Disclaimer:
All characters are 18 years of age or older while actively engaging in sexual activity. This story is a prequel/sequel (sprequel?) to my other work, Alex & Alexa. As always, many thanks and gratuitous panty shots from Freja and Jeanie to my long-suffering editor and beta-reader for their assistance in polishing up and improving this work. Reviews are welcome; flames will be snickered at and deleted with extreme prejudice. Enjoy!
Please Note:
There are incest themes with a secondary couple in this story. Just a forewarning. ***
Chapter IV - There Can Be Only One! (Power Couple)
Connor sat on the roof of the house, looking up at the night sky. Their house was far enough outside of the town that none of the lights interfered with his view of the stars. Far above him, they turned endlessly through the heavens. Or so Big Mike had told him. He had no reason to not believe his older sibling; Mike was never wrong about anything.
He was only thirteen, but he was bigger than the other boys in his class already, even some of those in the grades above him. Okay, he wasn't anywhere near as big as Mike had been at his age, but the DeBourne men were historically on the larger and brawnier side of average. He sighed heavily, trying to lose himself in the black vastness overhead.
"Why so glum, chum?" his older brother asked as he joined his Connor on the slanted roof. The tiles creaked under his weight while he walked carefully. Mike was only sixteen, and already bigger than their dad, who was not exactly a small individual. He eased himself down into a sitting position next to Connor, his legs crossed.
"I'm not glum," Connor replied, shrugging. "Not exactly."
"Then what's the scoop, poop?" Mike quipped, nudging him. Connor gave him a sidelong glance and shook his head. Clearly, Mike had no intention of letting his little brother mope if it could be helped. That's just who Mike was; he hated seeing people unhappy, especially his family.
"I dunno," the younger boy admitted. "It's hard being your brother sometimes."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Mike intoned, putting a hand on Connor's shoulder and giving it a squeeze.
"It's not your fault, you are who you are, and you shouldn't have to stop being, ever," Connor said. "But... I guess... well, you know what you're doing with your life, right? You're gonna be some brilliant physicist or something, make Einstein look dumb and figure out how everything works. And if you don't do that, you'll do something else and also be an Olympic champion, or Mister Olympia or whatever."
He sighed again and leaned back on his hands. "And here I am, not even certain what clothes I'm wearing tomorrow."
Mike smiled and shook his head. "You shouldn't have to worry about any more than that, Connor. It's not like you're required to have your whole life planned out already. You're not even a full-fledged teenager yet. You've got plenty of time to find out who you are."
"That sounds good, but not when you're the little brother of a boy genius," Connor said, trying to not sound bitter. "I mean, yeah, there's expectations of you, but after that, everyone looks at me and Ronnie. They either have expectations, or they don't, which can be just as bad, because I feel... dismissed."
Mike nodded. "I know. Not exactly fair, is it? But let me tell you, Con, you don't need to worry. We all know who you are. Okay, maybe you're not super-bright like me, but that doesn't make you dumb. No DeBourne has ever been dumb."
"What about Uncle Yance?"
"Every family has a mutant exception," Mike replied dryly. "That particular mutant aside, none of you are dumb: not mom, not dad, not you or Veronica, not Josh. You and Ronnie get good grades in school."
"Good enough, I suppose," Connor allowed. "But I'll always be compared to you, y'know."
"Maybe, but you need to not worry about that crap," Mike said firmly, looking up at the stars now. It was a warm September night, and he knew it was hard on his brother. "You need to think about becoming your best self; that's it."
"I don't even know who that is."
"Just you, but always being your kindest and best person," Mike stated. "As for your future and career, well... dad says you've shown a knack for messing around with the engines in the cars. Maybe you're a talented mechanic."
"Well, I do like getting greasy," Connor agreed. "And dad says there's a good living to be made at it, even here. D'you think that's what I'm meant to do?"
"I'll be straight up with you, Con," Mike said, pivoting to look at his brother. "I think you're a DeBourne like the rest of us, and no one, anywhere, can stop you or prevent you from doing exactly what you want with your life."
He took the back of his brother's head in his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze while looking him in the eye. "And that's a gift not a lot of people get in life, so don't waste it. The only reason we're put here on Earth is to make one another's lives as easy as possible."
"Is that what you're gonna do when you're a world-famous physicist?" Connor asked.
"Every single day of my life," Mike said readily. "I'm gonna think of my little brother and wonder what I can do to make his life as enjoyable as possible. Because we DeBournes stick together, right?"
Connor grinned, heartened, as always, by his brother's words. "Got that right!"
They did their secret 'DeBourne Brothers' handshake and then went back to looking at the stars. Connor sighed and considered. "So where's Iscandar?" he asked, referencing a legendary planet from his favourite anime.
Mike considered, looking around. "Well, it's outside our galaxy, hiding in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud. Soooooo, right about over there, somewhere. Y'can't see it with the naked eye."
Connor smiled. "Tens of thousands of light-years away. That's cool to think about. Think we'll ever go there?"
Mike shrugged. "Hopefully it won't be to save the planet from radiation poisoning."
"Dad says the Americans and Russians'll turn the planet into a radioactive dust ball soon enough," Connor mused. "Hope he's not right."
"That's just dad grumbling," Mike said easily. "He doesn't believe it any more than I do."
"What about that Star Wars project the Americans are working on?" asked the younger brother.
"You heard about that, hm? It's just hype meant to scare the Reds into thinking their missiles can't work anymore. They might as well just build a big net out of a trillion one-dollar bills and try to catch the missiles that way. It'll be about as effective."
"Y'don't think we should worry?"
"The world's a dangerous place, Con, no doubt. But it won't be the Americans and the Russians who blow us up. We've got time."
"Good," Connor said, nodding. "I haven't even figured out how to kiss a girl yet."
"There,
that
sounds like my little brother!" Mike laughed.
***
"Another week and you'll be starting in on your prep for courses," Karen stated as they all sat together in the jacuzzi, the late-summer evening warm and the moon a bright silver overhead. She sat with her husband, while Jeanie and Freja sat together, and Alex and Alexa occupied the other third. Drinks were imbibed, and smooth jazz was playing, at Freja's request. "Are you four ready?"
Alexa shrugged. "Ready as I can be, I guess. Soph year is hardly mind-bending for challenges. And since Alex and I did most of the sorting and organizing for the department, we're already pretty up to speed
on
what the curriculum will be."
