Dinner With the Whole Family

I give my family a moment to settle in before I try to take stock of anything. I figure that catching them as soon as they walk through the door wouldn't make for a good test. I decide to wait until dinner so that I can deal with all of them at once. Not that I really need to "deal" with Julia, her presence is more of an interesting addition to the test if anything.

Once Mom finishes making dinner (along with the million other things she does at the same time), we all sit down to eat together. As soon as I sit down, Mom gives me a warm smile.

"I'm so glad you get to eat with us again, sweetie! We all missed you not being here."

"Yeah! It's not the same just having the three of us here. Even Michelle missed you!" Julia chimes in.

"Shut up, Julia! I didn't say I missed him, I just said it was weird that he wasn't there," Michelle scoffs at her younger sister.

"She totally missed you," Julia fires back without missing a beat.

Is that really true? Did Michelle miss me yesterday? I didn't know she had it in her. I try to read Michelle's face to see her reaction, but she doesn't want to make eye contact with me. Every time she notices me looking at her, she quickly turns her head in the other direction. I suppose that's a good sign that her attribute has gotten even stronger. I wonder if I could...

"Come on, Michelle. Tell me the truth. Did you miss me?" I ask with a smug grin.

"I... it's just... fine. I kind of wished that you could have had dinner with us yesterday..." she mumbles out in as quite a voice as she can get away with.

I can't help but be a little touched when my big sister says that. We both fight so much, but it's nice to hear that at the end of the day, she still cares about me, even if it took using a magic remote for her to admit it. Understandably, Mom and Julia are both floored when they hear Michelle. Previously, she would have had a fit if I tried to push her like that, so seeing her act so reserved is a shock. However, it only takes a moment for Mom to burst into another smile.

"I'm so happy to hear you say that, Michelle! It warms your mother's heart to hear that you're getting along!"

That's probably not an entirely accurate statement, but I'll let her believe that if she wants to. Michelle, for her part, glares down at her food after hearing that. It's like she's mad, but without being able to direct that anger at me, she doesn't know what to do with it.

Julia, on the other hand, isn't as easily convinced as Mom is. Her eyes go back and forth between me and the annoyed Michelle, trying to figure out what exactly is going on. She seems pretty confused, but she's unable to form her confusion into words, so she remains quiet.

Luckily, we move on from that and start talking about other things. Michelle continues to meekly look away every time I so much as think about looking at or talking to her. Mom, however, is the complete opposite. I notice throughout the meal, that she tries to sneak glances at me as often as she can. She also takes every opportunity she gets to ask me questions about how my day was and if I need anything. It's a little much, if I'm being honest.

With these two extremes on each side of me, I look across the table at Julia. She also seems to have noticed Mom's interest in me.

"Mom? Are you feeling alright? Why don't you give Matt a break?"

"Huh?" It seems like Mom was so concerned with me, she briefly forgot Julia was even there. "Oh, don't worry about me, Julia. I'm fine. That is, as long as you're fine, Matt. You're sure you don't need anything?" She asks as she turns back to me, once again ignoring her daughter.

Uh oh. I don't like how that sounded. Obviously my sisters didn't either, as they both look at Mom like she's crazy. There's not much Michelle can do in this situation, but that doesn't stop her from being baffled by what just came out of her mother's mouth. Julia doesn't have that problem, though. She puts her hands on her face and massages her forehead slightly.

"What is going on? Nothing is making any sense right now."

I thought Julia being here would be fine, but it seems like her presence is just making everything more difficult. I really hope she won't continue to be an issue in the future. Between this and the conversation I had with her this morning, she doesn't seem to be making my life any easier right now. At this point, it's clear that she's had enough, as she gets up from the table.

"Julia, dear? Where are you going? You haven't finished your food," Mom says with concern. At least she can still worry about people other than me, even if it seems like it's too late now.

"I'm not hungry anymore. I'd like to go to my room and be alone right now," Julia responds before swiftly heading up the stairs.

Needless to say, that killed the mood, at least whatever mood you would call this awkward family dinner. Mom, Michelle, and I finish our food in total silence. Not even Mom's increased affection is enough for her to want to continue a conversation after that. Since we're not talking anymore, we eat fairly quickly. Once I'm finished, I decide to head upstairs and see if I can do anything to make Julia feel better.

I stand outside her closed door, unsure of what exactly I'm going to say. After a brief pause, I knock on the door.

"Hey... Julia? Can we talk?"

It feels like I wait an eternity in silence, before I hear a quiet voice on the other side of the door.

"I'm sorry, Matt. I'd like to be alone right now. I need some time to try and figure things out."

I don't like the sound of that. The last thing I want is for Julia to find out I messed with the rest of our family's minds. I guess I could use the remote, but I don't have the heart to do that. Not when she sounds so depressed. Besides, who's to say that would even help? If anything, it could make things worse. The best thing to do for now is probably just respecting my sister's wishes.

"Okay. In that case, I won't bother you anymore."

I wait a moment to see if she says anything else, but after nothing but silence, I walk away from the door and go back to my room.

Well, that whole thing was a failure. I mean, Mom and Michelle's attributes do seem to have gotten at least somewhat stronger, but I can't exactly say that makes up for what happened. Hopefully Julia recovers with minimal issues. I'll have to be extra careful how I interact with people I've used the remote on. Although, I'm not exactly sure how I'll do that here since we all live under the same roof and see each other all the time. I'll have to figure that out at some point. For now, I don't really feel like trying to do anything else today. I watch a couple videos to try and make myself feel better, then head to bed without much fanfare.