The Crazy Things We Do For Family

"Don't you dare cry," she quickly reminded herself in thought for precaution. She then titled her head back to speak. "Are you good?" Karen asked him with complete composer.

"Yea," he exhaled loudly, now panting, with sweat running down his face.

"Good," she said as she got to her feet. "Now pull up your pants, go wash your face, and brush your teeth before you go to sleep."

"Cool," he pulled up his underwear and pyjama bottoms. "But before I do that..." he added. "Are you sure you don't want me to go down on you?"

"Dylan." Karen replied with a pinch of anger in her tone as she glared at him.

"Okay. Okay," he said with his hands in the air. "I'm going. I just thought I should offer, that's all," he added as he made his way to the exit of her bedroom. "Goodnight, Mom."

"Goodnight, Dylan."

Subsequently to her son closing the door behind him, she swiftly headed off for her bathroom. After flicking its light switch, she commenced on quickly removing her jewellery, her jizz stained trousers, and then the white underwear the clung to her behind. Now completely nude, she walked over to the cubical of her shower, pulled its glass door open and stepped inside.

She then turned the taps on to run an adjusted combination of both hot and cold water, and then picked up her soap and scrubber, to commence on washing the drying semen off of her body. What's more, she took advantage of the loud crashing sounds of water as she started to sob. "This is so fucking sick," she cried in thought, as she continued to thoroughly scrub herself.

Once she was clean, Karen sat down in the corner of the fairly large cubical, and with her arms around her knees, she took a few more moments to cry in silence, as the water continued to crash onto the floor and wall of the cubical. About ten minutes later, after she was all cried out, she got to her feet, turned off the taps and stepped out of the shower. She then grabbed a towel, dried her hair and body, and brushed her teeth.

On completion of that, she switched off her bathroom's light and entered her bedroom. From there, Karen stepped into a pair of panties, a nightie and then switched off her bedroom's light. With only the glowing light of her laptop's screen left to illuminate her bedroom, her last move was to crawl under her covers, as she, with great difficulty, drifted into sleep.

Over the course of the next four months, every night, Karen would get down on her knees to orally gratify her son. But that's about as far as it would go. They never did anything outside of blow-jobs, cum-facials, hand-jobs, or boob-sex... if that's the name for it. In addition to her nightly routine with her son, every time after she would make him cum, she would send him on his way, step into her bathroom and then sobbed as she cleansed herself. Although, her crying did become a lot less frequent after the first few weeks of pleasuring him. THE LANDING

After a long, tiresome day of teaching restless children and substituting for the absent aftercare teacher after that, Karen arrived back home, at roughly ten past five, with a very apprehensive look on her face. She parked her car into the garage, stepped out of her vehicle and took a few strides to approach the boot of her Polo. She popped the trunk, pulled out a somewhat large black bag and then entered her house.

Passing the laundry, the kitchen, the living room and the dining room with her handbag over her left shoulder and the large black in her right hand, she headed upstairs and stopped at her son's bedroom door. After placing the black bag down, she lifted her right hand, took a deep breath and exhaled before she knocked.

"Come in," Dylan's voice responded.

Accordingly, she pushed the door open and stuck her upper body inside the room, "Hey, sweetie."

"Hi, Mom," he replied, sitting at his desk, with his laptop and a Network+ textbook open.

"Are you busy?" she enquired, moving a little further into his room.

"Um... as you can see, I'm studying right now," he said, placing his arm over the back of his chair. "And then after I'm done, I'm planning on going to the gym with Justin."

"I only need a few minutes of your time," she implored. "It's really important."

"Alright..." Dylan became intrigued. "I'll be with you after I finish this unit."

"Thank you, sweetie," she replied. "I'll be waiting for you in the living room."

"Cool," he turned his body to focus on his book again.

Once she closed the door behind her, she picked up her bag, walked down the hallway and entered her bedroom. From there, she placed the large black bag by her cupboards, her handbag on her bed, and then removed her blazer. She then went back downstairs and entered the kitchen. Thereafter, she poured water into the kettle, turned it on, and gathered all the equipment and ingredients it takes to make a cup of coffee.

After pouring the hot water inside her mug and stirring it, she placed everything back where it belonged. Subsequently, she entered her living room and took a seat on her couch, where she sipped on her creamy cup of coffee as she waited for the arrival of her son. And a little while later, she heard his husky voice.

