Perhaps it was premature, but I decided that Rebecca should come to my work office and check the place out. She had been asking me a lot of questions about the place, and I figured it would be easier to show her the office than describe it to her. I never gave enough details for her liking. With the internship deadline coming up, I wanted the other students to think they had a fair shot, so I read each submission and graded it as if it mattered.

So, I told Rebecca that I would be in the office all day, and she could show up whenever she had time. I didn’t have any meetings, so I figured it was a good enough time to have her walk around and get to know where the copying machine and employee mailboxes were. You know, intern stuff.

I had briefly mentioned to my bosses that I was probably going to bring Rebecca in to do some work for us. I was a little worried they’d be hesitant, but after her stellar performance at the charity ball, they were excited to have her helping us out. While I wasn’t interested in mixing work and pleasure too much, the people I worked with were not prudes about this kind of relationship, especially if things worked out. HR only advised me to be careful about sexual harassment, but also mentioned that there were lawyers on retainer who handled these things frequently. I didn’t think this would be an issue with Rebecca.

I was sitting at my desk when I heard a knock at the door. I adjusted myself in my pants, anticipating Rebecca in some sort of sexy business outfit. I wondered if I had the self-restraint to go the day without having sex with her in my office. She had quite the sexual appetite, and I was there to fill her up.

Much to my surprise, I opened the door to find my father and a middle-aged lady, who I swore I had seen before, just not with him.

“Dad, what are you doing here?” I asked, feeling flustered. I had a completely different mental picture of this outcome, and it didn’t involve my dad.

“I told you I was going to stop by the office sometime this week,” he said.

“Shit, I forgot,” I mumbled. “I’ve been busy.”

“Too busy to visit for a moment?” he asked.

“No, no, have a seat. Want something to drink?”

“Give me whatever scotch you’ve got,” my dad said.

I got out two glasses for my dad and me. “And you?” I asked the women.

“Oh, do you have a diet soda or something?” she asked sweetly.

I handed her a can from my refrigerator and handed it to the woman with dark hair and green eyes. She sat next to my dad, a diamond tennis bracelet dangling from her wrist. I assumed this was the special lady he had told me about, and he had bought her that shiny bracelet.

“So, what brings you to the office today?” I asked.

“We just wanted to visit you,” my dad replied.

“Really?” I asked, feeling suspicious. “Since when?”

My dad smiled and placed his hand on the woman’s. “Alex, this is Miranda.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said, shaking her hand.

“I’m so glad I’m finally meeting you,” she gushed. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“You look familiar,” I said, squinting at her. “Have we met somewhere before?”

“Oh, I can’t imagine so,” she replied. “Well, I’m from Hazelwood. You might have seen me around when you were a kid.”

“Maybe,” I said, trying to place her.

“Anyway,” my dad interrupted. “I wanted to tell you the big news. We got married over the weekend! We wanted to tell our closest family and friends before making a formal announcement.”

I scoffed in disbelief. “You got married?”

“Isn’t it swell?” He grinned. “It’s been a whirlwind romance, but this just feels right.”

I took a large drink of my scotch and swirled the ice cubes around. “I’m sure it does. Congratulations,” I said, my tone bordering on icy. I didn’t mean to be rude to my father’s new wife. After all, she seemed like a nice enough woman. But, I just found it hard to be supportive of his marriages anymore. There was no point in getting to know this woman because she would soon be out of our lives, taking a chunk of cash with her.

“So, what do you do?” I asked, already bored.

“I’m a nurse,” she said proudly, her big green eyes lighting up when I spoke to her. “I’ve been in Hazelwood for about twenty three years now.”

“Are you planning on living there now?” I asked.

She and my dad exchanged smiles. “Well, we haven’t decided,” she said. “We thought it would be nice to keep a place in the suburbs for when we want to get away. We’re going to refurbish my house soon, so I’ll be spending more time in the city. That’s okay, though, because my daughter lives nearby.”

“Cool,” I said dryly. “Are you planning on continuing to work?”

“A little,” she said bashfully. “I admit, with your dad’s pension, I don’t need to work as much as I used to. I think I’ll cut back on hours until I go into retirement for good.”

“Good for you,” I said, faking some cheer. “That’s what the old man’s good for.”

My dad gave me a warning look. I didn’t really give a shit. I had gone through this enough times. If anything, it was just funny to me. The poor woman was so sweet and earnest about her new marriage, and she probably had no idea it wouldn’t last. I started to make predictions about how long they would stick together.

“How long have you been together?” I asked.

“A few months,” Miranda said. “I’ve never been in a relationship that’s moved so quickly. Normally, I tend to take things very slow. But, as Winston told me, we don’t know how many days we have left on this Earth. We might as well make the most of it.”

