The Nuclear Family - Chapter 10

[:::: Authors Note ::::]

Welcome to chapter 10, this is the final chapter in Part I of ‘The Nuclear Family’.  I’m going to be taking a two-week break before beginning the post of Part II.  This is so that I can stay a few chapters ahead and keep the weekly releases consistent.  Right now, I am working on Chapter 5 of Part II.  Also, don’t forget that we have four parts in total for the story, so there is a lot more coming.

Now I am not going to leave everyone hanging.  This past week, I finished ‘Lucky’ Part III, so starting next week, I will be posting new chapters of Lucky.  I’ve really enjoyed how Part III has rounded out. In some ways, it's not a happy story, but it felt like Bruce got what he needed. I will let you all read it and make your own decisions.

If you haven’t, please check out ‘Disrespect and DNA’, which is now out for all tiers.

I will also be getting a new Fully Monty draft story out next week. I’ve got two ready, so I’ll decide over the weekend as to which one.

Now, let's get into ‘The Nuclear Family’.

[:::: Go back to Chapter 9 ::::]

Everyone was yelling at me, but no one wanted to get near me.  Brad Jr was still out, and several groups of people were watching with rapt interest.  One of those groups was a couple of cops who were now running at us.

They had been observing the escalating family drama, but had not done anything except watch from a distance until I attacked my brother in front of everyone.

While everyone was standing incoherent or screaming insensible nonsense, the police moved in and pushed everyone back and arrested me for the numerous laws I had just broken.

As they cuffed me, I offered no resistance.  In the distance, I could hear an ambulance, and I wondered if it was coming for Brad.  One of the officers casually asked me why I attacked him without real provocation.  Understanding that the officer's body cam was recording my words. I smirked at the prone form of Brad, then to my mother, who was sobbing, looking between both of her sons, my father, who was glaring at me and Georgia, who would not stop staring at me.

I spoke clearly so that all of them, the police, my family and all of the onlookers would know.

“Several months ago, when I found that piece of shit, someone I once called my other brother, in bed with my pregnant wife, demeaning me and laughing that I was not the father of my wife’s baby.  I promised him then that should he ever get close enough to me ever again, I would put him on the ground quicker than the premature deposits he had already left in my then wife.”

I looked at the officer who asked the question, and I could see he was startled, so I kept talking.

“Everyone knows that there are certain promises that when you make them, you do your best to keep them.  I know the trouble I am in.  But this is one of those times when I had to keep my word.  With the help of my family, he took my bride, my pride and my hope, and even now, all these months later, he is disrespecting me.  But I still have my pride, and he made the mistake of getting close enough to me to keep my promise.”

I looked at Georgia,

“That infant you have should have been mine. You had all of me, my money, my time, my attention.  But what is sad is that I have no idea what I did to never have yours.  That sack of shit,” I told her, using both hands to gesture to my still unconscious brother on the pavement. “Still has no idea of what an absolute loser he is.  I feel sorry for your child, Georgia.  It's never going to grow up and know what real love is if it is raised in the shadow of this family.”

“Robbie, I…” my now ex-wife started to say and then stopped as I turned towards the police officers as I held up my bound hands. “Take me away, officers!”

As I was led to a nearby police car, another two came racing up, sirens blaring along with the ambulance that we had heard earlier. They put me into the car, and I sat there for perhaps fifteen minutes as they conversed and the Ambulance crew stabilised my brother, who now looked to be coming too.

When the two arresting officers got into the car, they all but apologised for having to handcuff me and arrest me.  They understood the anger, but I had still assaulted someone, and the procedure must be followed.

I laughed and told them it was all right. Even if it hadn’t happened then, I expected some type of legal incident within a few hours. But I was no longer going to be looked down on by my family or a bully of an older brother who had treated me with such disrespect and disdain.

“Well, I don’t think they will ever make that mistake again,” the officer in the passenger's seat replied.  “What was that move.  Jujitsu?”

“A mix of Jujitsu and Maui Thai, not strictly either, but effective,” I told him. “I do a variety of martial arts.”

