Family Bondage

Okay i'm happy with that title lmao. Anywayyy since BearWarrior3000 takes like 8 years with his reunion story imma just write it myself. Thiiiis is a sequel to Unplanned, set 4 years after that story ended.

Family Bondage

Tuesday

Percy tapped on the steering wheel absentmindedly as he tried his best to focus on the road. A few days of driving was paying off as they were well into the NY state border, not too far from his hometown now. They were a long way from Oregon, and it was definitely showing. Gone were the pine trees and fog replaced by... New York stuff.

Sally had invited them back to their hometown after three years for a family reunion. Of course, they had seen each other only a few months before after the birth of their second child, but Sally was missing her children dearly and so summoned them back to the nest.

The 41 year old grandmother of two had gotten her twin children Aphrodite and Percy to agree to come back. Obviously Percy was bringing his family and as a little bit of kindness Sally also invited Apollo since the med student hadn't seen his sister since the birth too.

Speaking of the birth, their six-month old daughter Kaylee sat in her car seat snoozing softly as Percy glanced at her in the rearview mirror. Thankfully she had not been much of a fuss that day as she had fallen asleep an hour after they left the motel and had only woken up twice, when they stopped at a Burger King for lunch and later on when they had dinner.

Meanwhile their four year old daughter Selena sat in her car seat too, only instead of sleeping she had her headphones on as she watched Netflix or played games on the family iPad, Percy couldn't tell from the front which one. She had also been quiet, only getting excited when they'd stopped for Burger King and again when they stopped for road snacks at an Indiana 7/11.

It was near 8PM as they were heading through NorthWest New York State. They had also stopped in Pennsylvania for a Taco Bell dinner, and Percy was thankful that the constant humming and vibrating of the cerulean pickup was easing his bowels and preventing him from shitting himself. Unfortunately for him, despite only having a little bit of her father's burrito alongside her baby food, Kaylee did not have the same reaction to the vibrating.

Selena almost cried as she began to smell the foul odor coming from next to her. Instead of letting some tears out she simply cried with dry eyes in the back as Kaylee opened her eyes and began to wail. Artemis' eyes fluttered open at the noise and she looked back to see what had happened to her babies.

Selena looked genuinely upset and distraught as she pointed to her crying baby sister. "She poooooooed!" She whined, making both parents sigh. Percy glanced at his fiance of four years apologetically. They still hadn't had a wedding due to financial reasons. They were going to college and raising two kids all while having no real jobs. "I'll pull over and you can change her on the loading tray." He told her, making Artemis' face fall as she realised it was indeed her turn to change her.

Despite the fact it was snowing outside, Percy pulled over and Artemis grabbed Kaylee out of the backseat. The next rest stop wasn't for quite a few miles and the parents didn't want to have to deal with the smell and their children crying for the next fifteen minutes.

She brought the baby around the back and, careful not to have the luggage all spilling out, brought down the tailgate of the pickup. Percy had an attachable roof for the pickup so they could put things like luggage and the dogs in there and not have them flying off the sides. It also had a top gate which was a window for obvious reasons and thankfully kept the luggage in while she placed Kaylee on the bottom gate.

She had Percy pass her some new diapers and baby wipes from the glovebox and she reluctantly cleaned her baby's mess. She hated this part of motherhood with a passion, having to wipe off a baby's green soggy shit every day. The day babies didn't grow assholes until they were potty trained was a day she prayed for every day.

Kaylee was wearing some cute little winter clothes but Artemis rushed it anyway because she didn't want Kaylee catching pneumonia from her feet or something. She needs her Santa booties goddamnit!

She did it quickly, having become a pro after also practicing for years on Selena. She strapped the diaper on and pulled Kaylee's festive pants and boots on, making the baby giggle as she picked her up. The young mother placed her back in her carseat and strapped her in, kissing her baby on the forehead. Selena still looked upset at the experience and was glancing at her baby sister with worry and concern.

Artemis hopped back in the passenger seat and they pulled back out onto the road. She looked at the GPS and saw they were forty-five minutes from their hometown. Great. Not long enough for a good sleep but long enough to where staying awake would be boring as hell. She sunk into her seat and put her shades back over her eyes to stop the white snow from blinding her as she closed her eyes. "Wake me up when we're there. And you're changing her next." She reminded him, making her fiance nod obligingly.

Kaylee did not fall back asleep during the trip but her mother did, getting one last nap in before they'd reach the town. Kaylee simply sat and looked like a fish as she opened and shut her mouth absentmindedly and looked around at everything. She settled on her big sister's iPad and watched in fascination as Selena sucked up their data watching Minecraft videos on Youtube.

