Siblings with benefits

"No worries my cousin. All Mark needed was a little time with his big sister."

I found myself hoping that the incident in the basement would blow over and not be brought up again. After the shower Mark had hid out in Jake's room for awhile then came downstairs and sat with me and my cousins to watch a movie. Mark looked nervous; it's how he always was after one of his little "episodes" as mom called them. The good news was the little show in the basement was forgotten, the bad news was because it was replaced by a bigger problem. Mom came storming into the house from where she had been out in the yard with aunt Karen, who was hot on her heels trying to say something to her. I heard mom yell something at her and then she took off upstairs.

Dad had come from the kitchen where he and uncle had been playing cards and went upstairs after her. A few minutes later he came down and going back into the kitchen started going at it with my aunt I distinctly heard the word "bitch". That got uncle Ray started. The four of us sat there looking at each other awkwardly. After a few minutes of arguing dad came out and asked me to come upstairs and help calm mom down.

Apparently mom and Aunt Karen had been talking about their kids in general and the topic of college had come up and how proud they were. Jake was a senior and Malory a freshman at UNC. Mom had started talking about us, I was going into my third year at RISD and Mark had started PC with a scholarship that had a clause that if he maintained a certain grade point average it would kick in for Suffolk Law. I'm sure the conversation had turned competitive and finally my bitch of an aunt had simply said;

"That's great Denise, but it's different when the kids are actually yours."

Years ago mom and dad had a son named Jacob. There were complications when he was born and mom was told she could never have more. Three years later Jacob died of leukemia. Needless to say this was a very low blow. To me I was Denise's daughter and even though Mark had only been with us two years and there were issues between he and dad mom very much treated him like a son. Mom wanted to leave on the spot but dad and I talked her into staying the night we could leave early in the morning. After sitting and talking with mom for awhile I left her and dad alone.

I went back to sitting with the others and filled them in. Things got a little worse. Jake who was sitting next to Mark said that my Mom was too sensitive and needed to get over herself. Without turning to look at him Mark told him to watch his fucking mouth about Denise. When Jake turned and made the remark that it's not like Mark even had a real mother to defend, Mark hit him. It happened so fast I couldn't stop it one minute Jake was smirking the next he was on the floor with a bloody nose. Jake got up as if he were going to swing but one look from my brother stopped him in his tracks. Jake was a big boy but he was no fighter nor was he a fool he had seen what Mark had done downstairs. Instead Jake decided to go rat Mark out to Uncle Ray who in turn went to dad. My father took Mark aside and just quickly told him they would talk about it later, and as he walked by me whispered in my ear;

"Keep your brother on a leash will you?" I had sighed so much for me calming Mark down.

Dad and Uncle went outside for awhile and seemed okay when they came in. Dad then went back up to talk to mom again finally he came downstairs and taking me aside said that we were going to leave tomorrow however the four of them needed to talk so why don't we all go to the mall or something. I said okay knowing it would just be the three of us, Jake had gone out after Mark had smacked him. Dad smiled and hugging me thanked me for helping with mom. I returned the hug, I had been mad at dad earlier, but all that mattered now was to take care of mom. I told him I was sorry the visit had gone bad.

Dad shrugged and told me that since we were leaving a day early and he wanted to put mom in a better mood we were going to drive for a few hours and then spend the night at a hotel on the way back. Dad said Uncle had stayed there before and they had a heated swimming pool as well as a great restaurant so we could make a day out of it. I thought that sounded great and told him it would give me an excuse to shop for a bathing suit in December. Dad laughed then asked if I could do him a favor, explaining that it was a bit expensive to get three rooms and would I mind sharing a room with Mark, there would be two beds of course he added. I smiled to myself thinking one would be plenty. A night in a hotel with Mark! I told Dad that it wouldn't be a problem. Dad asked if I was sure because he knew Mark could be a pain in the ass sometimes. Flashing a big smile I looked up at my father and said;

"Don't worry dad I know just how to handle my little brother."