It was like a prison rather than a house hold. I was envious of my sister in the foster home to be honest; they get more freedom, though I was gratefu...l to have a loving family. When I turned 18 I was able by law to purchase alcohol myself, though my parents kept my passport locked in their safe I knew the code from my dad’s diary, which I one day peeked in. He worked in a bank so I imagined the house safe code was in there as well which it was. My parents were strict towards everything even my. Maybe each iteration of the cycle made the next step a little bit easier. With Shelby, he’d been blindsided. With McKenzie, he’d known things would end when he went home. Kiki was like an exotic, radioactive particle with an unknown half-life. Pilar was a fling. He and Jazz might last, but she was a busy entrepreneur and could be unavailable for weeks at a time.He might have been too hasty in making the only rule he’d set for himself about sex. Maybe he shouldn’t worry about relationships right. There were very few weeks where the two families didn’t share a dinner meal due to the work schedules of James and mother’s husband.It was a Saturday. I was staying over with James and Janice. Janice had to work till 2:oopm that day, so James was walking around the house nude as usual. This was his favorite thing to do, even when Janice was home. He told me she enjoyed seeing him this way, and I sure didn’t mind. He had settled in his favorite reclining chair and fallen asleep, hands behind his. "Yummy!" he said."You bastard!" Nicole said, smiling."You didn't want me to let that nice juice go to waste, did you?" said Ken defensively, eyeing his wife. Beth started laughing."Better corral this guy, Nicole," she said. "I'm for sure going to eat the rest of this peach!" Here, have one, Janey," said Steve, pulling a couple of peaches off the tree. "You, too, Nicole." He handed one to each of us. "Eat up!" He winked at Beth. Bob, on the other hand, was studying his peach carefully. I could.