Family Reunion: Epilogue
by BangBear


Trevor smelled the faint scent of bacon wafting through the air as he slowly returned to the waking world. A groggy groan rumbled in his chest as he pushed himself up off the mattress and looked around his room. His sister lay next to him on her side and facing him, just as naked as he was and still asleep. He thought about some possibilities with her in that state, but ultimately decided against it. His mom waited a while to let her revenge simmer, his sister would probably make his nose bloody right away.

Instead he opted to just admire with his eyes for a little while as he grew more awake. Trevor sat himself up and let a yawn creep out of his mouth unabated, and loud enough to quicken his sister. A sleepy moan alerted him to her state, turning to greet her. “Mornin’.”

“Mnnn,” she groaned, pulling the sheet over her face.

“C’mon, mom’s making breakfast.” He yanked the sheet up off her, the girl groaning with reproach. She didn’t fight for it back though, since she had the sense it was already a bit late.

“What time is it?” she asked, her sleepy eyes still closed and balancing on the edge of consciousness.

“Almost eleven,” he answered after a glance at a digital clock. He swung his legs off the bed and accidentally kicked an empty beer can into another, and then stood himself up after a moment of acclimation. “Come on. I’m gonna eat everything if you don’t get roll out of bed.” He fished some pajama bottoms from off the floor.

“Throw me my stuff.” She extended her arms towards him and grabbed at the empty air repeatedly.

“God, you’re lazy. Are you already pregnant?” he joked, tossing her shirt her way. The question shook her from her sleepiness and her eyes shot open.

“Oh god, I forgot that happened yesterday.”

“Were you actually trying to get knocked up?” he asked her. She didn’t answer him, and just looked up at the ceiling. “You know that’d be bad right?”

“I know, it’s just… I…” She sighed and looked away from him. “I really like the risk,” she admitted shamefully, pulling her shirt over her head slowly to keep her face hidden. He looked down at her as he got his legs into his pants and shook his head at her.

“That’s a dangerous kink, sis,” he warned. “Like, dude you made me knot you when we took those pills. You’re a menace. Dad’s probably gonna kick your ass later.”

“Well what about you and mom? You seemed pretty happy with the idea of doing the same to her.” Her words were half tease, half accusation. A pause hung in the air as they looked at each other. 

“...I mean it’s kinda hot...” He tossed her jeans and underwear at her.

“Ha! See?!”

“Alright, shut up. I gotta go pee,” he said while leaving his room.

“Me too.” She got her underwear on but left her jeans on the floor next to the bed. She got herself up and left the room with him, the two heading for the bathroom. They spread toothpaste on their brushes, and then they made their way to the toilet as they brushed. Alissa sat down on it and Trevor stood in front of her, aiming his stream between her legs and into the bowl below. 

“We’re so good at saving water,” she boasted.

“The best.”

Downstairs, Joanna laid out the eggs, bacon, and homemade pancakes onto serving platters, then brought it to the table where her husband had just sat down in his robe, coffee in one hand and his phone with his morning articles in the other. “Anything good?” she asked, pouring her fresh, warm milk from a pitcher into his coffee.

“There’s renovations in talks for City Hall. Might get some work out of that If it’s approved.”

“Ooh, that’d be a nice project to have under your belt.” She scooped his plate full of her cooking, then her own. He thanked her with a kiss on the cheek. She was about to head back to the kitchen before she heard her kids coming down the stairs. “Ah, there you two are. Just in time,” she greeted, serving their plates as well.

“I woke her up. I’m all responsible now,” Trevor joked.

“Responsible people don’t usually smell like the back of a dispensary,” Harrison jabbed as his son sat down next to him.

“They do if they’re the ones doing QA.” His father chuckled at the quick reply.

“That’s what you call it, huh? Just take a shower after breakfast.” They agreed on a truce on that for now while they ate.

“Drinks?” Joanna asked from the kitchen. Alissa asked for orange juice, and Trevor for milk. She returned with a filled cup for her daughter, and filled Trevor’s at the table before sitting down to enjoy breakfast with her family.

They ate mostly in silence, other than stainless steel clattering on ceramic and the errant compliment on the quality of cooking. Alissa couldn’t help but feel her eyes gravitating diagonally across the table, towards her father, who seemed content to keep reading while he ate. Out of the corner of his own eye though, he noticed a lack of movement from her direction, and his attention turned towards her.

“...something on your mind, sweetheart?” It seemed to snap her from her little trance.

“Oh, uhm…” She looked back down at her food.

“Is it about last night?” he pressed. She looked away from him, but it was obvious something was bothering her. “We’ll talk about it.” His attention returned to his own food and his news. Trevor looked between them while chewing a big piece of pancake, and then to his mom. She looked unbothered by the exchange, so he didn’t push, preferring to remain mostly secure in the idea that she was just pranking him last night and he wasn’t about to become a dad.

The four of them finished at roughly the same, and Trevor got up to bring his dishes to the sink when his mother spoke up. “You can leave them there, I’ll take care of it. Go take your shower.” He set them back down on the table and headed off, and as soon as they were sure he was out of earshot, the parents started their grilling session.

“So,” Harrison started as he locked his phone and turned his attention to his daughter. “You want to tell us what’s going on?” 

“What’s there to say?” She twirled her fork on her empty plate, watching the syrup drip down the metal.

“I think there’s plenty to say about trying to get your dad to impregnate you,” Joanna chimed in.

