The Affection Multiplier - Chapter 271: Epilogue 3/3 – Children (+Afterword) (Patreon)

Luke Walker, having turned 17 only a couple of months ago, locked himself in his room after lunch and sat at his desk, working on his petition presentation. Every so often he would look in the direction of his laptop, wanting to throw his writing away and play a game. But he didn’t do it, because he knows he couldn’t get distracted if he wanted his presentation to turn out well. It was already difficult for him to write them as it was.

The sound of laugher and playing coming from outside annoys him as he works. He looks out the window of his room in the second floor and sees his four youngest siblings playing down in the pool under the watchful eyes of their mothers, whom he has to call aunts for the sake of simplicity, sadly. He knows, as do his siblings, that they’re all their mothers. But because it got confusing, they had to start calling only their birth mothers ‘mom’ while calling their other mothers ‘aunt’. Luke doesn’t like it. Everyone is as much his mother as his birth mother Emma. But he has to admit that it was annoying when he called ‘mom’ and five people turned to look. So that’s what they are stuck with.

He sees aunt Megan with his youngest brother, the 3-year-old Elias. His aunt holds her birth son and dips his small feet in the cold water, causing Elias to laugh with all the power his small lungs can give him. His aunt Jessica is with her birth daughter, the 5-year-old Natalia. Luke’s youngest sister has green arm floaties on, but aunt Jessica still holds her in the water. Beside them is his aunt Emily with her 6-year-old birth daughter, Claire, who’s also wearing arm floaties and splashing water with her legs as aunt Emily leads her by the hands along the water. Finally, aunt Anzu and her 7-year-old birth son, Makoto, are sitting by the edge of the pool drinking orange juice and watching the others. Makoto is a quiet kid, and loves to come to Luke’s room and watch him play games. Since he’s so quiet, Luke doesn’t mind and they play together sometimes.

Luke turns away from the window, puts on headphones and continues writing, focusing as much as he can and finishing his presentation by 4:00 pm. Nervously, he exits his room and comes face to face with his sister Luna, older than him by a year and two months. Her skin is a little darker than his, taking after her birth mother Mia, and has shoulder-length auburn hair, contrasting with his own light brown short hair. She’s about 10 cm taller than him, too, which she loves to gloat about.

He then notices she has a paper sheet in her hand, just like him.

“You’re going to make a presentation to dad, too?” she asks him, looking a little relieved.

He won’t admit out loud he’s relieved as well. He isn’t looking forward to stand alone in front of their dad for this. “Yeah,” he nods. The two of them walk the hallway in the direction of the stairs.

“What are you asking for?” she inquires.

“…I want to get a tattoo,” he answers.

“…Your proposal better be brilliant, then.”

Dammit. He’s losing all his confidence. “And what are you asking for?”

“I want to join a tennis club.”

“And you’re not gonna drop this like you dropped violin lessons?”

“Music just isn’t for me,” she shrugs.

“Uh-huh. And are you sure there’s not a boy involved this time? You hid that from dad in your last presentation and he was livid.”

“T-There’s no boy this time! I get it, okay? It was a stupid reason to start violin! But I’m serious about this one!”

This is how things work in the Walker household. From the moment they turn 14, if Luke or his siblings want anything, they have to ask their birth mothers. If it’s something simple, they can say yes or no. If it’s something more complicated or something they’re serious about, they have to make a presentation to their dad and convince him using sound arguments. His word is final, and if he says no, he can either give them the opportunity to prepare the presentation again or give them a permanent no. It’s during these presentations, and usually only during them, that their dad becomes the most intimidating man on the planet.

Luke and his sister go down the stairs and hear music coming from the living room. Japanese lyrics. They find their dad there, sitting on the couch in front of the TV, where the opening to an animated robot show plays. There’s a giant mech with a lion’s head on its chest on the screen. Eric, aunt Katherine’s 8-year-old birth son, a redhead like her with short wavy hair, sits on their dad’s lap with shining green eyes hooked on the TV.

Sarai, aunt Lilian’s 13-year-old birth daughter sits to their dad’s left. Luke’s blonde and redheaded siblings sing along to the lyrics of the opening with expert pronunciation, even yelling ‘DIVIDING DRIVER!’ with perfect timing, and the giant robot on screen splits a city with a screwdriver. Ever since Eric was born, he and Sarai have been nearly inseparable. They watch TV together, listen to music together, and Sarai always helps him with his homework.

Daniel, aunt Sophia’s 15-year-old son, sits to their dad’s right, quietly humming the song. Knowing him, he wants to sing too, but is too embarrassed to do it. He’s already 15, but he has yet to write a petition for anything, and Luke knows that’s just because he’s too shy to do it. He asked aunt Sophia if he could keep his black hair long, and she easily said yes but to wash it properly. But Luke knows that what his brother really wants is a new digital camera.