“It showed,” he said. “Look, when we get to the station, we will get you into an interview room and you can make some phone calls.  There is a whole lot of process and interviews you’re going to need to go through, and likely some charges to be filed by your brother.

“I feel for you in your situation. Hell, if I were in your shoes, I would have done a lot more.  But laws are there for a reason.”

I snorted a laugh.

“It’s okay, guys, it really is.  You have done everything right.  I know I am not the bad guy, but I did do the wrong thing.  I will cooperate as much as I can without compromising myself further.”

“Fair enough,” the older officer replied. Then he looked back at me as his partner pulled into the underground parking lot. “You know, we were recording everything, right?”

I smiled and nodded. He smiled back.

I don’t think they often have a prep that pretty much follows the rules and is helpful in being booked for a crime.  They put me in one of their interview rooms.  Pretty much a single windowed room, but in place of looking out over an idyllic vista, it was one-way glass.

One of the arresting officers brought my phone and let me know I could make a phone call, but that was it, no internet access.

I nodded and immediately dialled Amy. Unfortunately, it went to voicemail.

“Hey, it's me,” I said after the beep. “So a funny thing happened and I put Brad on his arse…” the officer with me snorted. “Okay, okay, I knocked him into next week, and when he wakes up, he'll find himself in the hospital and have one hell of a headache.”

I paused and looked over the officer.

“End result, I’ve been arrested and I’m in an interview room down at the local station.  If you could let Darren and Toni know, and most likely get the yellow pages and find me a lawyer.  I don’t think my divorce lawyer would suit this kind of family situation.”

I hung up and handed he guy my phone.

“Girlfriend?” he asked me.

“My ex-wife’s sister.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry, but I can’t understand.  Why would you call your ex-wife's sister? Wouldn’t you be running away from the danger?”

“You would think,” I barked a laugh and crossed my arms. “But when you said running…  Well, let's just see what happens.”

I thanked him for letting me use my phone, and for the next ninety minutes, I didn’t sit idle; I got into a workout mentality, doing push-ups, lunges, or general fitness.

Around lunchtime, an officer came into the room, bringing me a sandwich and a bottle of water.

“Figure you might be hungry.”

“Thanks I replied, immediately picking up the offered food. I eyeballed him, and he blushed before glancing at the one-way mirror.

“A few of the ladies have been watching you for the past hour while you have been doing your workout. You have gathered a small following.  They all pictured themselves buying your lunch rather than something that came out of the vending machine.”

I opened the brown paper back and then peeled back the white tissue paper wrapping. It was a deluxe chicken sandwich, complete with lots of salad, lettuce, carrots, beetroot, cheese, and even pineapple. I made a bit of a show, unwrapping it and then taking a big bite while facing the mirror wall, then after swallowing, blowing my adoring fans on the other side of the glass a big kiss.

From the other side of the open door, I could hear a cascade of rakus feminine laughter.

“I’m sorry, Mr Other,” he told me. “It's taking a while to get you processed. Apparently, your brother is awake and spitting mad.  He’s been interviewed. But your family is attempting to talk him into not pressing charges.”

I nodded while taking another bite of my sandwich.

“It's okay, I was kind of expecting to be thrown in a cell until next week.”

“Usually, you would be in a holding cell following an interview, but apparently our superintendent got a call from someone a while ago, who asked him to just hold you.”

I looked at him for a few moments and then shrugged.

“Wasn’t aware I knew anyone that could help like that.”

He shrugged.

“Just hang tight, perhaps do a couple more push-ups.”

I laughed as he closed the door, and I ate the rest of my sandwich.  Though I will admit that I made a show of it, slowly taking bites, flexing to lick my fingers.

When, at one point, a little of the juice from the pineapple ran down my chin and onto my chest right above my shirt, my finger darted to stop the dribble right before it could stain my shirt. 

Looking over at the glass, it was like I could hear the collective intake of breath and anticipation.  Smiling, I wiped up the offending juice and then, as sensually as a man can, slowly licked my fingers clean. 

