Welcome Home
by Winter

Chapter 2

After about an hour, a cramp in his leg forced Terry to move. His tears had long since abated, and he smiled happily as he returned the kiss she had given him earlier. Not really knowing what to do, he decided to go hunting for his half-remembered playroom. Surely Tanya wouldn't mind if he looked around a bit? But first he needed something to drink.

He remembered that the kitchen door was the first door on the left as you walked in through the front door, and made his way there. This was a room he hadn't been in all that much, since the family had mostly taken their meals in the adjoining dining room, but he did remember sneaking in there from time to time to steal a snack when his mother was busy. Grinning at that memory, he walked quietly across the kitchen floor to the fridge and opened it. The first thing he saw was a large pitcher filled with lemonade, and he licked his lips as he put it on the counter top, then looked for a glass. He drank two full glasses of the delightfully cool lemonade before putting the pitcher back into the fridge and washing his glass. It wasn't as sweet as his mother used to make it, but he liked it anyway as it tasted more of the lemons. No longer hungry or thirsty, he was ready to go exploring.

As he walked back up the stairs, he remembered that he had only been able to pack a small bag when his mother had taken him with her and left the house, and what he had decided to keep as he returned here had barely filled two small suitcases. But maybe some of his old toys were still around. He went back to his own room and started opening closets and drawers, but they were all depressingly empty. If anything had been saved, it must have been stored away.

There would be a staircase leading to the attic down the hall, he knew, but that thought sent a shiver down Terry's spine. He had always been afraid of the attic, but strangely enough even more afraid of those stairs. He shuddered as he recalled one evening when his father had forgotten to close the door to the staircase. Little Terry had been on his way to the bathroom when a sudden draft made him think that one of the windows at the end of the hall had been left ajar. He had gone to check, only to come face to face with the dark, horrible wide-opened mouth of the staircase door. Certain that something would spring at him any second, he had spent several agonising minutes slowly making his way up to the door to close it. But he had succeeded, and after that he had been slightly less afraid. Some of that fear was back now, though, as he passed the thankfully closed door in the half-darkness of the hall.

Beyond it, still glancing over his shoulder now and then, he started opening the other doors. The safe ones. One by one he looked into the other rooms, memories returning each time. There was his father's office, although the old computer had been replaced by a modern, smaller and less interesting-looking one. There was the master bedroom, which had been remade and brought up no memories. It looked unused, and Terry felt a slight sting of grief when he realised why. Nobody was left who would sleep there.

Then there was his mother's office, which was mostly filled with boxes that he didn't dare to open. Not without asking Tanya first. Next was a small gym which he couldn't remember at all; he didn't even know what had been there before. Then a few guest rooms, and he had covered all of the upper floor. All except the attic. The old fear returned with full strength now, and he scolded himself for being such a coward. He was big now! He shouldn't be scared like some snot-nosed kit!

But he was scared.

The door looked so plain, so ordinary, yet he knew with frightening certainty that if he opened it he would get frightened out of his wits. Shivering now, he walked slowly up to it and turned the handle, telling himself he needed to find his old stuff, otherwise he would just lie awake all night being mad at himself for chickening out. It was also a challenge; to show himself how much he had grown, how much stronger and braver he was now. The door creaked open, revealing nothing but darkness. Closing his eyes, Terry felt around until he found the light switch, then flicked it on. With a sigh of relief, he saw that the staircase wasn't really anything special. Just some old wooden steps leading upwards. He grinned as most of his old fears died away.

"Must've been more scared of the memory than of you," he told the stairs as he walked up them. "You're no scary at all anymore."

He opened the door to the attic without a hint of fear, then turned on the lights. It was dusty up there, and he thought he could smell mildew. Right in front of him were a couple of medium-sized boxes, and his heart leapt with joy as he read 'Terry's Stuff' on one of them. Grinning widely, he opened it, and soon he was crying happy tears again as he picked through things he didn't even know how badly he had missed.

* * * * * *

Tanya stretched and yawned as she sat up on the couch. A glance at the clock showed that it was well past midnight. Good thing it was summer; getting up to class in the morning would have been awful. She decided to look in on Terry one more time, maybe even get him up so he could brush his teeth before turning in for the night. To her surprise, she could smell him in the living room, even though she knew they had gone straight to his room when he had arrived. She smiled, wagging her tail absent-mindedly. How sweet of him to let her sleep.

