This is part III of Syzygy, a story in which a young lady falls in love with her mother.
>>The first chapter can be read here<<
>>The second chapter can be read here<<
Trying something new with this part. See the end of the post more notes and trivia.
BTW: I DIDN’T WHITEWASH MY GIRLIES, I JUST GOT LAZY WITH DRAWING AND DIDN’T FEEL LIKE COLOURING SKIN TONE EVERY TIME! Alba is the only white woman in the family. 🤪
Chapters in this story
Refrain
“It has come to my attention that there has been some… homosexual activities between the two of you.”
Solis’ jaw drops when she hears this. She turns to gauge Alba’s reaction, but the woman keeps her gaze lowered.
“This is absolutely unacceptable.” I continue. “So from now on, the two of you cannot be alone. You can’t attend her workshops. No texting or calling except for emergencies only. Location on at all times. No closed doors in the house.”
“What!? I can’t even spend time with my own mom!??”
That’s the first time she’s referred to Alba as ‘mom’. It’s aggravating, but I keep calm.
“No. Not unless I’m there to supervise.” I know it’s ridiculous to have to set such rules in the household, but it’s necessary.
Solis storms off to her room, grumbling the entire time. I think this is the first time she’s ever been upset with me.
The days go on and the tension in the house doesn’t ease up. Regardless, I try to maintain our routines. I check in with her at the end of the night, just like I always have. I ask her about her day. Tell her I love her. She never says anything back.
I can’t fall asleep as easily as I used to. I just stare at the ceiling in the darkness of the room. Alba is beside me, quiet. I’m jealous of how easily sleep can come to her. I replay everything in my mind over and over again. The texts. The video. The sounds. The moans.
“…Disgusting…” The word escapes from my lips.
“Hm..?” Alba stirs beside me. Her voice is soft. Groggy.
She’s done a lot of groveling since everything came to light, which is nice, but it’ll be a long time before things can feel normal between us again. I wonder if that’s even possible. It makes my skin crawl to think about the things she’s done to Solis…
“Alba…” I say. “Did you delete that video of Solis?”
She falls back asleep without answering.
Lament
“Dinner’s ready!”
A minute passes… Two… and nothing. No one even enters the kitchen. Where are they? They can’t both be busy at the same time like this. It’s suspicious and it’s driving me crazy. I walk out into the hall, peering behind every door I pass. I hear sounds coming from the studio and look inside. Alba is helping Solis with her music. I’m relieved, but also…
“Mind the distance…” I remind them. Solis doesn’t take this well.
“Oh my god, mom!! Do you want her to yell at me from across the room??”
“I’m just saying-“
“We get it!!” She throws her hands up. “No fucking with the doors open!!”
Alba and I gasp.
“Language!”
Solis storms out of the studio and into her room. She slams the door shut.
Unwilling to sit in silence with Alba, I go to Solis, lingering outside her bedroom door as I think of the best way to tackle this. I knock on the door.
“Solis..?” I wait for a response, but she doesn’t say anything.
“I’m coming in.” I say, turning the doorknob.
“Leave me alone!” her voice is muffled on the other side. She’s been crying.
“We really have to talk.” I enter the room and close the door behind me. I cringe as I sit on the edge of her bed. Memories of that video flash in my mind. Maybe we should get her a new mattress.
“Honey, I know this might be frustrating for you. This whole thing is a weird, jumbled mess for all of us, but I need to put these rules in place to protect you. It’s for the best.”
“How??” She buries her face further into her pillow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so torn up about something like this. I don’t understand it.
“Honey, how did it happen?” I ask. “How did this start?” I went over this with Alba, of course, but her answers left much to be desired. I get the gist of why she did it, but Solis? I have no idea what’s been going through her mind.
She doesn’t say anything.
“How did it start for you?” I ask, patting her gently on the shoulder. “You used to be so angry with your mom… Then it turned into something like this… How did it happen?”
“… It just happened.”
Fantastic.
“I don’t know…” She grumbles. “She just didn’t seem so bad anymore… We spent all that time together at the hotel and it was fun… It was so fun and easy to to be with her. I just wanted to see what it would be like…”
…
…
… It really just happened??
God.
“Honey, I think you might have gotten your feelings confused.” I say. “You would have never given her the time of day before any of this happened. It must have felt nice to see how much she loved and cared about you in that moment and it got all twisted in your head.”
“Ugh,” She groans. “She said the same thing.”
“Well, she was right.” I say, giving her a final pat on the back. “Just be patient and give it time. We’ll all make it out of this on the other side.”
I make my way back to the kitchen where Alba is waiting on me. She places a hand on my arm.
