After arriving in the living room, Lincoln looked around and saw his parents busy with the Christmas decorations. After approaching them in a calm manner, he decided to ask if they needed help with anything.

"Can I help you with anything?"

Lincoln asked, as he approached his parents.

His father and mother, who until a few minutes ago had been decorating the Christmas tree, upon hearing their son's question, found themselves with a genuine smile on their faces, sort of thanking their son for his help. But instead of his mother answering his question, it was his father who did so.

"Of course, son. It would be a great help if you could take the furniture we don't need down to the basement. And if you can, take the rest of the decorations I left on top of the washing machine."

As soon as I'd finished everything I'd been asked to do, I decided to help with the other chores around the house. It didn't take long for us to get everything done in time. After all, this time my sisters were also helping out, and I found that a bit strange, since I'd never seen them as helpful as I was seeing them today. And not only were they helpful; today I was too. Whenever I finished something, I looked for something else to do or someone I could help.

My actions caught the attention of some of my sisters. Soon afterwards, however, they put it behind them, as we still had a lot to do and not much time to finish it.

After I'd done most of the housework, our father asked Leni and me to go to the garage to collect some empty boxes, and without saying another word, we went.

A WHILE LATER...

On our way back from the garage, I accidentally stepped under some mistletoe that was on top of the door that someone had put up. And if I were to deduce who had done it, it would definitely have been Luan, since she was the only one who had seen Leni and me going to the garage.

Just as I was about to say something, I ended up being taken by surprise by a rather sudden action from Leni, who already had a somewhat developed intellect, but unlike normal people... on the contrary.

"Hey, Lincoln."

Those words were the only things I could hear out of her mouth, before she did something unthinkable that would surprise us all. Unexpectedly, she ended up giving me a kiss, only it didn't end up being on my cheek, as a sister would normally give her brother... she simply, without saying a word, ended up giving me a kiss in the place I would never have expected: on my mouth.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

After she did that, both my sisters and I who had seen that disturbing scene (and before I forget, the two who had seen the whole thing were Lisa and Lori) ended up in shock as they looked at the scene.

But if you thought they were the only ones who ended up being shocked by the whole thing, you're very much mistaken. Just so you know, I was shocked to the point of paralysis for a few minutes by the whole thing, and I've lived and seen a lot of things before, but at that level of discrepancy... I hadn't seen it before. And I already knew that Leni had a screw loose in her head, but that's too much.

"Leni, what are you doing?"

Lisa asked, still in shock, as she tried to understand what was going on in her sister's head to make her do that.

Leni, not understanding her sister's question, with a still confused face, answered as naturally as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"What's wrong? He and I just passed under the mistletoe, and I just went over and kissed him. I'm just following an old custom, have you forgotten? Or at least that's what I saw on the internet."

Leni replied, while looking confused, still not understanding what she had done wrong.

After Leni told her why she had done it, Lisa let out a little sigh as she realized what it was all about, and then slapped herself on the forehead, unable to believe how stupid her sister had been. But even if she didn't want to admit it, she was a little jealous.

"Leni, I don't know if you've noticed, but he's our brother and that in itself is immoral."

Lisa said with a serious face as she stared at her sister, but she said those words with a tightness in her chest.

"And what's more, I'm pretty sure you haven't noticed, but this isn't mistletoe, it's just a cress that one of our sisters probably put there to play a trick on us, and I'm sure it's Luan's doing."

Lisa continued, only this time taking the mistletoe from the front door and showing it to Leni, who saw that it was indeed watercress and not mistletoe.

After Lisa said those words, both she and Lori thought that her sister would at least come to her senses and apologize or say something. However, she ended up saying something nonsensical and, to make matters worse, did the unthinkable again.

Leni, still not fully understanding the gravity of the situation, shrugged and said:

"But what's the problem? I'm just following a custom. I don't see anything wrong with that."

She looked genuinely confused, as if she didn't understand why the two of them were so shocked by her attitude.

Lisa, frustrated by her sister's lack of understanding, tried to explain more clearly:

"Leni, this isn't about some festive custom you saw on the internet. It's about respect and boundaries. We can't just ignore social and ethical norms just because we think it's 'fun' or because we want to follow a custom. It's important to understand what's appropriate and what's not, especially when it comes to your own family."

> WARNING: From chapter 26 onwards... this story will be written in the first person.