Twisted Family Love (Wade & Ash)

[Wade von Mackensen]

Three months. That's how long it had been since Morgan had seen Ben. He had been overseas for a study program his adopted father, and her step-father, Ted signed him up for, and he was finally returning home. And it was not a moment too soon. Ted and her mother had known each other for years since their days at medical school, even meeting his brother and wife on several occasions, but they had eventually drifted apart once graduating, and his name only came up again in her life when tragedy struck Ted. Ben's parents were slaughtered in their home, and the infant was kidnapped, with no ransom note or clue to if he was even still alive. He simply vanished into the wind without a trace.

Ted took it hard. He struggled emotionally, and even slipped into alcoholism as the case wore him down. Years would pass, but never any answers about that night. Ted had all but given up, on both the case, and finding happiness. But, years later, a random chance meeting between the two happened. And, not too long after, they began to date, before Ted decided to take her hand in marriage. He seemed to be moving on, and wanted to start a family with Morgan's mom, the two wanting to start over after a tentative decade for each of them. Then, there was a breakthrough. A random lead that would send the police to some shack in the middle of nowhere. Upon raiding it, police would find a young blonde boy all by himself, half clothed and malnourished. Ben had been found after eight long years. It took a couple of months in the hospital to get him healthy again, but eventually Ben would be released and given custody to Ted. He didn't even need to think twice about adopting young Ben. His brother's boy was alive, and in need of reconnecting to both his roots, and the world beyond whatever horrors had been inflicted upon him.

It was much more challenging than Ted had anticipated. Ben was a troubled child, struggling to adapt to his new environments. He struggled in school, showed a lack of emotional empathy, and lashed out into emotional tantrums. As much as Ted tried, he didn't seem to know how to navigate the complexities of Ben. He tried making him do therapy, counseling, even boot camp and military schools to try and get him into the habit of obedience and regimental temperament. All to no avail. It took until his first year in high school for Ben to finally begin to calm down his troubling personality 'quirks,' and integrate fully into society. That didn't mean he finally started to like Ted. There was a lot of resentment towards his uncle, and while Ben didn't make trouble publicly anymore, the two would still get into fights quite often. The last one was the worst, almost ending with the two coming to blows. It was a year ago to the day it happened, and both had barely spoken to each other. Ted agreed to give Ben his own place until after he graduated, but once he went off to college, that would be it. The two would part ways, and Ted would stop interfering with Ben's life.

Today, all four of them would have lunch at a local restaurant to discuss graduation. See where Ben and Morgan wanted to go afterward, go over curriculum with each, and what both would need going forward if this was to be their last time together as a family. All three of them waited in the lounge besides the baggage carousel. Ben's plane landed only a few minutes ago, and Ted was eager to get their lunch going, mainly because of the nerves running through his body. He wanted to try and mend fences with his 'son,' instead of leaving things in such a sour situation.

 

[AshTheRadioDemon]

Morgan stood there and looked around the baggage claim. She hadn't seen her step brother in a long time. Biting her lower lip, her anxiety started to creep in as they all stood there and waited for Ben. Morgan crossed her arms over her chest as she had the whole resting bitch face going on. It was her defense mechanism that also kept people away, along with the way she dressed. Opting for ripped jeans or cargo pants with black shirts were her normal attire. Today though, Morgan opted to wear her black combat boots instead of her sneakers, that came halfway up her calves, ripped black jeans, which hugged her body and curves. She paired that with fishnets underneath and a black t shirt. She more so wanted to make a statement towards her mother and step father.

Morgan wasn't without her issues though. Like Ben, she had her own demons. Her biological father sexually assaulted her when she was 5 until 7 years old. Her mother found out and now he rots in jail. He did so much to her that the poor girl has been in and out of therapy for years. Which affects her sexual life now that she was in her late teens and will be starting her adult life in less than 12 months. Her mother caught her biological father in the act and finally did something about it. But this also meant up and moving across the country from Colorado to the east coast. Morgan got up rooted and seemed to be doing better as the years went on. She confided in Ben as they got closer. For her sex was just that sex. There were never any sparks. No fireworks. It was more of a chore for her. Ben made her feel normal for once in her life.

Morgan glanced over at her mother and her step father, Ted. She was really good at reading people and could tell he was nervous. Her mother, Mariah, seemed to be anxious too. Mariah tried to love Ben as if he were her own son. Morgan was close with her mother but she also let her do what she wanted. Mariah let Morgan express herself a bit much to Ted's disapproval. Ted would let things go knowing what Morgan had been through and the fact that she was a good student in school and picked up volleyball. Even though she didn't want to, she put up with it to make him happy. Morgan kept to herself and had only two friends but could fake it at school when needed.

Morgan shifted her stance a bit as she kept her eyes on the escalator for Ben to come down. She was excited to finally see him and missed him when Ted shipped him off. But they're going to school together and she honestly missed her partner in crime. When she finally saw him, her eyes lit up and a small smile played on her lips. Her brown hair was down for once and moved so it was over her left shoulder. She waited for him to acknowledge her after Ben acknowledged their parents.

 

[Wade von Mackensen]

She would see his shoes first as he went down the escalator. He wore unique blood-red and black sneakers with satanic pentagrams sketched on them. They were a rare set of Nike's sold by Lil Nas X, which were not only covered in satanic symbols, but had a drop of his own blood mixed into the red paint used to color them. Ben didn't particularly care about Nas, he just liked the concept of the shoes. 'Painted with human blood.' They were controversial with Ted, to say the least, but allowed it only for private use. Not at school or public areas. Ben very often ignored that and just wore them secretly behind his back. And sure enough, who else would wear such shoes like that in a public airport? His dark blue jeans and white button-up T-shirt came next into view, before Morgan finally set eyes on his royal blue eyes and platinum blonde hair.