Further to the left of the couch, his aunts Katherine and Lilian are also watching the show with them, giggling at their children’s enthusiasm. And to finish the picture, there’s Howard. Technically the family’s German Shepard, but actually his dad’s loyal companion. He’s laying down by his feet, like usual. Whether his dad is in the living room, his office or by the pool, one can find the old dog with him more often than not. What’s more, Howard practically helped to raise him and his siblings. The old dog is 18 years old, and still healthy for some weird reason. Still, Luke’s happy he’s still with them, since that dog saved him from the pool more than a couple of times.

“Dad, can you buy me a Dividing Driver?” the small Eric asks enthusiastically.

Their dad laughs loudly. “What, so you can split the house in two? No sir!”

“I promise I’ll be careful with it!” Eric nods several times.

“What do you want to do with it? Don’t tell me you want to destroy the school?”

“Uh… no?” Eric smiles nervously and looks away. Everyone laughs at that, even Luke has to hold his snicker, but Luna besides him laughs heartily.

“Eric,” aunt Katherine tells him, smiling. “If you destroy the school you won’t be able to see your friends anymore.”

“Oh, right! Never mind, dad!” Eric nods again.

“Hey,” aunt Lilian says, calling to Sarai. “We started this show yesterday and you already know the lyrics?”

“We liked it and we listened to the full song on repeat all day,” Sarai admits, grinning. “We’re pretty smart, aren’t we, Eric?”

“Yeah!” the redheaded boy then turns to his older brother, Daniel. “You should sing with us, too!”

“I’m not a good singer,” Daniel laughs nervously. “You’re way better than me.”

“Don’t worry about it too much,” aunt Lilian tells him, grinning. “If your aunt Megan has no shame singing in the shower, you can sing in front of us.”

This’d be a good time to step up. It would save Daniel from getting pushed into singing.

“Dad,” Luke says, stepping up to them. Luna follows him. As he expected, Daniel shoots them a thankful look. Their dad pauses the show on TV and gives them his full attention. David Walker, their father, is already 45 years old, yet nobody could see him and say he’s a day older than 30 at most. Hell, Luke has 40 year old teachers at his school who look like they’re in their 60s. What’s also incredible is that their mothers are not that different. They all look young, not very different from the pictures they’ve shown them, and are still full of energy. He doesn’t know how they do it, but he hopes it’s in the genes. “Luna and I got petition ready,” he tells him.

“Do you now?” he asks. “Alright, but I’ll listen to them after this episode. We already started it and your siblings are excited. Why don’t you sit down and watch it with us?”

Luke shares a glance with Luna, and his sister shrugs and takes a seat next to Sarai. Luke sighs and sits down next to Luna. But it seems Howard was able to smell his nerves and got up to put his paws on Luke’s lap and sniff his face, making him laugh.

In the middle of the episode, though, they hear a ruckus coming from the backyard, followed by some loud, high-pitched barks and the sound of running. Luke flinches when he sees Lydia, the young golden retriever, running excitedly inside the house, her coat dripping with water and leaving a mess everywhere. Running after her are Gabriella and Alice.

“Lydia! Bad dog! Come here this instant!” Gabriella yells. She’s aunt Olivia’s birth daughter, nearly her spitting image, and though Luke won’t admit it out loud, he’s glad to see her struggling with her dog.

Gabriella is 14-years-old and the brattiest and most rebellious of all the siblings. She’s always looking for ways to get what she wants while avoiding the rules, though none of their parent let her. His mom Emma always laughs about it, telling aunt Olivia it’s her karma. Gabriella saw how loyal Howard is to their dad and got jealous, so the day after she turned 14 she made a petition presentation asking for her own dog. Their dad asked her all sorts of questions to see if she understood that she’d have to take care of it, feed it, take it for walks, clean its poop and even train it. Of course, Gabriella said yes to everything without REALLY understanding what it meant. She wanted a relationship like the one their dad has with Howard. One of a man and his loyal, quiet companion. She forgot that their dad trained Howard himself while she was neglecting to do that with Lydia.

“Gabriella,” their dad speaks a single word, and his sister stops dead in her tracks.

“Yes, daddy! Sorry daddy!” Gabriella apologizes immediately.

“It’s fine. But you know you have to clean up after Lydia, right?”

“Yes, daddy. I know,” Gabriella sighs.

“Alice,” their dad speaks again, addressing the 16-year-old girl, aunt Julia’s birth daughter. She’s about as tall as Luna and keeps blonde hair just above the shoulders. She joined the school’s volleyball team and has been happy with it, so she’s one of the siblings who makes the least petitions. Her, along with Luna and Luke, are the three oldest siblings, and they’re responsible for looking after their younger brothers and sisters. Alice takes the most pride in it, so of course she’s helping Gabriella with her little disaster. “You can help Gabriella get the dog out of the house, but you can’t help her clean. That’s her responsibility.”

