A Rock and Family Vacation

[3]

Blair and Lacy burst out with excited noises before they even got to the door. With the scope and layout of the rental house, they had to get all the way to the second-floor hallway before Brooke could hear the sudden cacophony. She had a sense for the tone of their fights.

If Lacy was wailing, then he was doing his overzealous flop for the referees of his parents as brutal Blair had clearly committed an unprovoked assault on him. If he was laughing, then he was attempting to get away with something. This time, she heard a groaning whimper from her 12-year-old with soft chuckles from the 16-year-old. She knew this was going to be interesting.

With an arm, she motioned for Clare to wait back a few feet while she continued into the room. In parental parlance, she could easily observe that a storm had struck the room from everything else strewn about with most of the tables left empty but for some open snacks. Maybe breakfast wouldn’t be necessary for a while.

“HEY, MOM! Do get scared from…Skinwalkers?” Lacy voiced the question, but Blair was too cool to give that much attention to it. It comforted her that her boys didn’t seem to be doing anything that they needed to hide from her, this time. 

Lacy had softly boyish features and bristled at being called cute when he put on a hat. His eyes showed that especially. There was a time when they considered having him do some modeling. But the amount of getting identified as a girl around various studios and agencies eventually set him off, especially with his name. There was a solid year when he first started to hit puberty, and didn’t hit it as hard as he wanted, that he blindly accused her of casting a “sissy” spell with his name.

It hurt. But she knew that was just one of those flailing-at-the-world things that happened. So far as Blair, he had huge hands which easily wrapped around his big iPhone. He enjoyed remarking that he was like John Cena, he just still had to grow into it. Unfortunately, his weightlifting efforts tended to sink after about a week. He liked brainy stuff more than pumping iron. In school, he lamented that everyone dubbed him a jock because of the full, Iron Giant shape of his face. Especially a dumb jock. He wanted to absolutely prove everyone wrong, but often lacked the conviction. His hair was about the same length as Lacy‘s but much curlier. 

Brooke paused to look around the room but let it slide for the moment and folded her arms in front of her to judge that question. “Skinwalkers, huh? Sounds real scary. But I have something very important, very urgent to tell you.”

Blair quietly swallowed and frowned before asking, “Why didn’t you text us then?” 

Apparently coming in person didn’t show as much of a sense of urgency as sending a random text message on her phone. She knew it was a dumb Luddite fantasy with no prospect in the world anymore, but she missed when her kids weren’t intimately tied to their cell phones, as though they were a vital limb. 

For Blair, it was till about age 7 or so with a lot of begging and pleading for his own, with grandpa ultimately going around her to get them all a family plan. For Lacy, he immediately gravitated to their phones and grandpa‘s iPad after infancy and latched onto his older brother’s from age 3 onward. Fortunately, when it came to Clare, they were able to slip enough books and his Switch in there to make phones seem like a side consideration and not the main attraction. So far, at least. 

Brooke cradled her forehead and emphasized, “Because it’s an important family matter which needs to be discussed in person. It’s about your little brother.“ Turning, she shifted over and gestured through the door while calling Clare's name. 

Clare didn’t come out immediately but instead seemed to be psyching herself up. She took slow steps forward and gradually emerged into the room. She stood beside her mom and fussed with her clothes even though they were ones she wore not too long ago.

Blair took and puffed out of breath, as if barely holding back some general exasperation. He pulled his lower lip to the right, spread both hands flat, and speculated, “We have a guest?“

Lacy gave a tilt of his head and a low-effort wave. “Hey. Are you a neighbor?”

Those were both reasonable reactions. She shifted her hands around and informed them, “This is your brother, Clare. Something happened last night of great concern.”

Clare quickly elaborated, “I became a girl.” 

Lacy started a laugh, but it petered out when he noticed no one else was joining in. Blair scrunched his eyes and stared at the girl in front of him, who vaguely looked like she could be a version of his brother or more likely an extended relative. He resolved, “You’re not fooling me. That’s… one of our cousins.” 

