Be careful what you wish for?
Owen
I deplaned at DFW and Barbara and I spotted each other at the same time. She waved with one hand while clutching little Jenny with the other. We rushed to together and I lifted Jenny high in the air as she squealed "Unca Own! Unca Own!"
I put her down and Barbara gave me a big hug and kiss. "Owen! I'm so glad to see you!"
"Likewise, little sis, likewise!" We hugged again; little sis was a 'pleasingly plump' armful, soft and cuddly with a pretty smile and major cleavage. (I called her Barbara, Jenny called her Mommy, but everyone else called her Boobsie.) I scooped Jenny up in one arm, put the other around Barbara's waist and we strolled happily over to baggage claim. I only had one suitcase, but to carry that I had to hand Jenny back to to her mom.
We piled into Barbara's car and drove West to Fort Worth. I enjoyed the familiar sights and always got a kick out of the huge, purple "Killer Frogs!" slogan on a retaining wall alongside the steep hill of University Drive -- for those who don't know, the Texas Christian University teams are the Horned Frogs.
Barbara pulled into her carport and I grabbed my bag from the trunk. I managed to get that to the guest room before giving in to Jenny's demands to show me her latest artwork from pre-school.
Barbara interrupted to say "I'll get started on dinner."
"Oh no, you won't. Sit down and relax, I'm ordering delivery. Pizza, Asian, or Mexican?"
"Mexcan! Mexcan!"
Barbara rolled her eyes and said "Mexican would be fine."
We had a lovely dinner, no mess to clean up since we used paper plates. Afterward Jenny insisted 'Unca Own' read her bedtime story. I got halfway through The Frog Prince before she fell asleep. Barbara tucked her in and we retired to the family room, sitting together on the couch.
"So, Barbara, I know things have been tough, any good news? Or fresh disasters?"
I could see her fighting the tears, trying to put on a brave face. "Thanks for the mortgage money, Owen. You're so good to us."
"Hey, what's family for? And it's a mortgage, an investment, you'll be able to pay me back. We've gotta look after each other, sis, we're all we've got!" I hugged her against me.
Our parents died in a car crash a month after I turned eighteen. Barbara was ten; we had no aunts, uncles or grandparents. I dropped my plans for college, went to work in a curio shop and did my best to finish raising my sister. She did graduate from high school but then proceeded to shack up with a string of losers.
She miscarried at ages 19 and 20 (courtesy of two different guys), then stayed with Ricky for three years. When he got her pregnant he pulled a vanishing act and left Barbara on her own with Jenny. A few months later Tanner moved in; they soon married and bought a house together. Tanner had a solid office job and 'Boobsie' made pretty good tips waitressing at The Ten Pin Alley, a cocktail lounge attached to a bowling alley.
It looked like little sis had finally gotten things right -- but Tanner died from smoking some fentanyl-laced crack and Barbara was once again on her own. Tanner had not taken out any insurance and, in fact, left a sizable amount of credit card debt.
My own love life wasn't a roaring success, either. I let a friend's wife seduce me after he told me he was planning to divorce her; turned out she just wanted a one-night stand and when they patched things back up I knew I'd both done wrong and been had.
Then came a cutie who moved in with me and proceeded to screw all my buddies. Last came Jasmine, who seemed perfect until we married and I discovered she hated sex. She sure fooled me while we were dating!
While all this cynicism-inducing drama was going on, I was doing pretty well financially. I landed a purchasing position in the San Francisco office of a firm that imported rare and unusual items from around the world. I had an apartment outside of Frisco and traveled extensively.
Barbara
Owen was a life saver, the only one in my life I could count on. But when he asked me how I was doing, I couldn't tell him the truth. He knew money was tight and his paying the mortgage was huge; it kept us off of welfare. But money wasn't my biggest problem -- the truth is I was horny as hell! I was scared to get involved again and I tried masturbating and using a vibrator, but I simply craved a good, hard cock giving me a good, hard fucking. Not the sort of conversation to have with your brother!
Beyond that, of course, I wanted someone to love, to settle down with, to raise Jenny and the other children I dreamed of having. My history with men made that about as likely as my flying to the moon.
Owen
After spending a few days in Fort Worth I jetted off to Istanbul. Barbara and Jenny were never far from my thoughts; we kept in touch by text, email and Skype.
I took some time off to wander through some of the old parts of the city that, for centuries, had been the greatest in the world. In one shop, a gold necklace with a heart-shaped pendant caught my eye: there was a small ruby toward the top. The proprietor quoted a price of 45,000 lyra (about $1700 US), The price stunned me, but the item was high-quality: 18K gold for the necklace, 22K gold for the pendant. I offered 18,000 and he returned it to the case and suggested I try other shops.
We finally settled on 22,500 lyra, far more than I had intended to spend on a gift, but Barbara's birthday was coming soon and I hoped it would cheer her up. I carefully wrapped the item and filled out the shipping, customs and insurance paperwork. Before I let the package go, I wished with all my heart that all her dreams would come true.
Afterwards I thought about myself; I had almost everything I wanted, but where was love? Was I too jaded and cynical or could I still believe in romance?
Barbara
Working on my birthday was a bit of a downer but with Owen gone I'd've been fairly blue anyway. The doorbell rang while I was getting dressed and when I got to the kitchen the sitter, Carrie, pointed to a package -- from Turkey! Owen!
Jenny said "Open it Mommy! Open it!"
I said "Just a minute, dear." I discussed supper and a few other things with Carrie. Looking at the microwave clock I said "I'd better leave this until I get home."
"No Mommy! Open it now!"
Carrie chimed in "I wonder what it is?"