Chapter 78: Family Crisis

Jeff stayed in his room the rest of the night. The truth was that he dreaded the inevitable talk that he would have to have with his father the next time he saw him. As Allison suggested, he backed up the pictures and then deleted them from his computer. Then he sat down with a book and tried to read, but found that he just couldn't concentrate.

When Brit crept into his room at bedtime, Jeff shook his head.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he told her.

"But can't I even sleep in your bed any more?" she asked. "Even with our clothes on?"

"Do you realize how bad that would look if Dad walked in on us? I don't want to make things any worse than they are right now. Look, we need to be extra careful right now. Maybe in a few weeks we can reevaluate things, but for right now, I think you ought to sleep in your own bed."

With a disappointed look, Brit nodded, then turned around.

"Brit," said Jeff. "This doesn't change how I feel about you. I still love you."

She nodded again, then disappeared into her own room.

The dreaded confrontation happened the next morning at the breakfast table. Greg and Allison were already sitting there waiting when the children came down for breakfast.

"Good morning," he greeted them with an attempt at a cheerful smile.

"G'morning, Dad," Brit smiled back, but without enthusiasm. Jeff just nodded.

"Look, you two," Greg said immediately. "I've had some time to think about things. We've all made some terrible mistakes, but I think if we work together, we can overcome them."

Jeff didn't want to overcome them, but he had to respect his father's wishes in this, so he merely nodded.

"Nobody's going to get punished, but things will have to change around here," continued Greg. "First of all, I want you two to try to stop being so affectionate with each other."

"You mean I can't sit on Jeff's lap any more?" Brit complained.

"I think that's the first thing that has to stop. And tonight after school we're going to do some rearranging. Jeff, you're going to switch rooms with Lissa. I don't want you two sharing a bathroom any more, because it's too easy for you to sneak into each other's rooms."

Jeff sighed. This really didn't surprise him.

"What about if I get scared at night?" asked Brit. "I love sleeping in Jeff's bed because I'm never frightened with him holding me."

"If you ever get scared, you can come downstairs to Allison and me. We don't mind if you sleep in our bed with us sometimes, do we, Allison?"

"Of course not," Allison smiled.

Brit looked unhappy about that, but at least she didn't try to argue the point.

"Now Jeff," Greg continued. "There's something else you need to think about. Of all the people that have been hurt by this, I think you hurt Kari the most."

"Kari?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes. It's really not fair for you to go behind her back like this."

"Dad--"

"Just hear me out. Kari is a wonderful, sweet girl, and she deserves a man she can trust, not someone who will cheat on her. Now I'm not going to tell her what you did, and I'm not going to make you tell her either. You're not a bad man; you just made a mistake. I do, however, insist that you think about what you've done to her, and decide what you need to do to make things right."

"She already knows," said Jeff.

Now it was Greg's turn to be surprised. "She does?" he asked, astonished.

"Kari's a lot more open-minded than you give her credit for. Not only was she in on it from the beginning, she was in favor of it even before I was. And just for the record, I would never cheat on her."

"Oh," said Greg, staring at his son for a few seconds. "Oh," he said again.

"Look, Dad," said Jeff, "everybody in this house knows you've slept with Rachael."

"Jeff!" Greg exclaimed.

"I'm serious, Dad. It's no secret that Allison doesn't mind you having sex with other women. The only two I know for sure are Rachael and those naughty pictures with Lissa, but there may have been others. That's fine; as long as your own wife is okay with it, then I'm okay with it too. I just bring it up because it shouldn't be hard for you to understand that Kari's no more the jealous type than Allison is. Maybe with all the time she spent here last summer getting tutored, some of Allison's personality rubbed off on her."

Greg stared at his son for a few seconds. Then as soon as he realized he was staring, he turned his gaze away. "Well then," he said, "I suppose I misjudged you. And her. Okay. So then I'll leave it up to you to tell her that you've broken off your relationship with Brit."

