Starting Over Ch. 01

****

Mom stopped at Anna's door just as we finished unpacking the last box that needed emptied. There was about a dozen boxes that we would store that held things she wouldn't need until she was back at school or in a place of her own. "You all situated honey? Did Michael help you get everything set up you need?" she asked.

"I got everything I need for tonight Mom. I have a few boxes here that I don't need now to add to the others and I still need to set up my computer but all that can wait till tomorrow."

"Okay, Jack left a few minutes ago and I told him we'd see him in church on Sunday. I'm going to go to bed and I will see you both in the morning." Mom said then she turned and left.

"I'll let you finish getting settled Anna, I'm going to take a shower then head to bed myself."

"That sounds good Mikey, I'll take a shower after your done and get a good night's sleep." Anna said then hugged me and kissed my cheek.

The three of us settled into a routine over the next couple of weeks, spending time getting to know each other again, spending time together, growing closer as a family. Jack would spend a lot of time with us as well and we went to the Sunday services at his church. Three weeks after Anna moved in, our family was rattled yet again, and it would affect us in ways we could never have predicted.

****

It was about 10 o'clock on Saturday morning when the phone rang. Anna and I were in the living room talking about going to the movies together that night and trying to decide what to watch. Mom was in the kitchen working on an early lunch for the three of us. Mom's voice started to rise and I could tell she was upset. Anna and I both rushed to the kitchen. We found mom sitting at the kitchen bar tears brimming her eyes. "Okay, Jen I'll talk to the kids and see what we can do, Hun. It may take a few days but stay strong, know family is on the way." Mom said into the phone before hanging it up.

Anna and I both looked at her with concern. "What's going on mom? That was Aunt Jen, right? What happened?" Anna asked.

"Honey, Michael, yes that was your Aunt Jen. Your Uncle Bob had a heart attack on a golf course... It doesn't sound good. She is at the hospital now but hasn't talked to a doctor yet, they are still working on him. She has friends there but Bob has no family, and we are her only family. She wants me to come up to be with her and support her through this."

"I think we should all go Mom. I've not seen her since they got married, I was like six or seven, and since we've been here and going to Jack's church, it just wouldn't feel right to not go. I know you don't fly which means 'road trip' that will take a few days even if we all share the driving responsibility. I've got some money saved I can throw in for gas, food, and hotels." I said.

"Mikey's right Mom. We are all family and we should all go. I've got money saved too. I can dip in a little to help. I miss Aunt Jen, and she needs all of us." Anna added.

"No, that won't be necessary, money is a little tight, but we can make it work. The money both of you have saved is for your educations. I'll make it work. I think we should pack tonight and we can head out after church tomorrow, I want to ask Jack to keep an eye on the place while we are gone. We'll be going to California up near San Francisco, so pack light and God forbid, Ben doesn't make it, bring something appropriate just in case, but otherwise, let's stay positive and think of this as a vacation/reunion. I'm going to plan a route and I'll call Jen with an ETA." Mom insisted.

"Before we separate, can I make a suggestion without sounding chauvinist and getting my head bitten off?" I asked.

Both of them smirked but nodded.

"I know the stereotype of women packing for trips and I know I'll be carrying most of the bags when needed, so can we limit the number of bags to 4 each, 1 garment bag we hope we won't need, 1 small bag with toiletries, 1 travel duffel (for while we are on the road) and 1 hopefully small suitcase for while we are there. That way I only need to carry 6 bags into whatever motel we stay at along the way, please?" I asked sincerely.

They both gapped open mouthed in surprise at me, and just when I thought I was going to be read the riot act. They both broke out in giggles. Then told me that was a reasonable request and they would try to limit them accordingly. Mom then surprised me by saying the travel duffels were a good idea.

****

I was just finishing zipping up the garment bag that held my suit, the last of my packing, when mom knocked on my door jamb with Anna behind her.

"I just got off the phone with Jen. It doesn't look good I'm afraid. She told me the damage was severe, and he fell into a coma. They stabilized him for now and have a specialist that will be there in a couple days to see if a transplant is viable, as that's the only way he could survive. From what she told me the doctor on call doesn't think they will put him on the list because the coma was not medically induced, they most likely won't take a chance if they don't know if he will wake up."

