.

“What do you mean by ‘angry’?” I asked.

Before she answered, she buried her face back into my chest, so her voice was a little muffled now.

“He said that we made him feel like the black sheep of the family by ganging up on him like that. But when I tried to assure him that I do love him, he just said that if I actually loved him, I wouldn’t take this away from him. Then Danny tried to explain that nobody is trying to take something away, but that we need him to understand that this is a two-way street. So, he suddenly called her selfish.” I felt my shirt getting wet where her face was buried in it. “Then ... he got up, walked to the door, and said ‘I thought I could count on you all, but I guess I was wrong’, and left.”

I was stunned. Feeling like the black sheep of the family, because they were ganging up on him. Feeling unloved because they excluded him. Calling Danny selfish, because she went along with it all to get something out of it for herself. And, finally, leaving the family behind after realizing he wouldn’t get any support from them. Did that little fucker seriously just fast-track through the past five years of my life, simply because they refused to drop to their knees and suck his cock as soon as he arrived!? While all they wanted was to have a talk with the guy? How fucking self absorbed could someone be!?

But then I realized something else. He wasn’t self absorbed. I just hoped the rest of the family finally saw the guy for who he really was.

Hearing her hiccups pulled my attention back to her.

“You know he’s just used to being able to manipulate you all? And now that his usual tactics no longer worked, he didn’t know what else to do and fled.” I asked softly, trying to reassure her, and felt her nod her head.

“Yes, Honey. I know. But it’s still so hard. I never realized how bad things had gotten until that moment. How far gone he was. I screwed up so badly.”

Now she was sobbing almost uncontrollably, so I simply held her for as long as she needed. When I tried to soothe her by stroking her hair, her sobbing intensified instead, and she clung to me like I was some kind of life boat in the middle of the ocean. Only then did I finally grasp just how badly this encounter with Logan had affected her. For me, it wasn’t nearly as surprising. And I had written him off long ago. For Mom, it was all relatively new.

“It’s not all on you, Mom. But at least you are trying to fix it.” I tried, but it did not have the desired effect.

“But it’s so bad, Honey. What if I’ll never get through to him?” she asked, clear anguish in her voice. So, I tried a different angle.

“Mom, look at us right now. Remember how fucked up our relationship was just half a year ago? I was done with this family, and convinced there was no happy end for us. We still got ways to go, but you did manage to prove me wrong by constantly showing me that you do care So ... if you managed to hold onto me, who was dead set on leaving to never hear from any of you again, I don’t see why you couldn’t get the same result from Logan.”

Her initial response wasn’t verbal. Instead, she simply pushed her arms around my torso to pull herself back into me. I was a little unnerved when I heard her take a deep breath while her face was still buried in my chest, and felt her arms squeeze me. This wasn’t her taking a steadying breath. This seemed like she wanted to take in my scent. It got a little more unnerving when she spoke.

“Thank you, Darling.” she said, her face still buried in my chest. That was the first time I heard her call me that. Until that moment, Ava was ‘Sweetheart’, I was ‘Honey’, and ‘Darling’ was reserved for Aaron. Her husband. “But I don’t think your situation is comparable to your brother’s.”

“Why?”

“Because what you wanted was a family that cared for you as much as you cared for them. Even then, it only worked because you gave us the opportunity to work on it. Logan...” she sighed. “Logan wants something else. And it doesn’t seem like he’s willing to accept anything else.”

“So ... you gonna give up?” I asked, more in a teasing manner than as an accusation.

“No!” she said firmly after tilting her head back and finally looking at me. “My decision still stands. I screwed up, so I have to fix it. But I’m glad I have you and Ava supporting me. Especially with the divorce still going on.”

Not sure how to respond to that myself, I chose to simply hug her tightly, hoping it would be enough encouragement for her. Of course I was planning on supporting her. Everything I did so far was in the hopes of them taking the chance and working on our problems. However, I felt like this conversation had taken on a rather emotional tone, and I was worried she would use the L-word again, about which I was still unsure how to respond. And if I refused to say it in this kind of situation, it would only discourage her.