"You wanted to speak to me about something important?" he asked as he walked into the living. He was now dressed in a black hoodie, a black tank top, grey sweatpants, white running shoes and had a gym bag over his shoulder.

"Yes," she emphasised the word, as she placed her mug on her coffee table.

"Okay," he removed his bag to place it on the ground and then sat down next her. "Shoot."

Before Karen replied, she took a brief moment to gaze into the eyes of her son, with sorrow residing in her own, and then let out a sigh. "Before I tell you what I called you down here for... you need to promise me something first."

"And what would that be?" his face coiled.

"No matter what I tell you..." she said, her eyes now becoming watery. "You have to promise me that you won't get mad at me."

As a result of hearing that and noticing her shaky demeanour, he became very reluctant in making her that promise. "Just tell me what's going on."

"Promise me!" she demanded, slapping the couch as a tear ran down her cheek.

"Okay. Okay... I promise I won't get mad at you," he assured her.

"You promise?" she sniffled and wiped her face.

"Scout's honour," he replied, even though he had absolutely no former affiliation to a cub's troop, but that's not important. "Now tell me what's wrong."

"Just remember, you promised me," she said with a sniff.

"I know," he nodded.

"Okay... Here it is." Karen took a deep breath. "Do you remember that night after dinner, about four months ago, when I first said I wanted to perform oral-sex on you?"

"Yeah," he shrugged.

"And then you asked me: Why are you saying this Mom?"

"Mm-hmm," he nodded.

"And then I said: Because I want to make you happy?"

"Yeah."

"Well..." she said and then sighed. "That wasn't the entire truth." FOUR MONTHS EARLIER: THE RUN UP

During the school children's second lunch break, Karen was inside the domain of her classroom, and was grading her fourth grader's mathematics papers. As she placed a red inked tick next to the correct answer of forty-five, on Katie Anderson's paper, she heard the vibrating sound of her buzzing cell phone, rattling inside her red handbag, which was sitting near the edge of her large desk.

Consequently, she placed her pen down, pulled her handbag in and reached inside it to withdraw her I-phone. Before Karen answered it, she checked the caller's ID and noticed her sister-in-law's name on the screen. "Hey, Vicky," she said as she removed her reading glasses, and after a couple of fast sentences from Victoria, her face went pale.

"Whoa, Victoria, slow down. What do you mean Carl's had a heart attack?" she asked as shock painted her face and concern filled her heart. "Oh my word..." she whispered. "Yea... Okay... Okay..." she said standing up. "Okay. Thanks for letting me know Victoria. I'll meet you there. And please... keep me posted," Karen replied and then hung up.

After spacing off for a moment, by gazing at the back wall of her classroom with her hand over her mouth, she stuffed her phone inside her handbag and quickly placed her reading glasses inside their casing to place them inside the handbag as well. She then quickly grabbed the keys of her classroom and promptly headed for the exit. "Shit," she blurted, now closing and locking the door, as she suddenly remembered she was still at work.

On arrival at the school's main office, she spoke with the receptionist on duty, who informed her on Mrs Paxton's whereabouts. Subsequently to that, Karen walked down the hallway of the main office, and after a "you may enter" response, she pushed the principal's door open and entered her ground floor, corner office. She then sat down on one of the two chairs that were placed on the opposite side of Margo's desk.

"Yes. How can I help you, Karen?" asked Margo Paxton, in a cheerful mood as always, after she placed her pen down.

"Well, I'm here because I need someone to take care of my kids for the rest of the day," Karen requested.

"Why for?" the elderly woman asked, as she adjusted her glasses.

"A family crisis has come up," she replied. "My brother's in the hospital. He just had a heart attack..."

"Oh dear."

"Yes. And I need to make sure his okay."

"Oh I see..." she said and then opened one of the drawers of her desk, to pull out an A4 sized piece of paper, which she browsed through for a moment. "Well, seeing as I will be unable to find a substitute for you on such short notice; I'll step in and take care of your class for the rest of the day."

"Thank you so much, Mrs Paxton," she said as she stood up. "You have absolutely no idea how much I appreciate this."

"No worries, my dear. If one of my family members were in need of my attention, I'm sure you'd do the same."

"Of course," she replied, making her way to the exit. "Again," Karen added as she opened the door. "Thank you, Mrs Paxton."

