Faithful readers.
It is an honour and a privilege to have you read these words because it means you are about to read yet another of my stories.
All my work is fictional, yet nothing that can't happen in real life. Maybe some of it has... somewhere... to someone.
If you have not yet read any of my other work, I must inform you that not all of it is to everyone's taste, so choose the story and the category carefully.
I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
*****
I was fifteen years old when I suddenly found myself with a new family. The only member of this family that wasn't new to me was my six year old sister Shelly.
Our parents had gone on a day trip while we were at school. By the time I got home after fetching Shelly from her school on my way, they weren't back yet. I made lunch for Shelly and I, then settled down to my homework. By the time I'd finished, it was dark outside and there was still no sign of them. I picked up the phone and called my mom's number.
To cut a long story short, the guy who answered the phone was a police officer. He asked if there was anyone I could call that would take us in for the night. The first person that came to mind was Shelly's friend's mother Mrs. Dawson.
When Shelly was two, my mother had met this woman at the park. They'd gotten talking because she had a daughter almost the same age. Since then they'd become close friends, spending almost every afternoon together during the week, and most of the day on weekends.
After speaking to the officer, I called her and explained what had happened. Within fifteen minutes she was at our house and had an overnight bag packed for Shelly. While she'd been packing Shelly's, I'd been packing my own. We spent that night on a makeshift bed in the living room of their house.
"Sean," Mrs. Dawson said to me, as she sat down across from me at the breakfast table the next morning. "I think you and Shelly should stay here today instead of going to school."
"What's happened to my mom and dad?" I asked, but I felt like I already knew the answer to that.
I'd heard her on the phone shortly after she'd picked us up, but her side of the conversation was mostly yes's and ok,s.
"Your mom and dad were in a car accident yesterday. I'm so sorry."
At those last three words I knew I was right, but they still caused a feeling that felt like a lead ball in my stomach.
Social services showed up later that afternoon, together with a man I'd only ever seen once. It turned out that he was my parent's lawyer. The reason for his visit was so that he could sort out with Mrs. Dawson about our living arrangements, and social services were there to make sure they were suitable.
My mom and dad had put Mr. and Mrs. Dawson down as our legal guardians.
Mrs. Dawson sat me down again after they left and explained all of it to me, then went off to prepare their spare room where I would spend the next three and a half years. For that night, she put Shelly into bed with her daughter Leena. The next day her and Mr. Dawson went shopping for a bed for Shelly and had it set up in Leena's room.
Shelly didn't spend nearly as much time as I did, crying over the loss of our parents. She had Leena, and of course, she was only six. I'd been too engrossed in school work to make any friends who I could now rely on to comfort me through this terrible time.
Mrs. Dawson, a fairly attractive woman who was twenty seven years old at the time, noticed this and did her best to help me through it.
Her and I spent many hours across from each other over breakfast during those next three and a half years. It was at one of those sittings that she informed me that Mr. Dawson would no longer be around.
That was when I was seventeen. I asked her why, but she couldn't answer me then. Seeing how she felt, I did my best to comfort her.
I found out the reason why Mr. Dawson had left, one day when I overheard one of her telephone conversations. It was over half a year after he'd walked out, and a few months shy of my eighteenth. To put it simply, he'd left because he hadn't planned on three children.
After the phone conversation, I walked up to her and apologized for Shelly and I being the cause of his departure. This lead to yet another sit down talk in which she explained to me that it wasn't our fault.
"Sean... both Mr. Dawson and I agreed when your parents asked us if we'd be willing to take care of you if anything happened to them, so you can't hold this over your head. I appreciate your apology though, but you are not to blame."
That conversation was the longest one I'd had had with her. She'd gone on to explain that even though it was difficult for her to take care of us without him to help her, she'd do the best she could and hoped we were happy so far.
I assured her that I was, and mentioned that there was no need to point out how happy Shelly was now that she had a 'sister'.
Mrs. Dawson let me know that there was no need for me to move out when I turned eighteen and was more than welcome to stay as long as my sister was still underage.
"I know how close you both are and I would never do anything to separate you, but should you choose to go off on your own, you're always more than welcome to visit her anytime."
"If it's finances..." I started, but she cut me off.
"Your parents left sufficient funds." She smiled. "That wasn't what I meant by it being difficult taking care of you. You see... a woman is quite capable of raising a male child, and a man can raise a female child..." She sat there thinking of how to put what needed to be said into words that wouldn't embarrass either of us.
I sat quietly, wondering if this would be the inevitable 'birds and bees' talk that surely all children get at some point during their teens. My parents had already given me this talk, but I was afraid to mention it to Mrs. Dawson on the off-chance that it wasn't what she was trying to tell me.
Finally she looked up at me, a frown forming on her face. "Sean... did your parents ever talk to you about... sex?"
"Yes they did." I replied.
The look of relief on her face was heartwarming.
"Dad explained the whole puberty thing when I was thirteen. Then they both gave me the rest shortly after I turned fifteen."
"Thank goodness for that." She sighed. "But seeing as how openly you just said that... I needn't have been as nervous as I was." She laughed.
"They were fairly open on the whole subject." I said. "Even Shelly knows about puberty and what happens to a girls body."
"Really?"
"Yes, and I wouldn't be surprised if Leena's learned it from her by now." I smiled.
"Is it just the part about puberty that your parents explained to Shelly?" She was looking a little panic stricken.
"Yes, they were saving the sex talk for when she reached puberty."
The subject of sex and puberty ended there... in that conversation. From then on, any talks I had with Mrs. Dawson were based on school, school work, my future and basic everyday life. The discussion about my future was her asking me what I wanted to do when I finished school. I was three months into my eighteenth year upon this planet when that conversation took place, and just two months away from writing my final exams.
I explained that I wanted to go to university, but unfortunately my parents hadn't saved up enough for that by the time they were taken from us. I informed her that I'd taken the time to rethink it and would find work that would allow me to pay for evening college classes to further my education, and that my goal was to hopefully have enough funds set aside for if Shelly chose to attend university.
"You've really put some thought into this, haven't you Sean?" She said, rather admirably.
"Kind of." I replied. "The whole university thing was already planned before, but now with my parents gone... I've had to rethink it. I've got Shelly's education to think about. Sorry, no offense. I know you're doing a great job with looking after us, but I also know you can't afford to save for her to go to university as well."
"None taken." Mrs. Dawson replied. "You are so mature for your age. Most eighteen year olds are thinking about getting out there and getting their lives started, but here you are thinking about your sister." She took my hand and gave it a squeeze. It was the first contact we'd made since the hugs I'd given her in comfort after her husband had left.
"Sean... could I ask you something really personal?"
"Sure." I replied. If she'd said that to me when my parents were around, I don't think I would have felt so confident, but we'd been living together for almost three and a half years and had many conversations.
"How come you don't have a girlfriend?" She'd hesitated for almost a whole minute, and when the question finally came out, I didn't believe it was the question she'd wanted to ask.
I shrugged. "My studies are more important because they're going to get me the job that's going to help pay for Shelly's university."
"So you're not going to look until when... until you've finished school... until you've saved enough money... until Shelly goes to university... I mean... when are you planning on finding a woman to share your life with?"
"To be honest, I haven't really thought about that." I said truthfully.
"What about if you found someone who fully supported your goal and would help you reach it and any future goals you might have in mind?"
I took a moment to think about that. "Then I'd probably have me a girlfriend." I smiled.
Mrs. Dawson sat in thought for about five minutes as we sat across from each other. Finally she looked right at me, her blue eyes seeming to look through me.