Anna had tears in her eyes, and I asked if we were still going tomorrow, sooner, or not at all. Mom said when she told aunt Jen that we had all planned to come, and would be driving across country to do so, she was so grateful and she said to take our time, just knowing we were coming was enough. "So, I have our route laid out. We will leave right after lunch, most likely we'll have lunch with Jack so I can give him keys and what not. I want to be on the road no later than one. I plan on four and a half days of driving. Four hotel stays, but I didn't want to make reservation anywhere. I'm sure we can find someplace adequate when we decide to stop." She finished.

We had a group hug and they departed to finish packing. I called Jack and gave him a heads up. He said he'd pray for us and he'd be happy to have lunch with us before we left. I decided to move my bags down stair, to move to the car in the morning. I then went about collecting the bags from Mom and Anna. We ended up with 13 bags, I know that sounds like a lot, but it really wasn't. We kept to my suggestion, all small bags, the extra one was the only big bag and it was of medium size as far as luggage goes. Mom and Anna combined their overflow into one bag of their accessories and shoes. I could deal with that.

****

Sunday service was interesting. Jack made mention of our families need for prayers and held a moment of silence for the congregation to do so. Then his sermon, was again about the importance of family, the love of family, and of how a family dynamic has to be fluid so when unexpected change occurs those that remain can 'fill in' for those that are no longer there. My Mom and I exchanged looks during that part of the sermon and I noticed Anna with a similar expression on her face too.

We waited a few minutes after church while Jack talk to a Father and his two daughters, I recognized one of them as one from my class and the other looked a couple years older. The father was in the middle of the daughters and they were a very touchy-feely bunch. I noticed Anna paying close attention to the family's interactions. Then the girls hugged Jack and the dad shook hands with him and they left.

Jack followed us to a small local diner next to the interstate. Once inside the four of us had a nice lunch and Jack said he'd watch over our place and pray for our family while we were away. Anna was kinda quiet and was studding Jack, I think he and mom thought her demeanor was worry over our uncle, but I didn't think that was it. As Anna and I made our way to the car Mom and Jack had a quiet word together before we left. We said goodbye to Jack and was on the road about 15 minutes ahead of schedule.

I was driving mom's minivan first with mom playing navigator in the passenger seat and Anna sat in the center seat with the back filled with our 'go' bags and the trunk area filled with the four suitcases and three garment bags. We had the radio on our local classic rock station with the volume low. We each had our favorite music but the three of us could all agree on classic rock.

We had been on the road for about an hour when Anna broke our comfortable silence. "Jack is a special person, isn't he? His way of looking at things can be taken many ways, but all of them involve love." She said.

"You noticed that too, huh? Mom and I had a similar conversation the Sunday after my graduation. Is there anything specific you feel or, is it just your impression of his style?" I asked.

Mom turned slightly sideways so she could look at us both. She looked like she was going to say something, then changed her mind.

"A bit of both I guess, I know he is passionate about his sermons and believes what he preaches, that obvious. Then again, some of his word choices, phrases he uses, can be taken certain ways that I wouldn't expect to come from a pastor. I've wanted to ask, but it makes me sound like a pervert." Anna conceded.

I chuckled then said. "Well, if you're a pervert sis, then so are mom and myself..."

"I'm only a pervert because of you Michael!" Mom said, then she blushed when she heard what she said.

Anna got a shocked look on her face and started to ask what mom meant but I cut her off and explained.

"The Sunday after graduation Jack's sermon was about the importance of love in a family. He brought up a bunch of families in the Bible. Like the families of Abraham, Noah, and Lot, to name a few, he named others of course, but all the parables had to do with how if these families didn't love each other, support each other and grow with each other the world we know today wouldn't exist. When we got home, mom said it was a great sermon and asked what I thought. I told her it was interesting and gave me a lot to think about."

"I'd say so!" Anna offered.

"Well, I didn't see it the way you two do, at first." Mom clarified.

