The Stepbrother Ch. 13

"No," Cara replied.

"But she was Christian?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Ok. Sorry if I ask a bunch of questions, but I want to know what sort of person she was." He smiled. "What did she like to do?"

"She was... Family was very important to her," Courtney said.

"Ok," he said with a nod. "Good. What else?"

"She liked to cook a lot," Cara smiled.

"Was that her profession?"

"No. She was a homemaker."

He nodded.

"Did she have a big family?"

"Yes many grandchildren, and some great-grandchildren."

"Alright. I'd like to lead us all in a prayer if that's ok, where we talk about her. Would that be alright with you?"

Cara nodded.

"Yes," Courtney said.

"We come together to express our feelings of loss, but also gratitude in knowing Addison Wyss. A homemaker, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. Someone who liked to cook and enjoyed family. We pray that she is welcomed and ushered to her next journey with open arms. We pray this together, as those that know her and have come to know her. I invite now anyone else that would like to say something."

There was a short silence.

"I love you," Courtney said. "You were strong and I just... I'm going to miss you a lot. It's not even really hit me yet."

"Goodbye mom. I... I love you. It's sad, but I'm glad you don't have to fight anymore. Keep dad company."

"I... oh gran...," Caitlyn blubbered. Cara hugged her daughter close. "I love you." Cara looked to her stepson.

"Thank you for welcoming me into your family," he said, stifling tears. "You showed me more kindness than I was expecting. I... I hope your spirit finds peace." After a moment the chaplain spoke again.

"All these thoughts we send with you to your final rest. Amen."

***

They went back to their secluded glass walled home.

"It's after three, we should eat," Cara said as they went upstairs.

"I'm not really hungry," Caitlyn said softly.

"Sophia left chicken for us in the fridge. Or we could call for delivery. Court?"

"I can't decide right now."

"Chicken sounds good," Marlon said. "Hell anything sounds good. I'm starving."

"I want some white wine," Courtney said.

"Yes," he agreed. "But red."

"Marlon, why don't you get a bottle of each from the wine room downstairs? I'll heat up dinner with Caitlyn's help."

"Sure."

"I'm going to take a shower," Courtney said. "I still feel like I just woke up."

"Yeah, I'll do that, too after I put the dinner in the oven. How about we meet at the dinner table at four thirty?"

There were nods all around.

***

They sat down to eat and as Cara began to pour wine her youngest daughter said-

"Could I have a glass?"

Cara looked surprised.

"Sure, honey the glasses are in the cupboard on the left of the oven."

Caitlyn went quickly and got a wine glass for herself.

"White or red?" Cara asked.

"Which kind did grandma like?"

"White," Cara smiled.

"I'll have that then."

They ate quietly.

Before Courtney had realized it she had already drunk two glasses of wine and was starting to feel a little buzzed. After eating they all went tothe couches in the living room. Cara pulled out some old photo albums and placed them on the coffee table. She sat in the middle of the couch with one open in front of her. Courtney and Caitlyn were sitting on either side of their mother, looking at the album.

Marlon sat on another couch to the side, swirling the wine in his glass.

"This was her 70th, remember?" Cara asked, pointing to a photo of them with Addison sitting at a restaurant table.

"Oh yeah this was four years ago right?" Courtney asked.

"I don't remember," Caitlyn said.

"Yes, it will be four years, next January," Cara said. "It was that restaurant where the chefs flip their spatulas and do all sorts of tricks."

"Oh right," Caitlyn laughed and took another drink of wine. She was still on her first glass.

"It was a bit tacky, but your grandmother loved it," Cara smiled.

Marlon was quiet, just drinking. The women looked through all the albums together for nearly an hour.

"I need to use the restroom," Caitlyn said, as Cara put the last album back down onto the coffee table.

"I should clean up the dinner table," Cara said, looking to the kitchen.

"We can do it tomorrow," Courtney said.

"You know how I like a clean house," she said, standing up and going to the dining room.

"Yeah. Let me help you," Courtney said as she also stood up.

"Maybe you should stay here," Cara said. "Keep Marlon company. He's been very quiet."

"I'm alright," Marlon replied. He was clutching his hand on the crucifixes around his neck. On the coffee table was the bottle of red wine that he had nearly finished all by himself.

Cara went off to the dining room and Courtney sat back down with her wine glass on the couch next to her brother.

"Thank you for calling all those people, I couldn't... I wish I could have called more of them myself. I felt... helpless."

"It's ok. I know how it feels."

Courtney nodded and finished her wine glass.

"Can I ask how... how your mother died? Does this whole situation remind you of her?"

"Of course,"' he said with a short tone.

"I'm sorry," she said leaning forward and touching his shoulder.

