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Emily listened while Emma spoke. The conversation had taken them from the river, back into town and to the Matthews’ house. Emma and Emily had gone upstairs, Mike following, but he was shut out as the door to Emma’s room closed in his face.
‘Wow, I’m a kid again,’ he thought, feeling eleven.
“Nice, man.”
“Give us awhile,” Emma said, just before closing the door. “I’ll talk to her.”
Mike shrugged, knowing it wouldn’t help to argue. He trotted back downstairs and back out to his truck, proceeding to unload it. Beth, Danni and Sarah pulled in and hopped out, Sarah coming over to help Mike with his truck as Danni and Beth went inside.
“So let me ask you something man,” the voice said as Mike was unloading.
‘Okay…’ Mike thought.
“Well, I’ve been curious as to the whole point of keeping secrets from your sisters.”
Mike thought quietly for a second while he put the fishing poles back in the shed. ‘What do you mean?’Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.
“Well, like not being in a pile of sisters right now. Why are you keeping them out of the loop since your memory came back?”
‘Wait a second man, you were the one that came up with the idea in the first place!’
“Yeah, but I’ve had time to think about it. I mean, it’s nice that you’re back to ‘deep-dicking’ Beth, but I really think you need to start fucking Sarah soon. She’s just going to be pissed that you didn’t tell her you were okay, ‘deep-dicking’ or not.”
Mike had moved back to the truck and was carrying another load back when Sarah came by, heading back to the truck.
Sarah smiled at him, and Mike nodded, returning her smile.
‘You have a point, but I’m still going to spend some time with Beth. She deserves it. Don’t worry, Sarah will get her time as well.’
“Hell, I ain’t worried.”
Sarah was in the kitchen putting away the leftover food and drinks as Mike came back inside. Beth was nowhere to be seen, Emma and Emily were alone in Emma’s room, and Danni was curled up on the couch watching TV. Mike almost leaned over to kiss her but stopped himself. He headed upstairs towards his room, determined to take a nap.
*****
Emma clicked the door closed and turned back to Emily, who sat at the edge of the bed.
“Okay, so this all kind of just happened?” Emily asked.
Emma nodded. “I mean, there are some complicated parts, like Mike hasn’t told Sarah that he’s all better, and he’s only just told Beth about it. He says it’s so that he can have some payback for us tormenting him, but it’s also probably to just spend time with each of us.”
“So what was this weekend about?”
Emma cleared her throat. “Mike cares about you. He knows you went through a lot out in California, and really doesn’t want to hurt you. He really didn’t know how to break it to you.”
“That he’s already taken?” Emily asked, knowing the answer.
Emma nodded. “We were actually trying to get you interested in Matt. I know it sounds dumb when you actually think about it, but it worked with a different girl that had found out about us.”
Emily nodded. “Mike and I are friends before anything else. I’m honestly not looking to start a new relationship with anyone right now, especially after California. You definitely don’t need to try and find me a replacement, though I appreciate the thought.”
Emma nodded. “It sounds really dumb, now that I think about it. I’m sorry,” she said, placing a hand on Emily’s thigh.
Emily smiled. “It came from a good place, so it’s okay.”
Emma was quiet for a few seconds, thinking about how to phrase her next questions.
“So how did you figure out that we were together?” she asked eventually.
Emily smiled. “Anyone spending time with you can see it pretty clearly, in my opinion. I mean, I guess I’m more observant than most if I’m the only one to figure it out without actually catching you in the act. People act different when they are around someone they are truly in love with. I can remember Mike back in high school. He never really had much to do with you guys. It was pretty clear that had changed when I saw you and your sisters around him. Clearly, your feelings for each other go deeper than siblings. He really loves you and your sisters. It’s actually pretty beautiful.”
Emma actually teared up a little, uncharacteristically. “He’s definitely a great boyfriend to have,” she said, smiling.
“I know he is,” Emily replied, returning the smile. “I’m not one to break up a happy relationship.”
Emma nodded, brushing at the corners of her eyes. “He’s definitely great in the sack too,” she said, giggling.
Emily smiled. “If he can take care of four different women, he’d have to be. That only makes me wish he’d been my first even more,” she said, with a frown.
Emma smiled at her. “I’m so glad you understand,” she said. “Ashley, the other girl that found out our little secret, wasn’t so easy to convince to be quiet.”
The conversation turned then, and after a few minutes, Emily stood to leave. “Thank you for explaining it all to me,” she said.
“Thanks for understanding,” Emma replied.
She turned and closed the door behind her, heading downstairs to leave.
*****
A loud knock roused Mike from his nap. He glanced over at the clock, the time showing that three hours had passed.
The door creaked open, Emma peering in. “Hey,” she said, closing the door behind.
Mike sat up, stretching his arms and yawning. “Hey,” he said, mid-yawn.
She moved towards his bed and sat down at the end. “So I talked to Emily,” she said.
Mike rolled his head back and forth, tossing the covers aside and standing. “What did she say?” he asked.
Emma smiled slightly as she stared at her brother’s back and buttocks. “Well, she didn’t actually catch you having sex with any of us, she just kind of figured it out,” she explained.
“Oh yeah?” he asked. “Are we that obvious?”
Emma shrugged. “Around each other, she said we act differently than we used to.”
Mike nodded. “I guess we’ll have to work on that,” he remarked.