I swear, even though the soundproofing of the room around me, I could hear the collective groan of women, after several months of no action or inactivity. It felt good to know I still had it.

I was still languishing a few hours later when the door suddenly opened once more, and I was told I had a visitor. I told them, yes, of course, I was expecting Amy, but it wasn't her.  There were a few women in this world whom I had no desire to spend time with.  And there was one that I really didn’t want to see.

Georgia.

“Hi Robbie,” she said as she waltzed into the room and sat down with a false confidence in the chair on the other side of the table.

My fun and flirty attitude had evaporated, and I grunted, leaned back in the chair and folded my arms in an unimpressed look.

Earlier in the day, while I saw her, I didn’t really pay any attention to my now ex-wife. 

In many ways, she was still a beautiful woman, and if you passed her on the street, you would think, ‘MILF’. She was curvy and still had a bit of a belly; her breasts were swollen larger than her usual size, and she jiggled slightly when she moved.

So many times during her pregnancy, we had gone through this discussion…

[:::: - ::::]

“I’m getting so big, Robbie. Will you still love me afterwards when my body doesn’t snap back into place? My thighs have divots, and my breasts droop.”

I snorted at the comment back then.

“Of course I will,” I responded. “Georgia, my love, mother of my unborn child. You are doing this for us.  I will always love you for this sacrifice, your body, our child…”

[:::: - ::::]

Yes, she was still a beautiful woman, despite her betrayal. But she could be an international supermodel with flawless skin and the epitome of beauty, and she would still be unattractive to me.

“So tell me, destroyer of my heart, eviscerator of my faith in family and my betrayer, what do you want? Have you not had your fill of lying and trying to pass another man’s child as mine?”

“Robbie, I…” Georgia started, stopped and just looked at me a moment, and it was like she just deflated like a balloon. Her shoulders slumped forward and she looked down at the table and kept talking.

“I’m sorry.  Alright.  I’m sorry I hurt you.  We hurt you.  You didn’t deserve any of it.  It…  I should never have…”

She stopped again, and it was like someone pumped the balloon back up again, but now she was angry.

“It sucks, alright,” she scolded me. “My husband ran off like a child, wouldn’t talk to me and treats me like I don’t exist.

“Georgia, I’m your ex-husband, or very soon will be,” I snapped back. “Emphasis on the ‘ex’.  And what did you expect me to do when I found you fucking my brother in our bed?  Making jokes about me and talking about how that baby you were going to have wasn’t mine.”

I heard a collective gasp.  There must have been people still in the observation room.  Georgia looked around, but couldn’t place the slight sound.

“I don’t know Robbie,” she exploded, standing. The chair flew backwards, and she ran a hand through her hair. “I honestly don’t know.  But not… this.  Not running away and talking to no one.  Not putting your brother in the hospital.”

“He’s not my brother.” I spat.

“Robbie Other.  He’s your brother, like it or not.  Is he a prick? Yes.  Should he have been in our bed when you arrived? No.  But he is your brother, and I am your wife.  Get over this snit and come home.  Do that and we will all forgive you, and we’ll do everything we can to make it up to you.”

“You know,” I told her, leaning the chair back on two legs. “That was almost an apology. Right before you decided to get your righteous indignation on and do the same thing my fucking family has been and try to browbeat me into coming back.”

I stood then and moved to the back of the room, aware that the officers in the adjacent room were likely watching this drama unfold.

“And how are you, and those piss-poor excuses for a family going to make it up to me?  If I am right, you’ve been in the prick's bed since I left.  You think I want to touch you again after that?”

She baulked.

“And my family, how are they going to make it up to me.  Their business is on the road to failure. They need me to come back and work my arse off, make them look good again.  How is that giving me any reason to return?”

“Georgia,” I ask her, my tone changing. “Do you have any idea, any concept at all, about how angry I have been over the past year?  Do you have any idea how betrayed and hurt I have been?  Do you get that it’s not just you, but everyone of them?  My brother, my sister, my mother and father, in addition to you.”

She had gone silent and went to reply, but stopped and then just nodded.

I shook my head.

