You knock on your eldest daughter’s door. ”Y-yea? Come in!” You push the door open and shove your face through the crack. “Hey it’s almost time for...Amber?” Your daughter is staring back at you with an expectant look, her eyes were blood shot and open wide with shock. It was painfully obvious she was trying not to look as anxious as possible but it really wasn’t working. ”Uh...yea? What’s up dad?” You take a step into her room. “Sweet tooth...are you okay?” “Yep! Mhm, I’m fine, no problems in here. Why?” You shift a bit. You don’t really believe that. Something is clearly wrong. “Well your eyes are red. Are you sure you ok? Is there anything you wanna talk about?” “What? Oh, these? Pff, nah I’m fine it’s just...just uhhh, artists eye! Yep! It’s when you get into the zone you know? You’re so focused on getting the details right on a project and your forget to blink. Or something like that. Yep!” Amber gives you a massive grin to signal that everything really is okay. You look her up and down quietly pondering her words. That...doesn’t sound like it’s a real thing. You’re beginning to get suspicious but you could tell you weren’t going to get anything out of her in this very moment. ”Well...ok then. I guess. Anyways, it’s time to wash up, your mother is almost done with dinner.” “Oki-dokie daddy! I’ll be out there in a minute!” She gives you another big grin and a thumbs up before you leave the room. Something was definitely up. You go to tell Cynthia to wash up as well and then return to the dining room to help Stella set up for dinner. … ”*gasp* Awww so many memories! I’m glad you finally decided to start watching it!” Your stego wife squees with glee while talking to Cynthia. ”I’m only on the fourth episode mom. I still don’t get the appeal. It’s obviously not how VR works. And I definetly wouldn’t peg an online MMO as being a very good fit for a VR game anyways.” ”Well virtual reality was still really new back then! Besides, at least it was different to every other video game based isekai that was coming out at the time.” You look over to Amber. Silence. Typically she would be during these conversations. She was never big into anime. At least as into it as her sister and Stella were. But she was just poking at her food. She was so disconnected from everything. You decide to try and speak to her. “Hey…” Amber perked up and looked over to you. “You okay? You’ve barely touched dinner.” ”Oh, uhhh...yea. Just deep in thought. “Contemplating...uh, color pallets and stuff. Dunno if I wanna go with something more retro or modern y’know?” You raise your eyebrow. You glance over to the stegos, still distracted by their own conversation you lean in towards Amber and whisper to her. “Listen...sweet tooth, if there’s something wrong-” ”Nothing’s wrong dad I...I’m just a little overwhelmed is all. It happens.” “Are you sure?” Amber takes a moment to think and looks at you again. ”Yea. Of course. I’m fine” That response felt...incredibly forced. You could smell the dishonesty on her breath. “Well, if you need to talk about something with me...anything, I’m here and won’t judge you.” ”Yea, I know, thanks dad.” You place a hand on her shoulder. That was probably too obvious of a thing to do because you wife just caught on to your conversation. ”Is everything alright?” You and Amber look over to Stella who had turned away from her own conversation. ”Uh…” Amber rolls you hand off your shoulder, “Yea mom. It’s nothing. Just a bit stressed about my art project.” ”Really? You aren’t usually stressed about a project.” ”She’s entering the art contest.” Cynthia butts into the conversation, which earns her a glare from Amber. ”Ohh! Really? That’s cool! What are you painting.” Oh. Oh shit fuck, you never told Stella did you? You really didn’t think about it when Amber asked for the old photo album, what Stella would think. Fuck, what would she think? It’s been almost 18 years but... You glance over to your daughter opting to let her answer on her own. ”Uhh...I wanna keep it a surprise” She gives the same fake smile to Stella she gave to you in her room. ”Oh! Well that’s fine! I love surprises!” Crises averted. You let out a sigh you didn’t know you had in you. ”Just don’t be surprised if you don’t win.” Oh God in heaven why now? Stella’s usual bubbly expression snaps into a face of indignation and turns towards your younger daughter. ”You know what?” Amber gets up and grabs her plate. ”I think I’ll just eat in my room tonight.” You three collectively watch the pterosaur retreat to her bed room. When you hear the door shut you give Cynthia a glare of your own. ”What?” “Cynthia...I love you, but your sister is going through a lot of stress, would you please learn when to shut your mouth?” She opens her mouth prepared to protest but shuts it with a look of dejection. After Amber left the table dinner continued in relative silence. You hated when this happens but you learned trying to coax her back out would only lead to more issues and yelling at the table. And in the name of having a quiet night, you skip on the idea of attempting it for what would have been the umpteenth time. … You shut the door behind you and pull up a chair. Leaning back you let the cool night wind grace your face as you breathe in the fresh air. You pull several things from your pocket, a lighter and some cigarettes. You told yourself you’d quit years ago but you always kept a pack just for times like this. You were going to need them for what you were about to do. The nicotine a necessary tool for calming your nerves. You place one of the cancer sticks in