Chapter 16: Flustered

Marlene stares at her sister for a moment before going in for a hug. Hannah's wavy brown hair tickles her nose as she wraps an arm around her. Her sister's frame is shorter than her own. So much in fact that Marlene has to bend downwards a little in order to hug her sister comfortably.

Despite their time apart, the embrace feels natural.

"What brings you here?" Marlene asks, stepping back before catching a glimpse of a few other familiar faces.

Her father and younger brother - Raymond.

Marlene's father was a rather tall, thin man - though he had certainly gained a little weight as he aged. His thin, blond hair is combed down, smooth to his head. Her father, who looked stern even at the best of times, gives her a thin smile.

Next to him, Raymond straightens, looking expectantly at her. His black hair was smoothed down in a manner similar to her father's. The tell-tale freckles dotting his face reveal that he must have spent a lot of time outside during summer vacation.

Though excited, a hint of nervousness creeps in. Perhaps she would have known such a simple thing about her brother if she had been there, Marlene thinks to herself and feels a bit ashamed.

Marlene smiles in the sort of awkward way one does in such a situation, though Marlene hopes it wasn't too noticeable.

"We're just getting a costume for Raymond. Who's this?" Hannah gestures behind Marlene to Sun, who gives a wave.

"My name is Sam! It's nice to meet you," Sun introduces himself, putting out his hand.

Hannah reciprocates the gesture. "Good to meet you as well. I'm Marlene's sister, Hannah and this is my father and brother, Raymond."

"Jasper," Her father greets as he shakes Sun's hand, pausing for a moment when he feels the plastic.

Meanwhile, Marlene stands there internally screaming.

'What were the chances we'd run into my family?' Marlene worries, her body growing stiffer by the minute. Though she loved them, she certainly wasn't thrilled about them meeting Sun. 'It'd be easier if they didn't know about him. Well, if it's going to be like this anyway…'

"Sam is my roommate." Marlene explains, unprompted, "He started living with me a little over a month ago."

Her father squints at Sun, eyes Marlene's stomach, then glances up to meet her confused gaze.

"Is he the father?"

Marlene chokes on air.

"I - " Marlene coughs, flushing a bit in embarrassment, "No. I already explained it to you, didn't I?"

"I know." Her father nods, unfazed by his daughter's reaction. "I'm just saying, there's no shame if that's the case…"

"It's not."

"Alright," As though he hadn't completely derailed the conversation, her father turns back to Sun. "So, what do you do for a living, Sam?"

'Ah,' Marlene thinks, currently wishing it were possible to scream into a void, 'No. Go back to the last topic. We didn't plan answers for this.'

"O-oh I do some cleaning," Sun replies, the points on his head lowering ever so slightly as he glances at Marlene.

To be honest, she wanted to check out of the conversation entirely. If it's work-related, surely her father would have words. Not kind ones but words none less.

That didn't mean she wanted to go through them.

'But I suppose it's best to get it over with,' Marlene thinks as she cuts into the conversation. "Actually dad, I've been meaning to tell you that I don't work at PizzaPlex anymore."

Her father furrows his brows in a way that makes Marlene shrink, feeling rather like a child.

"Oh? Are they moving you again?" Her father frowns and Marlene shakes her head.

"No, but I was laid off when the PizzaPlex burned down."

"Is that right?" Her father hums, and Marlene notices that his face relaxes. "What are your plans now?"

'...Is that it?'

Baffled by his tame response, it takes a moment for Marlene to answer her father. "I've been working for a call center lately. I can work from home, which is fine. It's been a little harder than I imagined it would be though."

"I can understand that," her father empathizes.

Marlene didn't know how to feel about her father at the moment. She loved him, she always had. However, she'd never known her father as a supportive person. In her childhood, Marlene had always considered him to be the opposite.

So what has changed?

Her gaze casts downwards towards Raymond. It then crosses her mind that the event regarding their mother and Raymond brought about change in her father.

'It wouldn't be far-fetched,' Marlene thinks, nodding at her father's response, 'but let's wait and see.'

"It's always tough to start a new job after working at one place for so long," her father continues, "Just remember: you're always welcome to drop by for a visit. Just give me a call first, yeah?"

"Sure. That sounds like a plan."

