I arrived home a bit earlier than normal today, and quite happy about it too. It sucked that our teacher couldn’t give class due to a kidney stone that started acting up, but today was a Friday, and his class was the last one, so excuse me if I can’t be too heartbroken about it. 

I went home ahead of my girlfriend for a couple of reasons. One of them was, I wanted to put on something nice to surprise her. With the extra time we got, I thought it’d be nice to have fun before we started with our homework. 

“Sis? Is that you?” I shouted from the door when I thought I heard a sob coming from the kitchen. 

She appeared from there, greeting me and trying to sound normal despite being clearly distressed about something. 

“What’s wrong?” I asked, walking up to her. 

She said it was nothing while completely avoiding eye contact. I did what I used to have to do with Violet and held her face to force her to look straight at me. 

“Seriously sis, what’s up?” I asked again. 

She took my hands away from her face but didn’t let them go. After her lips shook for a while, she finally spoke. 

“It’s been another week, and I still haven’t started looking for a job,” she choked. “Dad says I shouldn’t worry about it, but… I’m just bumming around the house, not doing anything of value.” 

Ah, so that’s it… 

Sophie was always so much more serious than me. It was a good thing in some stuff, especially since our mum always wanted us to give a hundred and ten per cent. 

This talk was also giving me a sense of déjà vu. I think I had a very similar conversation with Violet before. I’d most likely have this talk with her soon enough. 

One thing I remembered was, Violet still doesn’t know what she wants to do once we graduate high school. Was Sophie in the same situation? 

“We lived all our lives doing what mum wanted us to. Now that working with her is no longer a possibility, I don’t know what to do. Dad says that I shouldn’t rush and figure out what I want to do, but… besides working in management, what else is there for me?” 

I agreed with dad. Sophie deserved to figure out her life even more than I did. I got beaten, but Sophie was subjected to mental violence. She was mum’s “plaything” regarding how sis got moulded by her. Sophie also never rebelled because, as long as mum was paying her attention, I was free from her oppression. 

“You’ll figure something out,” I told her with a tight hug. “And I like it a lot having you around when I get home. If you were working, I wouldn’t get that, would I?” 

“Not likely, no,” she agreed, still choking a bit. 

“And if it bothers you that much simply staying home, why not get a part-time job? That’d allow you time to figure out stuff while doing something you’d feel like it’s productive.” 

“Isn’t it a waste?” she asked, pushing me away to see my face. “I have a degree in Business Management. Am I not too qualified to… I don’t know, serve coffee and stuff?” 

Another one of our mother’s indoctrinations. 

Who cares if you have a degree, a major, a doctorate, or barely can read and write? If you choose to work in some job, that’s your choice. Even if somebody considers that a waste, what do they know of your situation? Sophie in particular would be serving coffee to earn some money while she searches for something that vibes with her. Maybe if she simply was doing that to barely survive each day without ever trying to improve her life, then I could say she’d be wasting her time, but as long as will and effort were being put towards improving, I’d give her my support. 

“You also have the support of our dad, Violet, and even Papa Stan, if you tell him about your worries.” 

“…Thanks, sis…” 

“…By the way, are you looking forward to seeing him?” 

“Seeing who?” 

“Papa Stan of course!” 

“W-what!?” 

She got beet-red, trying to deny any interest in him, but she was a lot like me. I could see she had a bit of a crush over that man ever since he dropped that casual compliment. A bit surprising that she was that easy though. Sexy as she was, I was sure boys would constantly swarm her. 

“Well… yeah, but… I could never be certain if it wasn’t mum pulling the strings from behind the curtains, testing me to see if I’d get distracted from my studies. I’m also aware that I’m above average, so, whenever I get male attention, I’m always suspicious of their motives.” 

“But not Stan?” 

“…I don’t think he’d be hitting on me so bluntly in front of our dad… would he?” 

Nope, he wouldn’t. That’s my guess from knowing his daughter, but there was also the fact he could be a bit of a dum-dum. Casually dropping a casual but honest comment without realising it was a bomb was completely something he’d do. 

“Well, I’d love to keep chatting, but I need to prepare.” 

“Prepare? Prepare for what?” 

“Hehe, start enjoying the weekend.” 

 

◊◊◊ 

 

What should we do this weekend was what occupied my mind as Abby and I settled for the night. The mornings have become a bit chilly as of late, so staying in bed until later could be nice, although that’s what we usually do regardless of the weather we are having. 

“It’s been getting cold in the morning, so how about I lay on top of you?” Abby asked, not waiting for my answer to place her body on top of mine. 

“Winter is finally approaching,” I sighed comfortably, setting my arms around her. 

“Autumn has barely begun babe,” she giggled as she rubbed her face on my chest. “Will you be joining me in splashing in the puddles when it rains?” 

I don’t know about joining her, but just imagining her merrily splashing about was the epitome of a winter picture. We never got snow here, so seeing her making a snowman wasn’t a possibility, otherwise, that would take the cake. 

“...My sister told me about her worry over not knowing what to do with her life today.” 

“Oh... she finally told you about it?” 

“You knew, huh?” 

I finally could come clean about that particular conversation. I couldn’t see her face as I told her about it, nor was she making any sort of movement, so I was worried she was mad at me for keeping secrets about her family. 

“Honestly though, why do they keep dumping stuff on you and then ask you to hide it from me?” she grumbled. I didn’t answer because, well, Abby was no idiot, she knew very well why they acted that way. Still, she had a good point when asking why they kept telling me important stuff. Was I that confidence-inspiring? “She might come to ask you for advice about part-time jobs. Just a heads-up.” 

