I walked into the apartment that night and found that the dining room light was on. I went over to it and found my big sister Jane sitting at the table, munching on some sugar cookies. She turned towards me when she saw me come in.

"Hey," she told me after she swallowed a bite.

"Where'd you get those?" I asked.

"Oh, Jasmine begged me to bake some with her."

"Sounds about right; she'll do anything to have sweets without my knowledge."

"Hey, she's a kid. Besides, we did worse when we were that age."

"What do you mean 'we'? I was the angel of the family while you and Jack caused all the trouble."

"Oh? I don't recall being the one sneaking out to go to prom when Mom and Dad said you couldn't."

"That's the worst you could come up with?"

"...I suppose."

"Well, anyway, thanks for watching the place," I told her with a smile. "I didn't think it would be that short of a night."

"Hey, no problem," she replied. "I had nothing better to do tonight, anyway."

"Oh? No plans to go to the bar and hook up with any guy who says he loves you?"

"Oh, fuck you, Alice."

"Maybe if you weren't my sister."

We then gave a small laugh. We may have our differences, but we're still siblings. Somehow, we find a way to get along.

"Well, I guess I better get going," she told me as she looked at her watch.

"Oh, c'mon, Jane! Can't you stay for a little bit longer? It's still early, and I've barley seen you in a while."

"Me neither!"

We both turned towards Jasmine's bedroom to see her poking her head out of the doorway.

"Jasmine, what are you doing up?" I demanded to know.

"I heard you guys talking," she replied. "And I can't sleep."

I sighed and looked at my daughter and sister.

"Well, since we're all up, what do you say we have a ladies' night in?"

"What does that mean?" Jasmine asked.

"It means we get to do fun stuff, like eating popcorn and watching TV."

"Cool! I love that idea!"

I turned towards Jane with a look that read "C'mon; stay with us." She rolled her eyes with a sigh.

"I'll start the popcorn," she said in a slightly irritated tone as she stood up.

"Ooo! Can we watch The Immortal and the Restless, Mom??" Jasmine asked as she jumped with joy.

"Of course we can! Maybe you should catch Aunt Jane up to speed, first, though."

"Yay!!"

My daughter then ran to my sister and began filling her in on the bizarre soap opera about a vampire and his mistress and everything that's happened thus far, even though I have the slight suspicion that Jane doesn't care. Sure, it could be considered evil of me to force her to stay here, but I don't want her on the road this late at night in this part of town. Besides, she rarely gets to spend time with her niece anymore and I don't think a couple of hours while I'm gone is enough.

I loaded the newest episode in the living room while the popcorn popped in the kitchen. All we had to do now was play the show, eat some snacks, and relax on the couch until at least one of us inevitably passes out.

*          *          *

"Clara, I tell you: the baby isn't mine!" the purple-wearing vampire, Count Vladimir, told his blonde human mistress in his stereotypical vampire accent.

"Count, I tell you that it is!" Clara argued back in a normal American accent. "You're the only vampire I've ever loved!"

"So?" Jane murmured to herself as she grabbed a handful of popcorn. "You don't gotta love 'em to screw 'em."

I smiled, while mentally agreeing, and grabbed some popcorn, as well.

"And look!" Clara continued. "The baby turns his bottles into powdered milk!"

The scene cut to the pale-skinned infant sucking on his bottle, only to have all the milk inside of it dry up into powder.

"That doesn't mean anything." Vlad argued as he rolled his eyes.

"He sleeps on the ceiling fan!"

"Upright or upside down?"

"What does it matter?? You need to be part of your son's life!"

"I am an old man, Clara; I can't be a father!"

"Well, then at least pay your child support, you deadbeat!!"

The shot then froze and went grayscale as a giant white question mark appeared in the middle of the screen.

"Will Vlad and his distressed mistress find common ground?" the announcer asked the audience. "Tune in next time!"

The screen went black and the credits started rolling. I then turned off the TV via remote and looked to my right, towards Jasmine, who was silently snoring on the couch. I then turned to my left, towards Jane, and smiled.

"Thanks for staying," I told her.

"You owe me," she told me with a playful smirk.

"I'll buy you lunch sometime."

"Oh. I was just kidding."

"Oh. In that ca-"

"Ah ah ah! No takebacks!"

"Jerk."

"What else is new?"

We both gave another laugh as we stood up.

"Well, goodnight, Sis," I told her as I patted her shoulder. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Of course; I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

I continued to smile as she grabbed her things and left the building. I then sighed and started cleaning up. After a night of weird bosses, tight spaces, and creepy robots, it was nice to watch TV with my sister and daughter. I guess a whole week of that schedule won't be too bad, just as long as work is simple enough.