“You said that?” I asked my dad. “You’re over the hill, but you’re not that old.”

“I’m not planning on dying anytime soon,” he said gruffly. “It’s just important to do what makes you happy. Someday, you will understand that.”

“Are you seeing anyone, Alex?” Miranda asked innocently.

I chuckled. “Nope.”

“My son has no interest in settling down,” my dad said. “I keep trying to convince him to start taking dating seriously. Before you know it, you’ll be thirty. Then forty and fifty and sixty and you’ll wonder why you didn’t get married and have kids while you had the chance.”

“I guess I’ve had bad examples,” I said dryly. “Have you met my brother yet?” I asked Miranda. “Hopefully, you’ll get to meet his kids soon. They’re great, but they can only come by a few times a year.”

My dad sighed. I could tell he regretted ever bringing his wife to meet me. I got along well enough with my dad, but I wasn’t shy about pointing out when he was making a terrible mistake.

Sometimes, I felt like I was the most responsible one in the family. As my dad aged, the more he began to act like a big child. He was never strict with us kids, and it showed. He ran around, doing whatever he liked, and no one gave a crap because he was charming and well-liked. He’d get drunk at the bar and drive home with nothing more than a slap on the wrist from the police because he donated to their fundraisers every year. Or, he could cheat on his wife while she had young children at home and no one looked down upon him. He’d even fool around with other soccer moms and face zero consequences, while his lovers went through horrible divorces.

Now, because he was retired and had more money than he knew what to do with, he flung it around like a kid in a candy store. While I still assumed my brother and I would receive hefty inheritances one day with the remains of his fortune that he hadn’t managed to blow, he didn’t worry about saving for us. We could take care of ourselves. So, my dad married women and took them to extravagant places and fixed up their houses for them and paid off their debts. Then, he would stupidly lose them, returning to step one. The cycle would continue. It was foolish and the whole thing was getting old.

My brother wasn’t much better. He was a little more conservative with his approach, but just as foolish. He’d spend his money on girlfriends while his wife was at home. They nearly milked him dry a few times. Unlike my dad, he hadn’t had the time to acquire the same amount of wealth. For a few years there, he was on a serious budget while he paid for private preschools for the kids and a mortgage for his wife.

While I was known to spend lavishly on occasion, I was still in control of my finances. I could drop a few thousand on a date, but that was a small amount compared to alimony checks, especially if your girl had gotten too used to her lifestyle with you. Instead of dumping my money into women, I used it to enjoy all life had to offer. Then, I saved and invested the bulk of it so I would always have career options.

I think this made me the most responsible out of the men in my family. My parents always thought of me as the wild one, but I had never gone to jail, never gotten a girl knocked up, and never been fired from a job. Sure, I had been an asshole and toed the line between respectful society man and deviant at times, but I managed to stay in control. My father could chastise me all he wanted for never settling down with a woman, but I had done far better than he had in some respects.

“We wanted to have a more formal dinner to introduce our marriage, but it’s so hard when everyone has a different schedule,” Dad said. “Eventually, we will have a small reception of some sort. But, we’d like to keep things small and only for close family and friends. We don’t really need a big celebration.”

“No, I would imagine not,” I said as I chewed on an ice cube. “So, who do we have left to meet?”

“I have a son and a daughter. They’re both in school, so we might wait until the end of the semester for our gathering.”

“Cool,” I said, stifling a yawn.

“Is there something you’d rather be doing?” Dad asked. “Are we keeping you from your work?”

“No, not at all,” I said, trying to act a little cheerier to Miranda’s benefit. My dad deserved my annoyance, not her. She seemed so in love, I actually felt bad for her. Everything about her seemed so genuine. I wonder if that’s what made it so hard for her to see that in my dad.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “You dad’s told me about how well you’ve been doing since you took over for him. It’s very impressive.”

“Thanks,” I said softly. “No, it’s not a big deal. I just have one of my summer interns coming around to check the place out.”

“Intern?” my dad asked. “When have we had interns?”

“Since I started teaching college students,” I said. “She’s a bright, young student and I think she’ll be helpful around here.”

“She?” my dad chuckled. “Have you been approached by HR yet?”

“Yes, and I don’t think I need any warning from you, of all people,” I smirked.

I heard voices outside of my door, then it slowly creaked open. Rebecca poked her head in. She looked very lovely in her skirt and suit jacket. It was perhaps a bit much for a visit, but knowing her, she was already playing the game.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had a meeting,” she said.

“No, come in,” I replied. “Rebecca, this is—”

“Mom?” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

Miranda’s eyes opened wide, her mouth gaping open to match. She looked back and forth between everyone in the room; it was almost cartoonish. “What?” she tried to form into an articulate sentence, but couldn’t string any other words together.

