The next sun rose calm with a cool breeze, nothing at all like the tropical swelter the combined clan had experienced the afternoon before. The dawn reflected well on the mood of the elder half of the Bradys, but not necessarily on the younger pairs. Mike and Carol had slept in contentment all throughout the night. Greg and Marcia's vigorous activity had allowed their bodies to slumber well and replenish. Bobby had started off going to bed slightly annoyed at Cindy's smart-aleck behavior, and slightly annoyed at himself for noticing the way her hips move when she sashays. He had positioned himself to face away from his step-sister before falling asleep. Imagine his surprise when he woke up with his arm wrapped around a warm body, long fingers pressed gently against the back of his hand, and long, soft curls nestled against his chest. It was a pleasant feeling to awaken to, but as soon as he realized whose curls were against his chest, that warm fuzzy feeling became distempered with confusion. What was he doing sleeping in the same bed as Cindy with his arm wrapped around her?
He soon remembered the lock display from the night before, and was about to pull away from her when she started to stir against him. He froze immediately as she turned around in his grasp, sleepily blinked open her china-doll eyes, and whispered, "Morning, Bobby." Whatever remnants of animosity he had retained from the night before had dissipated in that moment. She seemed so different from that instance - so sweet and innocent. It took her a moment to register her own greeting. "Bobby? What are you doing here?"
"We're on vacation. We've been assigned to the same bed, remember?"
"Oh yeah. I almost forgot." She gave a sleepy sigh, which triggered one from Bobby. They both stayed in that position on the bed for a while, until Bobby removed his arm from Cindy's waist. They were both surprised at themselves for acutely feeling the loss of contact, but neither one noticed the other outwardly registering anything. Bobby was the first one to go to the bathroom, and Cindy lay there waiting for her turn. That's what she does in the attic, instead of standing and waiting impatiently. They both went through their regular morning routine, this time Bobby changing in the bathroom, and went downstairs for breakfast.
Peter and Jan had started off the night lying as far away from each other on the bed as possible. Throughout the night, they had drifted closer together in their sleep. As the sun rose and it's light streamed through their window, it illuminated a young man and woman curled up together underneath a quilt, the tips of their noses barely brushing together, and their soft breaths intermingling.
Jan's nightgown had ridden halfway up her legs in her movement, giving her enough mobility to swing her leg up and wrap it around Peter's waist, with her leg resting against his pant leg. Peter's leg had gradually swung forward and rested between Jan's legs. One of his hands rested gently against the bottom of her breasts, which were squeezed up against his chest, and her hand held his tightly against that spot, pushing his hand slightly upwards to nestle further in. His other arm was wrapped tightly around her waist, and her arm rested on his, her hand lightly resting on the side of his shoulder.
Both sets of lashes fluttered opened at the same time, and blue met brown in a hazy stare. The quilt suddenly became too warm as the haziness evaporated and a blush formed on the faces of each one. Yet neither one could pull away. The fit felt too comfortable, but in an agreeable way, and the circumstances to bring them into this hug of limbs were innocent enough. Besides, his arms were strong and hers were soft. His fingers were delicate and hers were strong yet soft. His chest was broad and muscular, and her breasts were round and soft. The bulge in his pants was big and nestled nicely against the heat of her core... and that was what gave them the incentive to break apart suddenly.
The lazy warmth in their eyes had flickered out to be replaced by embarrassment. Both Jan and Peter were breathing quickly, faces red and hearts pounding in their chests, just staring at each other. Neither one said anything. Neither one needed to. A cool wind passed through the room, flushing the heat from their cheeks, and both went about their morning routine. They didn't face each other as they changed on the rugs, and they were silent taking their turns in the bathroom. As they walked down to breakfast, neither one spoke to the other but both were wondering the same thing. Why had they changed in the same room at the same time, and why did that particular routine feel ingrained in them?
Both were so lost pondering that question on their way down, that neither had noticed that the window in their room was shut when the chill came in from last night, and the breeze from this morning. Jan's feet didn't notice one of the steps, and her mind only noticed when she started stumbling. Peter took notice when he heard Jan's yelp, and his hand quickly grabbed hers and pulled her back against his side as he helped her recover her balance.