Thankfully, Mom chose to rest her head on my upper arm, closed her eyes, and soon I heard her slow and deep breathing telling me that she had fallen asleep. Knowing that me moving would only wake her up, I soon followed suit. Though, the real shift in our relationship started the next day.

Ava, again, chose to help me with the condo renovations after I got back from work. We painted Maggie’s room in a faint baby blue, that I found equally horrendous to the faint mint green Ava chose for her own room. Then we also managed to finish painting the third room in a barely noticeable beige that made me wonder why we even bothered to paint at all.

Pleased with our progress, we arrived home to yet another surprise from Mom.

She was standing in the middle of the living room, fully dressed and made up like she had always done for work, her hands folded in front of her body.

“Hi!” she said with a smile, before her face and tone changed to show determination. “Tim, Darling, I need to speak with you.”

“What happened?” I asked, in a tone that maybe was a little too stern.

“Nothing bad! I just ... I have to ask you for a favor.” she said, while silently asking me to sit on the couch with a gesture of her hand.

As I sat, I noticed that she had moved the armchair so it stood directly opposing the couch. When she sat in it, dressed the way she was, it felt like I was called into HR. Not entirely sure what to expect or how to react to this situation, I waited for her to start. She took a deep breath as if to steel herself, and began her sale’s pitch.

“Darling, I need to ask you for some money.” she declared, then looked at me with her lips pressed tightly together, apparently in anticipation of my refusal.

I immediately had my suspicions and threw a look at Ava, who raised her hands in defeat while shaking her head, informing me that she did not tell Mom about the cash in my bedroom.

“Okay. This looks like you put a little too much effort in to just ask for twenty bucks for gas money. So ... how much do you need?” I asked.

“You know how I’m still looking for a job.” she rushed to continue, completely ignoring my question, and reached down to pull a stack of papers from underneath the coffee table. “I am looking, but it seems I’m ... not what they’re looking for.”

She finished that sentence with a mixture of regret and embarrassment as she handed me the stack of paper. As I inspected them while trying to contain my confusion, I realized that the first page was a list of potential openings for law office clerks, the job she had performed in the past. The rest of the stack were rejection letters. As far as I could tell, she had sent an application to each and every job offering she could find, and got rejected every time.

My brows furrowed as I skim-read some of those rejection letters. I would’ve expected a certain level of professionalism from law firms, but some of them made no secret of the fact that the only reason Mom got rejected was her age. At forty, she was somehow too old for them to do their filings. At least that explained the embarrassment that had found its way into Mom’s voice.

“Then, what do you need money for?” I asked, still not picking up on what she was trying to achieve.

Before she answered, she pulled another stack of papers from underneath the table and handed it to me as well. This time, it started with a printed sheet listing job offerings for legal assistants. This list was a lot longer than the one for office clerks. The rest of the stack was a bunch of information from HCC regarding their workforce certification programs. Now her question made sense.

“Alright. So, how much do you need?” I asked again, causing her to tense up and regard me with a tentative look.

“Thirteen hundred dollars for the first semester.” she finally said barely loud enough for me to hear, and with her eyes locked onto the table between us. Then she looked up at me and continued with hurried words. “I know how hard you’re working to keep food in the fridge, so I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t convinced that it would help! It’s only two semesters in total, and you can see how much more job opportunities it would get me. I saved as much as I could from the money you already gave me, but I just don’t have enough. And I promise...”

As she continued her rapid-fire delivery of arguments for why this would be beneficial for us, I felt a little smile spread on my face. If she was this reluctant to ask for that amount of money, and had put in so much effort to sell this idea to me, I could be sure that nobody had told her about the money. Or the holding I was now partnered in with her brother. It also told me that she was still trying to set a positive example, instead of being content with using my money.

“Alright!” I called out while chuckling, halting her barrage and causing her to blink at me. “I think this is a great idea. I was thinking about taking a few courses myself anyway.”

“You were?” I heard Mom and Ava ask simultaneously.

