Healing the Wound

(AN: This story starts off slow, but after the first sex scene it's pretty much nonstop father daughter action. This story is a bit heavy. Constructive criticism is encouraged. Take your time with it and enjoy.)

When Rhea Novitski drove home from work, she was used to a quiet and peaceful drive. She lived about thirty minutes away from her job. Her coworkers lived in the city, but Rhea always preferred the big open country even if that meant a long drive home. She worked for a telemarketing company that stayed open late which meant she got off work at 10pm. Luckily for Rhea, the drive had little to no traffic when she left the city which gave her plenty of time to think.

Tonight was different. Wildly different. She always left her phone on the dashboard because she didn't expect a call or text from anyone. Rhea never dated or engaged in casual sex. Not since her twenty-fourth birthday. She didn't have a problem with that. She had friends and she was still somewhat young at thirty-one. The loud buzz of her phone knocked her out of her thought process. She slowed down and picked it up to see who was calling her. It was her sister, Molly. She quickly connected her phone to Bluetooth for a hands-free call.

"Hey Molly. What's up?"

"Rhea... it's... it's mom..." Molly's voice was small. She sounded like she had been crying.

"What's wrong?"

"She's... gone," Molly said. Rhea's heart dropped. She slammed on the brakes in the middle of the empty one-lane road. She needed a few seconds to control her breathing.

"Does... does Dad know?" Rhea asked.

"No... I haven't called him yet. Emma and Madison found her... they found her in her room..." Molly started crying again. Rhea had to become the strong big sister.

"Molly, take some deep breaths. Okay?"

"Okay..." Molly did as she was told. Her voice was still shaky, but the tears stopped for a second.

"Now, can you tell me what happened?"

"She was messing with that guy... she got back on drugs... she overdosed... the paramedics took her body..."

"Fuck..." Rhea swore under her breath. This meant she had to go back to California. This meant she had to put on the strong big sister act. Like she always had to. This meant she had to see her father again. Rhea brushed her dirty blonde hair from her face and sighed.

"When are you coming home?" Molly asked. Rhea loved her sisters. Deeply. It had been too long since she saw them and she hated the fact that this was what was going to bring them back together.

"If I book a flight by tomorrow morning, I'll be there by Wednesday."

"Okay... I'll see you then... I love you..." Molly choked, her voice was still small.

"Love you too, kiddo..." Rhea smiled weakly and ended the call. Rhea leaned back and stared at the ceiling of her car for five minutes. She felt tears streaming down her face. Rhea hadn't gotten along with her mother really ever, but she still loved her. Now she was gone. Just like that.

*

Emma didn't leave her room after her mother's death. While she knew everyone dealt with trauma in different ways, she never thought she would be the one to shut down. Emma was a prideful eighteen-year-old. Fresh out of high school with a room full of hockey, soccer, and gymnastics metals and an athletic scholarship to show for it. Most would call her cocky, but she called it confidence. Emma was very different from her sisters and that was something that she was happy about.

After walking into her mother's room, she didn't expect to fall apart. Emma thought she was mentally stronger than her sister, Madison. Emma knew something was seriously wrong when her biggest concern wasn't her mother on the floor, but the fact that Madison was the one who didn't immediately break down into tears. Madison tried shaking their mother before shouting for Molly. Emma just fell to her knees.

Emma spent all of her time letting those thoughts build up. She refused to let the dam break. In the next few months, she'd be going off to college and moving away from her sisters. Finally free from all of the stupid girl talk and bickering. She wanted to be around other people like her. Those who were strong and confident. But Emma being a teenager didn't understand that strength came in different ways.

Emma felt like a baby because she cried. She felt like a baby because she missed her mother. A tragedy that would normally bring a family together, tore it apart even further. Emma didn't know how to fix it and she knew she didn't have to. She was tempted to pack her things and move into a hotel or a friend's place for a few weeks until it was time to leave for school.

*

Madison treated the death of her mother like a slight annoyance. She couldn't go out that night with her friends because the police asked all three of them questions till one in the morning. Madison noticed Molly shuffling around like a ghost even when the police were talking directly to her. Madison acted like this all the time. She drowned out any problem by going out with her friends or shopping. Usually both.

