"Do you know how hard it is to not ask him about it? Or give Mum a hint? Or--"
"I want to ask my mom about it, too," Aliya interrupted. "I'd like to ask her why she's sleeping with a married man, not to mention the married man is married to her
mother, but they were together even when they were married to different people. She just didn't luck out in the end."
"It's funny," Cyllia chuckled, "
my parents are the least messed-up! There has to be a joke in there somewhere. Aliya?"
"Yes, yes, you're
so lucky," Kylara grumbled. "Meanwhile, I don't know what to talk about with my dad! Every time I see him, there are these
images--"
"Ergh." Aliya shuddered. "Now
I'm going to have images, too! My mom, your dad--just talk about books. Books are excellent topics of conversation."
"Now I am also going to have images, so I'll be in my room practicing folding napkins. And burning metal. Burning metal is good."
"Hi, Dad," Cyllia greeted her dad with a hug. "For the record, I do
not have images of you and mom together, and I don't have images of other people, either. Horrible, nightmarish images. Can I borrow a gas-mask?"
"How was your day, Ky?"
"Oh, you know, good . . . say, have you read that new Harry Potter book? Number eight?"
"There's isn't an eighth Harry Potter book."
"Really? I'll go look that up right now."
She ended up watching TV with Jason, while Blake tutored Cyllia. Cyllia had been skipping classes because she was very easily bored, and sleeping through the few she did attend, so she was in desperate need of help. Of course, Cyllia herself didn't care about that--she was going to be an inventor, anyway, so school wasn't important. She was only taking advantage of the opportunity so she could listen to Kylara trying to make conversation with Blake.
"So, we're reading this lovely book in English," Kylara announced to the room at large. "It's about a man who cheats on his wife with his stepdaughter. Do you think people have affairs in real life, Dad? What about you, Jason? What do you think about cheating on one's partner with one of her close relatives?"
Jason winced as Treasure entered the room, and placed an arm over her shoulders. Kylara continued to ramble uninterrupted. "I mean, really, why would anyone do anything like that? How painful would it be to discover that?"
Grace came home from work to find the entire family in the living room with their assorted activities, Kylara ranting, Treasure's face darkening with every word that came out of her mouth, Jason doing his best to calm her.
"Well, Dad? You never answered the question!"
"Sorry, Ky, I'm a little busy right now--"
What does she know? "Kylara, this is sort of a sore subject for everyone here." She glanced at Jason and Treasure, who were busy distracting themselves.
"Well, who is it a sore subject for, Grace? Is it a sore subject for
you? Or, maybe,
Dad?"
Both Cyllia and Aliya turned to look at their friend, then sighed. Some people just didn't know how to be subtle.
"If you must know, Kylara, Treasure and Jason were dating when we were teenagers, and then he cheated on her with me. He and I got married, Treasure and Blake married, then Jason cheated on me with Treasure. Blake cheated on Treasure with both me
and my mother, and, as it turns out, either man could have had three children, but instead Jason fathered my child and Treasure's, and Blake had a kid with Mist, otherwise known as
you. Does that clear everything up?"
"Erm . . ." she faltered, in a state of shock. "Yeah. Okay. Thanks."
"We were always meant to be together," Treasure whispered to her husband.
"Of course," Jason answered with a smile.
That's when Kylara realized--it must be Jason, not Blake! Aliya must have seen Grace with someone who she mistook for Kylara's dad. Clearly, Jason was the big cheater of the family, so it made sense that he would be resuming his life of evil!
She lingered in the living room as everyone else gradually left for bed, then hid in the kitchen. She saw her father standing in the doorway of the bedroom, scanning the hall before closing the door.
Kylara silently opened and closed the door to the outside, and crept down the stairs. There were windows in Blake's room, so she would be able to see if Grace was in there, too! Maybe Blake was even helping Grace and Jason meet. There were a thousand explanations that were all far more plausible than what Aliya and Cyllia thought.
Okay, she was in there talking to someone who was wearing the same shirt as Kylara's dad. That didn't mean anything.
Then, through the window, she saw something that even her large, intelligent brain could not twist into something positive.
Fighting the urge to smash on the window and yell at her dad, Kylara turned and walked away--up the steps, into the house, and across the hall to her room.
"I thought I saw something outside."
"Don't be so paranoid." Grace rolled her eyes. "We're being careful, not like when we were both married, and we didn't even get caught back then."
Nine minutes later, Grace hurried down the hall, not even bothering to get dressed. Behind her, Blake rolled over in bed, pretending to be asleep. Yes, they were being very careful this time, even if it meant cutting certain things short.
The next morning, Aliya cornered her mom in the kitchen while everyone else was still asleep. "Mom," she said bluntly, "are you and Blake having an affair?"
Grace gasped, startled, but regained her composure quickly. "No, Aliya, we're not having an affair. I hate to say it, but Mist is very old. I never liked her, and she never liked me, but I believe she wants Kylara to have a mother once she's gone, and that's why she's turning a blind eye."
"But . . . Blake is having an affair with you, right?"
She sighed. "Yes, sweetheart, we're having an affair, but it's more than that." Grace smiled, envisioning what would come. "We don't know what will happen next, but we do have ideas."
". . . so, have you ever thought about writing a book about the evils of cheating?"