Many miles West and many more miles in the air, Aphrodite sat with her headphones on as she listened to music to pass the time of the cross-country flight. Thanks to the money she made off her modelling career over in Los Angeles, she was able to score a first class ride, which was actually easier to come by than economy in the holiday break.

As she was in first class, that allowed her the privilege of a reclining seat, free alcohol and food. As well as that, since they lived in the same city and were both heading to this reunion of sorts, Aphrodite felt generous enough to shout a ticket to an old friend.

"Peanut?" Apollo asked from across on his recliner, leaning over and holding out the bag. Aphrodite opened one eye at the sound vibrations of the bag shaking and pulled out an ear bud. She shook her head and refused when she saw the bag outstretched to her. "Why are you eating peanuts? Y'know we have like, actual food here? This is first class, not the luggage hold." She reminded him, but her future brother-in-law shrugged. "It's peanuts. How can I not have 'em?" He said simply.

Aphrodite shook her head, not understanding it, before putting the earbud back in and shutting her eyes.

Only a few more miles from the family in the car, Sally rushed around her own kitchen trying to prepare a roast at 8PM. Her oven was beeping frantically at her telling her to pull the chicken out as she grabbed the oven mits and slid them on.

A torrent of hot air burst out as she opened the oven and grabbed the roast. Desperate for it to be perfect, she yanked it out and slapped it down on the bench, making sure to turn the oven off so as to not burn the house down.

In the living room while she panicked her husband Paul and three year old daughter Estelle sat without a worry watching TV and reading/playing with toys. Estelle was wearing one of Sally's Christmas sweaters, bright green with a red reindeer head on the front. Paul simply had some pants and slippers on with his coat at hand since he was due to pick Apollo and Aphrodite up from the airport sometime soon.

It definitely seemed like winter as Sally could see the frost on all her windows and stepping away from the nice hot oven left her in sub-zero temperatures in the corner of her kitchen. Thankfully she too had a homemade sweater on with pyjama pants and slippers. The snow had been piling up outside for the past couple days and Estelle had had a blast outside just that day rolling around in it.

"Muh-momma. When ah-are dey gonna-na be here?" Her three year old daughter asked with her usual stutter. Her and Paul had tried their best to teach her how to speak properly when she started developing it but unfortunately it was determined to cause her problems. No doubt she'd have to get speech therapy when she was older, but right now she was too young for that, she was still three years from school.

Sally threw off her oven mitts and looked open the window. "Soon, honey. Dad's gonna go fetch Aunty Aph and Uncle Apollo soon and hopefully Percy and Artemis and Selena and Kaylee will be here in their car." She told her daughter.

As Sally began getting some gravy ready Estelle walked over to look at the roast. "Is Kay-Kaylee big yet? Like m-me big?" She asked curiously, sounding like she had the chills. Sally smiled. "Yes! She gets bigger everyday. Percy posts heaps of photos with her on Facebook and Instagram and from the looks of things she's growing to be just like her mother." She told the girl.

Estelle's eyes were inquisitive. "Like Aw-wuh-temis?" She whispered,making Sally smile at the thought of her daughter-in-law. "Yep! She's getting lighter hair like you, she's got big eyes and she likes to bite things." She informed her. Estelle giggled at the thought of her niece liking to bite things.

Both Percy and Artemis had Snapchat, and so did Sally. Although Artemis was rare to take any photos as that wasn't really her thing. She pretty much only used the messaging part and occasionally would use a filter to send a photo of her and the kids to Sally. Percy was much more active on social media with frequent story updates and messages to Sally and Paul, most of which was just checking in and catching up. None of them held a candle to Aphrodite.

Three whole years since the two of them were home. Sally, Paul and Estelle had flown out west to visit them in person twice, once for a normal catchup and once for Kaylee's birth. But even though they had met twice since the kids left home, the younger Jackson family had never travelled back to their hometown.

In the living room Paul checked the time on his watch and got up. "Right. Heading out to pick 'em up, Sal!" He called, and Sally yelled back affirmative from the kitchen. The English teacher got a coat and his keys before leaving their nice warm house for the snowy night outside.

He drove off slowly and carefully, mindful of the snow and icy roads. It wasn't a blizzard or anything but you could never trust winter roads. Sally told Estelle she had the tv all to herself now as a hope of being able to free herself of the child until Percy and co arrived. At the thought of unlimited access to cartoons for a while, Estelle rushed back out to find the remote.

Only a few miles away now Percy and Artemis were driving down the familiar roads of their old hometown as the latter snoozed softly and the former drummed his fingers along to the beat of Spirit in the Sky. As the GPS told him they would be arriving in two minutes, he reached over and shook her gently. "Hey Bambi, we're almost there." He said once he saw she had been startled awake.

