6. Chapter 6

Well, this chapter was difficult to write, so I sincerely hope you all enjoy it. 6,000 plus views and 80 subscriptions as of this posting. I'm still truly amazed. Thank you every one of you.

Keep your eyes open in a few days- I'll be posting something else. Not the next chapter or a new story, but something.

Onto the story

Okay, Lacy had to admit: Lemy was good. On par if not better than their uncle. The fighting game she won the first match with only a sliver of health. On football, the game ended up in overtime with 0 points on both sides. The street racing game was neck and neck till the cops busted them. Seven different games in, they lost count of the score but it was possibly close to even between them.

And the going got a little dirty after the first couple of minutes. Holding out their controllers so it blocked the others view, an elbow jerk here and there, and Lacy making a sudden loud noise to make him jump. Lyra sat beside them this entire time, watching but not commenting. She was nice and great to talk to, and Lacy talked to her about things she wouldn't even talk about with her mom, but she could be pretty boring otherwise.

The competition ended without climax when their uncle returned over an hour later, setting Lacy's overnight bag by the door before walking across the small living room to flop down at his desk. Lacy immediately dropped the controller and darted to the computer chair, her momentum giving her a few spins before it settled.

"Welcome back!"

"Hey Lacy." He yawned.

"Pfft, mom wore you out after one hour?" He grinned wearily and shrugged. "Weak."

"You're used to her. You got an unfair advantage." Her uncle retorted.

"Weak." Lacy repeated, using her feet to propel herself into a few more spins. Her uncle sighed in defeat.

"So how's your summer going?" He asked. The last time she'd visited had been the first weekend after school got out.

"Good." Lacy used her feet to stop her spin. "Kind of boring. A lot of my friends went on trips with their families." She envied them for that. She even envied her three cousins (she'd met Liena once when her and Leni came to town to visit). They got to go places. She'd never left this town.

"You've been having fun though, right?" He leaned forward. Like her, he probably remembered last summer when Lacy wanted desperately to go to a sports camp like some of her friends were. It was Michigan; they had dozens. But no matter how much she pleaded or tried to earn by her own means, they just couldn't afford it. She'd been pretty let down the entire summer, but her mom and her uncle had tried their hardest to make her feel better.

"Yeah." She shrugged. "Mom's been keeping me busy." Her mom's training session weren't fun, per say. But they were satisfying.

"She's not pushing you too hard?"

"Nah." Lacy shook her head. Actually, Lacy was starting to think she was pushing her mom. Keeping up with her was easy. She might even surpass her someday soon.

"Hmm." Her uncle held a drawing pen to his chin. "Well, we can do something fun while you're here."

"Yeah!" She gave herself a good spin the chair. She'd done it a million times before, but she hadn't been as big then. She squealed as the chair began to lean and then start to tip. With surprisingly good reflexes, Lincoln dived and caught her so she didn't faceplant on the floor. "Woo!" Lacy stuck her arms out as the computer chair clattered to the floor.

"Are you two okay?" Lyra had jumped up and come over.

"Never better." Their uncle groaned. He stood up and set Lacy in the chair as Lyra picked it back up. Lacy knew he was doing it mostly for dramatic effect; she'd seen him go toe to toe with mom when they fooled around. He was tougher than he looked.

"Ha." Lacy slumped back in the chair, feeling dizzy. Lyra hovered over both of them for a few more moments before going back to the couch. Lemy had watched the whole thing without saying anything.

"Right…" Their uncle tried to collect his thoughts before turning to Lyra and Lemy. "You guys bring bathing suits with you?" Lacy perked up.

"They should be in our bags." Lyra told him. He nodded.

"While we were out we noticed the Royal Woods Pool had half-off admission the first day of July. Thought we could all go. Might even invite Luan and Liby." Swimming and seeing her cousin?

"Awesome!" Lacy voiced her approval.

"That'd be nice." Lyra concurred.

"Eh, why not?" Lemy shrugged.

"But that's in a few days. For today." He leaned forward and smiled. "What do you want to do?" He asked his younger niece.

"Hmm." She leaned back but didn't risk another spin. Then leaned forward. "Can we go to that arcade place again?" She asked. Okay, so maybe she did have an interest in games. The physical ones like hoops, skee-ball, or strength testers. But the place was a pizzeria and snack bar too. They had these cheeseburgers that tasted amazing, even if they were probably only popped out of a freezer and put in a microwave for 50 seconds.

