SHIFTED.✔

16

Kerry got fatter and couldn't fit into her skinny jeans anymore so she gave them to me. I wore them occasionally around the house. Mathew almost lived at our place. Dad wouldn't let them sleep together in the same room when he stayed over. I had to sleep in Kerry's room with her. Mathew slept in mine. Dad said that would teach the horny little prick he wasn't having his cake and eating it too. Mum smiled and went along with him. I'm sure she knew, like I did, that Kerry snuck in to be with Mathew when the house was in darkness.

Mathew got on well with everyone. Dad especially liked him because he could service his Ute. Mum liked him because he ate the slices and biscuits she enjoyed cooking and since Jake had moved out there had been no one to cook for. Kerry didn't want to get fatter than necessary and I was trying to slim down. Dad just didn't like sweet things.

Jake liked him because they were around the same age and Mathew helped him get a truck licence.

Mathew had his head screwed on.

At least that's what Dad said.

I liked him because he made everyone happy, especially Kerry. She only occasionally bit my head off. When she did Mathew usually told her to lay off me. Sometimes that made her even shittier. He'd wrap his arms around her, kiss her neck and say. "Hey pudding, Daddy's going to eat you." Or something else even more pathetic. She loved it. I think she pretended to be angry with me sometimes just so he would cuddle her.

The only thing that changed for me were the jokes. They went from fat ones to smutty ones. Because my sister was pregnant it meant she was a slut. Because I was her sister it meant, to the boys who didn't know me, I was free game and must have been easy.

They started out with things like. "Hey, Beach Ball do you spread your legs too?" Or "You want to fuck, Bouncy?"

There were times when I hated Kerry for getting pregnant.

On December eighteenth Kerry gave birth to a baby boy. Mathew was with her. They named him Mathew (Matty) Jed Cook. He was three point four kilo's in weight. Had fair hair and vivid blue eyes we felt sure would remain. Mathew never left our house after that. His move into Kerry's room was subtle. A non-event. They became a family within a family.

Matty's birth was like a key. He unlocked our souls completely. The door had  swung so far opened I didn't  think it would ever close again. We could breathe once more and the air smelled so fresh.

Mum smiled so much I wondered how it didn't hurt her face. Like when you have to smile continuously for photos. I knew it was unconscious, something her heart was making her brain tell her mouth to do.

It was beautiful.

Dad looked at Matty constantly. A fascination he never grew tired of. Kerry would offer to let Dad hold him.

"Here Dad, you want a hold."

"No bloody way. I don't want the little shit to piss on me," he'd grumble with a smirk on his face. On the days he'd had a few beers it was a different story. Dad leaned back in his recliner and held his arms out.

"Come on, Kerry. Give the little rat to me."

Kerry lay Matty in the crook of Dad's arm. They'd stay like that most of the evening. Dad sitting as still as he could, staring down at Matty's impish sleeping face.

When Jake first saw Matty he took the little boys hand and played with his fingers. "He's beautiful, Kerry." A tear rolled down her face as she nodded.

Mathew kissed her cheek. "Hey," he whispered.

I watched Jake watch them, then he grinned. "Well Mathew I guess that means he doesn't take after you, you ugly prick."

Mathew laughed with his usual good humour. "What do you mean, he's got fair hair."

Jake laughed and tugged on his own fair, now dreadlocked tresses. "Fair hair means nothing in this family mate." He winked. "He's such a good looking kid. He's male and check out the blue eyes." Jake laughed some more. "There's only one other male in this family who has the same traits, so lucky for him, I'd say he takes after his uncle."

My mother whispered, "He takes after his mum."

Mathew and Jake would banter backwards and forwards about who Matty looked like the most. The first time Jake saw him naked it all started again. Kerry was changing his nappy on the lounge room floor. Jake had come over for tea. He was sitting next to Mathew on the couch and jabbed him with his elbow. "There you go, that proves it!"

Mathew nearly spilt the beer in his hand. "Ah fuck, Jake what?"

"That kid defiantly takes after me." Jake jerked his head towards Kerry and Matty. "Look at the size of his penis."

"Yeah I have to agree." Mathew leaned forward and chuckled. "It's a shame yours never got any bigger. At least his will grow."

Jake grinned and punched Mathew lightly in the ribs. "You want me to get a ruler out, show you it did grow."

"I don't know if there's a measurement smaller than a millimetre." Mathew laughed.

"I don't get many complaints." Jake put his tongue in his cheek trying not to laugh. "The only ones I do get are because it's too big."

Still laughing Mathew said. "So how come they don't hang around for long? Must mean there's something not right. Maybe you can't keep it up long enough." 

 "It's because I wear them out." Jake punched Mathew playfully again. "Too much stamina, if you get my drift."

Mum shook her head, a grin on her face. "It never changes does it, Bernie? No matter what generation you men come from the most important thing in your lives is your penis."

Dad gave her a humorous look and cocked his head. "Honey the world would end if men didn't have penises."

That Christmas was one of the best we'd ever had. I was glad Matty was just a baby and wondered if he would ever realise the impact his birth had on the family.

Copyright © 2017 by Donna Fieldhouse. All rights reserved.

Thanks once again for reading Shifted.  I hope you are enjoying the story.  I'd love you to comment and vote.  It makes it all worth while. xoxo