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“Stay with me, I don’t want to get out of bed,” I murmured, wrapping my arms around her naked body and kissing her shoulder.
“Mm… honey… it’s almost noon, you sleepyhead.”
“It’s my birthday though, can’t we just stay in bed? I love you.”
“I love you too. I can’t believe you’re fourteen now,” Mom sighed. “Aunt Rose still wants to throw a birthday celebration.”
That’s right, it’s been over a year since I had awakened in this world. I’ve spent almost all of that time stuck in this mansion, with only my mother and sisters to entertain me. I leaned in front of Mom and kissed her stomach. To this day, it was just at the point where it was barely starting to show the smallest of bumps. It’d still be another month or two before we’d know if it was a boy or a girl.
“If it’s a boy, Drake, if it’s a girl, Alyssa?”
“So, Alyssa, then?” Mom chuckled, touching my hand which was holding her stomach.
True, in this world, picking a boy’s name was truly just self-indulgence. It was the equivalent of talking about what you’ll do when you win the lottery. Still, I couldn’t help but feel excited every time I thought about my baby growing in her belly. I couldn’t wait to meet my child. After I had freaked out about it, I had reflected and came to my mom’s room. That was the first night that we had ever slept together.
No, we didn’t have sex. I mean, I held my Mother, and the Mother of my child, in my arms, and the pair of us laid in bed until we went to sleep. In the morning, I woke up with Mom holding me. It felt surprisingly nice to wake up to a woman holding me in her arms, her warm skin pressed against mine. When I woke Mom up with a kiss, she freaked out convinced she had morning breath, and wouldn’t allow me to kiss her until she’d gone to the bathroom and brushed her teeth. It was quite adorable.
It was a memory that felt good for me, and was one I didn’t want to forget. I wasn’t ready for my first child, but I was happy that it was going to be with a woman I cared for and loved as much as Mom. It was something the pair of us would do together. Every day after, I made sure to show appreciation for the Mother of my baby. Like that, those weeks passed like a flash.
I let out a sigh and sat back, allowing Mom to start dressing. “It’s been six weeks since Aunt Rose came, is she really planning on staying until the baby is born?”
“Mm… yes, well, she’s probably really interested in it. Most women our age do not get pregnant, so I’m a bit strange.”
Mom wasn’t just being self-deprecating. It was true when she went to the clinic that she was the oldest woman there. From what I heard, it’s a bunch of teenage single Moms, and then my mom. When Madison had brought her in, it was Madison the doctor was convinced had come in to consult on her pregnancy. When finding out it was a woman in her thirties, she had been given strange looks. Pregnant women over thirty weren’t impossible, but they were as rare as men. Most of them were career women cashing in on government benefits, and thus usually saw the same doctors who had fertilized them in the first place.
“What about my sisters?” I asked.
After that night we had been caught, Hannah had hidden in her room twenty-four seven. Mom was convinced she was just studying heavily for the exam she’d need to take next month to get into the Academy. She called it the pre-exam crunch, and I didn’t feel like correcting her. Hannah didn’t answer her door for either Madison or me. We had both tried many times to approach her, but Hannah avoided both of us. It was like our relationship had reset to before my reincarnation with Hannah hiding out of sight all the time.
The same was just as true with Madison, though. She no longer stopped by my room for blowjobs. As far as any attempts I had made to talk to her, they were met with curt responses and sudden dismissals. It wasn’t that she avoided me per se, it was just that she’d get up and leave or simply give me a glare if I even attempted to interact with her. Madison’s rejection seemed to hurt a lot more than Hannah’s hiding. I felt like I had truly fallen for Madison, and yet she wouldn’t even stay in the same room with me anymore. I was guilty I had taken her virginity, yet hadn’t been able to fulfill our promise.
Both sisters giving me the cold shoulder was perhaps the reason I had been showering Mother with attention. It wasn’t a bad thing to spend more time with my pregnant woman, but I was quickly growing more attached to her. Without Madison’s blowjobs to break up my interactions with Mom, my time with Mom grew more and more. My room ended up getting moved next to Mom’s, and we spent most days in bed fucking all day. It wasn’t a bad life, but it wasn’t great either. I could feel myself growing a bit dependent on Mom. Even with my other memories, I could feel myself growing into a complete Momma’s boy.
My room wasn’t moved just to aid us in carrying out our sexual relationship. The other reason was Aunt Rose. The day after Mom had declared herself pregnant, Aunt Rose decided she was going to stay to help with the baby. Mom was uneasy about it, but she had no reason to say no. However, Mom did not know what Aunt Rose’s real goal was. Up until this point, she hadn’t mentioned having a baby of her own. She had never responded to the offer I had given, pretending as if the conversation had never happened. Still, Mom wanted to keep me close and at a distance from Aunt Rose.