“I don’t think you do, actually,” I told her. “When I saw you earlier today, you and the rest of your motley crew looked perfectly happy, content and in no way concerned about what you have done to me, to my life.”

“That’s not fair, Robbie,” she snapped back in reply. “We have all been devastated.  You caught us in a moment where we were focused on my son.  We have all felt it when you walk away.  We understand that you're hurt and angry.  Even now.”

Georgia went quiet.

“I understand that you don’t want me.  That hurts more than anything.  But for them.  They're your family, Robbie.  They love you.  I love you.”

I snorted once more.

“Really,” I said incredulously. “They love me.  You love me?  In that sick and twisted mind of yours, you really do think that, don’t you?”

Georgia nodded slowly, her eyes locked on mine, looking for some type of understanding that would never come.

“Then let us talk of love.  Let's talk about love from my point of view for a moment, shall we, Georgia?”

She hesitated, but I strode forward and placed my hands on the back of the chair and kept talking.

“That night, the night I caught Brad in our bed, deep in your bowls, while hearing your disparaging bedroom talk ridiculing me. That night that I heard your admission that your son was not mine, yet you were all going to try to pass it off as mine, I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears.

“Have you ever been stabbed, Georgia? Broken a bone?  Well, I have.  It hurts. It hurts badly, and seeing you and my brother hurt ten times worse.  So, I did what any man would do when the alternative was permanent accommodations in a place like this…”

I gestured to the police station. Georgia swallowed.

“I drove around for a while, lost, hurting.  But I ended up travelling to a place where I thought I would be safe, looked after, and told everything would be alright.  I truly thought I would be consoled, and I could vent my anger without judgment.”

“However, when I arrived in that safe place, the nurturing womb where I spent my formative years under the watchful guise of my loving parents. What do I find? 

“I find out that not only do both my mother and my father know about your behaviour, your affair and what you have been doing to me for years.  But they have the gall to tell me that they didn’t want to upset me because it would make a dent in their precious fucking profits.  That I was better ignorant, better naive.”

I had to give it to her. Georgia was looking upset, tears brimming as I lay into her.

“So tell me, o traitorous one.  Where is the love in all of that?  Where is the caring about me, the concern for me as a person, not just a thing that keeps money rolling in?”

Her eyes were pleading, but I wasn’t having it.

“Love,” I spat. “You don’t have the foggiest idea about love.  There is nothing, I mean nothing, that you or they can do that would make me want to spend time with any of you ever again willingly.”

“Then what do we do now, Robbie?” she asked quietly as we stood there on opposite sides of the room.

“Nothing,” I told her. “We’re almost divorced. We go our separate ways and let time heal our wounds.  Then perhaps one day, if I am lucky, I will find a woman who will love and respect me enough to keep her legs closed to everyone but me.”

With that, the tears began to fall, and she cried.  “You have to know Robbie, I do love you. I love you so much.  With Brad, it was only ever sex, not love.  If only you knew…”

I laughed without humour.

“Why is it that every time a woman gets caught sleeping around on her husband. She tells him it was only sex. It meant nothing.  Do you even get how demeaning that is to me?”

“But it’s true,” she cried through her tears. “If you would forgive me, I would leave him in a heartbeat.  I am sorry that Brad jr, the second, isn’t yours.  But Robbie, the next one could be me.  I would let you have me now, I promise. Make me pregnant, reclaim me.”

There was a desperation in her voice, and for a moment, I was worried that if I gave her any sign of even contemplating the offer, she would start disrobing.

Using my left hand, I picked up my right hand and then used it to slap my face. This caused Georgia to gasp.

“Sorry,” I said, grinning. “I just had to see if I was awake or if I had fallen asleep.  Can you hear the nonsense coming out of your mouth?  The next one will be mine.  Do you see how insulting it is?  How delusional you have to be in order even to think I would ever take you up on that.  Georgia, we will never be intimate, ever again.”

She flinched.