She walked up the stairs and opened the door to his room, and was only mildly surprised to find the bed empty. The lights coming from the attic stairs made her chuckle. She remembered how scared Terry had been of that staircase, but obviously he had overcome that fear. But he hadn't overcome his curiosity. Even as a little kit, he had always been curious, eager to explore and to find out, to stick his nose into anything and everything without bothering to check if it belonged there or not. Tanya remembered that she had found this cute, even though their parents had been more or less annoyed at his constant poking around things. She walked up the stairs, pushing down on each step to make it creak, so she wouldn't startle him. The sight that greeted her when she entered the attic almost made her heart skip a beat. Terry was sitting on the floor, surrounded by his old toys and things, looking like the pure embodiment of happiness. He turned around and faced her with a tear-cheeked grin, holding up a tattered old teddy bear. The sight was among the cutest things Tanya had ever seen, and she couldn't help but smile warmly at her brother.

"I found Mr Cuddles," he whispered, rubbing his eyes. "I'd forgotten about him."

Tanya sat down next to him, and together they spent the next couple of hours going through all his stuff. It seemed that every toy, from the most expensive Wolf Star spaceship down to the tiniest marble, held some fond memory for the boy. She took in every word, every little story, letting Terry's clear voice and happy giggles wash over her, making her feel truly happy and fully alive for the first time since her father's death. Terry was in the middle of a story about how he had been playing catch with one of the neighbour kids, when Tanya snatched the tennis ball that had been the object of the story right out of his hands.

"Hey!"

Growling as deeply as his unbroken voice would let him, he pounced her. They wrestled around for a while, laughing and screaming and tickling each other until she finally let him win. Falling on her back, holding the ball in her mouth, she pretended that she was unable to fend him off, allowing herself to be pinned down with her arms full of boy. Panting and grinning, Terry held her hands down, then leaned in to grab the ball with his teeth. At the last second, though, Tanya spat it out, and instead she licked his nose. He sat up, his jaw dropping, and he forgot completely to hold her hands. With a swift move she scooped him up, ignoring his indignant squeals, and flipped him over on his back. Before he could object, she kissed his cheek, then his lips, then his nose before she released him.

She had expected him to cough and sputter at being kissed by a girl, but instead he just blushed, then hugged her. She wrapped her arms around his thin back, patting and stroking him as they hugged, but then suddenly she felt a slight pain as he yanked her tail. With a yelp, she tossed her head back just in time to see a widely grinning Terry move in for another kiss. A longer one this time, more than the little pecks she had given him. Reflexively, she half opened her lips, but she managed to stop herself before turning it into a tongue kiss. For a few seconds, they sat there staring at each other, both blushing with their ears laid flat against their heads.

Then, as if on cue, they both started giggling, then laughing, and they ended up rolling around on the floor, laughing and hugging and even kissing again, until they finally sat up, sneezing and coughing from all the dust. Tanya caught her breath first, and waited until Terry, too, had stopped coughing before she pointed at his dirt-streaked muzzle and started laughing again. In response, Terry grabbed Mr Cuddles and threw the teddy bear in her face. Soon they were wrestling again, until more coughing and sneezing made Tanya hold up her hand in protest.

"All right, all right," she coughed. "I surrender, little brother. You win."

"Yah!" He held out his fingers in a victory 'V' sign, then sneezed again. "When was the last time you cleaned this place?"

"I don't think we've ever cleaned it." She tossed Mr Cuddles back to Terry. "If you want the job, it's yours."

"Might be worth it. What's in all the other boxes?"

"I don't know. Some of it is grandpa Ben's stuff, I guess."

"Cool. Antiques?"

"I doubt it. The stuff that's worth showing off is already on display downstairs." She got to her feet and offered a hand to her brother. He took it, smiling warmly as she helped him up. "Come on, let's go downstairs and get cleaned up."

"Can Mr Cuddles come, too?" He clutched the old teddy bear to his chest and eyed her pleadingly. "Please?"

"Sure. He can have a ride in the washing machine while you and I have a shower. He's all dirty, too."

"Can we use the bathtub? Please, Tanya?"

"So, you've seen that?" He nodded. "Together?"

"Yes, please." Another nod, this time accompanied by a shy smile and a wagging tail. "If you want."

"All right, I don't see why not."

"Yeah!" Terry started to run towards the stairs, but changed his mind and turned around. "Uhm, can we leave the toys and stuff for tomorrow? I'm kinda tired."

"Okay, sounds like a good idea. I'm tired, too."