“I’m not trying to…” There was a pause, and her parents let it linger as long as it needed to until she felt the pressure to break the silence herself. “I just… I…” she let her fork drop to the table and put her hands in her face. “I don’t know… I get really turned on by the risk. Like…” she sighed and folded her arms on the table to rest her head on. “It’s not the same if I know nothing’s gonna happen. It almost feels like a waste…” 

Her parents looked at each other, both of them concerned. Joanna opened her mouth to speak, but was unknowingly interrupted by Alissa continuing her admission. “And… I… wanna know what it’s like…”

“...What what’s like, sweetie?” her mother asked. Her shoulders raised, her thumbs nervously rubbing against the other fingers in her fist.

“Being pregnant…” She muffled into her arms.

“What was that?”

“Being pregnant.” She muffled again, barely louder this time.

“Sweetie we can’t hear you behind your arms.”

“Being pregnant!” She pushed up off the table, hands flat against the wood. She realized a moment later how loud she just yelled that and remorsefully looked to her mom and dad.

“Well then…” Harrison removed his reading glasses and started polishing the lenses on his robe. “I guess that’s not too surprising.”

“What your dad means is, I was pretty baby crazy at your age, too. Though, I didn’t try to solve that within the family.”

“I do it with other guys, too, you know. It worked out pretty good for you anyway, right?”

“When I told your father I was pregnant he proposed on the spot. You know how lucky that is, Liss?” Her daughter sighed, unable to refute her. Harrison stood up and walked to a cabinet in the kitchen to retrieve a carton. “We don’t mind if you want to start a family young, but you have to be sure it’s going to be a strong family. You have to find the right person, first.”

“I’m 19. I can make my own decisions.”

“Not while they involve inbreeding with me, you can’t,” he said, stern and curt.

“Then what was all that last night?!”

“It was testing a hunch, and we were right. Now we know you’re self-sabotaging your birth control so we can take steps to fix it.” Harrison stepped next to her and placed the carton in the table in front of her plate, his other hand placed reassuringly on her back. It was a package of morning-after. “Take these. One today, and one every morning after you do something, until your next refill of pills comes in. Then, you take them right. No games, this time.”

“But-”

“No ‘buts.’” He slid the box closer to her. “You had your fun. Now it’s time to be responsible.” She didn’t move to take the carton.

“Alissa,” her mother said sternly. She finally relented under the pressure of both parents, opening the box and reluctantly removing a pill from the blister pack. She swallowed it quickly with the remainder of her orange juice, and when her father saw it go down, he let up on her. 

“Thank you, sweetheart.” He kissed her on the top of her head. “Find yourself a good man. One that’s not taken, preferably,” he added in as a joke to his wife. “Then you can get as knocked up as you can manage.”

“And we’ll take lots of baby picture,” Joanna added. Trevor came down the steps just in time to hear that last bit.

“Who’s taking baby pics?” he asked, tussling his hair in his fingers.

“You and me. Congrats!” she said to him. He froze.

“Wha- no, bullshit! Show me the test!” She chuckled, her husband taking over.

“We were messing with you, you got us. Mom’s not getting knocked up any time soon. But on a serious note,” he lifted up the carton of contraceptive. “Alissa’s on a strict regimen of these. Make sure she takes them.”

Trevor sighed, relieved that he wasn’t actually a father. “Just trying to teach a lesson, huh?” His father nodded to him. “Pretty fucked way to do it, but I get it. We’ll be careful.”

“Thank you. You can go shower now, Alissa,” Joanna said. Her daughter rose up, head still slumped, and gave her father a hug.

“Sorry, Dad.” His arms wrapped around her.

“I forgive you. Now go get cleaned up, Electra, you’re getting your stink on my robe.” She giggled, and he pat her back before letting her go and watching her climb the steps. Once she was gone he turned to his son. “So, any plans today?”

“We’re gonna hang with Sophie.”

“Oh, that nice girl. Take these with you, just in case,” he said, handing Trevor the carton. “Give her one tomorrow morning.”

“Aye aye. What about you two?”

“We’re going to stay home and…” Joanna reached for Harrison’s hand as she spoke, smiling up at him. “Catch up.” 

Upstairs, Alissa got her towel for her shower and entered the bathroom. She locked the door, turned on the shower, and looked at herself in the mirror while leaning against the counter. Her breathing was uneasy, thoughts of last night and her parents’ lecture echoing in her mind. It wasn’t fair, she thought. 

Suddenly, she was struck with an idea.

Her head turned to the door. It was definitely locked. Then, the shower. Alissa grabbed a bar of soap and gave it a test drop from waist height. It was a dull thud, and more importantly, hard to hear over the shower. Her heart raced, and she reconsidered her sudden inspiration. Anxious nerves fluttered through her body through her legs and arms. Her thumb rolled over her fist’s fingers and her knees turned towards each other. With directed willpower, she made her feet walk forward, and then kneel.

Alissa lifted the lid of the toilet and looked down into it. She could faintly see her distorted reflection in the water of the bowl. Her breath was shaky, uneven, and heavy. 

“Do it,” she told herself, unsure if the words were spoken quietly or simply in her mind.

A single breath to help steady herself, just before she jammed two fingers to the back of her mouth. A gag, and then her stomach emptied itself on the same path it was filled from. Quietly, she thought. They can’t hear this, she instructed herself as acid burned her throat.

She tightened her abdomen, fighting her reflex to simply cough as loudly as she could to clear her throat and channeled that to small, controlled exhales. She eased herself back to a normal breathing pattern slowly, and looked down at what she’d done. Just there, right on the edge of the bowl, was that damn pill her parents forced on her. She reached up, her hand trembling with nerves, and pulled down on the handle to watch it be sucked away and vanish into the vile waterways. Where it rightfully belonged.