“And let me help you with the answer that you cannot appear to comprehend.  It's very demeaning to be the person being cheated on.  I know that when it came to intimacy between you and me.  The act of sex was special to me, it wasn’t just for pleasure, for me it was being connected to you in a way that I thought no one else ever could be.  I loved you wholly and completely, and there was no way I ever would have given myself to anyone else, as there was no one else in this world that was more important to me until I found out it was all a lie.

“Saying that you love me while sleeping with my older brother, while having a child that was not mine, is not only insulting. It is hypocrisy of the highest level.”

Looking at Georgia, tears were streaming down her face, but she looked stunned, like none of this had entered her head throughout the past year.

“Georgia,” I said softly. My change in tone caught her attention, and she focused on me once more.  “Do you recall when we were dating.  One night, we were at a club, we’d both been drinking for most of the evening, and we were having fun.  You disappeared to the bathroom, and when you came back, there were twins hanging all over me?”

She swallowed.

“Before you even made it back to me, I had made it clear to both that I was off the market.  Do you know what they said?”

Georgia shook her head.

“They told me they would do me together and I would have a night I would never forget.”

“You never told me that,” Georgia said quietly.

I nodded.

“I didn’t need to, I was with you. Do you recall your reaction?”

She blushed and looked away.

“That’s right, you treated me like shit the rest of the evening and for a good deal of the next two days.  I did nothing wrong.  I never touched them; I was respectful to both them and you.  But you decided to chew me out regardless.

“Now imagine coming home and finding me in bed with both of them and that I had been doing them every chance I got since that evening.”

The glare she gave me was full of anger and malice.  Then, suddenly, her face dropped once more.   I nodded.

“Yes, imagine that and then understand how betrayed you would feel.  You're just imagining it, but I am having to live it.  You think you love me.  But from my view, you don’t.  I don’t see how you could.  I don’t see how those people I once called family could say they love me, or they would not have covered for you.  If you truly loved me, you would have come to me in outrage the moment my brother made any move on you. 

“But Robbie, you don’t understand…” she started to say.

“No, I don’t, Georgia, but then again. I have been looking at it all for the past year, and I don’t know that I want to understand it anymore.  I want to move on with my life, and I think you need to let me.”

I watched her waver somewhat then, but even if she feinted, I would not have done anything more than call one of the officers who was no doubt watching the conversation.

“Georgia, you have a son,” I told her. “You’re living with my brother, and we’re no longer together.  Go back to Brad and live your life.  Make whatever life you want for yourself and forget about me, forget about what we had, what we could have been, focus on them.  Because I know after today, I am going to do my best to move on and forget about all of you.”

It was then I noticed that sometime in the last minute, an officer had opened the door quietly, and she was standing there waiting.  But with her was Amy.  Amy looked at me, our eyes locked, and I nodded slightly.

I looked at my ex-wife, who was about to turn and look at what had distracted me.  But my smile caught her off guard.

“Georgia,” I told her, my smile broadening. “Let me go, go back to your life and move on.  Let me go on with my life without you, without those I once called family.  Because if you keep pushing, keep chasing me.  I promise you that I will tear down every part of that family.  Not just Total Build, but your personal lives.  I will expose every dark secret I know, then go hunting for the ones I don’t and make sure that everyone knows it.”

I watched Georgia go pale; obviously, there was a lot more that I didn’t know.  Then again, I really didn’t want to get into it. I just wanted to move on.

Amy looked at me, beaming brightly. I looked at her and kept speaking to Georgia.

“You tore everything from me, and if you don’t let me go, I’ll tear everything from you.  It’s not a threat, Georgia, it’s a promise.  Keep pushing, and you won’t like it.”

She was now looking at the ground, concerned.

“You wouldn’t.  Would you?” she asked in a very small, very concerned voice.

I barked a laugh, still looking at Amy, who was also smirking and keeping her eyes locked on mine.  I was enjoying their intensity.  The officer at the door kept looking between Amy and me, and her eyes went wide when she figured out Amy and I were vibing.  She had been one of the popcorn-eating audience members listening earlier.