Yes, Lacy thought about food a lot. She was a growing girl, after all.

"Gus' Game and Grub?" Her uncle guessed. Lacy nodded and she saw him think.

"Hmm…Let me check something on the computer first and we'll see." He motioned for her to get up. She did and flopped down on the couch between her cousins.

"How about I get a few more wins in?" She picked the second controller back up.

"You weren't winning in the first place." Lemy retorted.

"Even if I wasn't, I can still pull right on ahead."

"Yeah right." And just like that, they were back at it. Lacy would glance over at her uncle every once and while, but her attention was mostly on the game. He was on the computer for a few minutes, then looking through a book on his desk. He was rummaging through stuff at his desk for several minutes while his nephew and niece gamed.

Finally, he turned back around to face them all. By then, the it was 3-2 in Lemy's favor, although both would argue about who was leading beforehand. "Ok then." He clapped his hands together. "Gus' Game and Grub it is." And just like that, the competition was forgotten.

"Woo!" Lacy jumped up. "Let's go, c'mon!"

Later that day

One thing about visiting family infrequently was that Lyra could pick up changes that occurred between visits. That's how she'd noticed Loan developing a twitch, or how some of her cousins' appearances were drastically changing as they grew up. But personality shifts were the thing she watched for the most.

So she noticed rather quickly Lacy was a little different than normal. Normally, her cousin was a very energetic and always moving, kind of like how their Aunt Luan was always talking. Loud, brash, and a bit crude and indecent like her mother. And the girl who'd barged in on them early in the morning had definitely been that same Lacy.

She did have a calmer side though, as Lyra had discovered recently (recently being the last 2 or 3 visits). A side where she wasn't bouncing everywhere and saying everything in an outdoor voice, and that was only around her. Not Lemy and certainly not her mom.

Lyra had thought at first it was just respect, as she'd called out the younger girl a number of times for her behavior. But in the few instances they were alone, and they'd got to talking Lacy would talk about some personal things. Like the last they'd visited; she talked about trouble with friends at school. There was a softer side to the sporty pre-teen, but she only showed it rarely.

When she wasn't around her mother, in other words. There were just some things Lacy wasn't apparently comfortable about discussing with her mother for whatever reason and turned to her cousin instead.

Lyra admittedly had a lower opinion of her sport enthusiast aunt now. The amount of disrespect she'd seen that morning was appalling. It reinforced the assumption she'd made when her uncle had mentioned he watched his nieces to give their mothers a day to themselves- they were using him, shouldering responsibilities that should be theirs onto him because they couldn't deal with their own mistakes.

It might've been naivety on Lincoln's part, or just love for family. That unwavering bond that never breaks. He might put up with it for the same reason Lyra put up with her mother. Or maybe he took pity on Lacy and tried (successfully from what she could see) to fill a role someone else had shirked. From the way he treated her, Lyra was almost sure of that fact.

Besides, considering the shortcomings she'd observed in her aunts, her cousins could benefit from an occasional stint away from them, much like her and her brother benefitted from getting away from theirs. How wrong it seemed that the best for a child was to be away from their parent. But if that was the situation that need be, their uncle was a very modest man.

Were Liby and Lupa the same way, she wondered?

Lyra only remembered this because seeing Lacy interact with their uncle reminded her of it. At the apartment and through the entire care ride they'd been talking, almost exclusively Lacy. She'd asked her uncle how he'd been doing, but he'd reflected the conversation back within a few sentences. Her voice was softer, her energy seemed to be more from childish joy than adrenaline.

They got along surprisingly well. Lacy saw him the same way she apparently saw Lyra herself, or maybe even more than that- the very thing her mom hoped her brother would pretend to be. Lyra was pretty sure he'd said more to Lacy that day then he'd spoke to them their time there thus far. She supposed that was understandable; they saw each other more often. There was still that air of awkwardness between her and her brother and their uncle. A lot of the things they said to each other were still procedure, like what was for dinner. Not his fault, since he had to work.

She had overheard him taking breaks and talking to Lemy about video games a few times, though.

Her brother was currently enjoying the skee-ball machines. A bit further away, Lincoln and Lacy were at one of the dance machines. For a man who sat in a chair all day, he was surprisingly nimble. He was keeping up well with his niece. It was quite the amusing sight.