"I'll do that," Jeff nodded.

As soon as he saw Kari at school that morning, he asked her if he could come over to her house that afternoon. She was more than happy to agree, although she could sense that something was bothering him.

That afternoon at her house, he explained the situation to her and Crystal. Both of the girls opened their eyes wide with shock. As he explained how furious their father had been, Kari put a comforting arm around him, sensing that it wasn't easy to talk about it. By the time he was through, he had both girls hugging him.

Crystal asked how Brit was taking it, and Jeff said that so far she was putting on a brave face, but he suspected that it was all for show. Maybe he was still just a little overprotective of his little sister, and maybe he still thought of her as a little girl, but he could sense that it bothered her more than she let on.

When he arrived home that night, Greg immediately set him to work rearranging the bedrooms. No longer would he be permitted to sleep in a room accessible to Brit's without going through the hall. There would be no locking both doors to keep out their parents while the children had full access to each other.

It was a surprisingly quick job, mainly because Jeff had more things on the floor than in the dresser, closet, desk, or other containers. After moving the furniture from both rooms out into the hall, Jeff just gathered up his belongings in armfuls and dumped it on the floor in his new room. Greg was tempted to lecture him about keeping his room clean, but decided that now wasn't the right time.

Over the next couple of weeks, he found himself slipping into a minor depression. Every time he saw Brit, it pained him that he could no longer snuggle with her or sleep in the same bed or hold her on his lap. Sometimes the pain was just too much to bear, and in these times he retreated to his room and didn't want to talk to anyone.

To spare himself the pain, he began to spend more and more time at Kari's house. At least then, Brit's presence wouldn't remind him of what he had so recently lost. Unfortunately, Crystal reminded him of Brit, so even that refuge didn't work so well. Still, it was better than having to look on his little sister's beautiful, loving face, knowing that he could no longer love her the way he wanted.

He wasn't the most sociable person during these times. Kari could usually, with a bit of effort, cheer him up, and after twenty minutes talking and joking and flirting with her, his mood usually improved. Over time though, it took longer and longer to bring him out of his melancholy, which worried both Kari and Crystal.

One thing that almost always worked still was having sex with one or both of them. It was hard to stay depressed while making love to a gorgeous girl, even harder with two of them. Crystal told him that their job was to make him forget all about Brit, but that was a mistake. The problem was that he didn't want to forget about her. He wanted to love her like he used to. Forgetting her was just a way to make the pain go away, not a real solution. When Crystal saw how her statement bothered him, she never brought it up again.

Jeff wasn't the only one affected by the change in the family. While Allison and Greg seemed to be over it, Brit was not. Just like Jeff suspected, she hurt inside. Every night when she went to bed, she felt lonely having to sleep by herself. If it was only for one night, she might have been able to bear it, but the thought that she could never sleep with her big brother again made it impossible to stand. On more than one occasion she cried herself to sleep.

When it came right down to it, she just sometimes needed to snuggle with someone strong and caring. Jeff fit both of those qualities, plus he was handsome on top of that. But it really didn't matter what he looked like; he could be the most hideous man in the world, as long as she knew he loved her. He had been so tender and gentle with her, not once trying to take advantage of her. How could she not fall in love with someone like that?

As she lay in bed sobbing one night, she suddenly realized that there was one more person in this house that loved her almost as much as Jeff did, someone she could still love and trust. If she couldn't feel the loving arms of her brother, at least she could get it from her father.

One night, a couple of weeks after the discovery, Brit knocked on the bedroom door as Allison and Greg were just about to go to bed. She came in, looking a little sad and depressed.

"What is it, honey?" he asked her.

"Oh, I was just feeling kind of..."

"Lonely?" Allison suggested, and Brit nodded.

"Do you want to sleep in here with us tonight?" Greg asked. He had hoped to make love to Allison that night, but if Brit needed him, he would make himself available for her.

"Maybe not all night," she said. "I think if I just snuggle with you for a few minutes I'll be all right."