“How is she holding up?” She looks worried.
“Not good.” I sigh. “She probably isn’t coming to eat dinner. How about you?”
“Hm?”
“You. How you holdin’ up?”
“O-Oh! Well….” She’s taking too long to answer.
“You can tell me.”
“It’s probably for the best that I don’t.”
Good lord.
“Are you still feeling for her? In that way?”
She bites her lip.
“… I am.”
“Why??”
“I… I miss seeing such a sweet sider to her. She was so happy, and I don’t wish to let it go.”
“… That’s your daughter, Alba.”
“I am aware.”
I sigh. “She said the same thing as you.”
“Is that so?” She looks a little too happy to hear this. Her smile fades when she catches the look in my eye.
“I knew it wasn’t right,” She says. “It wasn’t appropriate, but I didn’t do a thing to stop it. I think… I think I was simply curious and I let it happen.”
I can’t hear this right now. I try to focus on my breaths and I turn my body away from her. She’s uncomfortable with the silence and speaks up again.
“Do you want to try and have sex tonight?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
I can’t sleep at all later in the night. All I can do is stare up at the ceiling. Of course I want sex! I need it! But how in the hell can I get over the fact that my wife wants to fuck her daughter? Our daughter. How am I supposed to compete with that?
It’s easier to just handle it on my own when the need arises. Like now. I just have to let loose. Forget about all the bullshit. Forget about Alba. Forget about those messages… and that video… that fucking video. Where in the hell did Solis learn to talk like that? To touch herself like that? It’s… not…
I stop touching myself immediately and sit upright in the bed. Alba startles. She must’ve been asleep.
“Are you alright?” She asks.
“Yeah…” I say, barely audible. She lays back down and yawns.
I was thinking of her.
I was thinking of her.
I have Solis accompany me at the café, otherwise she’d be home alone with Alba. She helps out at the counter and takes orders from customers–the usual stuff. I hear a commotion near the front and go to check it out. Seems like Solis dropped a glass. There’s a cut on her hand. I bring her to the back so we can get it cleaned and bandaged. She acts so weird the entire time. She won’t look anywhere near my direction. She squirms and hums to herself.
“You okay?” I ask, wondering if I may have been too rough while disinfecting. It shouldn’t sting that much.
“No, I just don’t wanna see it.” She says. “All the blood and stuff.”
“Oh. I didn’t know you were so squeamish.”
“Well, yeah. I try not to bleed.”
I’ve already moved on to putting on a bandage but she’s still so uncomfortable. I lean forward, intent on giving her a kiss to the forehead, but he still isn’t looking in my direction, so I settle for the cheek.
“Feel better?”
“I don’t know…” She says, her eyes closed tightly. I can’t help but laugh.
“You can open your eyes. It’s not bleeding anymore.”
“You sure?”
“Yup. All gone.”
“It still stings…”
Poor thing. I seriously had no idea that she was so weak to something like this.
“You are too sweet, girl.” I lean forward again.
I wasn’t thinking. I wasn’t thinking. I wasn’t thinking. I wasn’t thinking.
“I’ll, uh, go check on the shop. You can go on break until you’re ready to go back out there.”
“Okay. Can I go out, then?”
“Yeah, just come back whenever.”
She closes the door behind her.
…
Why did I do that?
I’m the adult.
Solis doesn’t return from break until after closing. I’m too upset with myself to be mad at her for it. The drive home is quiet. I’m not sure if I’m the only one feeling the awkwardness. I clear my throat.
“Sorry for what I did back at the café, Solis. You were just too cute and I only wanted to cheer you up.” That’s the only explanation I can fathom, but there will never be an excuse for what I did.
Solis huffs and turns to look out the window.
“Don’t do something like that just to get a reaction out of me.” She says.
I feel terrible.
It wasn’t just because I wanted her to cheer up. I did it because I wanted to. I wanted to, and I couldn’t stop myself.
I’m terrible.
“I’m sorry.”
She’s in a bad mood for the rest of the night–another sleepless night for me as I lay in bed with Alba.
“Do you want to…?” Alba broaches the topic again. Of course I want to.
“…Do you still have that video?”
“Hm?”
“That video Solis sent you. During the work trip.”
“Oh…” She says quietly.
“I’m not mad… I just want to know.”
“… I do.”
“Show it to me.”
“…”
After a moment of hesitation, she pulls the video up on her phone. It’s the first time I allow myself to see the video in full. Solis speaks shyly in the video, awkwardly removing her shorts and starts touching herself. I can feel Alba’s breath on me. I lean in and kiss her. She’s surprised, but kisses back.