"When I told mom that most of the families were incestuous, and that he made a point to say children born into the family were of parents that reach maturity, she finally saw things my way. I take it you agree Anna?"

"I don't know that I agree, exactly, but I can see why you could reach such a conclusion. He does it in such a way that it makes you think about it, but I'm afraid to ask him to clarify it for fear of sounding like a pervert, if it's not his intent. I believe he's an honest person, but maybe he does it on purpose in case someone doesn't agree with that point of view, he has an out." Anna proffered.

Mom and I glanced at each other "That's what Michael and I decided too." Mom started to say something else but, in the end, remained silent. We then started to talk about our trip, avoiding the reason for it, what we hoped would be a happy vacation/reunion. Mom said we would drive another hour or so before deciding on a place for dinner, then we'd refuel and change drivers when she would take the wheel for a couple hours before we looked for a place to sleep. Anna said she'd take the morning shift driving after breakfast till at least our first fuel stop of that day. Then we broke into idle chit-chat for a while.

****

We pulled into a Best Western Inn just as the sun was going down. It had decent reviews online for the price, and the outside of the building look nice. Mom went in to see what was available then came back out a few minutes later. She drove us around the back and directed us to the second floor a couple doors from the stairs. I was able to carry all but one of the toiletry bags at one time and Anna carried it. The room was decent looking, nothing fancy, but it was clean, it had two queen sized beds, a dresser with a nice size flat screen above it. A cabinet with a microwave in it and coffee pot. And a tall narrow dorm fridge with a freezer, and a small table with two chairs.

I sat all the bags on the closest bed then told mom I was going to run over to the convenience store for some drinks while they showered off the road grime and got ready for bed. Then I took the keys to the van and made my way out. I found the store had single serve coffee packs from a variety of makers on sale and single serve juice jugs too. The cashier told me the stuff the local motels provide is garbage so they make a lot off those sales. I grabbed a few pouches of our favorite coffee, some OJ jugs and then some bottled water and a couple sodas as well. I grab some chips and snacks too that if we didn't eat tonight would be eatable while on the road tomorrow.

As I walked back in, I saw mom in the same workout shorts and tank top I saw her in a few weeks ago sitting on the far bed on the inside next to the nightstand that separated the beds. I noticed my duffel and toiletry bag remained on my bed, Mom's was now on top of the dresser next to the cabinet and Anna's was missing. I could hear the shower running and I noticed the bathroom door was slightly ajar. Mom saw me looking and said the door wouldn't shut completely. She said there was only two sets of towels when she went in so she had Anna go get another set while I was gone. I took a pair of boxers and a white t-shirt from my duffel and placed my duffel on the end of the dresser closest to me.

I was just putting the sodas, water and juice in the frig when the water stopped. I left the snacks on the table along with the coffee pouches and told mom what the cashier said, I told her I bought extra we could use at the other stops if the places had coffee pots. Anna came out of the bathroom in a long t-shirt type night shirt, I couldn't tell if she had anything else on. She said the door might not close all the way but the shower had good pressure and the water was still hot. Mom added they both tried to take short showers to make sure I had hot water.

I thanked them both, told Anna of the water and soda in the fridge and snacks on the table before grabbing my stuff and entering the bathroom. I took a few minutes to use the bathroom and shave deciding to wait on brushing till right before sleep. I turned the shower on then started to undress. I could her mom and Anna talking in the room but with the shower running I couldn't make out what they said. I washed my hair and body quickly and shut the shower off. I opened the curtain and grabbed the towel they left for me. The towel was not as soft as the ones we have at home but it did its job. I was drying my hair when I heard what I thought was a gasp. As I moved the towel to my chest, I thought I saw movement in the gap of the door. I could hear them talking in hushed tones so I wasn't sure if I truly saw anything.

Once dry I dressed for bed and cleaned my mess adding my towel to the pile and collected my toiletries and dirty clothes. Mom had brought a netted laundry bag in her duffel we could put our laundry in so we would not have to mix clean and dirty clothes in our duffels. As I made my way out the talking stopped and I noticed them watching me as I added my stuff to the net bag, grab an individual bag of chili cheese Fritos, a Fudge Round and a bottle of water from the frig. I made my way to the bed next to the shower pulled the sheets back and sat down with my back to the wall mounted headboard.