"No it's ok," he said looking her in the eyes. He had dark brown eyes, and long black lashes. He turned and began to cry. "Sorry," he said.

"It... it's ok to cry. You don't have to always be a tough guy.

"I..." He hesitated and suddenly stood up without warning. Then he turned down the hall to the row of bedrooms and out of sight.

"Everything ok?" Cara asked as she walked in.

"I think I just made a mistake," Courtney admitted, putting her hand to her forehead.

"What happened?"

"I was asking about his mother and I think... I guess he's not ready to talk about it. I'm going to apologize," Courtney said, standing up from the couch.

"Why don't you give him a few minutes to himself dear?"

"Ok. You're right." She sat back down. Cara poured both of them some more wine. "This is just the worst day."

"Sometimes I think that and then I remind myself that life was hard for your grandmother. She didn't like relying on people constantly. She enjoyed her freedom and for the last few years that was taken from her. She couldn't drive and had someone checking on her every day."

"Yeah. Things we take for granted."

Caitlyn walked in and then sat down. She finished her glass of wine and held it out. Cara poured half of the glass full.

"Thanks."

"Go slow honey."

"I will."

They sat silently for a few minutes.

"Where's Marlon?"

"He went downstairs," Courtney said. "I'll go downstairs to see if he's alright, you think it's been long enough?"

"It's only been a couple minutes," Cara said.

"I just feel bad," said Courtney.

"I understand. Go ahead then. Did you want me to go with you?"

"No, I'm just going to apologize."

Courtney stood up and finished her glass of liquid courage before setting it down and walking toward the hall. She stepped past the bedrooms, the footfalls of her white sneakers faintly echoing over the floor on her way to the stairs. She held the banister as she descended to the lower floor. She walked down another dim hall to the showroom double doors. She pushed into the showroom, and walked deeper into the dark space. When she turned around a corner to the left she saw Marlon's bed was empty. She turned around and started back when she heard the sounds from the nearby bathroom opposite the wine room. As she approached she could hear the shower running. Courtney turned the handle and found it wasn't locked, but then stepped back, shaking her head. She sat down at the edge of his bed, waiting in the dark, the only light from the stars and moon. She yawned, closing her eyes and pushing back her blonde hair behind her ears. When she opened her eyes, the bathroom door was open and Marlon was walking towards her, naked and dripping wet.

She stared at him, watching as he walked past her to a pile of towels at a workout station behind the bed.

"Courtney what do you want?" he asked.

"Uh..." she started, seemingly lost as she looked at his bare caramel colored-skin. The only thing he had on were two silver crucifixes around his neck. He was just as muscular as she remembered, with large biceps, wide shoulders and chest, with chiseled abdominals and a "happy trail" of coarse black hair leading down to his impressive and darker colored genitals. On his right shoulder was a tattoo of a coiled green anaconda and the letters UCU. He padded himself dry and then sat at the edge of bed next to her, the towel over his pelvis. She looked up into his eyes as he looked forward. It was a minute before he finally met her gaze and she noticed he was crying.

"Oh Marlon," she said, reaching out her hand and touching his muscular back. "Sorry I didn't mean to pry earlier."

"It was cancer. My mother died of cancer."

Courtney nodded.

"Are one of those hers?" she asked, pointing her hand to the crucifixes that hung from his neck.

"Yeah this one," he said, holding up a simple silver cross.

"May I touch it?" she asked.

"Sure," he said. He held it out in the palm of his hand. She traced her hands along the cross.

"And the other one?" she asked, pointing to a larger celtic style cross.

"This is my grandfather's," he said holding it out. She looked closely, feeling the intricate designs in silver. "He died of a heart attack."

"It's very beautiful."

"I thought my mom said you also lost your grandmother. She didn't wear a cross?"

"She did."

"Where is it?"

"Buried with her. My aunt didn't want me to have it. She's still mad that I have these," he said. "She says they should have been buried with them."

"Oh."

"I don't get along with her or that side of the family."

They were quiet for a minute.

"It's nice that you have something so personal and close to remind you of them," she said with a wan smile.

"Yeah," he said.

She looked up to his handsome, but sad face. His hair, normally pushed up into a frohawk with hair product, was wet, and he had a bit of a five o'clock shadow.

"I wish we had something like that of Grandma Addy," Courtney said.

He closed his eyes and tears streamed down his cheeks.

She pulled him close to her. She looked up into his eyes, filled with vulnerability. Then she kissed him sweetly on the lips. He pulled back a bit, but she kissed him again, this time deeper.

"Wait, no," he said, conflicted. "We shouldn't, after-."

"It's ok," she said kissing his lips.

"Courtney I'm serious," he said, standing and walking away.

Courtney sighed and buried her head in her hands.