Incubus

Two

Evelyn was a beautiful woman of forty, people always thought she looked younger than what she was and she had family genes to thank for that. She'd inherited the signature skin of her mother and grandmother: smooth caramel that always seemed to glow even without the light makeup application. Maybe it was the glow that made her seem almost ageless and left people confusing her as a sister to her daughter.

People commented all the time how she looked young for her age and she would think about what her grandmother would say as she looked down on her grandchild, "Our skin glows cause it's as precious as gold, keeps like it too!" She would always chuckle out loud when she pictured her grandmother, who never looked a day over forty, even in her final days, with her hand on hip and head bobbing matter-of-factly.

She stared in the mirror with the thought in her head but it didn't bring a chuckle, not even a smile.

It was too solemn of a day for a smile. It was the day they buried him, the father Luna never had, the father Tyler will forever aspire to be and the man who gave Evelyn hope.

The whole world waited for her family to emerge and show their faces so they couldn't hold it off any longer.

Evelyn fixed the figure hugging black dress into place before setting a matching blazer over it. She checked the mirror one more time as if the hazel eyes that always stared back at her were going to change. She applied a smooth clear gloss to her plump lips that was subtle because she didn't want people thinking that she'd let herself go.

She smoothed the fabric against her slender body and stood as tall as she could. She fixed her chest yet again, hoping that the bra would keep them contained. Benjamin's family was never the biggest fan of her coming into his life so she was always conscious of modesty when they were around.

A soft knock at the door echoed as Luna stepped inside, dressed in black slacks that hid her long legs. Her mother had suggested a skirt but she changed her mind at the last minute, feeling self conscious.

She walked over to her mother with the comb and brush in hand. "Mom?"

Luna stared at her mother's smooth and wavy dark brown hair then ran a hand through her hair that was wavy and brown as well but thicker and harder to manage. It was why she came to ask her mother for her help yet again.

She sat on the bed and set the tools next to her while her mother rummaged through the drawer for some hair products, rubber bands and bobby pins.

They were silent for a while as she brushed through Luna's hair in just the right way, soft tugs and no pain.

Luna always loved the comfort she felt when her mother combed her hair, even in her dark days there were times when she would beckon her over and fix her hair with pigtails and ribbons.

In just a few short minutes, her hair was all done in a tight intricate halo braid that wrapped delicately around her hairline and secured with pins.

She stood and smiled at her mom with the same hazel eyes, "Thanks."

Evelyn put a hand on her daughter's shoulder, taking in the small button nose that was the miniature version of her fathers. It sniffled with recently shed tears against the glowing brown skin that glowed like hers. The olive tinge around the lens of her eye was prominent when she was sad or mad, judging by how it was glowing she was probably feeling a mixture of both.

There was so much she wanted to say but she couldn't talk, she just hugged her daughter tight and smelled her hair. Peaches, Luna's favorite fruit.

Tyler came in and joined the hug. Luna ran her hand through his straight chestnut brown hair. He looked up at her with sad sea green eyes and olive skin that were completely his fathers. Just then she wasn't as sad because she remembered she would always have a piece of him there. But when she watched the blank stare her mother gave him she knew that it wouldn't be enough for her.