“Are you wet?” I reach down to feel her for myself. She shudders under the touch and kisses me again.
“I kissed her, today.” I admit. “She thinks I did it just to mess with her, but I did it because I wanted to. Are you mad at me?”
Her wide eyes search mine, completely bewildered as she processes what I said. She shakes her head.
“Wanna fuck?”
She nods.
Reprise
Mom is out at the café again today. I guess she doesn’t care about leaving me alone with Alba anymore, so we lay on the couch together, watching TV.
“How are you, Solis?” She asks in that weird tone of voice. She probably has something on her mind already.
“I’m okay..?”
“Things seem a little off between you and your mother.”
“Ughh, I guess.” I knew it.
“Would you like to talk about it?”
“Did she say anything to you?” I don’t really want to talk about it, but I’m curious about what she knows.
“She may have mentioned a… an incident that occurred between the two of you, but I’d like to hear your perspective.”
“There really isn’t anything else to say,” I huff. “She kissed me and said she only did it to cheer me up–because I ‘looked cute’. Like I’m some toy to her or something.”
It’s making me mad just thinking about it.
“I understand how that may feel.” Alba says, stroking my hair. “I can’t presume to know of what was on your mother’s mind in that moment, but I’m sure she had no intentions of dismissing your feelings like that. I think the two of you should talk.”
“Yeah…” I know, but I’m still so mad. I look up at her. “Hey, do you still… like me?”
“Of course I do.”
“Okay, but… in that same way? You know?”
“… I do.”
“Really?”
“Truly. My feelings have not wavered.”
“Okay, I really like you too…”
“I’m glad.”
Been practicing in my room since Alba is using the studio. Thought I heard something, so I take off my headphones. Mom is at the door, but she isn’t actually paying attention to me, kind of spacing out. She notices I’m looking at her and apologizes. Says she didn’t really need anything and excuses herself, but I ask her to stay. I want help with this song. My band is performing at a festival in the summer and this solo is making me crazy.
“Oh! You’re covering one of our songs!” Her face lights up.
“Yeah. I really wanna play it, but this part on the guitar is so… weird. How do you get it right?”
“Ahaha, that part really is tricky. The other guitarist, Millie, was the one who played lead on this song. I’ve done it a few times on my own, though. Let me see if I can remember…”
We take turns playing and she gives me a lot of good tips. We’re mostly just singing and laughing together by the end of it.
“Hey, I almost forgot,” Mom says. “I came in here because I wanted to say sorry… for what happened at the café.”
“Oh. That. It’s whatever. I’m not even mad about it anymore.”
“Maybe so, but I know I really hurt your feelings, so I wanted to set the record straight.” She sits down next to me on the bed. “I didn’t explain myself well. I didn’t do it just to get a reaction from you, I did it because I wanted to. I was feeling a lot in that moment and… I just wanted to do it. I wanted to kiss you, honey, so I did it. That’s it.”
Huh?
“Seriously? You mean it?”
“Yes. I wouldn’t lie to you.”
My face feels hot.
It really did hurt my feelings to think that she only did something like that just to mess with me. I want her to leave now because I feel like I’m going to cry. Too late.
“Aww, I’m sorry, baby, come here.” She pulls me in for a hug. “I should have been up-front with you about this sooner. It’s just… This is all so weird for me, you know? I was so horrified when I learned of what was goin’ on with you and your mom… and now… It’s… starting to make sense?”
I sniff. “Yeah.”
“So, how do you feel, now?”
“Well, I’m glad you weren’t just messing with me.”
She smiles. “Would you be mad if I kissed you again?”
I shake my head. “No.”
She kisses me. It lasts longer than the kiss at the cafe.
“You kiss differently than Alba.”
“Really now?”
“Yeah… I don’t mean it in a bad way. It’s just different.”
She laughs. “Glad you think so.”
Altaltissimo
We finish our last song for the festival. People in the audience cheer. I think they had fun. Some of the staff congratulate us as we exit the stage. A few people from the crowd come over to talk to us–mostly to fawn over Mieke. Once that dies down, we take our time to shop, eat, and talk about how the performance went. Mieke’s the only one who thinks it was garbage. Even Vesper thinks we did good.
Azzie has to go, and everyone else leaves to do their own thing. I text mom to let her know I’m done and she tells me where to meet up.
“Solis! Your band was too good out there!” Mom pats me on the back. “And you’re so popular, too! The fans were all over you!”
“I guess…” So embarrassing.
“Your friends were all over you, too!” She just keeps going. “You all seem so close~”
“Well yeah. They’re my bandmates. We play better because we’re close.”
“But do they have to be so handsy with you?”
“Huh??”