* * * * * *

Terry acted concerned when Tanya started the washing machine, fidgeting about how Mr Cuddles would be able to breathe, if he wouldn't get dizzy doing all that spinning around, and if they had used enough washing powder to get him cleaned up good. Tanya just laughed and called him silly, but he was too tired to start another fight. As they walked back upstairs towards the bathroom, he yawned widely, finding that his cheeks hurt from all the laughing. He wasn't really used to that.

He glanced at Tanya, only to find her looking right back at him. They both grinned, and Terry blushed slightly. Part of him wanted to give her yet another hug and thank her over and over again, not just for taking him in but also for making him laugh. For making him feel happier than he thought he ever would. And for being so beautiful, he thought to himself, blushing deeper with his ears flicking back and forth. Yet at the same time, he was afraid that getting emotional would only make him cry again, and he didn't want to spoil their good mood.

So he just followed his sister into the bathroom and watched her open the taps to fill the tub. Only then did he realise that they would have to get naked in front of each other, and he almost regretted asking her to bathe together. But instead he gritted his teeth and started taking his clothes off, determined not to act like a shy little kit. Why should he get embarrassed about taking a bath? Yet he did. When he slipped out of his briefs, he laid his ears flat against his head, and he felt his face burn. As quickly as he could, he got into the bath and sat down on the narrow ledge that ran all around the tub, even though the water wasn't yet deep enough to cover anything. He tried his best not to stare as Tanya undressed, but he couldn't help stealing a glance or two.

Although she was quite thin, she had a much more trimmed body than their mother. Probably, Terry thought, because of the gym room. Her stomach muscles looked tight, almost forming a 'six-pack'. But before he could take a second look she pulled her panties down, and he hurriedly looked away, blushing deeper than ever. A glimpse of dark pubic fur played before his mind's eye, contrasting against her pure-white stomach. She got into the tub and sat down opposite him. Terry looked around, pretending to admire the tiles, the wallpaper, even the awful pink curtain with the little hearts, anything to avoid looking directly at his sister. While he, himself, had put his hands over his lap to cover things up, she didn't even try to. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her smile softly as she looked at him, and he blushed again.

"Don't be embarrassed, Terry, please," she said, her voice so low he could barely hear it over the running water. "We used to take baths together all the time back before. Back when we lived together."

"Really?" He tried to look at her face, but his eyes kept being drawn to her naked breasts. They were bigger than his mother's, more rounded and firm. Pink nipples showed through her white chest fur, and he found it difficult to look away. Luckily, she sat with her legs closed, so he didn't have to be tempted into looking... elsewhere. Seconds passed, and he felt ever so awkward for not finding words to say. "I... I can't really remember..."

"You used to have a little plastic duck, and some boats, and we used to play with them until our fingers and toes were all crinkled up." Terry giggled, glad to have the tension relieved by some humour. He finally managed to meet her eyes, and match her warm smile with one of his own. "And afterwards we'd have to clean the entire bathroom, because we splashed water all over it. We had a smaller tub back then."

"I think I remember some of it. You used to blow-dry my fur, didn't you?"

"Yes. If you're nice, I'll do it again, after we've cleaned up the mess."

"What mess?"

"You had to ask, baby brother..."

Tanya reached down into the water, which was now filling more than half the tub, and scooped up a handful of water which she splashed into Terry's face. Sputtering and gasping with surprise, he got two more facefuls before he was able to start splashing back. Soon they were wrestling again, fighting to get each other as wet as possible, while making a big mess on the floor and the walls of the bathroom. Even as he got dunked, Terry couldn't help being happy. The tension and the embarrassment were all but gone now, and he was able to enjoy the bath to the full even after the playing came to a halt.

He didn't even mind standing up so Tanya could wash him, although he was glad that she left his private bits for him to clean on his own. Some of his embarrassment returned when it was his turn to wash her, but he quenched it by telling himself again that she was his angel sister, and that he wouldn't ever have to be shy around her. Yes, she was beautiful and yes, he loved her very much, but there was no reason to make a fuss. She washed him, he washed her, that was all there was to it. He couldn't bring himself to touch her breasts, though, even if he did catch himself wondering if they were as soft as they looked.

Instead, they both let themselves sink deep into the water while they finished their washing. Tanya pulled the plug to let the water out, then turned on the shower so they could get rinsed. A few minutes later, they had got rid of the splash-mess, and Terry got to thoroughly enjoy the hot air of the blow-drier.