“I know, dad!” Alice laughs. “Come on, Gabriella, hurry up! If Lydia goes to the second floor and dirties the carpet, you’re dead.”

“I’m coming! Jesus!” The two of them start running after the dog again.

This is basically a normal Sunday in the Walker household. All their parents are home and the children don’t have classes, so they take the opportunity to be together and rest. Their dad especially has to divide his time among all of them, so Sundays are sacred for him. He even has a big message in his webpage that says ‘won’t take calls on Sundays’.

When the episode ends, their dad turns off the TV and turns to him and Luna.

“So? Who’s going first?”

Luke and Luna share a nervous glance, and it’s his sister who asks the question.

“D-Does it have to be in front of everyone?”

“You already know you shouldn’t be scared of speaking in public,” their dad says. “Besides, it’ll be good reference for your younger siblings.”

Daniel shoots them a sympathetic look, Sarai grins teasingly and Eric looks as innocent as he always does, excited to see what’s gonna happen.

“Fine. I’ll go first,” Luna says and stands in front of the whole group. Aunt Katherine and aunt Lilian give her encouraging thumbs up, whispering ‘you can do it!’ to her.

“My petition:,” she starts. “I want to join a tennis club. I’ve been really interested in the sport for three months now, and have withheld the desire of presenting a petition this long to make sure this is what I want to do. There are three clubs in town which meet the requirements I seek, their details and addresses are written here.” Luna walks up to their dad and gives him the sheet of paper she was carrying. “Our family has always encouraged physical activity, so I think my petition is reasonable. Aunt Emily can testify that I’ve tried soccer and I’ve found no fulfilment in it. However, I believe tennis is something I can become serious about. What’s more, Hayes Academy, which I’ll be attending next year, also has a tennis club, so I’d be able to continue practicing as I go to school. That’s all!”

Luke swallows and looks at his father. He reads through the document Luna gave him as he ponders. “You dropped the last thing you asked for, Luna,” he says. “You said those violin lessons were important to you.”

“I admitted my mistake already!” she says. “I swear I’m not hiding anything this time. There’s no boy involved! I’ve been watching tennis matches like crazy for the past three months. I know I want to do this.”

“Watching is different than playing,” he insists. “It’ll be difficult. You will find that even hitting the ball will be a challenge. Are you ready for that?”

“I am!” Luna insists.

Their dad nods. “Alright, petition accepted,” he says. Luke sees Luna start to smile before their dad can continue. “However, to prove that you’re serious about this, you will buy your own shoes and racket.”

“W-Wha…? D-Dad, I don’t have a job!”

Luke smirks. Here’s where he can be annoying to his sister in a way she can’t reproach him for. “A post just opened up at the convenience store I work at. I think I can get you an interview, sis.”

“Excellent,” his dad nods in approval. “Luna, go to that interview, get a job and buy your own equipment. If you do that, we’ll pay for the club fees.”

“Y-Yes, dad. Thank you,” Luna sighs. That obviously didn’t go as well as she expected, but she should be happy their dad said yes. Eric starts clapping, still sitting on dad’s lap. Sarai, Daniel, aunt Katherine and aunt Lilian start clapping with him.

“Congrats, sis!” Eric tells her. “Can I play tennis with you?”

Luna lets out a heavy breath and chuckles. She ruffles Eric’s hair and smiles at him. “Sure you can, buddy.” She then turns to Luke with a smug grin. “You’re up, bro.”

With shaking legs, Luke stands up and faces his father, mothers and siblings. Standing in front of his dad is different than watching from the side. His eyes are scrutinizing and read his body language. His ears will pay attention to his every word and even his tone. He will consider his arguments and ask questions he never thought of. Really, petition presentations to his dad make oral presentations at school a joke.

“My petition:,” he starts. “I-I w-want to get a tattoo.” Aunt Katherine and Aunt Lilian both gasp, while his dad narrows his eyes ever so slightly. He feels the pressure on his shoulders. “It would be on my right shoulder and small enough to hide under sleeves if necessary,” he continues. “I b-believe tattoos are an underrated art form that’s been given a bad name over the years. Tattooing one’s beliefs in one’s own body can be seen as a show of determination, which is why I want to do it. This is what I want to get on my right shoulder.” Luke passes his sheet of paper to his dad, and he examines the drawing. It’s the head of a red dragon.

His father raises an eyebrow. “What beliefs is this supposed to show?”

Shit. “Eh… determination and ferocity?” he offered, his tone too uncertain to be convincing. Truth is, Luke just thought it was cool, but he couldn’t come up with another reason.