They were still recovering from the shock of the near-accident, and the shock that ran through them when their hands first made contact, that they both jumped and nearly had another accident on the stairs when Alice called out from the top of the stairway. "Are you kids all right? It looked like Jan was about to have a little tumble back there."
The teens turned around slowly. "I'm all right. Peter saved me." She didn't look at Alice as she said this, but at Peter. "Well, as long as you're all right, you'd better get off those stairs and onto some dining chairs. It's nearly time for breakfast, you know." Peter broke their staring contest and turned to Alice. "Of course. See you at breakfast then."
Alice watched them as they went down the stairs leaning into each other's side, arm slung around one another. They didn't feel her stare. Alice went back inside her room, took note of the middle children's change in behavior, and came down for breakfast herself.
Jan and Peter had reached the bottom of the stairs before Alice had finished her notes, and disentangled themselves once they had reached the foot of the stairs. The strange thing was, they weren't really aware of anything that occurred after Peter had grabbed Jan's hand and were startled when they had found themselves holding on to each other. They walked towards the dining room side by side in silence, and didn't notice the staff member crouched on the other side of the stairs, observing the two of them closely from a distance.
The large rectangular breakfast table in the dining hall had been set with nine places, and each place had a name labeled on it. The middle of the table was spread with waffles, French toast, omelets, bagels, peanut butter, cream cheese, jam, fresh mixed berries, and pitchers of milk, orange juice, and ice water. Alice's place was at the head of the table, with Jan and Peter seated on each side of her. Bobby and Cindy were seated next to Jan and Peter. Greg and Marcia were seated next to them, and Carol and Mike were at the other end of each side of the table. Aside from Alice, the pattern was that each person was seated across from their counterpart, but was sitting next to a person of the opposite gender on each side of them, so that the arrangement wouldn't seem too conspicuous.
Mike, Carol, Greg and Marcia started heaping the delicious food onto their plates immediately. Bobby and Cindy piled food onto their plates quietly. Jan and Peter were slow in their movements, and put very little on their plates. Alice watched all of them calmly, and waited until everyone had collected their first helping. Alice did this partly out of habit, and partly so that she could observe the six teens unhindered. She noticed that Marcia and Greg had finished the huge pile on their plates quickly and were quick to refill on seconds. She just gave a soft, secret smile; it was obvious that they were famished after the rigorous activity from the night before.
She gave a soft sigh as her eyes moved on to Bobby and Cindy. Alice would give anything to be young again. At least she never lost her energy from when she was 20 - just her looks. The two youngest teens were sitting there eating quietly. Nothing unusual about that, Alice mused. They're not so loud at the table now that they've matured a bit. The soft smile was still pasted on her face. That smile turned upside down when her eyes finally rested on Jan and Peter. Both of them were stirring their breakfasts around on their plates to make it seem as if they were eating, but Alice knew better. She wasn't their housekeeper all those years for nothing.
Before Alice could comment on it, Rhonda came in to provide her customary greeting. "Good morning, Bradys. I hope the breakfast we've catered is to your liking." Murmurs of agreement rose from the table. "Excellent. And I'm sure everyone had a good night's rest." At this, half the table fell silent, but Greg and Marcia answered in the affirmative for them.
"Did any of you kids have trouble with the sleeping arrangements afterwards?" All six shook their heads, the oldest two a little too eagerly. The manager didn't miss this, but chose not to comment. "Wonderful! Now, if everyone is finished with their breakfast, we can commence a tour of the upstairs. We forgot to cover that yesterday because it was too late in the evening, but we can do that right now. Remember, the rules I went over yesterday still apply."
Greg and Marcia panicked at this. They had forgotten to air out their room and clean up the evidence. Now the rest of the family would be on to them! "Um... I haven't finished eating. I'm just so hungry, and the food's so delicious. How about we do the tour later?" Greg was attempting to stall for time.
"I'm glad you loved the food dear, but there isn't any left on the table." Sure enough, the plates and pitchers in the middle of the table were empty. "Why don't we just finish off the tour right now? You can call up the kitchen and get some more breakfast later. The directory is in the top drawer of the nightstand." So much for stalling.
