A Full Nest

Mom's death had been a long time coming. We already began mourning her the second she had been given a rough deadline so when she actually did pass on - and finally escaped her suffering - none of us were as devastated or heartbroken as people expected. It still wrenched our hearts and made us all lose sleep. But as her death hadn't been sudden we all just sort of braced for the impact for when it eventually came. It was truthfully more of a relief than anything. I know that sounds awful for me to say that about my own Mom but I hated seeing what she was going through. I hated being so powerless even though it was my job to take care of her. She was a woman that worked constantly as a family lawyer while also supporting three kids. A single mom that honestly did not know what the word "stop" meant. Then the cancer hit. She had to stop going on her morning jogs because she didn't have the energy. As it slowly killed her from the inside she had to leave her practice; the one she had started with Dad. She stopped doing anything more than eating a little bit then sleeping. Then she died in her sleep having finally learned what it meant to stop.

I wish from the bottom of my heart that my Mom hadn't gotten cancer in the first place. But wishing doesn't do much of anything. I'm just glad that she's no longer going through that pain. That we don't have to -

"Rye!"

I jumped and winced as I bumped my head against the car window I was leaning on. I looked over at Bethany, rubbing my head. "What?"

"We're here." Bethany rubbed at the spot I had bumped, blue eyes filled with concern. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare ya. I thought you were sleeping."

"It's fine." I pushed her hand away and smiled. "Let's go."

"Yea. Let's." Bethany grabbed her purse and got out.

Belle, who had been driving us, was already out and banging on the door of our Aunt's house. She turned as she waited for the door to open. "Get our stuff please."

"Why me?" I grumbled, already heading for the back of the jeep. The rest of our stuff had already arrived with the movers a few hours ago. The stuff we hadn't left back home that is.

"Because you're the man of the house now. Gotta take care of us girls." She smirked.

Belle was not a girl that needed to be taken care of. She could do just fine by herself, but she was also a lazy bum who liked forcing me to do stuff for her. Oh well. It's fine. It's expected from your sister right? To do their absolute best to annoy the hell out of you without doing it so much that you end up hating them?

Bethany was not like that though. She rolled her eyes at her twin then came to help me. "Here. I'll take half and you take half."

"Thanks." I nodded appreciatively. "Then when we get to the house we can dump all of it on Belle."

"You're here!" Aunt April tugged the door open and pulled into the house to give her a hug. "Ohhhhh I'm so happy you're finally here!"

Belle just smiled and returned the hug. Bethany and I pushed into the foyer and promptly dumped all the bags at Belle's feet once she had pulled away from our Aunt.

"Hey Auntie." I smiled and hugged her, ignoring Belle's glare.

"Ryan!" She squeezed me and kissed my cheek. Then turned to Bethany to give her the same treatment. "So good to see you three again."

"You saw us a week ago." Belle said. She was purposely not looking at the bags.

"Yea but that was...You know. Not the same."

The atmosphere grew awkward. Last week had been our Mom's funeral.

"Are you kids, okay?" April's eyebrows furrowed with concern. She seemed to be focusing on me the most. "Or as okay as you can be?"

She was looking at me when she asked us the second question. So I answered for all of us. "Yea we're okay. Okay as we can be. How about you?"

"Okay as I can be." She smiled sadly. I noticed that she was fingering the pendant on her necklace. The other half was buried six feet under the ground. She suddenly shook her head and clapped her hands together. "You three must be tired and hungry! I had the movers put your boxes in your rooms. Ryan you're in the room at the end of the hallway to the left. Girls you're in the room opposite his." She picked up two of the bags and started up the stairs. "And Ryan your bathroom plumbing needs some work. For now, you can use mine downstairs."

"That's okay. I can just use Bethany and Belle's..." We were already imposing on Aunt April. I didn't want to take her bathroom away too.

"Nonsense! Three people sharing one bathroom? Can't have that."

"Thanks." I mumbled. I grabbed some of the bags and followed her up, Bethany and Belle close behind. At the end of the hall I pushed into my room while my sisters went into theirs. There was a twin bed against the corner of the room right under a window. And a medium sized desk was next to the head of the bed. Other than those two things, the room was cluttered with my boxes. I dropped my bags with a sigh then crawled onto the bed. This had been my cousin Caleb's room before he had moved to New York. It felt strange to be here without him looming over me and telling me not to touch his stuff.