Madison was nineteen and cared about one thing. Maintaining her social status. Madison was popular and beloved in high school. Sure the ugly girls hated her, but she didn't care. At least that's how she saw it. Anybody who didn't want to be her friend was just a loser and missed out on a golden opportunity to be friends with a future model and actress. A small voice in the back of her mind told her she was exhausted.

Madison ignored it every time. She felt the exhaustion of trying to be a perfect princess when she was fifteen, but she ignored it. Putting on a smile and hanging out with people who only liked her because she was attractive or she had money was draining. Madison couldn't have a genuine conversation with her friends, because her mask would slip. She knew the facade of being a perfect person would fall to pieces if she talked about her problems.

Madison had no one to talk to. Molly worked all the time even when their mother was still alive, and she knew Emma hated her. If Madison wasn't out and about, she was inside burying her problems with online shopping and drama channels on the internet. Madison needed everything to go back to normal or else she'd fall apart. But she feared she didn't know what normal meant.

*

Molly already had a lot on her plate before her mother died. She was twenty-four and worked forty-five hours a week on her feet. Since her mother was in no condition to work, she had to pay the bills. While Emma and Madison were focused on teen things, Molly watched her mother spiral for six months. When she came home from work, she'd find her mother sprawled out on the couch with a bottle of pills by her side. Molly tried to get her mother the help she needed, but it was too late.

Molly tried to find the fucker who got her mother hooked again. She tried to get him pinned for murder or assisted suicide or something. Nothing. Police couldn't find him and Molly didn't have the time or money to track him down. What she did have was her older sister, Rhea, and her father. Molly didn't really know what her father could do in this situation, but she figured she'd at least let him know what happened.

Molly always looked up to Rhea. Rhea was who Molly wanted to be. A hard worker, reliable, and intelligent. If you asked what their mother thought about Rhea, she was a bitch, a coward, and a homewrecker. The incident that broke the family apart originally was because of Rhea. Molly was seventeen when everything changed. Apparently, their mother caught Rhea and their father in the act. Rhea was on top. It was Rhea's twenty-fourth birthday.

Molly never believed it. Even when her mother was yelling at her about it. Which happened a lot. Molly knew that her mother needed someone to yell at, she just never really understood why it had to be her. Granted, Emma and Madison were young when it happened, but Molly still felt like the family punching bag for something she knew didn't really happen.

Molly was an adult. She needed to be there for Madison and Emma, even if they didn't fully appreciate it. Molly prayed that Rhea and her father coming back would fix something. Anything. If they couldn't, Molly didn't know what she would do. The poor girl needed a break from it all. She sat in the living room, wondering where everything fell apart. Just then, she heard a knock at the door.

*

Mike Novitski stood for a few seconds, admiring the house that he paid for. Mike was a solid five-foot-ten inches tall and spry for a fifty-one-year-old. He had strong masculine features with thick eyebrows, but a fair amount of gray built up in both his thin beard and his hair. But the thing that shocked him the most was his daughter answering the door. When he last saw Molly, she was a skinny little teenager. Now she'd filled out into a more womanly form.

Molly had long light blonde hair that fell down her slender face. She stood about 5 '5. She had small brown eyes behind thick glasses and thick eyebrows. Her lips were pink and pouty and her skin was pale. A single mole sat under her bottom lip. She had slender hips and legs and a moderate bust. Her black t-shirt gave Mike a nice view of her cleavage and her jeans hugged her curves tight.

Mike cursed at himself internally. Looking at another daughter like that meant more problems, even if their mother was gone.

"Dad?" Molly's eyes began to water.

"Hey, Molly." Molly immediately pounced on her father, wrapping him up in a tight hug. Mike hugged her and rubbed her back. To Molly, it was a nice paternal hug, but all Mike could focus on was his daughter's breasts pressing against his chest and his finger running over her bra strap.

Molly broke the hug and removed her glasses to wipe the tears from her face.

"You can come in. I'll call the girls." Molly walked back inside and Mike followed. Mike smiled because the girls actually kept the house clean. A few furniture changes, but other than that it was spotless. It looked as clean as it was seven years ago.

The house was a wide white mansion with a kitchen to the left corner and a pool outside. To the right was a black spiral staircase that led to the main bedrooms and guest rooms. Next to the staircase was the couch and TV. The walls weren't decorated and there was no plant life to be found, but the furniture helped the space well enough.