At this point, I suspected Aunt Rose knew my relationship with Mom wasn’t normal. She didn’t attempt to approach me and seemed to honor Mom’s desire to keep us apart. I naturally didn’t make any attempt to approach her either. So, Aunt Rose merely became another presence in the mansion that had almost nothing to do with me. When Mom wasn’t with me, the pair of us usually naked and fucking, then she was with Aunt Rose, keeping her company and more importantly, away from me.
“They’ll join us,” Mom responded to my question, “I thought things were going well between you and your sisters. But lately, you guys haven’t been talking. Has something happened?”
“No, Mom, it’s fine,” I reassured her.
Mom was good at reading my face, but her head was turned away from me, so she couldn’t see the lie. I don’t know if that was something she did intentionally or not. Maybe she didn’t want to see the truth. However, I gave a rote answer anyway. I needed to handle the problems between me and my sisters on my own. However, Mom getting everyone out in the same room couldn’t hurt. Perhaps I could mend things with them. I really wanted to. I loved Madison and I wanted her to be pregnant with my baby too. As far as Hannah, she’d always be my cute little sister I could tease.
Mom headed out first, and I went back to my own room to take a shower and clean myself. It was probably a good idea if I didn’t walk out there smelling like sex. Mom, of course, had already cleaned herself up before leaving. I didn’t know if she was planning on baking me another cake or anything, but I had to admit I was looking forward to this birthday a little bit. Hannah’s Academy test day was next weekend, so this was my best chance to get her out of her room and try to talk to her.
I finished cleaning up and checked myself in a mirror before collapsing on my bed with a sigh. That’s one year I’ve been trapped in this mansion. Anyone could go stir crazy after all of that time. About thirty minutes later, I grew restless, so I checked myself one more time to make sure I looked like a proper birthday boy and headed out of my room. I was immediately greeted by an ugly old lady. She looked like a boot and was as tough as one.
“Charlene,” I said with a tight smile.
“Master…” The woman responded with her gravelly voice.
Brooke had quit. After Mom had said she was fired, Brooke had taken it to heart. The next day, she packed up her things and left. Even though Mom tried to go back on her word and tell Brooke she had spoken in anger, Brooke wouldn’t change her mind. Perhaps Brooke didn’t want to work for a woman who would insult and degrade her. However, more likely, she had finally put two and two together and knew that my relationship with Mom was of a sexual nature. I couldn’t remember what I had said that night, but if Brooke knew the truth, she might have quit so that she didn’t have to deal with it. She had a crush on my mom, so perhaps watching my mom flounce around with me was more than she could handle.
Instead, I ended up with Charlene, an old woman and former bouncer who had no sense of humor and wouldn’t talk to me beyond one-word answers. I’m sure she’s the kind of person my mom would want around me. However, I wasn’t particularly happy with this arrangement. I missed Brooke, I still felt a little hurt that she had left.
Meanwhile, Charlene was my personal escort, giving me effectively no privacy at all. I was basically on house arrest. Worst, even. This was probably the primary reason why I’d been unable to patch anything up with my sisters. How could I have conversations with them, or go to their room, when I’m being followed every minute of every day. Charlene would report back to my Mother everything that I did. I loved my Mom, I really did, but this level of love was bordering on scary.
That’s why, tonight, I planned to ask Mom for a particular present. That present would be a vacation. I wanted to leave the mansion and go somewhere, anywhere that wasn’t here. Even with my mother’s control issues, I hoped that she would approve this request. Maybe, if I worded it like going on a honeymoon or something, Mom would be more inclined. She seemed to really like marriage customs. Only a few cultures in this world had them, but whenever Rose mentioned them, Mom would always listen excitedly with bright eyes. I could almost imagine Mom being the kind of woman who’d buy bridal magazines and dream about her big day. I didn’t know if the fact that I’d not be the one to give her that big day was a blessing or a disappointment. For now, being the father of her child was the best I could do.
As I considered these things, I made my way to my second room in the mansion, which would otherwise be known as the library. It was the room I lost my virginity and the one I spent the most time in. I had already read almost every interesting book in it. Mom ordered me new books though, and I hoped they’d arrive in the mail soon. For the moment, all I could do was look through the titles and reread things I’ve already read a few times. When I reached the library, I was surprised to see that Madison was already in it. Madison looked over at me in surprise, but then immediately looked away again.
“I was just cleaning my room. I found a book under my bed and was returning it,” Madison said stiffly, putting something into the case before turning and walking away.
She had to pass right by me to leave the library. She looked straight ahead, avoiding my eyesight. Just as her body brushed by mine, I couldn’t take it anymore. I reached out and grabbed her arm.
“Ah!” She let out a surprised noise, stopped walking, and looked over at me, her eyes already turning teary.
