Jessica pulled the oversized t-shirt down past her hips and marched straight down the wooden staircase. The living room remained cast in morning shadows as Rebecca stirred on the sofa, pushing the woven blanket off her shoulders. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, sitting up as the floorboards creaked.
"You sleep through everything," Jessica stated, dropping onto the cushion next to her. "Rudy has been up for hours."
Rebecca yawned, tying her messy hair into a loose knot. "He has a lot of responsibilities now. The world changed. We need to support him."
"He needs a very specific kind of support," Jessica purred, crossing her bare legs. "Have you looked at him lately? He is a grown man, Rebecca. A ruling god in this new world. He possesses massive, demanding needs, and he looks at us differently now."
Rebecca stopped adjusting her hair, her jaw tightening as she shot a sharp, reprimanding glare at the woman sitting beside her. "Stop talking like that. We raised him."
