All characters are 18 or above.
***
The glowing sun pierced through the window and created an aura around Lauren as she entered. Patrick almost spilled his coffee as he locked eyes with his daughter.
"Morning, daddy."
Lauren sat next to him. It was her first day home after four years at college and she was using her father's office as a makeshift home base until she decided what she wanted to do next.
"Good morning, sweetheart."
Patrick felt a strange euphoric feeling conjuring within him. His mind cleared of all worries as his focus shifted to the present. Things were no longer clouded by perception, they just existed. And one of those things was the magnificent beauty next to him. Having his daughter sitting with him made him feel good. No. It made him feel amazing.
The rest of the family joined the table. His enchanting wife Myra placed a steaming pile of scrambled eggs and bacon in the middle. Josh immediately grabbed his helping of bacon as if it was from the last pig on earth. Ashley waited patiently for her mother to sit and glared at her hungry younger brother. The smell caught Patrick's attention and he momentarily relapsed back to reality. His thoughts were back in motion ramping up the concern that something was amiss.
Myra's eyes widened as she made eye contact with Lauren. She said nothing, but Patrick noticed her demeanor change. It became light and happy as if she was in a daze of infatuation.
"So daddy, I was thinking since Josh took Ashley's room and Ashley took my room, I think it's only fair that I take your room." Lauren said. She laughed at her own joke as eggs tumbled to her plate.
"Sounds fair to me."
The words escaped his mouth before he could think. Everyone stopped and looked at Patrick and Myra. His wife made no objection.
"You would let me have your room?" Lauren asked.
"Anything for you, sweetheart."
Patrick smiled. The euphoric feeling returned as he stared into his daughter's eyes. All his worries melted away. Her mere presence brought delight and happiness. How could he say no to such an alluring sight.
"Are you kidding me!" Ashley stood up.
Patrick broke eye contact with Lauren and with it went the high on life. Ashley and Lauren grew up in headlocks together. There was rarely a time when they weren't fighting or getting on each others nerves. He could understand why Ashley was mad, he certainly didn't want to give his room away. But better people deserved better things.
"She comes back and she automatically gets your room. Tell me this is a joke."
Lauren snapped her attention to Ashley and they locked eyes. Her face relaxed and her eyes widened. Despite his mental distractions, Patrick was starting to see a pattern and so was Josh. His son stared at his mountain of bacon and avoided looking up.
"Did you ever ask for it, Ash?" Lauren's eyes rolled.
Ashley shook her head.
"Then sit down and shut up."
Just as quickly as she stood, Ashley shot back down to her seat and kept her mouth shut. Lauren waited for retaliation, but Ashley meekly ate her meal without another word.
"Honey, if you're taking our room, where do we go?" Myra asked.
"Why don't you just share with Ashley." Lauren said still annoyed with her sister.
"Okay. We will move in with Ashley."
"Thanks for breakfast, mom." Josh scarfed down the last of his food. "Gotta run."
Patrick and the remaining family members sat in different states of bliss as they finished their breakfast. Something was wrong but he couldn't pinpoint the real issue. He reckoned it was the same for his wife and Ashley, who both sat submissively with dumb smiles. Lauren was oblivious for the time being. Whatever she was doing it would get worse if she found out.
After breakfast, Patrick and Myra went to their room to pack up their belongings. Their original plan was to turn his office back into a bedroom for Lauren, but given the new circumstances, that was no longer an option. Their master bedroom was the biggest in the house and almost double the size of Ashley's room. The logistics of moving in with Ashley were suspect, but he knew any discussion with Lauren could make things worst.
"What's going on?" Myra said. She took the clothes out of her walk-in closet and threw them on the bed. "Why are we letting her do this?"
"I have no idea. Anytime I get close, I just have this uncontrollable urge to agree with everything she says." Patrick said.
He tossed his socks and boxers on the bed.
"So I'm not the only one."
Patrick heard the relief in her voice. They both thought they were going crazy. He walked around the bed and gave her a reassuring hug.
"As far as I can tell she doesn't know anything is going on." Patrick said.
"She thinks getting our room is normal?"
Patrick shot her a look.
"She always was obliviously entitled." Myra said
"Well being hot will do that to a girl."
Myra slapped Patrick's arm. "Hot? She's your daughter."
It was every father's dilemma to have an attractive daughter who flaunted it with tight, revealing outfits. Patrick never had that problem before. But since that morning, he started seeing his daughter in a completely different light. Not in a predatory way, he would never harm her. But she was beautiful and every time he saw her face, a feeling of peace and calmness washed over him. He could stare at her forever if she let him.
"You're hot too. We had a hot daughter, it's genetics. That's all I'm saying."
He wondered if Myra was having the same thoughts. She certainly had a better poker face.
"So what do we do?" Myra asked. She piled her heels in a box.
"We act natural and try to steer conversations away from commands. That should give us some time to figure out what's going on." Patrick grabbed his pile of clothes in his arm and walked out of the room.
Over the course of the day, Lauren moved into her parents room as they moved out. Ashley cleared half her closet for her mother and half her dresser for her father. Patrick was relived yet nervous that Ashley was quietly compliant. She could make it worse if she set Lauren off, but her silence was also out of the ordinary. His nerves subsided when he heard Lauren comment on Ashley's change of behavior since she left. Nothing heals old wounds like time apart.
Ashley's room was littered with makeup, magazines and dirty clothes. Patrick moved through the sea of his daughter's dirty underwear and dresses and placed his favorite clothes in the vacant drawers of the pink dresser. He couldn't believe this girly nightmare was now his room. Every time he thought of telling Lauren to give his room back, he was reminded of how happy it made her. And that was the most important thing. It was her room now and she deserved it. Patrick and Myra agreed to sleep in the same bed with Ashley until they could buy another bed for the room. His mind concluded that the room belonged to all of them and they were all entitled to the bed.
Lauren spent the afternoon setting up her new room while Myra and Ashley cleaned up and adjusted their new arrangement. Patrick went looking for Josh, but all he found was an empty room. His son knew something was strange and as far as Patrick could tell, he was the only one unaffected. A conversation for when he returned.
The silver lining of giving his bedroom up, was that he now got his office back. He shut the door hoping for some privacy, but his concentration was broken as the clicking of heels grew louder and louder. Before he could respond to the gentle knock, Lauren barged in smiling.
"Sorry daddy, I know the rules, but this is important."
Patrick looked in her eyes and felt in awe of his daughter. A feeling in the back of his mind nagged at him to drop to his knees, to show respect, but once he broke eye contact, he regained some control. The euphoric feeling was still there, but so were his rational thoughts. He stared at his book as if he were still reading.
"What's important, sweetheart?" Patrick said through quivering lips. Conflicting emotions of saying the wrong thing and an overwhelming need to please her fought for his attention.
"Katie's picking me up in ten cuz there's a huge sale going on at the mall and I totally need a new wardrobe."
"Laur, you just spent all your money on college, do you really think you can afford this right now? We didn't take you back in for you to spend our money." Patrick said proudly as he reverted back to dad mode. Maybe things were getting better.
