About Family, Money and Beautiful Girls: Part 1

"Make yourself comfortable. I've prepared your old room for you. There's a small supply of new clothes for you, I'm keeping it just in case."— My sister told me when we entered her parents' house. She stayed here when I had to move. — "Where's the bathroom, you should remember. Get yourself cleaned up while I warm up dinner."

When I entered my room, I looked around: everything remained the same as I remember from old Connor's memories. A large bed "for growth" in the center, to the left of it is a wardrobe, now almost empty, and to the right is the same empty closet with shelves. In the corner there is a coffee table and a padded chair with a back. Having picked up my favorite pants and T-shirt from the available clothes, I went to the shower. While I was washing, I noticed a mirror over the sink: a younger copy of me "from there" was looking at me from that side. However, the similarity was still not complete: the eyes of this body, although they were the same green, at the same time had a brighter shade than the old ones. And in general, I am now little shorter in build and already in the shoulders than at the same age in the old world — a consequence of living in a confined space and the absence of any serious physical exertion, not counting daily charging.

When I went out to the kitchen, I saw Jane already waiting for me, ready to start eating.

On a small table next to her are two plates of fried meat and vegetables, and mugs of tea exude thin streams of steam, spreading a pleasant fruity smell around the room. Wishing each other a pleasant appetite, we began to have lunch.

"I think you mentioned that you would tell me everything when you get home," — Sister recalled my words from the first day in the hospital.

"Yes." — I replied.

I asked myself several times how to behave in the circumstances and came to the conclusion that I can't hide an awl in a bag. I've never been a great conspirator, and I burned down as soon as I didn't jump to the ceiling from the mere presence of a female next to me, as it was before. This alone can be a serious cause for concern and it is quite logical that Jane has questions for me. Of course, a lot can be attributed to getting into a life-threatening situation, but this is not enough for such a drastic change in behavior. Andrey Belov is dead, now I am Connor White — a person who owns a full package of memories, habits, skills and life experience of another person from another world. I had enough time to get used to this idea and I don't see the point in hiding it. Not from a loving sister who took care of me all my life.

"I..." — taking a deep breath, I finally decide to say. — "It will be hard to believe, but I remembered my past life. Well, or so it seems to me."

Jane furrowed her brows, looking intently into my eyes. Then she got up from the table and hovered over me, continuing to look down now.

I got a little hung up, since her upper ninety turned out to be exactly opposite my face. Mentally giving myself a bream, in order to prevent dirty thoughts in the direction of a relative, with some effort I return my gaze to her face. If they noticed my hitch, they didn't betray my attention — my sister continued to watch, seemingly studying my reaction. Seeing that I was calm, she returned to her seat and, smiling out of the corner of her lips, said. — "Okay."

"Is that's all?" — I was surprised. — "You won't even ask me if I'm overheated?"

"Because it doesn't matter. Even if a demon possessed you, I'm glad that you... came back. You know, I ..." — The girl's shoulders sank, and she shrinked into a small ball. There were no tears, but it was clear that the words were given to her with great difficulty— "I did not hope that anything would change. When our mother died and father left, I only had you, but on that ill-fated day I almost lost you too. I still can't forgive myself for not following you back then."

"Forget about it." — I get up, walk around the table, and, bending down, hug Jane tightly, resting my head on her shoulder. — "I've lived my whole life in one night, you might say. And through the prism of a new experience, that case no longer looks so scary. Yeah, it was bad, so what now? We will move on. No more psychologists, private teachers and overtime work. Let's start all over again."

I pull away from my sister and look into her eyes again. She seems to be getting better. I did not hope at all that she would take my words so easily, I thought she would immediately look for a trick or think that I was even more crazy. And I was greatly relieved to realize that I was wrong.

"Is it because of your new experience that you shot aliens like a cowgirl on a ranch?" — Jane asked me a question after a minute spent in silence. — "You are very lucky that your case was lost among other events in the city, in other conditions you would not have been able to fend off the press. It's necessary — a fighting boy!"

"Oh..." —As I thought, my behavior in that precinct looked, to put it mildly, unusual. Men in this world, as a rule, are not prone to aggression. — "In my defense, I can say that my life depended on it. But it won't happen again. And yes, these skills came to me from that life."

— "Tell me. I want to know everything-everything-everything about who you used to be."

— "Well, listen…"

***

— "I can't believe it, another world!"

We were sitting on the sofa in the living room, climbing on it with our feet and covered with a blanket.

We talked until late in the evening, it had long been dark outside the window and New York was painted with the lights of neon signs and the light of numerous lanterns. I talked, and Jane listened and asked clarifying questions. A special mention is the expression on her face when she found out that somewhere there is a place where there are as many men as there are women. At the same time, she did not question my story at all. Such trust is very flattering in itself, but I think that I did not deserve it. For now. But this can be fixed in the future.

"Yes, right now I can sing you a dozen songs that no one has ever heard here, and tomorrow you will be convinced of my ability to cook." — I grinned.

"If you think about it, then for you here now is a real paradise on earth. So many beauties around!" — the sister jokingly pushed me in the shoulder.

I in response just as jokingly made a displeased face and growled. — "Of course. Yes, I'm still fucking with the fact that in a couple of years I will have to marry four women! That's how many nerves it will take."

"Don't worry, they'll blow the dust off you," — My sister reassured me. — "Especially since you've already found one."

Towards the end, the conversation came to the events of a week ago. My sister was worried and did not forget to mention how dangerous and reckless it was, especially when I went to fight, instead of sitting in a safe place and waiting for help. I can't disagree with her, but I was a little out of my mind at the time and acted, consider it, on autopilot. Although if you think about it, I would do the same now. And when she heard about Catherine, she promised to help me contact her through friends. I have no doubt about the possibility of finding a person by one name, but I couldn't do it myself, because I don't even know where to start.

"Thank you, I would really like to get to know her better in a quiet environment." — I asked — "By the way, about getting married, where are the other wives of the father?"

Hearing this question, the sister frowned.

" I don't know. Our family was not particularly friendly, and we all lived separately. So, sometimes we called up, but we met a couple of times. You probably don't even remember them," — I nodded. Indeed, there is no information about these women in my memory, not even their faces. Only blurred images. — "And when he disappeared, there was no news from them either."

"I'm sorry,"— I hurried to apologize. — "I didn't think this question would upset you."

"Nothing." — The girl replied and decided to change the subject. — "Have you thought about what you will do in the future?"

"I'll figure out how to earn money to help you get rid of your second job. And it would also be nice to finish school, I think that now you can safely go there for the last year." — I replied.

"Don't worry about the money. Now I can eliminate many expenses. And they will also restore your allowance, you just need to confirm your mental health at the clinic that conducted your treatment. Then we have enough money to live normally, I can even take a vacation." — Jane crawled closer to me and hugged me. — "If you don't mind, we can go there on my next day off in a week."

"Let's do that." — I agreed.

After talking for a couple more hours, we still went to bed. My sister has a hard day's work tomorrow: she holds the position of a dispatcher in the rescue service, and although most of the rubble has already been dismantled, and all the victims have been rescued for a long time, she still has a lot of work. Her superiors had already gone to meet her, letting her go for a while until I was cured, and now Jane had to catch up.

Well, I have to check out one idea that promises to be profitable.

The allowance is, without a doubt, cool, but there is never a lot of money.