“Madison…”
Madison’s expression quickly recovered, and she looked away, her face showing nothing as she stared at the exit. “Brother, my arm…”
I refused to let go. “We need to talk, Madison.”
“Then talk.” Madison closed her eyes for a moment like she was trying to hide them from me and then tugged her arm one more time.
“I’d like to talk… privately.” I pointed with my eyes in the direction of Charlene, who was standing against a nearby room.
Madison, fortunately, understood what I meant. It looked for a second like she was about to say no. I gave her my most desperate look, and mouthed the words “please.” Madison froze, looking like she was thinking about things for a second. Finally, she gave a curt nod. She mouthed the words “later” and “tonight.” I gave a very slight nod, finally releasing Madison’s arm. Madison turned and left the room.
I immediately started to feel excited. My mind ran through various scenarios between Madison and myself. Of course, Madison could always just not show up or run away. Still, I couldn’t stop myself from growing excited. Perhaps we’d just take it to the bed and finish what we started? Perhaps we could restart the weekly blowjobs? I knew I was just exciting myself, but I couldn’t stop. In the end, I found I couldn’t even pick up a book, and before long it was getting close to supper. I headed out with the stone-faced Charlene in close tow.
“We really don’t need one of these, Rose…” I heard Mom’s voice as I walked towards the dining room, causing me to detour into the reception room.
“Oh, nonsense, I can’t believe you’ve gone all this time living like the stone ages. No visual screens, no processors, no hover cars… at the very least, you should have some way of getting information outside of bloody books,” Rose argued back.
I peeked my head into the room to see that Aunt Rose and Mom were standing in the middle of the room. In front of them was a panel hung up on the wall. It looked like a television, or I guess this world calls them visual screens. However, my eyes were more focused on a certain person I hadn’t seen in over a month. Hannah was sitting on the couch. She was looking off, her head lowered like she had lost most of her steam. She wasn’t wearing makeup and her hair wasn’t done. Anyone could see that she seemed to have lost weight in the last six weeks. Most of her baby fat was now gone. Had her boobs grown too? Perhaps that’s where the baby fat went.
“Hannah…” The words came out before I could stop myself.
Hannah looked up and immediately started to panic, however, Mom and Aunt Rose had turned their head to me too. In essence, short of making a massive scene, there was nothing Hannah could do. Thus, I gave my family a smile and a nod, and headed over to the seat, sitting next to Hannah. Hannah didn’t look at me, keeping her head lowered and her arms wrapped around herself, but she also didn’t pull away.
“Clyburn, I haven’t seen you around much. Happy birthday!” Rose tried to force some enthusiasm and keep a smile on her face.
“Sweetie, your aunt here has the thought of bringing in a visual screen for your birthday. She says she wants you to have it as a present.” Mom’s smile was tight, and it was clear she wasn’t pleased by the act.
“Ah…” I looked at the two women looking at me expectantly.
Did they expect me to sort out the argument? In truth, I’d rather like to have a visual screen. Didn’t that mean we’d need to get cable or an antenna or something? I just wanted to become more aware of the state of the world. However, I also didn’t want to enflame my mother’s anger. She had gone to a great effort to keep me from seeing the outside world. She said it was because she wanted me to become my own man and not be influenced by propaganda, which, to my understanding, was rampant in this world. Only some of that propaganda I had heard about through Madison, Rose, and Mother, and it wasn’t the kind of propaganda that was flattering towards men.
“I think a visual screen would be great!” The voice broke out from the door, and I turned to see Madison standing there.
Like Hannah, Madison very pointedly did not look at me. However, when Hannah saw her enter the room, she immediately moved away from me and looked down even more, until the point where she was just staring at her own lap. I frowned, wanting to reach out and grab Hannah’s hand, but I found myself unable to do so, given the circumstances.
“Madison, I’ve already allowed you to have your own in your room…” Mom started with a lecturing tone.
Madison let out a sigh. “It’d be nice to have something bigger. The little screen makes some things hard to make out. Besides, if I wanted to watch the VS with friends, I wouldn’t be able to.”
“Friends? You’re not allowed to have friends over, you know that, Clyburn-”
Madison held up her hand. “Yes, Mother, I know. However, Clyburn will be going to school next year, right? At that point, there is no reason I can’t bring friends over, right?”
Mom blinked, clearly not having thought about this dilemma before. I gave Mom a gentle smile from my seat. I was growing up. Mom needed to come and accept that. Just as the silence in the room was growing unbearable, it was Rose who suddenly spoke up.
“Actually, as to that…” Rose bent over and grabbed something she had stashed in her purse. “This wasn’t the thing I wanted to present to Clyburn for his birthday. I’ve been thinking about this for some time, and I’ve decided to finally ask.”