He hadn't changed a bit since they last met. And he immediately saw her, her mother and Ted once he looked across the filled up lounge, staring right at his step-sister solely. She would see his playful, if devilish, grin appear on his face as he reached the bottom and got off the escalator, walking straight for Morgan first. Only for Ted to walk in front of her to greet Ben first. "Benjamin!" Ted proclaimed cheerfully, not intending to be rude to Morgan, just being over eager to see his 'son' again. "Welcome back to the states!"

"Ted," Ben simply said back, raising his hand to shake his. Even if they were a hugging father and son, Ted walked with a slight limp and needed use of a cane. The same could not be said for Mariah, with Ben's smile growing bigger as he embraced the older woman. "Hello, mom!" He was more than happy to call her that, as he actually enjoyed being in her company. The, finally, he stood in front of Morgan, the look of mischievous joy apparent on his face.

"Hi, Morgan~"

 

[AshTheRadioDemon]

Morgan watched as Ted and her mother greeted Ben. She watched as her mother's eye lit up when Ben called her mom. Morgan knew how much that meant to her as she would let Ben know how it affected her in a positive way. The two of them had been through enough hell as it was, and Morgan felt responsible with how their lives ended up. She was aware her mother wanted another child but due to what happened to her, her mother did what was best for them. Morgan's father never laid a hand on Mariah, but it was odd that he targeted Morgan as his prey of choice.

The look Ben had on his face when he came down the escalator didn't go unnoticed by her. She was ecstatic that her favorite person was back, it was getting difficult with being around both her mother and Ted by herself. Morgan knew that Ben was going to be living on his own until after graduation but knowing he was back and a phone call away, made her anxiety fade slightly. Ted and Mariah had been focused on her and she hated it, she rather fade into the background rather than have any attention on her. The three months he was gone, she had to deal with their "parents", but she had to face her own demons without her security person around. Her therapist was amazing, and it was one she finally clicked with. They found a therapist who was willing to work through her trauma and triggers with her. The others had brushed her off, but her current therapist and Ben made her feel like she mattered. That's not saying Mariah was a bad parent as she stuck up for her daughter, Ted was just slightly controlling in how he wanted his family presented when in public and around family friends.

When Ben moved and stood in front of her, she placed her arms around him and hugged onto him tight. She lowered her voice so only he could hear her when she spoke, "I've missed you. You fucking leave again, I'm hunting you down. But I'm glad you're back." Morgan gave him a small squeeze and a quick kiss on his cheek before she let go of him. She could see the look in his eyes and on his face. Morgan kept one of her arms around Ben's waist like she always did when they were together. Morgan and Ben had an unconventional relationship, where they kept a lot of things from their parents. What would seem like an intimate gesture to the public was played off by her to seem innocent.

"We are so glad that our kids are home, and we can be together as a family again, right Ted?" Mariah was happy that her kids were back in the same place again, glancing at Ted to get a response from him. She had grown to love Ben as her own son over the years and she tried to get Ted to back off of Ben. Mariah wasn't one to overstep but she could sympathize a bit with what Ben had been through to a point. She felt that reigning Ted in a bit would make Ben want to spend more time with her and Morgan. Mariah missed her son when Ted shipped him off to the point, she begged Ted to stop being stubborn and to bring him home.

 

[Wade von Mackensen]

"Of course!" Ted proclaimed, taking his wife's side as he reveled in their reunion again. "Much as Ben may think otherwise, I do enjoy when we can still have these moments together of family intimacy. Especially as you two begin your final stages of teenage life and prepare for adulthood. It will only get rarer and rarer from here, and it's best to enjoy them while they're common enough not to miss them." Ted did truly love Mariah and Morgan. There was no question about it. He wanted nothing but the best for the two, wanting them to feel like this family of theirs was one of union and happiness, even with the tragedies from their pasts. He never laid a finger on Mariah, and Morgan was given the same financial treatment as Ben to get her the highest education available.

It was rare when the two would fight at all. If only because Ted never wanted to overstep his boundaries with Mariah. He may have been persistent about Morgan's issues, and tried guiding her along a similar path as Ben, but when Mariah put her foot down, Ted never argued against her. He believed his wife would know better about helping her child than he did... much to his chagrin. He could see the problems Morgan faced as she grew up, but Mariah seemed either too willfully ignorant to help find the fixes for them, or went directions he believed weren't suitable. Such issues of how much Ted wanted to control their children's health and safety had led to a few fights here and there, usually with Ted conceding to Mariah. But there was one incident where she went over her head when it came to Morgan that was particularly bad.

When Morgan was showing to have 'issues' with Ben, stemming from what seemed like overly obsessive behavior towards him, Ted had decided separating the two would be beneficial for their own health and safety. While Ben was sent off to the West coast, Morgan was shipped off to Canada. All without Mariah's consent or knowledge. Such a rift between them when she found out almost came to divorce. And Ted had tried to make up for it in any way possible. But, in the back of his mind, he still worried about how the two treated each other. Such as now, when Morgan held Ben close during their hug, as Ben gladly hugged her back and seemed ever so giddy about seeing his sister again after so long.

"If I had the choice, I would never want to be that far from you for so long~" Ben cooed to her playfully, coming off as teasing to Ted and Mariah, but Morgan could tell what he meant by it. His admiration of Morgan was very clear. Not just as sibling love. Ben saw something in Morgan no one could did. And he wanted to help her find it. As Morgan locked her arm around Ben, he did the same by holding his arm over her shoulders to keep her close. "Where shall we head for lunch?"

"We were thinking Arbor vine," a classy little restaurant halfway from their home, "we can discuss your curriculums and plans for the semester, and you could serenade Mariah and Morgan about how Glasgow is in the summer time."