I was happy I was that trusted, but I still felt like that was a huge pain. I could go without that kind of responsibility. I say that, but I’m aware that I’ll have a completely different tune if she comes asking me for help. That’s probably what irks me the most. I’m such a good person, aren’t I? 

“Does she have any talent or interests?” 

“...I remember that she was very good at playing the piano. She liked it a lot, but once mum realised that, she was forced to quit. That woman couldn’t have us liking something and run the risk of it becoming a distraction.” 

In that case, maybe she could find a job playing live music somewhere? No idea where that could be though. Le Perrot had a piano, but I don’t think it was even tuned to begin with. And let’s not forget the management. 

I don’t know about her musical skill, but I sure love the melody of your heart,” Abby moaned as she gently rubbed her cheek on my chest. 

“Pfft, fufu. You always say that when we sleep like this.” 

“Because it’s true,” she said, still with a soft voice. “What about you? Are you stressing over what you’ll do once you graduate high school?” 

To what was Abby’s undoubtedly relief, I wasn’t stressing over that. Not a lot anyway. 

Once we graduate, we’ll go live together in a rented apartment until she finishes university. During that time, I’ll be... a housewife to put it simply. I’ll also do some part-time job to help pay the bills and get me outside the house while she’s in class. After that... I could still do the same when she finds a job as a teacher at some school. Why did I even fuss so much about that before? Because we were both girls? Could be. I was raised with the idea of one day getting married to a man and becoming a stay-at-home wife but since I was dating Abby instead, I might have felt like I should contribute to the household finances in an equal amount. Keeping a house clean so that Abby had a nice place to go home to and be able to relax or do some extra job comfortably was already a great help, wasn’t it? She had been raised to be a worker too, now that I thought about it. It all went in accordance with how we were raised. And if we end up adopting a child... I’m getting way ahead of myself, aren’t I? We aren’t even eighteen, why am I thinking that far ahead anyway? 

Because Abby is the person you want to spend your life with, dummy. 

Yeah, well... I can’t deny that. 

“Pfft, hehe. You’re thinking about some nice stuff, aren’t you?” 

Typical Abby, reading what was going on in my mind just by the sound of my heartbeat. 

She tried to pry away from me what I had been thinking that made my heart go all thumpy, but I kept it to myself. I’d tell her all about it later. Later when? After all, I had thought has turned into reality. Until then, I’d work towards it. We both would. 

“One more thing,” she said, stopping nibbling my chin as a tease. “Would it really bother you if my sister got interested in your dad?” 

“This again? Is she interested already?” 

“Well, to tell you the truth, she has a crush on him. I don’t think she’ll act upon those feelings, but I still would like to hear your honest opinion about this matter one more time.” 

My opinion was that she was too young for him and also that... 

...That... what?” 

Was that really it? Was that the only thing my mind could conjure up to oppose their hypothetical relationship? Maybe it could be argued that I had reservations about someone coming in and “replacing” my mother, but I don’t think that’s a valid concern either. My dad had been loyal to her for over ten years, there’s no way she’d be erased from his memory just like that. 

There’s also the family tree. 

True, that would also become a mess, but then again, how many times would we be explaining to people how each one of us related to the other? I certainly have never been asked about any of that. 

“I still think she’d be too young for him, but I guess I’ll just accept it if they start dating.” 

“Really? You’ll give her your approval if that comes to be?” 

“...I didn’t like the experience of not having her approval about us, so... there’s no way I’m subjecting her to the same...” I mumbled under my breath. 

“Hehe, this is one of the reasons why I love you so much,” Abby giggled, hoisting her body just enough so she could give me a long kiss. “Love you to bits.” 

It wouldn’t be easy for Sophie though. As they say, “the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree”. She’ll probably have to make her interest painfully obvious to him for dad to realise what’s going on. 

“Alternatively, since my dad gets along so well with Papa Stan, maybe they should follow our example?” 

It took me a bit to realise what she meant. No, more accurately, it took me a bit longer to convince myself that I had heard what I heard. 

“Don’t even joke about it! We couldn’t be doing stuff like this if they did!” 

“Why?” 

“We’d become sisters!” 

“Aww, come on! Are you telling me you’d stop giving all your love to me, your baby sis?” 

“‘Baby sis’!? Abby, you’re older than me!” 

Abby pressed her face to my armpit to muffle her laughter and telling her to stop laughing only made it worse. “Baby sis”, honestly, this girl... such a handful. 

...Isn’t Will and dad’s age gap even more outrageous than dad and Sophie’s too? 

“Yeah, my dad could be your dad’s dad,” Abby confirmed when I asked about it. “My father is an old man, isn’t he?” 

“Not old, middle-aged,” I corrected, but Abby just shrugged and retorted that at his age, it’s not that much different. I found myself agreeing with that, once I thought about it a bit more deeply. Suddenly, the potential relationship between Sophie and him didn’t sound so bad. Funny how a bit of perspective can change how you view things. 

“Sorry, you must be getting sleepy right now. Shall we?” 

I was a bit sleepy when she got on top of me, but it had been long enough that I was becoming aware of her body pressed on mine. Suffice it to say, I wasn’t sleepy at all right now. 

“...” 

Abby rose her head from my chest again and I felt my face grow warmer even before she had even spoken a single word. 

“One more time?” 

“...I wouldn’t mind.” 

She giggled and tumbled to the side, tugging at my arm to cover her like she previously did to me. 

“What are the magic words?” she asked before we started kissing. 

“I love you, honey.” 

“Hehe, I love you more.” 

I didn’t correct her, but I was absolutely sure that statement was factually incorrect. I loved her at least just as much as she loved me. But why speak words when actions can be just as good, right?