Worse than that was moving into Aunt April's house. She had offered it since it was much closer to college for me and work for Bethany and Belle. She had also mentioned that she was suffering from empty nest syndrome with Caleb and Samantha gone. But I couldn't help but feel that we were getting in her way. Wouldn't she rather take this time to travel or follow her other passions? That's what people did when they were rich and their kids left home right?

However, she had insisted so constantly that we couldn't help but take her up on her offer. It would be easier on us to still have someone taking care of us. We were all adults - Bethany and Belle were 24 - but we didn't feel like adults. We weren't ready. Mom dying managed to reset the timer on when we'd be ready to be completely on our own with no world-wise adult nearby guiding us. Until we became 'world-wise' ... we'd be living with Aunt April.

My thoughts were interrupted by my phone vibrating. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and smiled lightly. Toon had texted me.

"You make it to your Aunt's house?"

"Sure thing, Petunia." I smirked. Pissing her off was the easiest way to make myself feel better.

"Suck my dick Rye." Then moments later. "Good to see you're still an asshole."

"I'll always be an asshole."

All I got in response was a smiling emoji followed by the middle finger emoji.

"When are you gonna visit?"

"I'm thinking this Saturday. I've got work all week."

"Sounds great! We should be all moved in and settled by then."

"Great! I gotta go. Damn customers need me."

"Later, Toon!"

"Later, Rye :)"

I put my phone back in my pocket and got up. I stepped over my boxes and opened the door. I'd move in later. Right now, I just wanted to walk around a bit and this house had a great backyard that was bordered by the woods. Caleb and I had camped many a time as kids right at the edge and pretended we were adventurers. Somehow I doubt that true adventurers had their mothers drop in every hour to make sure they were alive or not.

When I stepped out of my room I thought I heard Bethany say my name from her room so I stepped up to the door and put my ear up to the door. I heard my name again. Along with 'sleeping' and 'worried'. Belle said something as well, but I couldn't pick up what they were saying. I was curious about why they were talking about me but I just shrugged and left. If it was important, I'd find out eventually. I had an inkling of what they were talking about anyway. They had both been incessant on hovering around me ever since Mom died. I don't get why though since I'm clearly fine. So what if I'm losing a little sleep?

"You eat mushrooms, right?" April asked when I got downstairs and passed the kitchen.

"Huh?" I looked up and saw her waving a portobello mushroom at me. "Yeah I do."

"Great!" She smiled widely. "I'm making portobello mushroom burgers for dinner tonight."

"You don't have to go through that much trouble..." My stomach twisted with guilt again. "I can cook for everyone. Like I used to do at home."

"Then what am I supposed to do eh?" April raised her eyebrow, her hand on her waist. "I wanted you kids to move in because I was going stir crazy with nothing to do!"

"Don't you have a deadline coming up for your book?" I asked, taking a seat at the counter. It raised a little higher than the rest of the countertop and was lined with comfy bar stools.

She sighed. "Okay fine I have nothing

fun

to do. Editing is such a pain in the ass." She leaned so she could rest her elbows on the lower part of the countertop. "I just miss taking care of people. Back when I was still with Richard, Caleb and Sammy were home, and we had a dog... the house was absolute chaos. I loved every second of it."

April just had an extremely sad and lonely look in her eyes just then. She and her husband had divorced a few months ago. It couldn't have been easy for her to have her kids move out and then have her husband leave with the dog. The poor woman had gone from having an overflowing bowl to a desperately barren one. No wonder she had jumped at the chance to have me and my sisters move in. She needed company and we needed as much family as we could get. I smiled. "Alright. We'll mooch off you for as much as you like. But you have to promise to let us help out a little."

"Deal." She shook my offered hand. "Laurel did an amazing job raising you three."

I paused. Then nodded. "I guess."

"You guess?" April laughed wryly. "You're going to the best college in the state getting a degree in mechanical engineering. Bethany is working at some tech startup whose name I can never remember. And Belle! The designs she can come up with..." She shook her head in awe. Then gave me a very wholesome smile. "Don't say 'you guess', Ryan. You're discrediting all the hard work you three put in. All the hard work your Mom put in."