Lyra was still at their table. She had no interest in any of the games. She'd told her uncle to give the change he'd scrounged up for her to Lemy. Before that, she'd tried to tell him their mom had already given them money before they left they could use, but he was adamant. So instead she was sitting at the table they'd claimed, guarding unfinished food and several sodas so their owners could one day finish them and occasionally watching the others through the crowd.

"Hi there." She looked up from a passage from the New Testament to see a boy about her age standing at the end of the table.

"Hello. Can I help you?" Lyra asked politely.

"I just uh…noticed you were sitting by yourself." The boy explained.

Ahhh…

"I'm here with family." She explained.

"Same." The boy nodded. "You think they'd have a section for adults or something so they didn't have to listen to the noise." Years of noisy highways and thin walled hotels had given Lyra good ability to block out noise, but she nodded all the same.

"It's not so bad if people are having fun."

"Yeah, I uh…guess it is." He agreed.

He opened his mouth again but the very brief conversation was cut short as Lemy rudely walked in between them and took a seat without a word and began eating some of the leftover food. Lyra was sitting inside of the table. Lemy sat on the outside, planting himself in the middle of the two conservation goers. Then Lacy showed up and slid into the inside seat of the other side of the table. Any hope for salvaging the conversation died at that point and the other teen left.

"Who was that?" Lacy asked slyly.

"I didn't get their name. It's not really important." Lyra dismissed the matter and returned to what she'd been reading. She was aware of her younger cousin still grinning at her and Lyra looked up briefly with a no-nonsense stare which made Lacy direct her eyes elsewhere.

"Fresh drinks." Their uncle returned with soda refills and sat down next to Lacy. She sucked her down in one gulp and started pestering Lemy about the dance machine she'd been at with their uncle.

"Dancing is stupid." He tried to blow her off.

"Even up on the concert stage?" She taunted.

"That is NOT dancing." Lemy argued. "That's rocking."

"Same thing." Lacy shrugged, stood up in her seat, easily leaped over her uncle's lap, and walked off. Lemy fumed before starting to rise from his seat.

"Don't get into a fight." His sister warned him. He flinched, stared at his retreating cousin, and then went after her. Her uncle seemed amused.

"You know, I think your mom had the exact same argument with someone else."

"As long as neither get into a fight over it." Lyra watched they continue their verbal spar at the dance machine before it became apparent Lacy had made him cave and agree to compete against her. The sight was amusing and she smiled a bit before turning back around.

"So, who was that you were talking to?" Lincoln repeated the same question Lacy had asked, although in a more neutral tone. She didn't even realize he'd noticed.

"I don't know. Someone trying to be friendly."

"You're popular with boys?" He inquired. Lyra huffed a little internally at the personal question.

"No. We don't interact with other kids very often. We're always traveling, and we get home schooled."

"Ah." He acknowledged. "We were all homeschooled once. Didn't work out." He admitted.

"I think mom mentioned that before, actually." Lyra nodded. Handling their homeschooling was easily one of the most competent things she did in raising her kids, if not the most. "I'm good at it." She had just about the highest marks one could get on them. The boredom helped. "Lemy passes his, at least." More often then not he only worked when he was being stared at. Lyra had scared him once by warning him they'd have to go live somewhere away from mom and go to a regular school if he failed. He'd gotten so upset though, she'd vowed to never use that tactic again.

"So…" Her uncle went on. "Do you guys travel a lot on the road with your mom?"

"Always." Lyra repeated. "Mom doesn't own a house or anything. We went with her for years after she started touring. Only a few years did she start sending us to stay with family." He looked surprised at that, and a little sad.

"That sounds rough." He said.

"Sometimes." Lyra admitted. "But I guess it has its advantages. We've seen a lot of sights. We've even gone to Europe." How many kids their age could say that?

"Sounds nice." Lincoln mused. "Only foreign place I've gone is Mexico."

"Oh?" Lyra inquired. There was silence until he realized she was waiting for him to elaborate.

"Oh-well…Just a short vacation." He explained. Silence for a moment. "Do you guys visit your Aunt Lori, often?" He asked.

"More than the others." Lyra answered.

"How is she?"

"She's very busy. A hard worker like you."

"Oh, what does she do?" He asked.

"She's a firm manager."

"That sounds impressive. How long has she been doing that?" Her uncle asked.

"She says six years." When Lyra answered, she could see embarrassment spreading across her his face. "You guys don't keep in contact?" She guessed.