“Wouldn’t I?” I replied back, the note of humour in my voice, bringing her gaze up to mine.  “Georgia, you know how good I was at my job at Total Build.  You know how much I enjoyed my martial arts, and then you saw how easily, without any effort, I put your boyfriend in the hospital this afternoon.

“Now,” I told her, letting my eyes once more light on her to show her how serious I was and try to penetrate the fog of delusions she appeared to be living in. “Imagine that I get serious, dedicate myself to your total and absolute destruction.  Imagine it now, Georgia.

“You think that you and my former family are doing it a little tough because you have lost a few clients, a few staff?  I know Georgia, I know how much most of them have tucked away.  I know where most of it is, how it's invested.  They feel hard done by, because to keep the money flowing in, they have to work for the first time in years. 

“So try me,” I told her. “Try me and find out.”

I looked at her and once more at Amy, who was nodding.

“Leave me be and I’ll leave you, let that be my message.”

With that, I gestured to the door, indicating that our discussion was over.  I was annoyed that I had to repeat myself so many times, but hopefully she would at last get the message.

Georgia turned and saw Amy standing there, immediately shuffling towards her.

“Amy?” Georgia asked. “What are you doing here?”

Then she shook her head.

“It doesn’t matter.  Thank goodness you're here.  It’s all such a mess.  Robbie’s here, Brad's in the hospital and the family is broken.  It's good to see a friendly face.”

Georgia glanced at me once more, then back to Amy.

“Shall we go grab a drink?”

Amy snorted and made to move past the officer and into the interview room.

“Seriously, my older sister is a slut. Sleeping with her husband’s brother, having children that don’t belong to the man she married, and she thinks I am here for her…”

“Then why?  Why are you here?” Georgia asked as Amy walked right past her, and my ex-wife froze as her sister walked towards me.  With that, Amy locked an arm in mine and smiled broadly.

“My one phone call,” I told her. “I knew I couldn’t call anyone in the family.  I mean, I am trying to get away from all of you.  But then, when Amy and I had lunch the other day, she made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

“What. Offer?” Georgia asked worriedly.

“This,” Amy said and then grabbed me by the front of the shirt and pulled my lips to hers.

Amy’s lips were soft and warm.  Her breath smelled slightly of coffee and mint.  She held my shirt in her fist and kept the pressure on as I found myself unwilling to pull away. I could feel her desire in the kiss, but also her anger, anger at her sister.  In Amy’s admission that she had a crush on me, I knew that she might have forever held a part of her heart for me while I was married to her sister. But now.  Now she was pissed that her sister, whom I believe she admired, had done me wrong. However, she was happy that she could try to build a relationship with me.

When Amy relaxed and let go of my shirt, we both pulled back and licked our lips just a little.

“Wow,” I said without thinking.

Suddenly, Georgia was being restrained by the officer at the door.  She was snarling.

“Get away from my husband.”

Amy laughed.

“Not your husband anymore, Georgia,” she replied as her older sister was held back, her claws extended. “You have already been told multiple times.  And if I have my way, he'll be mine forever.  I will never do to him what you did.”

“You little bitch,” she hissed. “Just because he doesn’t want me, or because you have got your panties a little wet because he was mine, doesn’t mean that you can swoop in and take him.”

Somehow, a moment later, Georgia had gotten out of the officer's grasp, and her hand was moving towards Amy’s face for a slap.  Amy had stepped forward, and I was moving to get between the two sisters when Amy grabbed Georgia’s wrist.

I haven’t taken him yet, Georgia,” Amy snarled. “But you can rest on your slutty arse that when I do, I am going to pile so much love on him and give him everything of myself that he will forget that you ever existed.”

I found myself smiling once more at Amy’s assertiveness towards me and the presumption that we would end up in a romantic relationship. With Georgia, I did the chasing.  It was nice for it to be the other way around.

Suddenly, Georgia deflated once more, and the officer, along with another who had entered the room, guided Georgia to a chair on the other side of the table, away from Amy and me.  The other officer handed Amy a small box.

She offered me the box that contained my phone, wallet and watch.

“Come on, rocket legs,” she joked. “You’ve been released with no charges laid, though, as part of the deal, you have to pick up your brother's medical costs.