I was still a sophomore. I had just barely started taking classes that actually had something to do with my degree. Bethany and Belle were the actual successful ones. I was about to point that out when I caught the look in April's eye. I shut my mouth up. "Fine."

"Wow not argumentative at all." April laughed.

"I grew up with three women. I've lost every single argument with them I've ever had." I said dryly then added in a mocking voice. "And women are always right."

"Careful kid. You're

still

surrounded by three women."

"I can see that." I got off the stool. "I'm gonna go for a walk in the woods."

"Alright." April began setting things up to start cooking. "Dinner at 7 so don't wander off too far."

"Yes ma'am."

***

"He's always been a bit of a Mama's boy." Bethany said as she began setting the table.

"A bit?" Belle raised an eyebrow. "Beth he was attached to Mom's hip whenever she had free time. Running errands with her. Going to the movies with her when we couldn't make it."

"That's why I'm more worried about him than you two." April kept her eye on the backdoor, watching for Ryan in case he came back. "Laurel treated him like a baby."

"Not just Mom." Belle sat down at the table and eyed the burgers. If Ryan didn't return in the next five minutes she was going to start without him. "Beth does it too."

"No I don't." Bethany narrowed her yes. "Just because I'm not mean to him like you doesn't mean I treat him like a baby."

"Yea?" Belle looked her sister in the eye. This was just like looking in the mirror for her. Even their light freckles were on the same spots. "So it wasn't you that was stroking his hair when he fell asleep in the car?"

"He was tired from all the packing

you

made him do!"

"Not the point."

"Whatever." Bethany huffed and sat down, glaring at Belle. Right then Ryan returned from his walk.

"Hey everybody." He took a seat and looked eagerly at the burgers. "Those look good Auntie. Thank you!"

"How about you say thank you after you actually try one." April chuckled and put a burger on everyone's plate along with a generous helping of fries. They all had a pleasant dinner making small talk about their plans for the summer. Bethany still had another week off, so she was going to do her best to do nothing. Belle wasn't as lucky since they were in the middle of a huge project at work. They wanted her in the second she could come back; preferably before that. Ryan, with pretty much all of summer break remaining, was planning on doing a lot more nothing than Bethany.

Once the dinner ended, Ryan excused himself saying he was tired. The three women listened carefully as he climbed the stairs and then shut the door to his room.

"He's not actually gonna sleep." Belle idly nibbled on the end of her last fry. "He went to bed at like eight a few nights ago. I went to check up on him and I saw him just staring at the ceiling." She paused. "He didn't even notice me."

"No wonder he looks so tired." April began gathering the plates to load them into the dishwasher.

"What are we going to do?" Bethany chewed on her lip like she always did when nervous or deep in thought.

"Make him go to therapy." Belle offered. "Mom went after Dad died didn't she?"

"He says he doesn't need it." Bethany shook her head. "Says he's fine."

"Well that's clearly not true."

The twins sat in silence as April cleaned up. Then Bethany broke it with a chuckle.

"What are you laughing at?" Belle asked.

"You said that I baby him and yet

you're

the one checking up on him in his room."

"Shut up that is not the same thing!"

"Yea it is!"

"No!"

"Brilliant argument Belle. Should've been a lawyer like Mom."

Bringing up their Mom dampened the mood again and they grew quiet. April, having finished her cleaning, sat back down at the table. She took each girl's hand in her own and squeezed. "Listen girls. We're all going to need to be very patient with each other. And with Ryan. If we do that, we can figure all this out and get through it. And I promise that once I'm finished with this book nonsense, I'll be able to help more. Alright?"

Bethany and Belle just nodded their heads.

***

I tossed and turned. I had fallen asleep briefly before I had woken up again. Damn nightmares. They had been the same since Mom died. I couldn't remember them. But I knew they were the exact same ones every time. They left the same feeling of emptiness after waking me up. Glancing at my phone I saw that it was still 9:30. I thought about texting Toon but I didn't want to bother her. She worked a lot over the summer so she probably just wanted to do nothing when not at work. I figured my sisters were hanging out and doing their thing in their room. I didn't want to bother them either. Belle had mentioned being unable to come up with a design on a side commission she was doing. And I think Bethany was doing the nothing she planned on doing during her vacation. I sighed. Vacation. That word was too happy for what this time off actually was.