"Please dear, call me Margo."

After closing the door behind her, she swiftly walked through the slightly large area of the school's main office, and ignored a sarcastic "where's the fire?" question, from one of her male colleagues, as she made her exit. She then entered the parking lot, stepped into her car and drove out of Winchester area, up until she arrived at Brentview's hospital.

Once inside the hospital, she spoke with one of the two ladies at the front desk, who informed her on where she could locate her brother. She then stepped into an elevator and found her sister-in-law in the waiting section of the floor Carl was on. Karen greeted her with a hug.

"What did the doctors say?" asked Karen, as they both sat down in their respective seats.

"I haven't spoken to one yet," replied Victoria, looking very tense. "I can't lose him, Karen. What would happen to me and Karina?"

"I know, honey," she said, in a sympathetic manner, as she placed her hand on Victoria's. "Just relax. I'm sure he'll be just fine."

"I hope you're right," she exhaled in grief.

"I know I'm right," she replied, appearing to be quite optimistic, but that was just a front she put up for her sister-in-law. "Hold on. I'll be back in a sec." Karen added, stood up and left.

A few moments later, she returned from a vending machine, with two cans of Coke-Light in hand. She retook her seat, handed Victoria her drink and then they continued to chat about the situation at hand, as they anxiously waited for more information on what happened to Carl.

A little over twenty minutes later, they were finally approached by a middle-aged, slightly chubby, Indian lady, who had short hair, wore glasses and was dressed in green scrubs. "Hi. You must be Mrs Victoria Chambers," said the doctor, checking the clipboard in her hand.

"Yes. And this is Karen Chambers. My sister-in-law," Victoria replied, as they both got to their feet.

"Oh okay. I'm Doctor Priya Dhoni. I'm sorry it took so long for somebody to give you an update," she said as she shook their hands.

"How's he doing doctor?" asked Karen.

"His conscious and resting right now," she replied, and relieved them of their tension. "Although, something has come up," the doctor added, and at the same time, killed their brief moment of relief. "We're still running a few more tests on him, to be one-hundred percent sure about it, but it seems like your brother... I believe?"

"Yes."

"It seems like he has a coronary artery disease," she said as she paged through her clipboard.

"What's that?" asked Victoria.

"It's a heart disease. To put it plainly," replied Doctor Dhoni.

"Oh no," Victoria whispered.

"It's a relatively common one," the doctor continued. "That's caused by plaque building up in the inner walls of the artery, which in turn, cuts off the blood supply to the heart."

"Oh my gosh..." Victoria placed her hands over her mouth. "That sounds serious," she added, in a fairly dramatic kind of way, as she turned her head to face Karen.

"If the rest of our tests confirm that he does indeed have a disease of the..." she flipped a page. "Left main artery, then yes, it is serious."

"Could you elaborate?" Karen requested.

"Well... he'll need to undergo surgery, coronary artery bypass surgery to be more specific... to reduce the chances of him dying from the disease."

Karen's heart felt like it dropped into her stomach after hearing that. "What do you mean by, 'reduce'?"

"Yes, well... there's still a likelihood of him dying from the disease years later, regardless of the surgery. But technology has come a really long way, and with a healthy diet and a lot of exercise, he can only improve his chances. Is there a history of heart disease in your family, Miss Chambers?"

Karen paused to think about the question for a moment. "You know, now that you mention it, my grandfather died from a heart attack. And I believe one of my uncles died from a coronary disease."

"Ah. That would explain your brother's heart condition," Doctor Dhoni replied. "You see, diseases like this are normally passed down through genetics. You should get your heart tested as well... just in case."

"Will do," she dejectedly replied, now very distressed, as she feared her younger brother would suffer the same fate as her uncle and grandfather.

"Alright... I'll let you two know when you can come in and see him," she concluded and left after they thanked her.

Feeling stressed out about her brother's potential predicament, Karen felt like someone had placed a curse on her. It was bad enough she had lost both her mother and father at the tender age of thirteen, and her beloved grandmother not so long ago, and now she was facing the possibility of losing her only sibling. If he were to die, the only close and connected by blood family members she would have left would be Dylan and Karina.

"Why does this keep happening?" she enquired in thought with vexation. Karen then left the waiting section to head for the ladies room. On her return, and after enduring about fifteen more minutes of downhearted waiting with her sister-in-law, Doctor Dhoni returned and told them they could go in and see Carl.