The only flaw in that resolution was that all of their cousins were much older and nowhere near their younger brother‘s age. But he didn’t think that all the way through. Brooke shook her head and Clare added, “It’s me, I can prove it.” 

Darting over, Clare went to whisper in each of her older brothers' ears. Brooke knew it had to be secrets and she really didn’t want to know any brotherly secrets. She quietly tried to pop her ears to muffle any stray words. 

No more than that pair of whispers was necessary to leave Blair’s immense jaw dangling open. Lacy mouthed small circles like he was trying to blow an invisible bubble. What followed was a cacophony of yells of alarm, shock, and general confusion slowing quietly when Brooke raised her hands and squeezed her forehead.

“I don’t know. We don’t know. Something happened last night. It could’ve been something we ate or something we encountered. Which has only so far affected your brother…sister.”

Lacy swiftly overreacted that if the food was tainted then he had to upchuck. He was already starting to stick half his hand down his throat. Brooke urgently stopped him before he ralphed all over the guest bed. Chaos came in several waves as Brooke had far too few answers and the older boys had wild speculations about something their younger brother must’ve picked up at school, from one of the rest stops, from the bookstore, or from his room. 

“And what if she still has it on her?!? My ear!” Lacy shrieked and scrambled over to the bathroom. Blair gazed around and joined his brother as they both splashed themselves with sterilizing water. Clare looked over. To her mother, she inquired, “Did they get dumber overnight?” 

Brooke cracked her neck slightly and advised her that they weren’t dumb, just concerned. “After all, you were really worried last night and this morning. And aren’t you still?”

Clare tipped her head a few ways, as though judging perspective. “But it’s not a big deal, right?”

She touched her daughter’s hair slightly and brushed it back. “It’s not a big deal for you. But it can be a big deal for some. Especially as you get older and grow up.”

Clare didn’t seem particularly convinced by this explanation and preferred the notion that her brothers were just being dumb. Slightly damp, Blair and Lacy returned and steered clear of their little sister. Lacy made a cross with his fingers while Blair deftly dodged around to return to the bed.

“Has dad touched her?” Blair inquired nervously. Brooke sighed and laid her hands on Clare’s arms and shoulders and gave her a hug. This wasn’t enough for Blair, who deduced that whatever curse was occurring was an emasculating one. Brooke called over Eliot and the whole situation left him confused. Him touching Clare and her giving him a hug just led to an escalation as the boys sprinted away.

Soon after that, Clare decided to have some fun by giving chase. Blair continued to try to be cool about it but failed. Brooke wished they bought wine instead of cheese at a nice vineyard about 100 miles back in their drive, even though she knew it was way too early. She wanted a big hunk of the cheese though. 

Eliot tracked the chaos to make sure that no one ran into anything around the house that looked exceptionally expensive. At one point, Lacy got tangled up in his feet and tumbled and slid across the floor. Clare struck with nefarious hugging. Successful catching actually started to calm things down as it slowly dawned on Lacy that Clare wasn’t an infectious zombie of girlification. 

Not long after that, Blair properly inspected Clare by lifting her up and warned her that she would have to wear skirts, dresses, and tops with her swim trunks. Clare instantly cited Brooke’s assurance that she could wear whatever she wanted. Blair spun tales of all the other girls she was going to be around and the hive mind that was going to melt her thoughts and reshape her into the perfect little girl. Lacy backed this up, but Clare stuck out her tongue. 

She then grabbed at her brothers and soon discovered another change to the status quo: they weren’t to hit her. This wasn’t an order from their parents but rather something that Blair resolved, and Lacy concurred with solemnly. Neither of them could hit a girl, especially their sister. Put that way, Clare found no sport in tussling with her brothers now. Only a girl could hit another girl, the two boys definitively resolved.

