Waking Up

<BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP>

<CRUNCH>

Oh. Oh no. Fuck.

That was going to take some getting used to.

I realized, blearily, that my alarm clock was a broken mess, and it looked like I had dented my nightstand.

It was odd. I quickly got an intuitive grip of how an absorbed power worked, but apparently not enough to fully control myself in those moments before fully waking up.

I quickly unplugged it. No need to start an electrical fire. Then rolled up out of bed and got my trash can, sweeping the remains away.

Yup. Dented. I sighed.

But then I caught sight of myself in the mirror. Every trace of the cuts from yesterday was gone.

And I was ripped. Nothing, you know, nothing ridiculous. And don't get me wrong, I wasn't in bad shape before, but I'd never been in this good shape.

My muscles were sleek, compact, but definitely slightly more bulging than before. Athletic. Hard.

Hell of a thing. Wouldn't have thought, considering Jessica's slight build, but then again... The abilities I absorb haven't historically expressed themselves in exactly the same way.

I pulled a t-shirt and a pair of jeans on, my stomach grumbling for breakfast. The tighter fit was immediately obvious to me, but hopefully not to everyone.

"Morning sleepyhead," Mom greeted me first, with a wide smile, as I entered the kitchen. Ava had always been a morning person, the only one in the family.

Mami Juanita and Val followed in a more subdued fashion.

"How late did you come in last night, Mason?" Jua mumbled over her morning coffee. "Bit of a ruckus this morning, eh?"

"Morning! It went pretty late," I confessed, smiling back as I slid into a seat at the table. I grabbed some bread and popped it in the toaster, before starting to load up my plate with eggs. Thank god for mom's cooking. "Sorry if I woke anyone up."

My sister, Val, was interrupted from sipping her own

coffee by a huge yawn. "Well, I slept like the dead, so no worries on my account."

We ate in relative silence for a while, until Juanita and Val had finished off their cups and started on the food. Mom had grown used to the rest of us needing an extra half-hour to properly wake up and get on her level.

Strangely, I didn't feel the need for it, just the undeniable urge to satisfy my grumbling stomach. I went through eggs and sandwiches like a machine, and it didn't go unnoticed.

"Damn bro, leave some for the rest of us, will you?" Now that she'd woken up, Val's eyes were sparkling with mirth at my own morning oddity. "Started working out or something?"

"Or something." I shrugged, giving her a wink, but did decide to slow down a little. "I don't know, I've just been crazy hungry lately."

"Well, Ava's cooking can do that to the best of us." Jua chortled, leaning over to give mom a chaste kiss.

"Stop," Mom protested, but was obviously pleased by the praise, her cheeks coloring lightly.

"I won't, it's true." Jua countered, "I'm never going to keep a diet with your cooking around."

"Lucky thing you don't need it." I stiffened as soon as it left my mouth. It had just slipped out without thinking, but other than the momentary glazed look in my family's eyes, they showed no recognition of it. "You look great, mami."

Mom and Val chimed in with agreement, and it was Jua's turn to flush slightly. "Thank you, honey."

My family was perhaps an odd one, though a lot of kids had same-sex parents these days. Mom and Jua had gone the artificial insemination route, choosing to carry one of us each, and the family resemblance was certainly there.

Mom was tall and willowy, but with some softness to her. Long flowing blonde hair and icy blue eyes. Slender and elegant, with beautiful sharp features.

That had translated into my 6'4" frame and broad shoulders. I got the same blonde hair, eyes and sharp cheekbones, but thankfully with a more square jaw.

The resemblance between Jua and Val was equally apparent, though mami Jua was heavier, and I definitely don't mean that in a bad way.

Jua was olive-skinned with large pouty lips and deep chocolate eyes. Five foot nothing with the curves of a much taller woman fit onto her frame. If she wasn't my mom, I swear I'd have been walking around with a constant erection living in the same apartment as her.

How the other lawyers at her office ever got any work done, I don't know. Probably because she also has the most terrifying **** glare when you've done something wrong.

Val - Valentina, actually, but nobody called her that - had been sorely disappointed when she stopped at a "modest" C-cup during puberty, but her minor inferiority complex was completely unfounded. Despite being a science geek at heart, she took insanely good care of herself.

Val got a couple of extra inches on Jua, and then she sculpted the firm body herself. Maybe in response to the aforementioned inferiority complex. My sis had defined abs, more than I'd ever had before this morning.

Mami was the first to finish, standing up to brush off her darkly colored business suit. It didn't accentuate her figure, but couldn't do much to hide it.

"I have an early meeting, so I should get going," She leaned over and gave Ava a parting peck on the lips, "Thank you for breakfast, honey."

A chorus of back-and-forth 'have a good day's later, she was headed out the door with a travel cup full of coffee to accompany her.

"I should get going as well, I have a lecture in an hour," I added absently, leaning down to give mom a kiss on the cheek.

"Try to make it home for dinner today, huh?" Mom prodded me, and I nodded, deciding to plan around it. I didn't really have a plan, so that should be easy.

Val did the same, though she had a pretty flexible schedule with Ariake Technologies. She was a certifiable genius, so it was easy to understand why even the largest Earth-based omni tool and personal protection manufacturer would be accommodating, but she wasn't one to take advantage unnecessarily.

"Look at that, you have been working out." As I turned into my room she gave my ass a slap and bounded past me towards her own door, giggling. "Maybe you'll finally let me put you through your paces, huh?"

Though I likely had nothing to fear considering the considerable enhancement I'd picked up, the thought of a workout with Val as taskmaster still made me instinctively shudder.

"No, I'm good. Doing alright on my own, thanks!"

"Pfft!"