All characters in this story are legal adults, over the age of 18. There is no sexual activity involving any young peoples.
One thing about my family is that we love to get together. Holiday parties and Sunday dinners are occasions where everybody is welcome to join if they can make it. We make huge meals and drink wine late into the night. We're all pretty tightly interconnected. Every time that I think of home, I imagine it filled with people.
One great thing about that is I get to see my nieces and nephews pretty often. I absolutely could not handle being a parent myself. NOOOOO Thank you. But, I do love the little brats and I get to watch them grow up.
Neil is my oldest nephew, my sister Sherri's kid. He was... definitely not planned. Kinda rocked Sherri's whole world. She wasn't with his dad for very long, and they REALLY don't get along. Neil was seven when she met Bill, then they got married and had two kids: Lana and Freddie. Those two have definitely had life better than Neil did growing up. They are special to Sherri because they are Bill's. The four of them make up this picture-perfect family, whereas Neil is the misfit reminder of Sherri's ex.
Don't get me wrong. It's not like they abuse the kid or neglect him. He's not a total outcast, he just doesn't quite fit with the rest of them.
My brother Bobby's oldest kid, Maisie, is five years younger than Neil, which is a big gap when you're young. He gets along with his cousins, but they don't hang out together. Sometimes, the little ones scurry away to the playroom the second they see each other, and we barely hear from them all evening... Well, that's half-true.
There's almost invariably one point during the night when one of the littles comes running down the hall, screaming for Mom or Dad because cousin didn't share a toy or wasn't playing the boardgame by the right rules. This was typically met with a parent, already a glass into the night, telling the kids they needed to figure it out, get along and stop being dramatic.
Poor Neil was usually left sitting on the couch by himself while the little ones played. He'd bring a book to keep himself occupied while the grown-ups talked around him. This kid is always patient and respectful. I doubt he is even capable of being demanding. I make it a point to spend some time with just him at every dinner and every party. We don't like go off to a separate room or whatever, but I always make sure that he is the only person who has my attention, even if it's just for a few minutes.
I can see the way he lights up when I talk to him, further proof if I needed any of how starved for attention he really is, even if no one else notices. He tells me about his books or school or anything on his mind and I listen like no one else in the world exists.
I know he had a big crush on me. When he was little, he used to give me notes he'd written, "I love you Auntie Stella," or "You're so pretty and bootiful." I'm almost positive he was too young to know he'd mispelled that one, but I did laugh about it later. I've kept every note he ever gave me. I'll probably use them to embarrass him someday, maybe pulll them out when he starts bringing a girlfriend to family parties.
We had decided one year to go on a big cruise as a family. All of us, sailing away in the sparkling waters of the Caribbean. I had the idea pretty early on in the planning and I told Sherri that Neil could share my room. She offered some weak protest about me having to look after her kid and him being a burden.
"First off," I told her, "he's an adult. He hardly needs to be babysat. Plus, you've got the kids and you can spend more time with Bill. Let Neil stay with me. He'll be out of your hair and one less thing for you to worry about." I didn't tell my sister how annoyed I was about her calling my nephew a burden. Neil's a GREAT kid who wouldn't even know how to cause trouble. I hate the way she talks about him.
Sherri agreed and I could tell she was relieved but kinda knew she wasn't supposed to be. Whatever.
We made plans, got the time off work, talked about the trip at every family dinner and then, it was time. I told everyone I'd meet them at the cruise terminal. Bobby offered to let me ride with him and his kids. No Thank you. My big brother's driving is not the way I want to begin my relaxing vacation.
Went through customs and onboarding, a bunch of miserable people who have to verify paperwork for tourists in Hawaiian shirts whose brains have already been set to vacation mode. I was in the waiting area when I saw Sherri and her crew.
"Auntie Stella!" yelled Sherri and Bill's son Brayden. "It's cruisin' time!"
His sister Lana threw herself into me, "We're so excited!" The kids were practically bouncing.
I hugged them both and looked up at Neil. (It's still really weird that kid is taller than me, even if it's been a few years now.) "How's my roommate today?"
He wasn't looking at me, but instead just watching the crowd of people around us. I immediately recognized what was going on, and I INTENDED to give him some space, but then my sister decided to snap her fingers in front of his face like he was a dog... No, I take that back. You shouldn't snap at dogs like that either, "HELLO!? Your Aunt is talking to you!" She looked at me and dramatically rolled her eyes, "Neil's being extra SPECIAL today." It was one of her favorite ways to deride him and it bugged me every single time. It was her way of complaining about him without ACTUALLY calling him any names.
Neil wasn't being rude or ignoring me. He was overwhelmed by the crowd. I'd seen his anxiety before, when we'd done trips to busy places like theme parks. He wasn't comfortable when there were tons of people around him, especially when he felt like he was trapped and couldn't avoid being in people's way. His shoulders were folded in. He tried to make himself as small as possible and he would relax when he was in a more open space. Travel is stressful. Why couldn't Sherri understand this and just give him a few minutes.
It was in that moment, watching my sister berate her son when he hadn't done anything wrong, that I made my decision. I was going to give my nephew a trip he would NEVER forget. Neil blinked and frowned at her snap, then looked at me, "Hi Aunt Stella." He smiled, having absolutely no idea how much his world was about to be rocked.
Ok, I should be honest. The thought of having sex with Neil on this cruise HAD occurred to me. For one thing, I'm the only sibling who's still single. I doubt I'll ever want to get married, certainly never met a guy and thought, "Yep. Him. I want to spend the whole rest of my life with THAT guy." And IF I did have someone like that, I'd have to know them for a long time, be absolutely sure it was the real thing before I EVER brought a guy home to meet my family. Nope.
So, I knew that this week was going to be a dry one for me, sex wise. Not the part I was most looking forward to. But, sharing a room with a tall, good-looking young man... I could certainly do worse than Neil.
I'm not saying I suggested him staying with me just so I could seduce him, but I had been debating the possibility for a while at that point. My debate was over.