between your mouth and light up. Making sure to take in a deep drag before pulling your phone out of your pocket. Amber was upset. You weren’t sure about what but she was pushing you away. Typically you’d chock it up to it being estrus season and her being cranky from all the hormones she couldn’t release. Or, well, she didn’t have a boyfriend did she? ...one stress inducing situation at a time Anon. Back to estrus, it couldn’t be. It wasn’t the season for pteros and what ever problem she had was coming up in the midst of a particularly rough patch in her and Cynthia’s relationship. They were never on the best of terms, which, you didn’t know if that was normal or not, but in the past few weeks they seemed to be at each other’s throats. Pressing through your contacts list you found the name you were looking for. Well, second name. The first guy on your list would’ve been asleep right now. So his son would have to be the next best option, despite the fact him and Olivia don’t have kids “yet.” Besides, Naser’s a bro. You tap on the name and place your phone up to your ear. After a few seconds of ringing you hear the voice of your brother-in-law on the other end. ”Yo! Anon?” “Hey Naser, I’m not bothering you am I?” ”Uh...kinda? Olivia and I were about to watch a movie.” “Oh...okay then, I could just call later then?” ”Well wait, what are you calling about?” You take a few seconds before sighing. “It’s about Amber.” There was silence for a few seconds before you could hear the sounds of distant conversation and then the sound of a door opening and closing. ”What about her?” “Naser, man, I don’t want to interrup-” ”No, it’s fine. Family business is family business.” You smile at that. “Thanks...well, where do I even begin? Something is wrong with her.” ”Wrong? Like wrong how? Is she sick?” “No, not sick...at least, I don’t think? I dunno man.” ”Well, then what’s the issue?” “That’s the thing, I don’t know. Earlier tonight I walked into her crying.” ”About what?” “Again, I dunno. She kept denying that she was and was telling me everything was alright.” You take another inhale from your cigarette and rub the back of your neck. “And come to think of it, she’s been acting sort of...off lately.” ”Well...did anything happen?” “Nothing out of the ordinary. Though her and Cynthia have been going at it again.” Naser groaned. You could practically hear him shaking his head. ”This again?” “Well, yes and no. Amber entered an art contest at school.” ”Oh?” “Yea, so that has been adding to her stress...who she’s painting probably doesn’t help the situation either.” ”Who is she painting.” You paused. You felt like you shouldn’t tell him. Amber wants it a secret. And while you never asked, there appears to be this unspoken agreement between you two to keep it underwraps for now. But this was Naser, a bro, and a man who really has no reason to be gossiping about a highschooler’s art project in the emergency room. ”Anon? Can you hear me?” “Huh?” You snapped out of your mulling. ”I asked who Amber was painting.” “Oh! Uh…” Fuck it, it won’t hurt telling him. “She’s painting Lucy.” ”Oh! Oh…” Even though the two of you were on opposite sides of the city, the tension could be felt from miles away. ”I see...has she been...asking questions then?” “Huh? What do you mean?” ”Has she been asking questions about Lucy? I mean, this was bound to happen at some point right? Stella isn’t her mom.” “Hey, don’t say that! Stella has been raising Amber for almost seventeen years!” ”Woah woah man! I didn’t mean anything by it. Stella has been doing great for all I know. But, she didn’t give BIRTH to Amber. Doesn’t look like her either.” “So what do you mean then?” ”I mean, maybe Amber is beginning to wonder where she comes from. She never got to meet Lucy after all.” You think over Naser’s words for a moment. This could all be true, but why now? She’s asked questions before sure but she never really expressed any genuine curiosity. At least that’s not how she made it out when she asked for the old photo album, she just wanted to paint her mom right? You let out a sigh before taking in another draw. “I don’t know Naser. What you’re saying makes sense but...shit has been going on since before she entered the contest. Even if she has been questioning about Lucy, she hasn’t told me anything yet, and there has definitely been some other problems going on. I just wanna know how I can get her to talk to me.” ”Yea, well, ya can’t force it Anon. Maybe if you go out and do something with her?” “Like what?” ”Well, I dunno. A dinner? Movie? Something to cheer her up. No strings attached either. I mean, if her being in a better mood will open her up then go for it, but if it doesn’t, you at least helped cheer her up even if a little bit.” A movie or dinner? Huh that doesn’t actually sound like a bad idea. ”So you agree then?” Fuckin’ mumbling. “Yea, I might try that.” ”Cool! Sound-” Naser was cut off by something in the background. ”Yea! Coming! Shit, sorry Anon, Olivia is getting impatient.” “Don’t sweat it man. You were a great help.” ”No problem man, and hey, update me on the situation okay?” “Of course, go enjoy your date night man.” With a few parting words, Naser hangs up, prompting you to place your phone back into your pocket. You inhale the last of the tobacco and throw the butt on the ground, snuffing it out with your heel. As you turn to head back inside, you ponder the possibilities of what you could do with Amber to cheer her up, you’d need to take a few days off work. What ever you end up choosing, it couldn’t make the situation any worse. Right?