"Before you go inside Miss and Mrs Chambers," said the doctor. "I first need to tell you about our findings."

"Okay..." Karen folded her arms and looked to the floor. "Let's hear it." Somehow, she knew what was coming.

"Sadly, your husband... and brother, does have a coronary disease."

"So he basically needs surgery, right?" asked Victoria.

"Yes. Or at least I recommend it," she replied. "But here's the problem with that. The surgeons who perform these types of surgeries, well, they can..."

"Hung on," Karen interrupted her, "These types of surgeries?"

"In this case, open heart surgery."

"Oh."

"Yes, well, they can be a little pricey," she winced.

"Okay. And could you maybe give us a rough estimate?" Karen requested.

Doctor Dhoni thought about it for a moment. "Umm... he'll probably need to undergo surgery at least three times, so in total; a little over two million rand." (Roughly two-hundred-thousand U.S dollars)

"What!" Vivian Alger said the next day, with a look of disbelief on her face as she leaned back in her chair, both her and Karen now sitting inside the teacher's staffroom, during the school children's first lunch break. "That much, huh?" she tilted her head to the side.

"Yep," Karen replied. "Where I'm I suppose to get that kind of money?"

"Wait a minute," Vivian shook her head. "Why do you have to pay for them?" she asked as her face coiled. "I mean, I know you're his sister and all. But, isn't he... uh... medically covered?"

Karen shook her head.

"Oh... okay. Then, can't your in-laws help out?"

"Well, Victoria's not working. And even if she was, I don't think me and her could make that much that quickly. And her parents are broker than I am."

"Yea... this job doesn't pay very much, does it?"

"Nope," she sighed. "Sadly, shaping the minds of the future does not," Karen added, in a deflated manner, "Especially not in a public school. And with all my bills and Dylan's school fees..." she sighed again. "But I do have a last resort idea though."

"Yea?" she leaned forward.

"I'm going to have to sell the house," she replied unenthusiastically, as she remembered all the fond memories she had created with her various family members inside those walls.

"For real?" her eyes lit up.

"Mm-hmm," she shrugged. "It's a shame too. I love that house."

"Where're you gonna live?" Vivian asked, in a sympathetic kind of way, as her interrogation continued.

"Well, provided that we find new homes for the dogs, we'll have to rent an apartment. Or maybe we'll move into Carl's house. Who knows?" she shrugged.

"Or maybe you can sell Carl's house, and they can move in with you," she suggested.

"Yea, but... I think we could get a lot more for my grandparents' house. It's bigger... and it's in better condition."

"Hmm," Vivian pondered.

"And plus, I've already hired both an appraiser and inspector to come through over the weekend."

"Ah, you did your homework I see."

"Yea," Karen reluctantly chuckled.

"In that case, how's the market looking right now?"

"Not too great. But hey, I've got my fingers crossed," she said and then placed a disheartened look on her face.

Vivian stared at her best friend for a moment, with an empathetic expression on her face. "I'm really sorry about your brother, Ka."

"Thank you for your concern, Vivian," she replied with sincerity, "And for your ear. I love how I can offload and share absolutely anything with you," she added and emphasised the word 'anything'.

The next day, which was a Saturday by the way, at exactly five minutes past twelve, Karen accompanied her real estate appraiser into her house. The appraiser was a tallish black guy, named Melvin Sibeko, who was dressed in semiformal attire. She led him into her living room, where he took a seat on the couch, and then entered her kitchen. From there, she poured him a tall, icy, glass of juice and poured a glass of wine for herself.

On her return to the living room, with their drinks on a tray, Karen passed him his glass of juice and took a seat on her smaller couch. As they sat and sipped on their respective drinks, they spoke about the appraiser's profession for a little while, and about how he would be assisting her on selling her home. And after that brief discussion, she gave Melvin a quick tour of the house.

On completion of the tour, he entered the backyard, which is where he started working from. He measured the entire property, took a few pictures and compiled a stack of notes as he made his assessment. On accomplishment of that, he thanked Karen for her hospitality and told her that he would fax a copy of his appraisal and e-mail a reasonable estimate for her home, once he assembled a list of comparable houses in her neighbourhood, of course. The rest of the day was uneventful.