Clare found a spot sitting cross-legged on the couch. She sat alone and quietly pouted. Her brothers lingered around the kitchen, as though she wasn’t even there. Brooke noticed but didn’t say anything. The fridge was modestly stocked with fresh eggs, a bunch of vegetables, bread, and an assortment of meats and frozen foods. It all wasn’t enough for dinner last night but looked promising for breakfast. Blair wanted French toast and Lacy was keen for a scramble with ham (even though there was just Spam). Eliot knew what Brooke liked but she whispered for him to add in some cheese. She was about to ask what Clare wanted, but she slipped away. 

Looking around carefully, she eventually found her wrapped in covers again but sitting in the chair with her schoolwork. When she asked what Clare was up to, she listlessly intoned that she had to do her work. That was a hard thing for her to refute since the product rewrites were tingling at the back of her head to finish for grandpa. 

Suddenly though, she was struck by an idea. One that kindled her curiosity. She asked her daughter, “How would you like to help me?” 

Clare perked up quietly and inquired further. She knew that mom had a job where she basically had to name and make look good some of the things in stores. And she wanted her to help her with that. Brooke emphasized, “You’re very clever. I think you’ll have ideas I’ve never even considered.”

Gradually, Clare looked over the product sample. Since the sample didn’t contain any actual sativa, she let Clare poke around and try some of the colors. She also gave her the full list of approved words they could use. Many of them were quite daunting for a six-year-old to read but Clare eagerly wanted to understand several in particular. She took photos of the word list with her phone and let it explain them. Brooke also texted over to Eliot that she found Clare without any problems and that they were just having a mommy/daughter moment. Clare relayed that she wanted waffles and scramble. 

Meanwhile, it only took a few minutes before they made great progress on the rewrites. By the time breakfast was ready, the biggest problems had been overcome. Clare celebrated how much she helped her mom and Brooke was genuinely grateful that she could finish up the rest before noon. 

Clare returned to her bag of rocks and hauled them over her shoulder when her dad said that breakfast was ready. The bag found a place by the couch as the boys sat on the other side of the table from their sister. Gleefully, Clare gloated that she helped mom finish her big project. Blair brought up that he helped mom with a massive research project many years ago. And Lacy reminded everyone that his hair helped make grandpa millions of dollars. Brooke sighed and rolled her eyes but appreciated that the interactions felt closer to normal. 

When everyone was finishing up, Brooke casually asked Clare if she wanted to try some clothes on at one of the places down the beach since many of the clothes she brought with her were now loose. Clare agreed. The brothers bailed out of this conversation and scrambled over to the couch. Brooke decided to make it special by giving Clare her spare, sandy tote. She didn’t frame it as a purse and Clare didn’t invoke the word either. She was just grateful to have something to carry her Switch and other stuff. It was easy to wear like a tiny backpack. 

When they went over to the couch for Clare to retrieve her rocks, Lacy was already rummaging through the bag. Before she could scold him or say anything, Lacy snapped his hand back and yowled plaintively. “There’s a bug in there! It bit me!”

Clare grabbed her bag and stuck out her tongue, wondering why her brother even had his hand in there. He lamented that he was just looking for some candy. She explained that there weren’t any bugs, they were just “conductive” rocks. Lacy retorted that that didn’t sound real. Clare appeared uncertain about her claim but evaded that, saying that she knew rocks and he only knew the rocks inside his head. Despite the no-punch-girls rule, he gladly chucked a pillow at her face. 

He then gave a yawn and told her, “Go away, plague girl. Your face is so boring.” 

Clare didn’t have anything else to use on him but stuck out her tongue again. Blair let out a rippling, mighty belch which soon reduced Lacy to appreciative giggles. Despite briefly considering taking her special rocks in her bag, Clare instead put them on one of the side, empty displays. Her dad offered to place them for her, but she prided herself on setting them as high as possible on her own. They looked like they belonged as part of the minimalist décor, especially the rainbow shimmery black one.

[I have a question at the end of the chapter again to help with suggestions for where the story should go. I'm a couple chapters ahead but I love seeding ideas from people as much as possible. Feel free to add an idea which doesn't show up in the options. Thank you for reading!]

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