“Yes. I was thinking about securing my job. The ones I was looking at are mostly online courses, but, who knows, maybe we can join forces to embarrass Ava and Maggie on the days I have to be there.”

“Oh thank you, Darling!” Mom exclaimed, as she rushed around the table to kneel next to the armchair I was sitting in and wrap her arms around my neck. “You have no idea how important this is to me. I know money is tight, but I couldn’t ask anyone else, since my parents just put most of their money into that college fund and John just bought that house.”

That part made sense. So, she really didn’t ask me because she somehow learned that the cash didn’t go up in flames. Though, there was one thing I still wanted some clarity about.

“Mom, why is this so important to you?” I asked. “I mean, sure, being independent and all that, but we made due so far, and I don’t think I was rushing you to find a job.”

Somehow, this caused her to revert back into the tentative state she had shown me when I asked about how much money she needed.

“Well, you see, I spent a lot of time talking with Danny. She’s helping me get back on track. And ... she gave me a list with ... goals.” Mom explained, her eyes involuntarily darting around the room.

“What goals?” I asked, intrigued from her behavior, and she sighed as she seemed to resolve herself.

“Danny came up with a six-step-program for me. It’s supposed to help me ... well ... get my shit together, really.”

“Huh. What steps?” I asked, now smirking about that shyness in her demeanor.

“Well, first, to properly apologize, of course. Take responsibility for what I did to you. Second, what Danny called ‘Walk the Talk’. Identify what caused my behavior and then avoid it. Third, to be there for you and to make sure you know that you, especially, can count on me.”

As she listed off those points while counting them with her fingers, something in the back of my mind started calling for my attention. Though, I couldn’t quite place it, yet. I was sure, however, that the second point on her list was the reason she had stopped attending the family orgies, and the third must be the reason she found the resolve to move in with me when I was hurt.

“Fourth,” she continued after shifting uncomfortably “is to make sure you never feel like I’m forcing it onto you. And fifth is to show you that I can be a proper Mom for you.”

By this point, I had realized where that weird feeling tugging on my brain came from. I had to fight back the grin my lips wanted to form, so Mom wouldn’t think I didn’t take her seriously. I would need to have a serious talk with Danny about this.

“Didn’t you say there were six steps?” I asked in an attempt to distract myself from my realization, since I remembered what it would be.

“Yes. But the last step requires me to finally get a job.”

“Ah. Like, be a proper role model to your children again?” I asked, no longer able to fully suppress my smirk.

“Uh, yes.” Mom responded, eyeing me for a moment. “That’s exactly how Danny phrased it.”

“Yeah, thought as much.” I chuckled, as I pulled out my phone and started typing into the search bar. “You know, when all of our problems started, I tried to read up on it. I found the most helpful articles on psychology sites, but the most articles that helped came from reddit subs and self-help guides for neglected kids. And ... I quickly noticed a recurring theme when it came to the reasons why most kids became so estranged from their parents.”

As I spoke that last sentence, I handed her my phone. She hesitated for a second before taking it, looked at the screen, and then her expression darkened.

“I’m not an addict, Tim!” she finally called out, looking at me with a hurt expression.

“Look at the list underneath the headline, Mom.” I simply said.

“Wait...” Mom stammered. “That’s ... That’s exactly the list Danny gave me.”

“Yes. ‘6 steps to regain your children’s trust while in Recovery’.” I quoted.

“But ... I’m not in ... Why would she...” She was still unable to form a complete sentence.

“I mean, let’s be honest here. I highly doubt there’s a list titled ‘6 steps to regain your children’s trust after you refused to have sex with them’. I guess she made do with what she had. And let’s not forget that it did work, didn’t it? I think that’s all that counts.”

Hearing me say those last few words, she perked up.

“Do you really think that?” she asked, not in a disbelieving way. I got the impression that she simply wanted me to confirm, again, that our relationship had improved so much.

“Yes, I do. Now, let’s clean up, change, and start dinner. I’m starving!”

Over the following two days, two things happened.

