THREE HOURS LATER...

10 hours before the chaos...

As soon as everyone had that punch that Lincoln had named Whisky, most of them were already feeling the effects of the alcohol. And the first to notice was Mrs. Santiago, Ronnie Anne's mother.

"Rita! Are you in the kitchen?"

Ronnie Anne's mother called out, almost shouting, her voice already half drunk, as she looked for my mother.

"I'm here, Maria!"

My mother answered her friend's call, her voice still ringing from the kitchen.

My mother answered, her voice still echoing from the kitchen.

After Rita said those words, she went to the kitchen door and noticed the state her friend was in. Not only was she a little drunk, but she also had a worried expression on her face.

"Has something happened? You look a bit worried."

My mother asked, with a slight hint of concern in her voice.

"Yes, it has. I think someone 'baptized' our punch, and somehow, I didn't notice."

After saying this, she turned to the rest of the staff. After seeing how everyone was doing, she turned her attention to Rita.

"And from the looks of it, it seems that no one noticed either."

As soon as Maria said those words to Rita, she looked at her friend with a perplexed expression and, with a serious tone, almost shouted, but then calmed down when she remembered that her daughters used to play these kinds of pranks, especially when the house was full of people.

"I think it was just a bad joke by the children, trying to play a trick on us."

Rita commented, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder as she tried to calm her down.

"Whoever did this, I just want to know what they put in that punch, because it's strong stuff. Look at me, I've only had one glass and I'm already starting to get a bit groggy..."

Maria said, while letting out a few drunken hiccups before continuing.

"And to make matters worse, I'm already starting to have some intrusive thoughts..."

My mother, upon hearing this, looked at her with a confused expression and asked:

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Intrusive... what do you mean?"

Rita asked, very curious.

"Rita, I want you to promise me that you won't judge me."

Said Ronnie Anne's mother with a serious look on her face, as she stared at my mother, who, after seeing that the subject was rather serious, decided not to say anything more and only nodded in confirmation.

"Well, I know that what I'm going to tell you now might sound a bit strange, but I think that punch got to me a bit."

commented Mrs. Santiago, looking at my mother with a puzzled expression.

My mother, who hadn't understood anything up to that point, became even more curious, but she couldn't hide her nervousness.

"What do you mean?"

My mother asked, now completely puzzled by Mrs. Santiago's revelation.

Maria took a deep breath before continuing, as if gathering the courage to explain.

"I can't really explain what it is, but somehow, I feel like kissing my own daughter..."

At that moment, both my mother's reaction, due to shock, and Mrs. Santiago's, due to silence, ended up creating an awkward silence in the room. My mother, who was speechless and didn't know what to say, ended up saying nothing and, to make matters worse, she stared at Ronnie Anne's mother, not knowing what to do, let alone what to say.

After almost five minutes of pure awkward silence, both my mother and Mrs. Santiago didn't know what to say. Until my mother, in order to break the shameful silence that had settled over the room, decided to say something.

"Maria, I'm going to be very honest with you..."

My mother said, with a serious look on her face, which even caught the attention of her friend, who had never seen her in that state before.

"I think you've had enough punch for today."

That was the last thing my mother said before she took the glass containing the reddish liquid from her friend's hands and carried it back to the kitchen sink.

"You promised me you wouldn't judge me, remember?"

asked Mrs. Santiago, slightly moved by the effect of the alcohol.

After that event, my mother, who was watching the whole scene from the other side of the kitchen, let out a small sigh of tiredness, because she already knew she would be spending hours in that pointless conversation, after all, her friend was drunk and wouldn't let her get out of there so easily.

"Yeah, here we go."

Rita thought, looking at her friend who, until that moment, had been talking to herself.

HALF AN HOUR LATER...

While Maria was bombarding her friend with meaningless questions that were leading nowhere, the situation with the children was completely different. To be more specific, with Lori, who couldn't get the event that had happened earlier out of her head.

"Lincoln..."

Lori, who had previously been sitting on the sofa, called out, getting up and heading towards her brother.

As soon as Lori caught Lincoln's eye, he was climbing the stairs. But after his name was called, he turned towards the voice and, with a face that was still inexpressible, was able to identify that the person who was calling him was his older sister. And without further ado, he was short and to the point.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Lori, for some reason she couldn't explain, couldn't bring herself to talk to him. And whenever she tried to talk to her brother, she always got uncomfortable or stuck. It was as if she was talking to a complete stranger.

"Is there any way we can talk a bit about that subject from earlier?"

Lori asked, while trying to hide the discomfort she was feeling at the moment, much of it because of her brother and much of it because of the subject she was about to ask about.

"Are you referring to me being adopted?"

Lincoln asked, looking at his sister, who decided not to say anything and just nodded in affirmation.

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