Artemis nodded and sat up properly, wiping the drool away from her right cheek. She was disgusted she had done something like drool in her sleep, but when Percy did so she didn't mind.

She checked the back and saw both daughters were still awake, and she waved to get Selena's attention. The girl took off her headphones and both her and the baby looked at their mother. "Almost there, hon. Just a couple minutes." She said, looking out and recognizing a lot of the houses. Yep, they were almost there.

Selena nodded and put away her iPad, sitting there in her carseat and waiting patiently as they turned corner after corner in the town of her birth. Kaylee was still bored sitting there and shaking her head side to side and making noises, just begging to get carsick and projectile vomit all over the windscreen.

After turning one more street they soon slowed to a halt on the side, and Artemis was able to look out the window. "Yup. This is it." She told him, checking out the house. Percy gave her a look incredulously from beside her. "Yep. Figured." He shook his head with a smile. The two adults got out of the truck and walked around to the side. Percy opened Kaylee's door and pulled her out of her carseat while Artemis unbuckled Selena's and helped her out onto the snowy pavement.

At the sound of the snow crunching Selena grinned and stamped her feet lightly, playing in the snow a little bit as Artemis fretted over Kaylee making sure she was warm. Percy rolled his eyes and pulled the baby away before she was smothered by her mother, and as he walked up the path to the house Artemis took Selena's hand and followed them.

"Bababa." Kaylee said, resting her chin on Percy's shoulder facing the car. She had no teeth yet but it didn't matter as she still went ahead and started chewing on her dad's shoulder, something which Percy didn't even notice with his winter coat being so thick.

They reached the doorstep and Percy scraped the snow to the side with his shoe in order to be able to enter, before knocking three times. Inside the house, Estelle's head shot up at the sound of the knocking, and her head snapped to the left as her mother rushed out of the kitchen and through the living room to the door.

Sally frantically brushed the front of her outfit and opened the door, instantly lighting up when she saw her family standing on the other side smiling at her. Her son, the girl she thought of as a daughter and her two little granddaughters grinned at the Blofis woman when they saw her, and Sally quickly stepped aside to let them in. "Hello! Hi! Quick, get in before bubba freezes!" She urged, waving the family of four in.

Selena happily skipped in and took off her boots while Percy hugged his mother tight and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Artemis followed suit, hugging her mother-in-law warmly before telling Selena to say hello. The little girl bounced back over to her grandmother and wrapped her arms around her legs in a hug. "Hi, grandma!" She greeted cheerfully, making Sally grin and bend down to pick her up. The good thing about being a grandmother before 40 is that you'll be able to pick up your grandkids and throw them around playfully, and so Sally was able to lift a four year old onto her hip and kiss her on the nose.

"How's my favorite mischief-maker doing?" She asked, making Selena giggle. "Goood!" She answered cheekily. Hearing that her brother and niece had arrived, Estelle poked her head around the corner to see if it was true. When she saw them she ran over, arms outstretched and waddle running. "PERCY!" The little one squealed, tackling her older brother in a hug just as Selena had done to Sally.

As Percy looked at his sister he grinned before handing Kaylee off to her grandmother. Percy knelt down to hug his sister while Sally hugged Kaylee close in her arms smiling at the giggling infant. "How's my other favorite granddaughter? Has she been a good girl? Has she?" She asked, nuzzling Kaylee's neck as the child squealed in delight at her grandmother's embrace.

When Percy let go of Estelle Selena walked over and waved at her younger aunt who she thought of as a cousin. "Hi 'Stelle!" She yelled, making the daughter of Sally laugh and hug her older niece.

Artemis smiled at the sight as she pulled off her coat, glad to be in a warm house finally. She looked around as Percy stood next to her, looking at Sally who was now dancing in the hallway with Kaylee in her arms. "Where's Paul?" She asked, and her comment alerted Percy to his stepfather's absence right then.

Sally nodded to the door. "Gone to pick up Aph and Apollo from the airport. I'd say they'll be back in a half hour or so." She told them.

As Selena and Estelle clapped each other's hands and laughed Percy hesitated taking off his gloves. "Should we bring our stuff in then?" He asked, and his mom shook her head.

"No! Heck no! We haven't even eaten yet! You must all be starving." She said frantically, rushing off back through the living room towards the kitchen. While the little girls played for a bit in the lounge Selena's parents followed her grandmother into the kitchen.

"No need. We got food on the way here. Selena might be hungry though, I know she's tired after the trip. She'll probably crash after an hour of playing with Estelle. I'll feed Kaylee though since she's not far from bedtime either." Artemis told her mother-in-law, seeing that the time was a whole hour and a half after Kaylee's normal bedtime.