"Emma! Madison! Dad's here!" Molly had a big smile on her face. Mike dropped his suitcase when he heard the thumping footsteps of Emma. The second the younger girl locked eyes with her father, she nearly slid down the railing of the steps. When she made it to the bottom, she sprinted and jumped in her father's arms.

"Woah! Easy there kiddo!" Mike laughed, but Emma almost cried again. She knew she had to hold it back. Madison walked downstairs with a puzzled look on her face. Like she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Mike looked past Emma's hair to see Madison.

The girl was a knockout even lying around at home. She stood 5'9 inches tall. She had platinum blonde hair that cascaded down her slender back and stopped at her plump bottom. Her skin was a natural-looking olive complexion with zero tan lines. She had piercing blue eyes and thin eyebrows that gave her a sort of mischievous look. Her nose and chin were sharp and her lips were thick and pink. Her best feature was her gargantuan breasts that only she had inherited from her grandmother. She wore a white tank top with no bra, causing her large breasts to shuffle freely behind the thin fabric. Her simple black cloth shorts left little to the imagination.

Emma got out of Mike's arms. She was a little rough around the edges but still had a soft and youthful look. She wore an oversized gray graphic woodland t-shirt that draped around her entire body. She was the only sibling that wasn't blonde. Her hair was deep brown and tied back in a messy ponytail with a few wild strands falling around her forehead and face. She was petite but had toned muscles in her arms, abdomen, and legs. She stood 5'3 without shoes. Her eyes were big and brown. Her smile was cute and toothy. A small amount of freckles dotted her nose and cheeks. Emma was just all-around cute but usually hid it through a constant scowl.

Mike couldn't believe how beautiful and grown his daughters had become. A small part of him didn't even look at these girls as his daughters. His brain told him he was just surrounded by gorgeous women in a big house. Alone. Madison's perfect covergirl face and body, Molly's curves, and Emma's slim athletic build. But he had to shut that part of his brain down.

"It's nice to see you all again. It's been too long." Mike smiled. All three girls smiled back. Molly noticed how nice it was to have Emma and Madison in the same location with smiles on their faces.

"About your mother. I'm sorry. If there's anything you need just let me know. Like money or something." Mike said.

"We set up the guest room for you. It's upstairs." Molly went upstairs and Mike followed behind.

"This is crazy..." Madison said under her breath.

"I know right?" Emma responded. "Wait till Rhea gets here." Emma made her way up the steps back to her room. Madison followed.

"What do you mean?" Madison asked Emma as she stepped through the spacious hallway.

"You know what I mean," Emma turned around and dropped her voice to a whisper.

"I don't." Madison, much like Molly, didn't believe the story. She honestly didn't know much about it.

"I heard them doing it. The walls aren't that thick here. That's why mom lost it. That's why she's dead."

"Shut up. It didn't happen." Madison crossed her arms.

"It did. When Rhea gets here it'll happen again." Emma was on her tiptoes. The sisters' noses were a hair apart.

"Stop it! It's not going to happen and it didn't fucking happen!" Madison pushed Emma. The whispering turned into a shouting match.

"You're fucking delusional!" Emma pushed back. Her strength advantage knocked the taller girl against the wall.

"Why?! Why are you saying this?!" Madison felt the tears coming.

"Because it's the truth! You refuse to believe it!" Emma, despite being the shorter girl, triggered her sister's fight-or-flight response. Madison quickly raised her hand and swatted at the top of Emma's head. Emma quickly charged into Madison and pushed her against the wall. Madison pulled Emma's hair while Emma tried swinging up to smack her.

"What's going on out here!?" Molly ran in between the girls and pulled them off of each other. Mike stood outside the door of the guestroom, watching the scene unfold.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Molly shouted. Madison mumbled something through her tears. Emma quickly broke the grip that Molly had on her collar and ran back to her room. Madison fell to her butt, hiding her face with her hair. Molly bent down and brushed her sister's hair out of her face.

"Madison, why were you two fighting?" Molly put on what she called her 'Rhea' tone.

"Um," Madison whimpered as she looked to her left, making brief eye contact with her father. Molly politely waved her father away. Mike took the hint and closed the door, but pressed his ear against it to listen.

