Daniel couldn't cry anymore. He had no tears left. He just stared ahead in a daze. People had talked to him, but he had no idea what they had said. The only thing he could do was just stand there. The rain was pouring. It's sound on his umbrella was all he could hear.
They say rain at a wedding means good luck. He wondered what it meant at a funeral. His stepmother didn't need luck. She was in a better place. A place with no pain, suffering, tears, or Covid. She joined their father, who succumbed to Covid only two weeks earlier. The human race was under attack by a microscopic organism that was barely understood. The carnage was devastating.
His stepsister, Chris, let out a moan as their mother's coffin was lowered into the ground. The tarp covered the fresh dirt covering their father, lying in the plot just to the side. Two wonderful people. Gone.
Both of their parents were nurses. They met when Daniel and Chris were both 14. It was awkward getting a stepsister who also was dealing with raging hormones, but they kept things in check. One thing that helped was that they instantly were comfortable talking with each other. Daniel felt it came from their parents. Nurses tend to be good natured and easy going. Chris felt it was because she was a crab and he a scorpion, she was into astrology at the time.
Their parents both died in December. Needless to say it was a horrible Christmas that year. They had both just turned 18, but the estate was put in probate. Calling it an estate was a joke. It was a small split level on a postage stamp lot. At least it was in a good neighborhood. Wood River, Nebraska didn't exactly have a bad neighborhood.
Daniel and Chris spent that Christmas with Aunt Kate in Grand Island. They rarely left their rooms. Everyone was afraid to talk to them. Everyone was afraid they might get Covid from them.
Chris was normally a deeply religious person. She was having a crisis in faith. Aunt Kate went so far as to scold her about it. The churches were all closed, leaving her no one else to talk about it with but Daniel.
He remembered the first time she came to talk to him. They left the door open. Aunt Kate was being weird about them being alone together.
"Did she yell at you again?" asked Daniel.
"No, I will never talk to her again about it. I wish I had your calm."
"It only seems that way," he said. "I am just as confused as you, and afraid. What will we do? We have no parents, no jobs, and no money. The probate on the house could be months, and we can't afford it if we do get it."
"I know." She started crying. "That's what I don't understand. Why would God let this happen? How can I worship Him when he has forsaken us? Will we be homeless? No one can get a job right now."
Daniel put his arm around her and let her cry. Sometimes it's better to just listen and say nothing, especially when you don't have an answer.
He did get an idea, but Aunt Kate stepped in and made Chris help her with dinner.
That was the last time they saw Aunt Kate. She died of Covid three days later. After that the two were basically homeless. They were cursed. Everyone around them died. No relatives would have them.
--------------
Daniel cringed at the memory. The pastor was asking them to close their eyes and remember the lowest point of their life. A time they didn't think they would make it. Then he had them open their eyes. "You made it," he said. "Remember what got you through it."
Daniel smiled down at Chris. He knew the pastor was going to say God had gotten them through it, but a lot of it came from each other. They were closer now than they had ever been. They had shared scraps of food, slept on boxes, and waited in lines to get help that seemed to increase in length every week. Covid had ravaged the country.
Now they were in the home left to them by their parents and about to celebrate their first Christmas without them. It was sad, but they knew that both parents were smiling down on them. The pastor was making a point they already knew, the tough time they went through had strengthened them, made them better.
Daniel worked for a law firm making a fantastic salary. That allowed Chris to go to the local college. Most of it was online, and Daniel worked from home, so they spent a lot of time together.
They still hadn't addressed "the incident", however.
While sleeping on boxes one night they huddled together under an awning. It was raining and freezing. Daniel wrapped his coat around her to keep her warm.
Eventually they had pressed every bit of skin they could against each other to keep from freezing. Chris was woken from sleep by something poking into her buttocks. It was Daniel. He was sound asleep and had a raging hard-on. Then he mumbled her name.
At first she started giggling, but then the sadness of their situation hit her. The probate was taking forever. They might freeze to death before it was complete. They were lying on boxes and her stepbrother had a hard on and was dreaming about her. Could anything be more pathetic?
She started to press and release her ass against his cock. It responded by poking her even harder. She started to work her hand down towards it, but decided she shouldn't take advantage of him while he was asleep.
"Daniel?" She nudged him awake.
"Huh?" he said sleepily.
"Would you like me to take care of that for you?"
He woke up with a start. "No. No. I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"It is OK, Daniel. It is a natural thing. It is wet and cold and our bodies are close."
He pulled back some. She squiggled back with him. "Don't you dare let me freeze," she said.
"But.."
She turned and put a finger on his lip. "Listen. Both of our parents were nurses. They taught us to be open and understanding about how things work. They also were the only reason we call each other brother and sister. That reason is now gone."
"I just don't want something to happen that later drives a wedge between us. I don't think I could take that. You are all I have left."
"I will never leave you. We have been through too much together. I'm not like that skank girlfriend you had, what was her name?"
"Chris."
"That's right! What an insult to my name. Wait a minute, were you dreaming about her?"
He turned red in the face. "No, I was dreaming about you."
"I like the fact you are always blatantly honest," she said. "Please, let me help. It doesn't have to mean a thing. Just let it happen."
It had been so long for him he agreed. It didn't take long. They carried a roll of paper towel with them which she used to clean him up. Toilet paper was impossible to find.
A month later they were in their home, sleeping in warm beds, and never mentioned it again.
Until tonight.
As they drove home from church, Chris was watching the town go by. It was a tiny town. They were still outcasts. Rumours about them were rampant.
"I hear the McKenzies have said we should be burned at the stake for practicing witchcraft," she said.
"I told you not to fly that car during the day when the muggles could see."
She grinned at him. "I think it was you who caused it. Your firm backed the opposition to the Halloween ban."
"Closed minded rednecks. I grew up in this town. Halloween was never a problem before."
"People are scared. They grasp at whatever makes them feel comfortable."
"Like we did on a cold, rainy night."