There was a knock at the door. Then it slowly pushed open and a brunette head popped in. Bethany. "Rye? You asleep?"

"Yep. Currently dreaming about flying a helicopter with my feet."

"Smart ass." She walked into the room and shut the door behind her. I heard her softly step around the boxes still scattered around the room. Then she yelped as she tripped over one and landed on my bed, smacking me in the face with her hand. "Shit! Couldn't you have at least moved these boxes around a bit?"

"Sure I could have." I pushed her hand off my face. She hadn't hit me that hard. "What are you doing here?"

She moved around so she was lying next to me. It was pretty cramped since it was a twin bed but I didn't mind. She smelled nice. "I wanted to hang out with you."

"Smacking me in the face is how you do it?" I knew that she was here to check on me and not just hang out. She and Belle had been doing that a lot lately.

"Oh god did I actually do that? I didn't feel it. I'm so sorry." She cradled my cheek.

"It's fine." I felt suddenly warm on the inside. I always felt like that whenever one of my sisters hugged me. Or when Mom did.

"What do you think of your new room?" Bethany moved closer to me so she wasn't partially hanging off the bed then pulled me into a cuddle, my face pressed against her chest and her chin resting on my head. I don't think she realized that she was giving me a full feel of her cleavage. I knew I should mind but... I didn't. She had a modest chest. C-cup maybe? I don't know bra-sizes that well.

"It's weird. I've slept here before, but it was in a sleeping bag while Caleb slept on the bed. And the walls were covered with his posters." Wow she smelled

really

good. Like mangos and coconut. "And he'd always threaten to pee on me if I snored."

"Did he ever?" Bethany laughed.

"Once." I admitted. It was a few summers ago. I had woken up to being assaulted with piss and a grin on Caleb's face. "I punched him in the dick."

"Holy shit." Bethany shook as she laughed. "That's so disgusting."

"He was an asshole."

"He's

still

an asshole." She started rubbing my back. I knew now for sure that she was here to check up on me and try and comfort me. I didn't get why. She needed it too.

"Why do you say that?" I hugged her as she rubbed my back. It felt incredible to cuddle with her like this. Soft and warm. Kind. I felt safe.

"Well you know how Aunt April and Uncle Richard got divorced because he cheated?"

"Yea."

"Well turns out Caleb knew about it for months. And didn't say anything."

"Maybe he didn't wanna get involved."

"He didn't say anything because he didn't think it was wrong. I was talking to Sam about the divorce and she told me that Caleb had defended Uncle Richard."

"Oh fuck."

"Yea."

We both grew silent and the silence made me aware of the boner in my pants. And that caught me off guard. I hadn't gotten a proper boner since... well you know. It didn't bother me since I felt weird about getting horny when my Mom had just died. But now I was very bothered that I was getting one while hugging my sister. I did my best to inconspicuously pull my crotch away from Bethany. She however didn't like that and moved her hips back to me. Then she grew still.

"Umm... Rye?"

"Yea?" Kill me. She had felt it. She for sure felt it. Way to ruin the nice moment Ryan!

"Is that... Are you hard?"

"...No."

"Jesus christ, Rye!" Bethany began laughing. But she didn't pull away. She maintained her hug and kept rubbing my back. "You boys are so gross."

"I'm sorry."

"Whatever." She was still chuckling. "I'll take it as a compliment."

"Still. Sorry." Leave it to Bethany to not make me feel ashamed of my boner. Belle would have punched me and called me a pervert.

"It's fine it's fine. Really." She stopped laughing and squeezed me. "I have your face in my boobs. Not like your dick knows who the boobs belong to."

So she did know! That made sense. She'd have to be super dense and Bethany was never dense. "Thanks for not being mean about it."

"You're welcome." She said simply. "Try and fall asleep okay?"

"I'll try."

Before long I did manage to drift off. Bethany's presence had calmed me down and distracted me from my thoughts for long enough for me to fall asleep.

***

Bethany entered her room again and saw Belle drawing on her tablet. "He's asleep."

"It took you this long to figure that out?"

"Well..." Bethany laid on Belle's bed and turned to face her sister. "I sort of cuddled with him until he fell asleep."

"Seriously Beth?" Belle put her tablet down and turned to face Bethany. "He's not a baby."