“He’s got a bruise on the side of his face and a mild concussion, but being that he was already pretty dumb, they don’t think it is going to affect his IQ much.”

She looked over at Georgia, but her sister said nothing.  Seemingly, all the fire had gone out of her.

“Worth it,” I smirked.

My lips were still tingling from the kiss, and one of the officers guided us out of the room towards the reception, and suddenly stopped us.

“Look,” she said. “I get that this is one messed-up family drama.  But I need to get you signed out here, Mr Other.  Your mother came in with Georgia…” I nodded. “Well, she's sitting out there, her foot tapping on the ground, and looking around like she has had too much coffee. If we sign you out in reception, I am willing to bet there will be another scene like that one, right?”

“Most likely,” I admitted. The officer nodded, producing some forms.

“It's not quite procedure, but as you're not being charged with anything, we can bend the rules a little.”

We spent the next few minutes of me signing forms.

“For what it's worth, Mr Other, I think you’re making the right choice. They sound toxic; getting away from them is going to do you a world of good.”

I nodded and decided not to bring up the fact that to give me that comment, she would have had to have been watching me most of the afternoon.

Then she led Amy and me to the reception door, opened it and told us to have a good evening.

My mother was there and looked up suddenly. 

“Robbie…” she said, but Amy and I said nothing and just kept walking.  Before she could say anything, the officer escorting her spoke up.

“Mrs Other, if you would follow me, I believe your daughter-in-law could use a hand.”

As the sliding doors to the station opened, I could feel my mother's indecision: whether to chase me or look after Georgia, the mother of her grandson.

Another moment and Amy and I were out the door and into a waiting Uber.

Once we were buckled in and on our way, we looked at each other and both burst out laughing.

“Well, that will be one for the memoirs,” I said to her, raising an eyebrow. “Rocket Legs?”

“Spare of the moment,” she told me. “But from what I heard, you came out of nowhere and put your brother against the wall with a single kick to the head.”

I laughed again and noticed the Uber driver looked at us.

“I told him, he got just a taste of what he deserved.”

I leaned over to give Amy another kiss, and she pushed me back, smiling.

“That,” she told me, still trying to push me back while laughing as I made kissy sounds at her. “Was more for Georgia’s benefit than yours.”

“Besides, I meant what I said, Robbie,” she told me, turning serious, giving me a smouldering look that made me want to ignore her pleas and kiss her anyway. “When I make you my man the right way, you will never think about another woman in that way again.”

I sank back into the seat, and Amy entwined her hand with mine, knowing that she was right.

[:::: End of Part I ::::]

[:::: Find all chapters at: The Nuclear Family story page ::::]

[:::: Read any of John’s Stories on John’s Story Guide ::::]

[:::: Authors Ending Note ::::]

Thank you all for getting to the end of this revised version of The Nuclear Family Part 1.  It's over double the size of the original, and that is going to be true of all four parts of this story.

Now, a couple of quick call-outs.  First, I have to give credit to a fellow Lit author, Soul71.  I didn’t realise it when I started the original, but this initial part of the story had some echoes of his, and I didn’t realise till later that I was paralleling him.  So I give Soul credit for my inspiration, and you know my story ends up in a very different space.

From here, three things are happening.  (1) I am working on the edited version of Part 1 to get this out to all of you. (2) I’m working to get Part 2 started in chapter releases beginning in the next couple of weeks, and (3) I am hoping that ‘The White Suit’ is getting ready for release.

For those of you wondering, yes, I am going to do an eBook release of ‘The Nuclear Family’, but I will do that once all four parts are published here. And just so you know. No, I will not be updating the original on Lit. This is for you, as thanks for being one of my subscribers!

See you in Part II

John Other

[:::: End of Chapter 10 | End of Part I ::::]

[:::: Go to Chapter 11 | Start of Part II – Coming 3 October 2025 ::::]

[:::: Find all chapters at: The Nuclear Family story page ::::]

[:::: Read any of John’s Stories on John’s Story Guide ::::]