Since when did anything like that happen? The only time I can think of is when Azzie gave everyone a hug after the show. Everyone, not just me!
“What are you talking about, mom??”
“Ignore her.” Alba says. “She’s drunk.”
I thought so.
“I’m just sayin’,” Mom continues. “I was close with my bandmates too, but we never did anything scandalous. That’s all.”
“Oh my God, mom, what are you trying to say?? I’m not doing anything with my band! We’re like family!! That’d be weird!!”
“……………”
“……………”
……………
“Whatever. You get what I mean.”
Mom offers me a sip of her drink. A dark liquid with a strong, sour smell. She’s never offered me one of her drinks before.
“Just don’t tell anyone!” She winks. I taste it. It’s weird. Strong. Like medicine.
They tell me about the stalls they visited and the food they tried while I was off with my band. Sounds like they had a good time. Alba compliments our performance again. She liked the covers we did of mom’s songs. I liked it too. I used to think I was already paying homage to mom’s music because I had tried so hard to emulate her style, but that was never the case. That’s why I really wanted to cover mom’s music for this festival. I think I was really able to show the world what she means to me.
It’s the last time I’ll ever be able to show the world our music.
“Azzie’s leaving the band.” I say.
“Oh no! She quit??” Mom asks. “Wait, is she the one that touched you earlier?”
“Mell.” Alba gives mom a stern look, then turns back to me. “Why is she leaving, Solis?”
“She’s moving away.”
“And she informed you of this on such short notice?” Alba asks, a little taken aback. “That isn’t very nice.”
“No, we all knew about it for a while.” I explain. “We knew this would be our last chance to play together. Now the band is done.”
It’s the first time I’ve said it out loud.
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry.” Mom lays a hand on my shoulder. “None of this can erase the good times you had with your friends, okay? That will always be with you.”
“You could think of this as a new beginning.” Alba chimes in. “There are many more ways for you to explore your journey with music.”
They say a lot of nice things to cheer me up, not that I need cheering up in the first place. I’d be more sad if there was something I could’ve done. It’s lame that Azzie’s leaving, but I can still talk to her whenever I want. If we really wanted to, we could keep the band together by finding a new person to replace her. The whole point of being in a band was to play music with my friends–just like mom did. It wouldn’t be the same to replace them.
So I don’t feel sad. I just feel tired.
A fireworks show starts and we take the time to admire it.
“Hey…” Mom says, squeezing my shoulder. “We thought it’d be a good idea to talk about us. All of us. As a family.”
I feel embarrassed already.
“Can we not?”
“Nope. Deal with it.” She sticks her tongue out at me. “Time to let out all those mushy gushy feelings!”
“Noooo!”
Alba laughs. “I would have never fathomed that our relationship would evolve in this way.”
“No kidding,” Mom says. “I was almost ready to rip your head off in the beginning, .”
Alba shudders. “… Ouch.”
“But I came around! And look at us now!” She seems so proud.
I look down at the drink in my hand.
“I love you both. A lot.” I say.
“Awww! Solis!!” Mom coos and hugs me.
“We love you too, dear.” Alba says to me.
“So, we’re all in consensus.” Mom squeezes me tighter. “We all like each other, and we don’t mind being so close with one another like this.”
“Ughhhh,” I knew this would be so embarrassing.
“Don’t be like that!” She says. “It’s good to have it all out on the table like this. It’s official.”
“Yeah, sure.” I wish we’d move on already.
Mom has us toast for the occasion.
“To a new beginning!” She exclaims, laughing.
Alba smiles. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Maybe they’re right. I don’t really know what to expect from the future, but maybe things won’t be so bad.
retrospective
I decided to try something new! I stopped using the crutch of those little character portraits to convey dialogue. I’m flexing my literary muscles. Or whatever. It’ll be better for me in the long run. I do plan on telling more stories in the future, so this is good practice. and i kinda got sick and tired of doing drawings for this. i didn’t wan to ‘waste’ time doing art for the story when that time and effort would be better spent on the game (or other projects)
So no more training wheels! I’ll be a proper writer! Kind of, hehe.
I didn’t really know how to end this. A few things were cut from the outline of this chapter, including the original ending. they were both sex scenes but it felt like it was too much. way too forced and awkward. too porny 😅. so i cut those segments and decided they would get their own events in the sandbox game! speaking of the game…
… I’ve officially began work on the casual/slice of life/romance game that is based on this story! well, i got impatient and started working on it a few months ago, hehe. but i’ve made some decent progress and i’ll be documenting my progress here on the blog! yay!
this is just the beginning of syzygy. thank you for reading!
Lovely little creature 
send me your thots and prayers