Rose pulled out a small wrapped up package and handed it to me. Presents were odd in this world, so everyone stared at the item in my hand, which had been wrapped in fine paper. Rose grabbed her hands and nervously twisted them, while Mom simply looked at the object with a small frown. I decided to dig right in, tearing off the paper and opening it up immediately. I didn’t really have any particular expectations, but never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d receive the object in my hand. It was a cup. Well, more specifically, it was a plastic cup with a plastic lid. The words ‘sterile’ were written on the side.
“Uh… thanks…” I said, my brain not quite working properly.
“It’s… my answer, Clyburn,” Rose finally spoke, staring at me intently. “To the arrangement, you proposed. You said we could have a baby. My answer is yes…”
“Ah!” Madison let out a cry, while Hannah covered her mouth with an audible gasp.
“Of course, I wouldn’t ask anything like us engaging in intercourse. That’s an official sterile medical container. You can just… release into it, and then I’ll take it to the hospital and have them put it inside me. That’s it. I’m on my unsafe days right now, so if you could provide me it tonight or tomorrow, that would be best. I’ve also taken a fertility pill, and I’m already on prenatal. I’ll be happy to stay here and have the baby and-”
“You… bitch!” The words cut into Rose’s tirade, coming straight from Mom’s mouth.
Her face looked dark and hateful, and her fist was shaking at her side like she might leap on Rose at every second.
Rose blinked as if she was surprised. “M-morgan? I thought this would be okay? Clyburn offered, and he’s only two years away from having to mandatory do it anyway? We could have our babies together?”
“No…” Mom shook her head, her lips curling slightly. “I trusted you… I trusted you in my home. I thought maybe, just maybe… you were here because of us… but in the end, my fears were true. You only cared about my son’s seed.”
“It’s not like that, Morgan, it’s more complicated! You need to understand, I-”
“Oh, I understand plenty, I understand you came into my home and pretended to be my family just so you could take advantage of my child. My baby!” Mom was shouting now. “You always were like that, weren’t you? You were so jealous of me and Noah, you used to follow us around like a lost lamb. But as soon as things got tough, as soon as I needed you the most, you left me! You took off and didn’t talk to me for nearly fourteen years!”
“Morgan… please.” Rose was clenching her teeth too, “It was the best thing to do at-”
“The best thing?” Mom snarled, “It was the selfish thing! You’ve only ever cared about yourself!”
“You’re one to talk!” Rose shouted back, “Keeping that man all to yourself, getting child after child until he made you the boy you needed!”
“And you were jealous! Admit it! You wanted him…”
“I already had him!” Rose shot back, only to suddenly gasp and cover her mouth, her eyes going wide.
“What?” Mom took a step forward, her face looking menacing.
Hannah had even grabbed my arm, while Madison had stepped back until she was pressed against the far wall.
“N-nothing…” Rose shook her head, suddenly refusing to make eye contact. “I misspoke.”
“Tell me!” Mom growled, her eyes shooting daggers.
Rose spoke slowly, almost like she was talking to herself rather than answering Mom directly. “He was good to me. He promised me a baby. I knew he was yours, but it was just an illusion. I didn’t want your dreams to burst. He promised me, we’d have a baby. Kept trying… and then…the man I loved… he died.”
Mom shook her head in disbelief, finally taking several steps back, her face turning into repulsion. “No… you liar…”
“You weren’t the only women he left!” Rose yelled, tears falling down her face freely. “You’re not the only one he was taken from!”
“No… no…” Mom put her hands on her head as if she could block out Rose’s words, but Rose kept speaking.
“I couldn’t stay any longer. I couldn’t watch you mourn over the man I loved. I couldn’t give you the sympathy that I needed myself. So, I ran… I ran as far as I could, for as long as I could. Until, I ran out of options. I wouldn’t be here, Morgan, if I had any other choice.”
“You… will never have my son.” Mom looked up, her eyes red and teary. “Do you hear me? Never!”
“Why?” Rose responded mockingly, her face contorted in anger, “Because he’s already yours?”
“Watch your mouth…” Mom warned threateningly.
Rose ignored her with a snort. “I’m not stupid. The new baby of yours? It’s his, it’s Clyburn’s, isn’t it? Not only did you monopolize Noah, now you want to monopolize his son too? No, you’ve been fucking your own child for years, keeping him in a bubble where all he has is you! Who the hell is the selfish one, after all?”
“Hah!” The sound came from Madison, who was staring at me in shock.
In fact, everyone was staring at me now. Hannah was staring at me, her expression unreadable. Madison looked on in shock and disbelief. Mom had a guilty look, while Rose looked vindicated. However, I had no answer to this situation. It was a problem I had started when I came to this world, and now that things had gotten this far, I had no idea how to solve it. Nothing in my experiences from another world possibly prepared me for this moment. I could only gulp. I reached the end of my rope.