"Are you going to tell me now?" Molly asked.

"Emma kept saying that Dad and Rhea... were having sex and they were going to do it again when Rhea gets here. That's why things are the way that they are. She said that's why mom died..." Madison wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to control her breathing.

Mike's heart dropped. Molly sighed.

"Look, she's just trying to get under your skin. I don't know why you two can't get along, but I refuse to let it stay that way. I'll talk to her." Molly wanted to confront Mike right now, but she had to talk to Emma first. She knew Emma was taking it hard.

Madison stood up and slowly walked back to her room. Molly went to Emma's room and knocked on her door.

"Emma? Can you open the door please?"

A pause and complete silence followed.

"Emma, please."

"Okay." Emma opened the door. Tears ran down her face, but she still tried to put on her tough-girl act. Molly closed the door and sat down on Emma's bed. Emma sat next to her sister. Molly wrapped an arm around her.

"What's going on?" Molly asked.

"Look, I know what I heard. I'm not saying that I hate Rhea or Dad, but it just seems like you two are living in a dream world. Mom lost it seven years ago, and let's face it she wasn't the best mom in the world even before the divorce."

"I..." Molly was speechless. She had a feeling that if Rhea were here she'd know just what to say. Molly had to say something.

"I'm sorry, Emma. I know you're hurting. I know mom had problems, but when she was sober she was mom. She was our mom. She loved us. She loved Rhea. I know you're scared and confused. I just want you to know that Madison is your family. I'm your family. We're all we got."

Emma hugged Molly. The younger girl cried again, but this time she didn't feel like a baby. She felt safe.

"It's going to be okay." Molly assured her.

*

Rhea drove up the street of her old neighborhood slowly. Reminiscing on the good times of her childhood. Riding bikes down the street with Molly. Learning to drive with her father. Pretending to hunt for treasure when she was six. Better times before she became an adult.

When she pulled up to the driveway all the happy memories dissipated. When she stood on the grass her mind switched. She stood still with her suitcase in her hand. Her mother's words rang in her ear.

"You fucking bitch! Go off and fuck somebody else you slut!"

Rhea controlled her breathing. This was why she didn't want to come back. She thought her family would see her as the slut who ruined everything. It was like the ghost of her mother held her feet, stopping her from taking another step into her home.

Just as Rhea stood still in the grass, wondering if she made the right move, Molly came outside for some fresh air. The moment the women made eye contact, all the good memories came flooding back. Molly froze up but Rhea sprang into action. She dropped her suitcase, ran across the front lawn, and wrapped her dearest sister up in a loving hug.

"Rhea... Oh my God..." Molly cried, squeezing her sister back.

"It's so good to see you..." Rhea said.

The women held each other for a long time. It was like they gave each other oxygen. They gave each other life.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it here sooner."

"No!" Molly sniffled after breaking the hug. "No. It's fine I just, I just needed you here and I'm so happy you made it."

"Let me grab my suitcase. I'll follow you in." Rhea said.

Molly couldn't stop smiling. She felt like the world had finally stopped spinning. Like she could finally stop to breathe. Rhea walked in as Mike came downstairs.

"Rhea!" Mike's heart skipped a beat. His daughter was still gorgeous, even after seven years. She was 5 '6 inches tall with long dirty blonde hair that fell down her back. She had deep hazel-green eyes. Her skin had a natural tan to it. She had a friendly and somewhat oval-shaped face with a long nose. She had a slim waist, a wide chest, and thick legs. She wore a white tank top blouse with a pair of jeans and flip-flops. Mike thought she was more of a stunner than Madison.

"Dad!" Rhea dropped her suitcase once again as Mike rushed downstairs to hug his daughter. Emma and Madison looked over the railing with odd looks on their faces. Molly hoped that the girls wouldn't ruin this moment. Emma was happy to see that Molly was happy. She didn't want to mess it up. So she decided to go downstairs and hug Rhea. Madison did the same.

"Hey Emma! You've gotten so big!"

"Hi Rhea." Madison waved from behind Emma.

"Madison! It's so good to see you." Rhea wrapped both girls up in a triple hug. An awkward moment but the younger girls kept up the act for Molly. Not just for her. For the rest of the family.