“Do you know if your school has any rules against tattoos?” his dad asks.

Yes! He knows this one!

“They don’t.” He nods. “I asked my teacher about it.”

“Are you planning on going to Hayes Academy eventually? If you are, you should now they do have rules against tattoos. What about your current workplace? What will your boss at the convenience store say? Not to mention future workplaces. Have you given those questions some thought?”

Shit.

“N-No,” he admits

“Petition denied, Luke,” his father sighs. “You can rework it and present it again in three months. Not a day earlier. Give it some more thought and be sure this isn’t a random whim. A tattoo is permanent, and trying to remove it can make it even worse. Be sure that’s what you want, son.”

“Y-Yes, dad.”

Dammit. It took him two hours to come up with that, but it wasn’t enough. And as always, he can’t really refute his dad’s arguments. It’s true that he didn’t think he could get fired from the convenience store if he suddenly arrived with a tattoo, and it definitely wasn’t worth it if it made getting other jobs harder. How else would he buy his games if he couldn’t work?

“I’ll take a walk outside,” he tells him.

“Very well,” his dad nods and doesn’t say any more. He doesn’t have to. His siblings give Luke silent, understanding looks as he walks past. He goes to the backyard, where his mothers are drying his younger siblings with towels.

“What’s wrong, Luke?” aunt Anzu asks him, concerned by his bad mood.

“Nothing, I just… I wanted to get a tattoo, but dad said no.”

“I’m sure he’s worried this is just a random whim, son,” she tells him.

“I know. I thought I really wanted it, but now I’m not sure.” He sighs. “I’d hate it if I couldn’t get a job because of it.”

“Cheer up, kid!” his aunt Emily comes up to him from behind and ruffles his hair. “Give it some more thought and try again later.”

“Y-Yeah,” he says, smiling.

“Luke?” Makoto says in his quiet voice, yet with expectant eyes. “Can we go to your room and play Guilty Gear?”

That makes Luke grin. “Are you sure? I’m not gonna go easy on you.” Makoto nods fervently. He's quiet, but very competitive. Kid hates losing, but doesn’t give up just because he does. “Alright. I need to distract myself, anyway.” But before they can go back into the house, Lydia runs past him at high speeds, nearly making him fall to the ground.

“Don’t just stand there, Luke!” yells Gabriella. “Help me catch her!”

Luke clicks his tongue and starts running after Lydia with Gabriella and Alice. The dog has them running for 30 long minutes before she just stops and throws herself on top of Gabriella to lick her face. By this point, Luke is just tired, and his disappointment at failing long forgotten. He’ll just have to reconsider his priorities. For now, he thinks he can smell his mom Emma getting some snacks ready. He’ll eat and then go play games with Makoto. They’ll all be watching a movie in the living room later tonight, too. Yeah, getting depressed is no fun.

FIN.

***

Afterword.

I always think of things I'd like to say in moments like these, but when it comes down to it, I don't know what I should say. What's appropriate and what's not. Sometimes I just want to vent frustrations, but that would't be fair to you all hahaha.

I've made it no secret that the concept for this story started as an excuse to write quick porn without having to resort to porn logic to carry the story. But the more I thought about concepts and characters, the more they started to take life. I didn't think this would be a story longer than 100K words, but it ended up being over 430K if you count the side stories. Almost two years for writing.

I started writing erotica as a way to relieve stress from work. If someone liked it, that'd be great, but I was doing it for myself. Then 2020 came and life became even harder, both for covid and non-covid reasons. I opened up this patreon not expecting much, but your support (and that of those who've already stopped their pledges) got me out of a really bad situation and continues to be a huge support to me. However, now that this story is over, I understand if you want to delete your pledges.

Some of you be asking "Why would you end this story?", and to be honest, I've asked myself that a lot, too. It's arguably one of the most popular stories on CHYOA and it gives me exposure. But after debating it a lot, I decided that, no matter the consequences, I wanted to give it an end. I would much rather left readers wanting more than making you sick of it. If this story is something you can think back to every once in a while and say "yeah, that story was fun", then I really couldn't ask for more. Feeling that way is what made me want to end it instead of milking it until it died.

Still, this story was fun to write from begining to end, but I find it funny that the moment I wrote the last words on it, I felt nothing great. I was like going "Okay, that's done. Time to start the next story". Made me realize I really do love writing, general quality notwithstanding. Still, posting this last chapter does feel more important. What's more, I'm very happy I could finish it. It might only count as a first draft in many ways, but I still finished a big story. That's something I can be proud about.

Not much else to say other than to thank you all for reading and for your support. I will continue writing other stories, and I encourage you to check out The Book of Eros and Spirit of Lust if you haven't already.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Thank you very much!