I was roused from my sleep by a banging on the door. "Alfred, come on down! Breakfast is ready." I heard my mom call from the hallway.
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and put my feet on the floor. "I'll be right down," I mumbled out. Through the door I heard heels clicking on the hardwood floor. That must have satisfied her. I looked at the clock on my nightstand. Almost quarter past seven. I normally get up at six o'clock sharp. I must have forgotten to set my alarm last night.
I got up out of bed and went to the bathroom, still dressed in my pyjamas. All I had time for was a quick shave and putting on deodorant. The full morning routine would have to wait if Mom and Emma had already made breakfast. At least with the teachers having meetings all day I didn't have school.
I went downstairs and headed to the kitchen. Mom was standing at the stove, back to me. Her raven black braid hung over her left shoulder. Through the slit of her tan knee-length pencil skirt I could see that she was wearing opaque black tights, thick ones that didn't become any less opaque on her thighs. Her feed were shod in shiny black pumps complete with stiletto heels around four inches high.
Mom put a pancake on a plate and walked over to the kitchen table, heels clicking on the tiling. She put the plate on the table and looked at me. She smiled, pretty round face beaming with delight. "Happy birthday, darling." She said.
I went over to her and gave her a hug, feeling the white silk of her blouse. It felt great. She returned the hug and kissed me on the cheek. "Thanks Mom," I told her.
Mom sat down, rolling down the sleeves of her blouse and covering as much of her pale ivory skin as she could. "Emma had to get something ready for school. She said it won't take long." I nodded and poured myself a cup of coffee.
After a minute, I heard a clopping sound outside the kitchen. I turned my head and saw Emma striding towards us. The clopping was caused by the block heels on the ankle boots she was wearing, around the same height as Mom's.
Like with Mom, I glanced at her legs, also sheathed in opaque black tights. Mom and Emma had entire dressers filled with tights, and there was almost always a pair or several hanging in the bathroom drying. It was understandable, they never wore pants or wore skirts with bare legs, even in summer.
Emma smiled. "Happy birthday, Alfy." She said, spreading her arms wide. I hugged her as well. I loved her, but I also loved the feeling of the sleek black turtleneck she was wearing. It was made from very fine material, cashmere I thought, marvellously soft to the touch.
We broke off the hug and went to the table. I took notice of how Emma's flared midi skirt swished and swayed as she moved. It was black, like the rest of her outfit, but covered with vine and rose patterns. She and Mom were classy dressers. Not like the girls at school, or even most of the teachers.
Emma looked like a younger version of Mom. The differences were that her hair was glossier and tied into a ponytail, and she wore thick aviator glasses that framed her face wonderfully and made her beauty stand out even more.
We both sat down. "Sorry about that. I almost forgot about a due date for an assignment." Emma said, bringing up her skirt as she sat.
"Don't worry about it," I told her. "Right now school needs to be first priority for both of us." With that, we began to eat. The breakfast was great. Pancakes with homemade whipped cream and maple syrup, scrambled eggs, and a freshly-made fruit salad. We don't normally go through this much effort for breakfast, but today was special. My eighteenth birthday.
"What do you two have planned for today?" Mom asked as she cut up a pancake.
"I've got an exam at nine thirty, and when that's done I have a gymnastics class." Emma said as she picked at her fruit salad.
"And what about you, Alfred?"
"I told you yesterday," I said with some annoyance. "The faculty are having meetings all day. No classes. They gave us some homework, but that'll take an afternoon at most. I'm staying here since I have nothing else going on."
Mom nodded. "I'm okay with you spending the day at home. As for me, I'm going to try and get the afternoon off. My department has been performing excellently and the policy is that we get either the morning or afternoon off if it's a special occasion." She smiled. "And I want to spend as much of your birthday with you as possible, Alfred. I don't want to waste this day writing emails and nonsense office reports."
"So Alfy," Emma said. "You're eighteen now, a man in legal terms. Do you have any plans on getting a girlfriend anytime soon?"
"Not particularly," I replied, making sure to give my voice an edge. "Why, worried I'm going to start spending less time with you?"
"No, Alfy, it's just-" Emma set her fork down. "I know this will sound weird coming from your sister, but you're really quite handsome. The fact that you're, well, still a virgin at eighteen just doesn't add up. I'm sure you could have your pick of any girl at school."
"You're two years older than me and I've never seen you with a boyfriend," I responded.
Emma shrugged. "Just haven't found the right guy yet," she said noncommittally. Uh-huh, sure. She was a unicorn-a young lady gorgeous enough to walk on runways in New York, Paris or Milan, who had never dated. As far as I knew, she was still a virgin as well.
Truth was, Emma was also deeply introverted. She only had a couple of friends, neither of whom were particularly close, and she spent all her spare time either on schoolwork, reading, watching anime, or doing something or other with Mom. Maybe she was asexual, although I doubted that.
"I think it's a fair question, Alfred." Mom said as she picked at her eggs. "Men these days have a hard time finding romantic partners. You'd have an easy time of it, at least in the short time. You should take advantage of it."