Annie watched Mother as she removed the pies from the microwave. Her mother looked like a combination of both her sisters. Or rather, her sisters had inherited her features. Big Sis had Mother's face shape and wide mouth. Second Sis had Mother's hair color, eyes and athletic body. She wondered which part of herself matched her Mother's.
Mother served the pies on the dinner table. There was also a plate of sliced apples and a pot of tea. After pouring the tea, she invited Annie to sit. Annie sat on a chair at the longer side of the rectangular table that she knew was her customary seat.
Annie cut a piece of the pie and tasted it. There was nothing special about the standard frozen food from the supermarket. However, she was a little hungry so she found the food enjoyable.
"So how was your room?" Mother asked expectantly.
"Oh, it's fine," Annie replied.
"I see." Mother started eating. She appeared to be a little disappointed.
Annie, however, was more interested in the food. Her stomach demanded so.
"Hmm..." Mother bit her fork. "We should have gotten you cleaned before eating. Who knows what yucky stuff you may have brought back with you from the hospital."
"Mother!" Annie protested, "do you have to talk about that while we're eating?"
"Ah, sorry." Mother laughed. "I'm sure the hospital has enough antiseptic around to kill anything dangerous. Say, how about a mother-daughter bonding session in the bathroom after this?"
Annie picked at her food for a moment. "Okay," she replied without giving it much thought.
"Really?" Mother appeared to be surprised with Annie's answer. However, she quickly covered her expression with excitement. "Oh, you're my favorite daughter!"
The 'mother-daughter bonding session' turned out to be Annie, in the bathtub of her parent's bathroom getting her hair washed. Mother, who was working on Annie's hair, was outside the bathtub, wearing sweats.
"This isn't what I had in mind," Annie complained, "Shouldn't you be in here with me?"
"Oh, I can't do that!" Mother laughed. "I'm a grown woman!"
"And I'm not?"
"Not yet, honey. See how flat your chest is." Mother indicated her daughter's non-existent breasts. "You will, one day." She rinsed off Annie's long hair.
So flat chest apparently equaled immaturity. How crude!
Mother washed Annie's face clean. Then, as she started on the little girl's shoulders, Annie asked, "Have you and Father ever bathed together?"
"No, we haven't."
"Shy around Father too?"
Mother thought for a moment. "I guess I am."
"Well, it's a wonder that I was conceived then."
Mother laughed out loud. "I wasn't naked when we conceived you!"
"You weren't?"
"No! Sex does not equal nudity!" Mother proclaimed sagely.
What kind of perverse logic was that!?
"At least"- Annie turned her head towards Mother -"the time you made me was special, right?"
"Ah, no, no," Mother said while waving a hand, "you were an accident."
What a shocking thing to say to the result of the accident!
"Oh, don't worry," Mother added, "Your dad and I still love you. Even though I hardly have time for you and Marie practically had to raise you."
"Big Sis raised me?" Annie asked. Okay, this was a bit hard to believe.
"Oh, we had a nanny that time, Martha, I think her name was." Mother chuckled. "We didn't have four-, no, five-year-old Marie change your diapers."
"Way to make me feel loved, Mother," Annie grumbled.
Mother laughed again. "Annie, you should feel special. Unlike you, I never bathed Marie or Carrie when they were fourteen. They were bathing themselves long before that and never let me get near."
Annie felt a little smaller, both from insignificance and immaturity. Maybe if this continued, she would be small enough that it would not be seem so unusual to have Mother bathe her.
"I love you, honey," Mother said when bath was done and she was toweling Annie dry, "Remember that."
Later, Mother decided to leave the laundry to Big Sis and instead watched a movie with Annie. She was also fifteen minutes late in picking up Second Sis.
Mother was now neglectful of her other daughters.
***
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