Kate was utterly obsessed with her son Brad. From the first moment she held him in her arms, she could not bear to leave him be for even a moment, nor could she get him out of her head. Kate was constantly holding him when he was an infant, never allowing any one to take her Brad from her unless they insisted or put up a fight. And then later Kate would follow him around as he stumbled about the house, always ready to catch him and ready to entertain him with some game. She could never leave him alone, even for a minute.
On some occasions young Brad would run a fever or feel sick and his mother would rush him to the doctor or the hospital, feeling so anxious and arriving in such a panic that she would be screaming at people to look at her child. She had to be sedated on one occasion when she brought a feverish Brad into hospital and caused a scene by growing so hysterical that hospital staff had to calm her down with an injection. Brad had been fine and had been cleared to go home an hour later, with a prescription.
Brad's father, Paul had been excluded from Kate and Brad's special relationship. From the very start Paul's neurotic wife had turned her back on him, so focused was she on caring for Brad's needs. She held a belief that he wasn't really good enough and careful enough to take care of their child, but she never said anything to him. Mother and son developed a relationship that her husband and his father just couldn't penetrate and so he was forced to watch from the sidelines.
Brad knew he was doing the right thing. He took off all his clothes, walked out of his bedroom and then down the hall to the bathroom, opened the door and stepped into the shower with his mother Kate.
Brad had been in training for this moment for a long time. He had trained his body hard, focusing on building strength, power and endurance. He lifted big weights and ate like a horse and got plenty of rest and his body grew and his mind and will became stronger. While Brad's father Paul slowly turned soft and grew a soggy midriff, his determined son Brad struggled and overcame greater and greater resistances. For a time Paul didn't seem to care what Brad was doing at the gym, but Brad wasn't concerned with his father's opinion - he was doing this for his mother. He was interested in what Kate thought and he could see that his mother was taking notice.
Building strength and pursuing excellence were Brad's goals. He finished high school with extraordinary marks, a result of endless hard work for hours on end. He entered a prestigious college and ploughed through the work, determined to obtain the best results. Brad was a winner, but he knew that winning took effort and he gained an advantage from every opportunity, securing victories at every step. Again he didn't really care what his father Paul thought of his study and his future prospects – Brad only cared what his mother thought and again she was taking notice.
There seemed to be an unspoken sort of agreement between Kate and her son. It was an agreement conveyed by the eyes, by looks and by tone of voice. Sometimes Kate would touch her son a certain way on the hand or the arm, or she would look lovingly at him over dinner. And sometimes she would need Brad to hold her when she was emotional and on the verge of tears or else she would confide in Brad, telling her son everything and he would spend hours listening and supporting her so she could feel better and move forward.
The determined young man was always there - always ready to listen to Kate's nasty gossip or her constant complaints about Paul and his family, or how someone had failed to do this for her or someone had said that about her. Brad had no problems getting up and walking out of college classes if his mother called – Kate always came first in Brad's life and he never kept her waiting.
It took Paul some time to realise what was going on, but when he did notice he was surprised. Brad, his son, had effectively taken Paul's place as Kate's husband. Granted Brad wasn't sleeping with his mother, yet he had taken on the role of her emotional support and was offering her the sort of friendship and care that Paul was expected to provide. Kate and her son had grown too close, as far was Paul was concerned, but they had always been too close. When Paul found out what was going on he tried to step in between Kate and Brad and re-commence his duties as Kate's husband, but Kate shut him out and Brad made it clear that he was ready to fight his father for his mother.
The only other person in the family, an elder daughter named Jessica, watched the unfolding drama from afar. Jessica was too busy with her own life to really participate but she could sense what was happening to her family. She didn't enjoy a good relationship with her mother - Jessica regarded her mother as an overly controlling and manipulative person, but Jessica did care for Brad, although she regarded him as a cold and calculating person at times. Jessica didn't really like Brad's passion for competition and winning that much either, but still he was her brother and she loved him.
Paul soon learned the full extent of Brad's treachery when his son shocked him by revealing his true intentions. Paul confronted his son one night after he caught Brad and Kate in each other's arms again. Kate had been crying and Paul had tried to intervene, but Kate had rudely rebuffed him and Brad had walked out of the room. Paul had gone after Brad wanting to put an end to his son's role as his mother's pseudo-husband, but not wanting to fight it out. They ended up in the front yard whispering at each other fiercely under the glow of a streetlight.
"You stay away from my wife Brad."
"No I won't dad, you stay away from her."
"What, are you talking about Brad – she's your mother and I'm your father and I'm telling you to back off. Your relationship with her isn't healthy."
"No I won't dad, she belongs with me and you should just accept it and get out of our way."
Paul abruptly stopped talking and stared at his son. Brad was looking at Paul with the most determined look on his face – Paul could see that Brad was completely serious and it shocked him.
"Brad, I...," Paul said, lost for words.
"Dad, mom loves me and she wants to be with me, not you."
"I'm not going to argue this with you young man, you stay away from my wife," Paul returned, growing angry.
"No I won't dad," Brad returned, raising his voice.
The argument grew in volume and Paul realised that Brad was prepared to fist fight him for his mother.
"Stop this you two," Kate hissed as she ran across the lawn. "I can hear you from inside the house."
"Did you hear what he said," Paul asked Kate.
"Yes, but just forget it, okay Paul."
"Wait a minute, is Brad telling the truth Kate – do you want to be with him?"
Kate stood there silently on the lawn, gazing at her husband, while Brad stood off to the side, his arms crossed. He was ready to fight his father physically, if that's what it took.
"Well?" Paul demanded.
"Look, just stop it, okay Paul,"Kate said. "C'mon Brad let's go inside, honey."
The tension within the family grew from that night onward. Brad was hoping with all his heart that his father would move out of the house and his parents would divorce, so Brad could have his mother to himself like he always wanted. It wasn't a far-fetched plan as Kate and Brad had planted the seed that night out on the front lawn: Brad had declared his intentions to his father and Kate had said that she had overheard Brad, but she hadn't said anything to contradict Brad or set things straight with her son.
Paul got drunk one night and told Jessica what Brad had said out on the lawn and also what her mother had said and done. Jessica instantly blamed her mother.
"Wow mom must have loved that: having you and Brad fighting over her. She loves that sort of thing. Mom's really controlling and so nasty sometimes."
"What, you think she's manipulating Brad into saying what he's saying?"
"I don't know dad, but she's very good at getting him to do things."
"I can't believe Brad wants his own mother – it's so sick."
"Well yes, but mom isn't the healthiest person either," Jessica said sadly. "She could put a stop to it very quickly if she wanted to."