Rebecca turned to me. “What’s she doing here?”

I pursed my lips. “She’s here with my father, delivering some important news. Do you want to tell her, or should I?”

Miranda flushed. “I wanted to tell you over dinner, but Winston and I got married!”

Rebecca gasped and went to her mom to hug her. But, as she hugged her mom, she looked back at me with a look of pure confusion.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Rebecca asked her mom.

“It happened so quickly,” she said sheepishly. “By the way, this is Winston.”

Rebecca raised her eyebrows and shook his hand before quickly stealing a glance my way. I didn’t know what she was thinking about, but I suspected she was trying to see the resemblance between my father and I.

“Are you Alex’s summer intern?” her mom asked. “That’s going to be such a good opportunity for you. I can’t believe you two already know each other. I hope working with your stepbrother doesn’t make things weird,” she giggled.

Rebecca went a little pale. She sat down in another chair in the corner of the room. I made her a cold drink and wordlessly handed it over.

“How long have the two of you known each other?” my dad asked Rebecca.

“Longer than you’ve known each other,” I replied, gesturing between the newlyweds.

“Since the beginning of the spring semester, I suppose,” Rebecca said, looking worried. “I’m in his senior seminar class.”

“And now you’re his intern,” her mom said, looking pleased as punch. “I know you said you were worried about finding something to do over the summer. Hopefully this helps out with the bills.”

“How much are you paying her?” my dad asked all authoritatively.

“That hasn’t been discussed yet,” I said crossly. “We’ll have to look at the budget.”

“Yeah, but you can probably find some money to make sure your sister is taken care of.”

I shuddered. “Please don’t call her that.”

“Your sister? She is. Well, stepsister. I can see how that might be weird, but no one here is going to care. It’s not like anyone has a problem with nepotism around here, right? In a way, it’s like adding another child to the family business.”

My dad and new stepmom laughed at this, but their offspring remained silent. If they only knew what their children had been up to, they’d be horrified. Miranda was kind to me now, but I didn’t think she would be if she knew I had her daughter bent over my kitchen counter just a few days ago.

“I’m just so shocked by all of this,” Rebecca muttered from her corner.

“I know,” her mom said apologetically. “I wanted you to meet before we got married, but there just wasn’t enough time. It was a complete surprise for both of us.”

“When did it happen?” she asked weakly. “Where? What did you wear?”

Her mom beamed. “I’ll tell you details over dinner. Should we leave while you meet with your new boss?” she giggled.

“No,” we said in unison.

“We don’t have to do this today,” I said, loosening my tie a little. “The internship doesn’t even start for a few more weeks.”

“Great.” My dad smiled. “We should head to the restaurant. Are you coming with us, Alex? You said you weren’t busy today.”

“Uh, I have some—I have some stuff to do,” I lied. “Why don’t the three of you go and enjoy yourself? I’m sure we’ll all see each other soon.”

“Okay,” Miranda said. “I hope we get to spend some more time together soon. I’m really looking forward to getting to know you.”

“Likewise,” I lied again. “It was lovely to meet you, Miranda.”

I gave Rebecca’s mother a hug and was struck by how similar some of their features were. They both had the same thick, dark hair and emerald eyes. Miranda was still very pretty in middle age. I wondered if Rebecca would look like her mom at fifty, not like it would matter then. In twenty-five years, we would have long parted ways.

From what I could calculate, I decided that Miranda would stick around for a while. She didn’t seem interested in taking my dad’s money the moment things went belly-up. And, if she was anything like her daughter, she was intelligent and kind. Keeping these things in mind, as long as my dad behaved himself, he could reasonably keep things going for a year or two before ruining a good thing.

Unfortunately, I didn’t necessarily plan on keeping Rebecca around for that long. If things ended poorly with us, would I have to avoid family functions for her benefit? Even worse, would we have to stop sleeping together because we were related through marriage?

It was more than I wanted to think about. For the first time in recent memory, I was very happy with my social life. I had found one girl that ticked all the boxes for me, and I wanted to keep seeing her until the fun ran out. Now, my dad had to go and spoil everything for me. It was childish to not be happy for him because it meant that my life became complicated, but I didn’t know how else to feel.

As I waved goodbye to my new, fucked up family, an involuntary giggle came out of me. Rebecca must have heard this, because I heard the same incredulous giggle come from her, too.

I poured myself another drink and knocked it back. I was glad I had nothing to do for the rest of the day. Usually, I hated spending a nice day indoors, but with everything going on, it seemed like a nice afternoon to get drunk and hide out in my office.