First, Ava and I finished the condo to the point John could show it to the rest of the family. I was in the office when he did, but I heard that Ava held true to her word and did not comment in any way when Mom, Maggie, and the grandparents started praising John to high heavens for his great investments.

Second, I decided to make further use of my surveillance software on their phones, and listen in on Mom’s last few counseling sessions with Aaron. I’m not exactly proud of violating her privacy like that, or of betraying her trust, but I needed to know. I had to be sure her intentions were genuine. Yes, she had gone to great lengths in order to regain my affection, but after years of lies, secrecy, and cruel pranks, I hope it is understandable that my trust-issues with my family didn’t vanish over the course of a mere few months.

I did not have to wait long for that confirmation.

“Oh, get off your high horse, woman!” I heard Aaron say in an annoyed voice, when I listened in on their tenth counseling session. “You screwed up just as much as I have, so stop placing all the blame on me! Let’s just get back together in OUR home and work this out!”

“Not without Tim!” I heard Mom shout in an angry voice. “Yes, I fucked up just as much as you have, Aaron. Maybe even worse. But, contrary to you, I’m doing EVERYTHING I can to show Tim that I changed and be his Mother again, while you still blame him for what YOU screwed up! He’s been nothing but a godsend to Ava and me.”

“How was he a godsend, Claire?” I heard an unfamiliar voice. This must be their counselor then.

“For one, we had a place to stay. We didn’t sleep on my brother’s couch for the last two months, that’s for sure. And that’s only because Tim allowed us into his home. He also paid for EVERYTHING Ava and I needed, since he closed our joint account! Without Tim, we would have been completely lost!”

That was news to me. And, apparently, for the counselor as well.

“He ... what? Aaron, you left your Wife and Daughter penniless?” She sounded genuinely astounded.

“Yes, he did!” Mom answered for Aaron. “His exact words were ‘Let’s see how long you can hold out without my support’. He thought he could force us to come crawl back this way. But, surprise, I didn’t even have to ask Tim for help. He himself offered it before I could even gather the courage to ask even more of him. He’s even offered to pay for my college courses, so I can finally get a job myself!”

“Excuse me, Claire, but ... how is Tim paying for all of that? Isn’t he still in high school?” I heard the counselor ask in doubt. Surprisingly, I was more confused by her constantly calling them by their first names than irritated about being doubted.

“He’s affording this by working his butt off. My boy leaves for school at seven in the morning, and comes home from work at eight in the evening. At the earliest! He’s more of a Man than my husband when it comes to taking care of his family, and that’s after what we put him through! The least you could do is to acknowledge his achievements, Aaron! But, no, you keep making fun of his job because it’s in IT. Not that it would make a difference anyway.”

I smirked at that jab against Aaron, but I was happy about something else. Yes, Mom was placing blame on Aaron, but that was for not wanting to work on our relationship. And, even in front of a stranger, she fully admitted her part in all this, defended me, and put me above her husband. At that moment, I clearly felt my affection for her regrow.

“What do you mean, Claire? It wouldn’t make a difference?” Aaron asked, I thought he sounded a little scared.

“Aaron, our boy was shot! And you CHOSE to not tell any of us and leave him all alone in the hospital!” Mom’s voice was trembling at this point. Whether from anger or sadness, I couldn’t possibly tell. “That showed me a side of you I could never accept. I could never live with a man who would do THAT to his own child. I don’t think I could ever forgive you for that.”

What followed was a moment of silence on their part. It was actually so long that I checked my internet connection. Then came the surprise, when I heard the counselor sigh.

“This was only the tenth of our twelve sessions, but I will inform the judge that I don’t see any possibility for reconciliation. What Claire just told you is, in my opinion, not something she can move past.” Then I heard the counselor sigh before she continued. “I have to tell you that my letter for the judge will include the reason for why I reached that conclusion.”

I listened to Mom and Aaron make their farewells to the counselor before Mom left the room. Then I listened to her walk through a few doors, heard something that sounded like the lock of a toilet stall click, and finally Mom’s sobbing.