"No." He admitted sheepishly. "After Lori moved to the city with Loan and Bobby, she kind of dropped off the radar with most of us. I'm surprised Luna's still talks to her so often. That's the sad part about growing up; you don't get to talk to family as much. Everyone has their own life and before you know it you haven't seen them in over a year.

"Must be hard for how close you all were." Lyra said sympathetically.

"That's growing up." He repeated. "We're doing what we love and wanted to though, so it's not all bad." He paused for a moment. "How are Loan and Bobby?"

"Uncle Bobby's a very humble and hard worker too. Runs his own store. Very friendly. We like him. Loan is…" Lyra wasn't sure how to describe her slightly younger cousin in a good light. "She's figuring things out for herself."

"I haven't seen her since she was a baby." Her uncle mused. "But if she's like her mother, that won't be any trouble." It was pretty clear to Lyra Loan took more after her father, but she didn't say that.

"What about you?" He asked. "You have things figured out?"

"Figured out?" Lyra repeated.

"Any ambitions or plans? Most of us already knew what we were going to do when we were about your age."

"Ah…no." She was caught off guard by the question. Even though she was 3 years away from adulthood, 2 years and a few months, actually, she hadn't given much thought to what she'd do when she got there. Living was a day to day concern. Whenever she did start to think about it, she'd get hung up on the fact leaving and doing anything would mean having to leave Lemy in the sole care of their mom.

"Well, nothing to worry about. You got time." He told her. Lyra couldn't think of a vocal response, so she just nodded. It was then that Lemy and Lacy came back, the former sweating as he collapsed into his seat.

"Weak." Lacy taunted. She turned to her uncle. "Round 2?" He shrugged and let her drag him off.

"I hate her." Lemy muttered as he reached for his soda.

"Hush." He didn't really mean that. Luckily for him, their uncle kept the hyperactive pre-teen occupied for the rest of the visit. Lemy recovered enough energy to go back to his games and the two enjoyed themselves for another two hours before their uncle called out that it was about time they head back. Even Lacy was tuckered out enough by then neither complained.

They got home and Lacy claimed the shower while their uncle started on a slightly early dinner. Before it was done, Lyra made Lemy at least take brief shower after Lacy finished. With only three chairs in the kitchen, their uncle elected to eat his at his desk. Lacy dug into hers immediately, earning a disapproving luck from her older cousin. Lemy at least had the manners to wait till his sister said grace to start eating.

It was forgiven though, and they had the rest of the evening to relax. Lyra noticed Lacy spent the near entirety of it by their uncle's side.

That Night

Tired wasn't an expression Lacy used often. She could spend a day running a marathon and come bed time still be wired. But by the end of a day visiting, she was pooped whether or not they'd done anything. It was weird, but she wasn't going to complain. She felt great, content, relaxed in a rare way.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" She asked her cousins. Lyra and Lemy were brushing their teeth at the bathroom sink while she stood in the doorway. It was barely big enough for two people, let alone three, so she waited. They'd all changed into pajamas, or at least a t-shirt and shorts to sleep in in Lemy's case. At Lacy's house it was early to bed early to rise. Her uncle let her go to bed whenever she was tired, which was rare. Lyra gave them a bed time, but it was later than what she would've got at home. Her uncle had given her a sleeping bag so she could sleep in his room while he slept on the couch.

"As long as you two enjoyed yourselves." Lyra said while Lemy gargled something incoherent. The boy finished his rush job and left, finally giving Lacy a space to do her brushing. She started watering her brush.

"You look tired." Even her cousin noticed.

"Yeah, well, today was awesome." Lacy yawned. "I told you Uncle Lincoln is awesome."

"You two get along well."

"Yeah. He's really great." Lacy repeated, somewhat dreamily. "I really wish I could visit him more. I'm so glad he's around. It makes me feel…" She suddenly realized she was running her mouth about her happiness and that her cousin was looking at her in the mirror. Her face went scarlet and she shut up, but her condition wasn't missed.

"Something wrong?"

"Nothing." Lacy said, suddenly defensive. But there was something, something that had been on her mind for quite a while. Something that bugged her that she hadn't shared with anyone ever before. And she'd almost let it slip, just like she almost had at school once or twice.

"Okay." Lyra didn't press her like Lacy expected, and her guard dropped slightly. The older girl stored her toothbrush and prepared to leave. Lacy suddenly had a change of heart. Her cousin was good for talking to about things that bugged her. This was bigger than any usual issue though. Could she trust her? Her will to resist dropped.

