Chapter 19 (1/2)

“Get the hell out of my house!” Mother shouted, pointing to the door.

It was at that moment that Rose blinked and shook her head. The realization of the words that came out of her mouth seemed to only just hit her. She had been so focused on “winning” the argument, that she really hadn’t even considered the ramifications of her own words. Whether they were truth or lies, they were cruel words, and even Rose knew it.

“Morgan, I’m sor-“

“Out!!!”

Rose closed her eyes, tears still running down her cheeks, but she didn’t say another word. She gave a single tight nod and then left the room. As she walked by mom, she stopped like she wanted to say something, but decided against it. When she reached the door, she stopped one last time.

“I’ll pack my bags and be out by tonight,” Rose spoke without looking back.

Once Rose left, the silence in the room was deafening. My two sisters spread their looks between me and mom. The two of us wouldn’t look each other in the eye. Mom’s face wore open guilt. I had no clue what expression I currently wore, but I knew it wasn’t a flattering one.

“Is it true?” The voice came out from a corner of the room, it was Madison’s voice, very strained and light. “Are you two… is Clyburn the father?”

Mom looked down, unable to answer. No matter what I said, this was an admission of guilt so plain that I couldn’t convince my sisters either way. Hannah suddenly stood up and stomped out of the room. She moved in a bristly manner.

“Honey, I-“ Mom tried to intercept Hannah, but she stepped right past mom and slipped out the door without a pause.

“I’ll talk to her,” I said, standing up.

Mom nodded slowly at that. It was almost like two parents splitting up the kids and having one talk to each about the reasons for their divorce. At least the situation felt that tense and unfortunate. Mostly, I just wanted to get out of the room. In truth, I was just running away too. I had feelings for Madison, so admitting to her my affair with mom was more painful. For whatever reason, I felt it’d be easier to talk to Hannah. Perhaps mom could successfully ease Madison’s mind.

However, Hannah must have bolted as soon as she left the door because when I walked out of the room, she was no longer in the hallway. I could only follow her back to her room, which I assumed was the place she had escaped to. I intended to kick down her door if she decided to lock herself in again. We really needed to talk about things. I didn’t want to keep hurting my precious little sister.

Fortunately, the guard dog Charlene had taken some time to herself. I was able to leave the room without being followed for once. I guess she didn’t expect our birthday party to end in such a circumstance. With mom watching me, she must have decided it was safe enough to take a break.

Thus, I was unhindered moving through the hallways. I was only halfway to Hannah’s room when a wailing cry stopped me in my tracks. I turned to the room the cry had come from, and I knew the room immediately. It was Aunt Rose’s room. I could hear her bawling inside. Even though things had just ended badly, with many faults laid at Aunt Rose’s feet, I felt compelled to turn towards her room.

My father, Noah, was not nearly as honorable of a man as he had portrayed himself. He was a liar and a cheater. Truth be known I wasn’t shaping up to be much better off myself. However, I felt like my father’s mistakes were my mistakes as well. Aunt Rose was a mess my father left behind when he parted Gaia prematurely. It was my responsibility as his son to settle these mistakes. So, I pushed open the door and stepped in.

It looked like Aunt Rose had started packing, but her packing had ceased after a few moments and she had collapsed on the bed. She was now huddled in a corner of the bed, weeping into her arms. It only took a moment before she heard the creak of the door and looked up to see me standing in her room. She immediately sat up and tried to straighten herself, however, the mess was already apparent.

Aunt Rose looked disheveled. Even so, she still had a certain beauty to her. She looked like a woman who had suffered much in silence. Despite myself, my heart went out to her a bit, even if I didn’t really understand why. However, I didn’t move to comfort her, nor did I speak at all. I just continued to stand there and watch her. She steadily calmed down under my gaze, and it was only after a few minutes of silence that she chose to speak.

“Your mother’s right. I’m selfish… and a coward.” Aunt Rose said, not meeting my eyes. “I’m… scared… so scared. I alienated your mother. She’s my sister, and I let her down. I’m so stupid!”

I raised an eyebrow. “What is it? What are you scared of? Why are you here? You said you had no other choice, what did you mean?”

Aunt Rose shook her head at my barrage of questions. “No… it doesn’t matter now. What’s done is done. I’m going to leave. You won’t have to ever deal with me again. I promise.”

“What if I give you my seed?” I asked. “Will you tell me your secrets then?”

Aunt Rose shot me a look, her eyes tinged with desperation, but a moment later she resisted. “No… this… your mother has already made it clear. I won’t be…”

“My mother doesn’t decide for me,” I interrupted her. “Only I decide what happens to my seed. So, is it a trade?”

Aunt Rose looked up out of the corner of her eye and smiled gently. “I’m sorry, Clyburn. I’ve been a coward until now. I think it’s time to stop running from my fate.”

I closed the door and locked it with a click. “Then, if you won’t take my seed, I’ll give it by force!”

Aunt Rose’s eyebrows rose quickly. She let out a little scream as I immediately moved up to the bed and pushed her down. However, she put up little resistance as I moved her arms over her head and mounted her. Her breath was flushed, her chest heaving, and she wouldn’t meet my eyes, but she didn’t resist at all either. Her body screamed that she wanted me to continue, and even though she said no, it was clear her body was saying yes.