As if on cue, Kaylee gave a big yawn and Percy walked up behind Sally and rubbed the infant's cheek. "I dunno what you're tired for. You spent the whole day snoring in the back. Big snores." He said, making Kaylee laugh and stare at her dad. Sally then chose to hand the baby off to Artemis for feeding, so that way she herself could dish up some roast.

Artemis turned around to get in the breastfeeding position before turning back around so she could converse with Sally. Percy poked his head back out into the lounge until he set eyes on Selena. "Lena, honey. Come get some food. Chicken?" He told his daughter, who obediently stood from her spot on the mat next to Estelle so she could skip over to her dad in the kitchen. "Ticken!" She yelled, still not really being able to pronounce Ch's.

Sally slapped some chicken and peas on a plate and handed it off to Selena, saying she could eat it by the tv. "Just don't spill anything, okay?" She said, and Selena nodded as she grabbed a fork. "Okay, gramma!"

As Selena and Estelle had dinner and watched Scooby Doo in the lounge, the adults conversed in the kitchen. Sally asked them how their trip was and the couple were too tired to explain it in detail but it essentially boiled down to long, tiring and peaceful. They'd gotten into a few traffic jams despite avoiding cities, but other than that it had been good.

Artemis was waiting for the bro and sis to arrive before putting Kaylee to bed, but the baby ended up nodding off in her arms anyway and so Artemis lay her on the couch with some earmuffs so she didn't get woken up by her sister and aunt. The baby snoozed softly in the living room as Selena began to yawn, and the parents briefly considered putting their older daughter to sleep and just having her meet her uncle and aunt tomorrow. It'd probably take a few hours because who knows how busy the airport was during Christmas time.

Just as Artemis was gonna walk in and tell Selena it was bedtime, they all heard the door open and the sounds of three people chatting as they entered the house. Two men and one woman. At the familiar sound of her other relatives, Selena stood and booked it for the front door.

AUNTY! UNCLE!" Selena squealed, throwing herself at Apollo and Aphrodite. The latter dropped her bags and fell to her knees so she could hug her niece tight, nearly to death. "Ahh, My little girl! How are you?" Aphrodite squeezed the grinning Selena in her embrace. "Yupp!" Selena said, not really answering her question.

As Artemis ran into the room Aphrodite looked up and let go of Selena so she could hug Artemis. "Arty! Oh, I've missed you!" She grinned, very excited to see her future sister-in-law. Artemis smiled and hugged back. "Missed ya too, Aph."

She then walked over to say hello to Apollo as Selena moved to Paul, and her twin wasted no time in hugging Artemis and lifting her in the air. "My little sis! I missed you so so so so so much!" He grinned, making Artemis laugh a bit as well. "How many times do I have to tell you, I'm older!" She said, hitting him on the shoulder slightly.

Sally rushed into the room and tackled Aphrodite into a hug, and her eldest daughter gladly hugged back and greeted her mother. Estelle ran in to greet Aphrodite as well, and Aph picked her little sister up and held her on her hip with a kiss on the cheek. As Aph and Sally chatted they heard crying from the living room, and Aph smiled as she looked expectantly towards the door.

Percy slowly stepped around the corner holding a wailing infant, making Aphrodite gasp with a grin. "There she is!" She squealed, making the crying Kaylee turn to look at her. As Apollo watched with Selena on his shoulders, Aph put Estelle down and rushed over to Percy.

Percy held his baby out and his sister gladly took hold. She remembered the way to hold babies from her time with Selena when she was a newborn and infant, and carefully took Kaylee into her embrace. "Why you crying, huh? Why you cry?" She said soothingly, wiping the tears from the now silent Kaylee's face.

The doe-eyed babe looked upon her aunt for a couple seconds before a big grin appeared on her face, the tears dried up. Aph grinned right back as she cradled the baby in her arms, and Kaylee ended up chewing on her own hands as she remained mesmerized but her beautiful aunty.

Apollo came over with Selena still on his shoulders and he looked down at his niece. "How's my niece doing?" He greeted, and Kaylee giggled at her uncle as he pulled funny faces.

The entire family had this reunion in the main foyer for five minutes or so before Sally went off to get drinks and Artemis walked over to her twin and almost-twin-in-law. "You wanna help tuck her in? She's had a long day." She said, and the two young adults would have loved nothing more than to join her, and eagerly followed Artemis to where Sally said the Jackson family's room was.

I spent like three weeks on this one chapter lmao. I need to reorganize myself because ive got too much going on. I should probably pick up No Choice again but i have no idea what the enxt chapter will be about. Any ideas?

Also even tho ive plastered it everywhere, for those of you who dont know, I'M GONNA BE AN OLDER BROTHER AGAIN! Yep, my mom's pregnant.

Word Count: 4005