Mom was in a similar position on the other bed closest to the window side looking at her phone. Anna was on the inside of that bed closest to me but sitting on the side facing me, legs dangling off the bed. She had a soda and a Twinkie on the nightstand. I grabbed the TV remote and turned it on. The first channel was showing Percy Jackson, I had a thing for Alexandra Daddario so I left it there.

Even though I had my eyes on the TV, I couldn't help but notice both Anna and our mother in my peripheral. Mom's side boob was exquisitely close to full boob shot and I couldn't help but notice her hardening nipples as well. Anna had her head turned watching the TV but her body was still facing me and she was shaking her legs back and forth opening and closing them in what seemed an unconscious way. Her doing this caused her long T-shirt to creep up her thighs and allow for a deeper view between them.

I sat back watching three beautiful women in very sexy situations and dress. Alexandra's outfits throughout the movie were tight and very form fitting, and she has a beautiful face and hypnotic eyes. Anna unless she wore black panties under her t-shirt was naked under it and on her way to flashing me. I could tell she was braless as her motions caused her breast to move slightly but in a way that made her bra-lessness obvious. Then our mother, whatever she was doing on her phone had caused her to almost completely expose a breast to me again.

All of this stimulus had the natural effect of the swelling of my cock within the confines of my boxers. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and noticed Anna staring at my crotch now. I froze for a moment not sure what to do. Should I move and block the view of my arousal? Should I ignore it? Should I instigate further action between us? Should I Talk about it?

All this thought did nothing to diminish my growing excitement. Anna had just finished her snack and pushed the sheets back to lay down. She raised one leg at a time exposing her naked shave pubis to me. She squirmed around on her side still facing me in a way that kept her mons exposed to me and then covered her legs only leaving the top half of her thighs and up uncovered. Her taking this step allowed me to make an easy decision. I stretched my legs out flat in front of me and I slide a little further down allowing the tent in my boxer to be more prominent.

Once the movie ended, I turned the TV off and asked the others if I could turn the light off. Mom asked if the light of her phone would disturb us and we told her no. I turned the nightstand light off leaving the light coming in from the crack in the bathroom door, and mom's phone the only light in the room. The bathroom light left a soft glow over me and Anna, giving enough light for both of us to still see what we allowed each other to see. Mom's phone illuminated her chest and face enough and I could now see all the way to her nipple exposed but the nipple itself was not.

I felt cool air starting to flow over my cock as it started to poke out of my boxers. I looked directly at Anna and I noticed she started to breathe heavier as she stared blatantly at my crotch. Movement behind Anna caused me to see mom expose her nipple and start to roll it between her thumb and forefinger. My cock straightened and fully exposed itself out of the fly of my boxers. I motioned for Anna to check behind her. When she glanced that way and saw mom playing with her nipple, she turned back to me and stared directly into my eyes and brought her hand down between her thighs and started to slowly rub over her mons.

I looked at both my mother and sister, and made a decision to let the chips fall where they may and I reached down and started to stroke my cock. Anna smiled and raised her top leg allowing herself more access and she started to openly masturbate slowly. Light in the room changed suddenly when mom laid her phone in her lap and she then bunched her tank top between her breasts and started to aggressively palm both breasts and playing with both nipples. The change in light made it slightly more difficult, but not impossible for me to see mom staring at both Anna and myself stroking ourselves.

I thought she was going to put an end to our three-way masturbation when she started to reach for Anna's top shoulder. Instead, she just tapped it and told Anna to lay flat and get comfortable if she wanted too. "If I'm getting comfortable, I'm getting naked." Was Anna's response.

She then raised her hips, pulled her t-shirt off, laid on her back spreading her legs wide and then continued to play with herself openly. Mom looked a little shocked but more than a little turned on when she pulled her tank top off as well, then returned to playing with her breasts. I watched for a moment then made a show of taking off my boxers and t-shirt leaving me as naked as Anna and mom only in her shorts.