“You’ll really rape your own Aunt?” Rose’s voice came out almost as a pout, unable to control the excitement rumbling underneath.

“You tell me? I want to know the truth.” I insisted.

“Clyburn…” Aunt Rose’s eyes grew teary.

“Tell me…“ I demanded.

Aunt Rose sighed and closed her eyes, her shoulders relaxing in resignation. “I’m… dying…”

I blinked, letting go of her grip and sitting up on top of her. I stared at her with a confused and questioning look. Aunt Rose responded back with a chuckle, turning her head to the side.

“What? It’s not that hard to imagine. I have cancer. Breast cancer. You can feel to lump right here.” Aunt Rose grabbed my hand and pushed it against her breast.

Her breasts were much softer and doughier than moms, except when she pushed my hand down hard, I felt a hard node deep inside the tissue. I immediately gasped and pulled away like I had been burnt. Aunt Rose’s smile didn’t change a hair. It was a sad smile, one of acceptance.

“But… they can cut it out, right?”

Rose shrugged. “It’s already metastasized. The doctors only give me about six months to live.”

“No!” I let out the word before I could stop myself. “That… that can’t be… What about…”

I stopped myself from saying “what about chemotherapy”. They had developed an understanding of antibiotics and aseptic technique, but weren’t nearly as advanced as my own world. They had hover cars, but they had yet to sequence the human genome. I had no clue what this world did or did not have, but I doubted Rose would not have tried it if it existed.

“It’s true…” Rose sadly spoke. “I don’t want to die. That’s why I came here.”

I shook my head. “I don’t get it if you only have six months to live, why pregnancy?”

Rose sighed. “I’m not a citizen, Clyburn. You’ll never have to worry about this, but non-citizens are truly a lower class. Despite all of my money, not everything in life can be bought. For example, I’m denied access to health mages.”

“That’s right, magic!” I snapped my finger.

I had been thinking in terms of my old world. Surgery and chemotherapy were your only options. I didn’t know if this world had advanced chemotherapy to the point where it could cause remissions, but with magical healing spells, this sort of medicine wasn’t necessary. If Rose had a baby, then she could get health benefits. However, her life would be over before she could finish birthing the baby.

“You’d need nine months to-“

“That’s the beauty of pregnancy. Pregnant women are given many societal benefits not awarded anyone else. Lighter jail sentences, reimbursed living expenses, and of course, the finest healthcare available. If I was pregnant, they would cure my cancer with a mage to ensure the baby was properly born. It’s simply the world we live in.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “But, with your record, you could afford to buy seed from government.”

“That’s the catch, isn’t it? They’re happy to cure a woman once she’s pregnant, but they won’t get her pregnant unless she’s in perfect shape.” Rose sighed with a wince.

“B-but… black markets, and other ways, you could have…”

Rose’s smile tightened and she spoke like she was explaining the same arguments she had already ran through her own head time and time again. “It turns out my vagina has a condition where it’s abnormally inhospitable to sperm. That’s why your father never was able to make me pregnant, even though we tried for years. I dumped every dime I had into black-market spooge, and in the end, I’m still not pregnant.”

Rose tried to look apologetic for sleeping with my dad. I ignored the look. I wasn’t going to let Dad’s actions affect me in that way. I would live life better than he ever did.

“So, how am I any different?” I asked.

“You… have my genes. The doctor thinks that a close relative possesses the proper resistance in their semen and will be much more likely to get me pregnant. Of course, I tried to contact Father, but he has thousands of daughters, and he doesn’t care for a single one of them. He’d rather bang fresh girls just out of Academy rather than some thirty-five-year-old woman.” Rose looked me in the eye with an accepting look. “I meant it when I said you were my only choice left. But I don’t want your seed because you feel guilty for me. I just wanted to live, and I was cowardly, and I caused your mom and you much strife. I’m willing to accept my fate now, so please just leave me be. I’ll pack up and leave, and you’ll never hear from me again.”

I finally got off of Rose and stood up, my mind reeling in shock. She calmly brushed off her skirt and sat on the edge of the bed. She looked away, eyeing her backpack as if she wanted to grab it and flee the room. I could see the shame and embarrassment she wore on her face. This wasn’t a lie or some attempt at manipulation. Aunt Rose looked like a woman ready to die. She had already given everything she had to live, and in the end, it just wasn’t enough.

“Rose…” I tried to come up with something to say, but my mind felt like mush.

“It’s fine,” Rose spoke curtly and stood up, turning her back on me and moving back to her stuff. “I pushed things too far. This is my own faul-“

Rose stopped, her voice catching in her throat. She raised the back of her hand to her mouth as if to stifle a sob. Her face grew wet with tears. A second later she abandoned what she was going to say and started packing again silently. I stared at the little woman in front of me. She was my mom’s half-sister. Although I called her Aunt, in this world our relationship could be considered practically nothing. She was a pretty woman, right in her prime.

“I have one last question for you,” I asked, my head lowered.

“What is it…” She spoke without turning back, her voice cracking unsteadily only a little.

“Since my father, has there been any others?” I didn’t know why I asked it, but somehow I felt like it was the most important question at that moment.