"Of course, Angel," he smiled tenderly. He understood that sometimes girls just needed someone to hold them every once in a while. Actually, now that he thought about it, it wasn't just limited to girls. He felt the same way sometimes.

The three of them climbed into bed and lay down, with Brit between them. She turned over on her side and lay her head down on his chest. He held her to him, relaxing in the warmth and softness of her body and enjoying her affection. No doubt she still hadn't gotten over Jeff yet, and as long as this mood of hers lasted, Greg was happy to cuddle with her like this.

Allison reached over and gently stroked Brit's hair, causing the girl to sigh. They lay like that for half an hour, saying nothing and not needing to. Suddenly Greg felt fortunate. Brit would turn fourteen in a couple of months, and there weren't too many teenage daughters willing to snuggle with their fathers like this. He would enjoy it for as long as Brit wanted to do it.

She eventually got up and kissed them both, then with a smile she returned to her own room. Greg smiled too, happy that he was able to give a little joy to his daughter that he loved so much.

The next Saturday, he found himself alone with Brit for a few hours. Jeff had gone over to Kari's place, and Allison had to run into town to do some shopping. That suited him just fine; he had been meaning to have a talk with Brit, to find out how she was feeling now that some time had passed since he had discovered her secret. Ever since the talk he had had with her after the incident, his heart had gone out to her. She was still his little girl after all, and he felt that he would be willing to do just about anything for the sake of her happiness.

He would have taken her into his office for a little privacy, but with no one else at home the living room served just as well. He sat down on one of the couches, but instead of taking one of the other chairs or even sitting next to him, she dropped down onto his lap, causing him to chuckle.

"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" he asked her.

"A little better," she said. "I really miss Jeff though."

"I know you do. You're being very brave right now, and I appreciate it. I know things look pretty bleak right now, but I promise you that they're just going to get better over time."

"Thanks, Daddy," she said, hugging him. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a tight squeeze. The one good thing that had come out of the ordeal, he decided, was that Brit was more affectionate with him. He loved to hold her like this, tenderly and gently, the way a father should. This, at least, was wholesome and beautiful, a tender moment between father and daughter.

She drew back, but kept her hands on his shoulders. He noticed then just how tiny she still was. He had always been a broad-shouldered man, and in comparison his daughter was a small little child. No matter how old she got, he would always think of her as a little girl.

She smiled at him, and he couldn't help but fall in love with that smile.

"I love you, Daddy," she said, kissing him on the cheek.

"I love you too, sweetheart," he replied.

"I love you too, Daddy," she said again, kissing him on the other cheek. He chuckled.

"I love you too, sweetheart," he told her.

"I love you too, Daddy," she repeated, kissing him on the nose.

"I love you too, sweetheart."

"I love you too, Daddy," she repeated, but this time she kissed him on the lips.

It was just a quick peck, but suddenly alarms went off in his head. Images of her sitting on Jeff's lap, playing games just like this, flashed through his mind. What was she doing?

"Is this how you seduced your brother?" he asked without thinking.

Immediately tears welled up in her eyes, and Greg realized he had hurt her. Her lower lip began to tremble.

"How could you, Daddy?" she sobbed, then jumped up off of his lap, and bursting into tears, ran out of the room and upstairs.

Greg felt absolutely horrible at that moment. He had been so callous, bringing that up. To see Brit hurt was bad enough, but to know that he was the one who had done it was the worst feeling in the world.

He stood up and followed her upstairs. At the far end of the hall, he could hear her weeping behind the closed door of her bedroom. He approached it, then knocked on it. She didn't answer, but just continued to cry. Greg opened the door and stepped inside.

Brit lay on her bed, face down and sobbing into her pillow. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed, reaching out to stroke her hair. She immediately pulled away from him, and he withdrew his hand.

He didn't know what to say to her. What could he say that would make it all better? What a heel he had been! Well, he could at least start with an apology.

"I'm sorry," he told her.