The entire group went up the stairs, Greg and Marcia trailing behind them. The manager led them towards the right. Greg and Marcia breathed a sigh of relief. She opened the door on the right. "This is Bobby and Cindy's room. The entire group walked in and peeked around the bedroom and bathroom.
"How come Bobby and Cindy get their own bathroom, and Carol and I have to share one with Alice?" Mike frowned. He was used to having several rooms of his own.
"Well Mr. Brady, only three of the bedroom suites have their own bathroom. The other two are connected to each other by the fourth bathroom. The same principle that applied to the bed arrangement applied here. It wouldn't be fair if one pair of the kids got their own bathroom while another pair didn't. It is also a consolation for being forced to share a hotel room with a sibling, a consolation that you don't need." The manager was firm on the last part, and this stopped any protests Mike might have had.
"The color scheme of this room is suited to children anyway, Mr. Brady."
"I suppose you're right Alice."
"Now that we've seen Bobby and Cindy's room, let's move on to the parents' room." She ushered them out, closed the door behind her, and opened the door across the hall. No one in the group was very impressed with the room, but the girls spent a lot of time observing the canopy bed. The guys spared a few glances towards the bed but tried not to look interested.
"We'll just go through the bathroom to get to Alice's room." The look through the bathroom and Alice's room lasted less than five minutes combined. Once they left through the main door in Alice's room, the manager led them across the hall. She slowly turned the knob as Greg and Marcia held their breath. The knob stuck and the manager gently pushed against the door. Nothing happened. "It seems to be stuck. I guess I'll have to fix that problem later." Marcia and Greg exhaled. Just as Rhonda turned away from the door, it opened. A maid held the door open with one hand and pushed a cleaning cart out with the other. "Sorry about that. Just finished cleaning up. You can go in now."
The group stepped into the room and started exploring again. At least this room was as interesting as Bobby and Cindy's. Greg and Marcia noticed the neatly made bed and the fresh scent in the air. They also noticed the crimson floor in the bathroom, and the smoothness of it reminded them of blood for some strange reason.
"Greg and Marcia have received the Gothic room. It's not necessarily an age theme, but I think that it suits their age better than it would Jan or Peter. Besides, the colors complement them beautifully. It seems to bring out the hidden naughtiness of their nature. Just joking! But seriously, red and black suit the two of you well."
Finally, Rhonda led them out of the room and into the final bedroom. Everyone's breath was taken away at the first sight of this one. "How come we didn't get this room?" Marcia demanded.
"It was a random draw. The final decision was to let Jan and Peter have this room. Is there a problem with the room you have?"
"Well, no, but-"
"Yes?"
Marcia shut up immediately, her face red. She couldn't complain to the manager without sounding like a spoiled brat instead of the mature woman that she was.
"Oh my goodness! Would you look at that?" Everyone turned towards where Carol was pointing and let out a collective gasp.
The painting above the bed was a portrait of an attractive young couple that looked eerily similar to Peter and Jan. The woman seemed pregnant, and the man had his arms wrapped around her waist from behind. The woman's simple white gown and the man's crisp white dress shirt gave no indication of when the portrait was painted, but it was apparent that it was painted long before the invention of the camera.
How had Peter and Jan failed to notice that portrait before? No one could have overlooked a coincidence of that degree. The man's hair was curlier than Peter's soft waves, and the woman's hair was a golden blonde as opposed to Jan's silver blonde, but other than that the features were identical.
Suddenly, Marcia was glad that she didn't get this particular room. The moment she looked at the painting, a cold chill ran down her spine. She didn't know why, but the woman's eyes seemed to be gazing at her with hatred.
Everyone looked at the portrait, then Jan and Peter, who were standing next to each other at the foot of the bed, then back at the portrait, then back at Jan and Peter, then back at the portrait, then at the bed, then back at Jan and Peter, then back at the bed, then at the bulge in the woman's stomach. Everyone suddenly became uncomfortable. Mike and Carol were beginning to realize for the first time in a long time that Jan and Peter weren't blood-related.
The manager was standing next to Carol and saw the look of realization beginning to dawn. That's when she decided to break the silence before the implications could fully set in. "That's an amazing coincidence. We had no idea what the two of you would look like. But I guess it's just luck that allowed us to put you in this room. We've already seen the bathroom, so we can go down now and hike around the estate."