"Actually!" Lacy said, making her stop. "Can we talk? Just give me a minute."

"Of course." She waited against the wall while Lacy hurriedly brushed her teeth. "What is it?" She asked when she was done.

"Well…" Lacy wasn't sure how to begin.

"Are you guys almost done?" Lemy interjected from the hallway. Lacy suddenly got irritated.

"Private girl conversation!" She snapped, making him flinch. She slammed the door and locked it for good measure. Her agitation ebbed when she noticed Lyra looking at her less than pleased before turning to the door.

"Go to bed, Lemy. We'll be along shortly." She called before returning her gaze to Lacy. "Go on." The preteen was suddenly concerned she'd lost her chance and got tongue tied, her mouth dry. She looked at that stern expression and lost all her nerve. Lyra seemed to realize and softened it. "Go on." She said, gently. She gathered herself and finally spoke.

"I…don't have a dad." Lacy wasn't admitting that, she knew that and so did Lyra, just like Lacy knew they didn't either. The teen's gaze softened further, and she moved over to sit down on the edge of the bathtub. "And I keep noticing it. My friends talk about what their dads got them…My teammates get congratulated by both their parents. I just have my mom." As much as she hated herself for it, Lacy realized she was jealous of them.

She'd tried not to pay attention to it for the longest time, even before she started getting jealous. She remembered asking some time around being in kindergarten, and her mom didn't answer and told her not to ask about it again. Liby didn't have a dad. Once she met Lyra and Lemy she realized they didn't have a dad. It was normal but confusing once she learned the vague but truthful fact that it took two parents for there to be a child. Through the early grades she knew girls who'd had one parent die. Had that been it? When she asked, her mom told her to drop the subject, harsher than before, and left her still wondering and a little scared.

Lyra cut in. "You feel like you have two parents because of Uncle Lincoln?" She guessed, almost immediately. Lacy's face went a deeper shade of pink, along with a bit of white, and she looked away. Was it that obvious?

Okay, it was true. But could she be blamed? He was just like what she heard and expected one to be: he helped them keep food on the table and bills and all that kind of stuff. He bought Lacy things she wanted if he could. He talked to her and helped her with problems she had. He'd come to one of her games once and showed up with her mom to congratulate her when the team won and Lacy had teared up in joy. He did almost all the exact same things mom did, some of them even better. Sure, he wasn't there that often, but he visited them at their house sometimes, and they could call whenever they wanted.

Really, for something so great, could she be blamed for being a little attached?

"I…I know it sounds weird." She admitted. That was Lacy's fear. There was a pretty big gap between an uncle and father, she knew, pretty different from a step parent, something else she heard other kids talk about. Not just in how her and him was related, but him and her mom too. She thought over people would see it too if she ever mentioned it.

"I don't think so." Lyra shook her head, making Lacy look back up. The teen looked completely unphased, not at all what Lacy expected when she'd considered talking about this with another person. "I think it's to be expected and really for the better. To be honest, I kind of already thought it was the case."

"R-really?" She nodded again.

"I pretty sure that's our uncle's and your mom's intention." Lacy was in stupor by that. Never once did she think they intended for that. "It's not something done very often, but family members can take over a role like that. I think he's trying, so it only makes sense you appreciate him for it." So...there was nothing wrong with it? Lacy did trust her cousin.

"…Wow." Lacy muttered, sitting down beside her. "I feel stupid." She said out loud. All that worrying and feeling weird and it turned out everything was fine. Her cousin patted her on the back.

"It's perfectly natural." She consoled. "It was God's intention for a child to have two parents." Ooookay, Lacy was starting to worry she'd go into religion. She was surprised there wasn't a story from the bible she could've quoted about the situation. "You know that and wanted to fix it or at least find something similar. Nothing wrong with that. Lemy and me did too."

Lacy was quiet for a bit and stared at the floor. She'd never expected something so big, something she'd thought about for most of her life, and something worrying enough to make her a little ill was so simple. It really gave her a new perspective.

"You guys do too?" She asked. Lyra nodded.

"Yes… But it's late." She deflected Lacy's curiosity. "We should go to bed. Just know you're not alone in how you feel. If you want to talk about it again, we can."

"…Thanks, Lyra." She leaned over and gave the other girl a hug and receive one in return.

"It's no problem." She assured her. "Let's get some sleep."