The tent gets louder as a big family enters the tent, a few of their children darting ahead as their parents yell after them.

Suddenly, her headache seemed a bit worse.

"I'm not feeling so hot," Marlene excuses herself as she edges away from the group, "so I think we're going to try and pick out a few costumes real quick and be on our way."

"Do you feel like throwing up or…" Her sister trails off, stepping closer.

"It's just a headache. I've been getting a lot of them lately. Just another pregnancy symptom, I think."

"If you say so," Hannah replies, "just make sure to mention it to your doctor, okay? Better safe than sorry."

Marlene smiles, touched by her words despite thinking them unnecessary. "Sure. Hey, why don't we shop together? We should find stuff faster that way."

Hannah's face brightens as she looks toward their father as though asking for permission. Despite being well into adulthood herself, Marlene thought Hannah also became a child in front of their father.

"That sounds nice." Her father answers.

Together, they spent the next hour or so going through racks of clothes. Marlene finds a few interesting outfits but takes one look at the price tag before deciding maybe it wasn't worth it after all. 'Everything is so expensive now! Was it like that when I was little? Maybe I need to thank Aunt Winnie next time I see her…' Marlene wonders as her energy and patience drain.

Not a single costume they tried really worked for Sun. They were either too short on the legs or too wide for his frame.

Despite not finding anything, Sun seemed to be having a good time. Once, Raymond caught Sun spinning his head and demanded Sun show him again. He complies with a laugh as Raymond watches on in amazement.

"So cool!" He admires the points on Sun's head, going as far as to reach out and touch them.

Marlene's first instinct was to pull Sun away and pray that Raymond didn't bring up the trick. However, she supposed her family wasn't all too familiar with elaborate costumes.

'It wouldn't be too strange to say that this is just another part of the costume, right?' Marlene reasons tiredly, rubbing her eyes every so often.

By the end, Sun hadn't found anything but Raymond picked out a Sun outfit to match him.

"We can be twins!" Sun exclaims, eliciting a laugh from Raymond. Though the noise worsens the pounding in her head, Marlene had to admit the idea of them twinning was a rather adorable image.

Not that she'd tell Raymond that. Being ten, she supposed he was likely at that age where cute was a taboo word.

Upon saying their goodbyes, Marlene gave a hug to each of her family members. She hesitates for a split second before bending down to give Raymond a hug. Being so much older, there was a distance difficult to describe between them. Of course Marlene loved him just as she loved her sister, but she did not know him. Not in the way she thought she ought to anyway.

Once in the car, Marlene massages her head and quietly pleads it to go away. On her phone, she looks up if she can take painkillers during pregnancy.

Short answer: Maybe.

To be fair, Marlene could if it were prescribed by a doctor.

On the other hand, it wasn't recommended since it could mess with the baby's kidneys.

'Life is pain.'

Marlene starts the engine and pulls out of the parking lot, careful to avoid the pedestrians - some of whom decided to walk as slow as humanly possible.

"Did you have fun today?" Marlene asks, hoping that at least Sun enjoyed the outing.

"Yes! I had a lot of fun looking at all the clothes. Meeting your family was quite nice too!" Sun replies, before adding a thoughtful, "although…"

"Hm?"

"Your dad didn't look too pleased with me. Did I do something wrong?"

"Nah, don't worry about it. He's just got one of those faces, you know?" Marlene consoles, though she couldn't be sure, to be honest. Her father seemed to be sending out a lot of confusing signals today.

Sun tilts his head. "Those faces? What does that mean?"

"He just looks crabby all the time," Marlene shrugs, unconcerned. Then again, her ability to be concerned was entirely exhausted. "He's got a resting face, you know? I was also cursed with an unfortunate face, so you should get the picture."

"But you don't look angry all the time?" Sun argues, tilting his head further so that it looks like he frowns.

Marlene vaguely wonders if Sun was blind.

"That's nice of you Sun, but you don't need to say that. It's just a part of who I am. No big deal."

Sun pauses and Marlene thinks the conversation is over. She nearly forgot it entirely as they arrived home and opened the front doors before Sun faced her.

"I like your face. I think your face is the friendliest of all and It's really comforting."

Marlene, left speechless by the comment, stood in the hallway - flustered.