LogFAQs > #876818962

C

"Well," you say, "I've told you quite a few family stories but they've all been about my ancestors, and my parents. Let me move to the story of myself and my immediate family."

Raven smiles eagerly and scoots in closer.

"So, I covered my parents' meeting and marriage," you say. "And I covered that I am the first born in my family, but my cousin Ross is the oldest of all the grandchildren by eight months. Therefore, growing up, Ross was the leader of our little duo, which then became a trio once Reed was born ten months after me."

"When is your birthday?" she asks.

"Ten weeks from now, actually," you say. "Funny story about my original day of birth. It had been so long since a Rorek was born at the time of my grandfather's birth, members of the family were worried it'd be like the first few Roreks."

"How do you mean?"

"Rorek the First passed away before Rorek the Second, part of why people thought it was reincarnation. Same for Rorek the Second to Rorek the Third. Now, on the day of my birth, as my mother went into labor, my grandfather was not with the rest of my family. He was stuck in traffic but this was before reliable cellphones so he couldn't call anyone. I was delivered and all that, and everyone noticed the signs that I was a Rorek: bright blue eyes and stark white hair. My paternal greatgrandmother, and therefore Rorek the Sixth's mother, was frightened for her, that perhaps he had died and I was an immediate reincarnation. She almost didn't realize that he was the one consoling her as she cried into her handkerchief."

"Awww...!" Raven laughs. "So, how did your grandfather react to there being a new Rorek?"

"He loved it," you say. "He always got a kick out of someone calling for 'Rorek' and then having to specify Sixth or Seventh. But then everyone started calling me 'Rory' so that there wouldn't be confusion."

"Now I know why your mom and sisters call you that," she says.

"My nickname aside, Ross, Reed and I didn't think anything of my being the newest Rorek until we were old enough to start our education. We all learned the family history together, of the other Roreks and their legacies. The difference in our schooling, and therefore our places in the family, were made clear to us when I was pulled aside and started learning more advanced lessons and subjects.

"Ross and Reed were good sports about it all, both teasing me for being stuck with more work to do but also a bit envious that I got to learn and master things they were far from even attempting."

"Does that all branch from your family having a 'main line'?" Raven asks.

"Perhaps," you say. "From my personal experience, it seems a Rorek is treated with both a higher level of reverence and sense of obligation. It isn't just the betrothal--that wasn't explained to me until about my 12th birthday, by the way--but the perception that as a Rorek, I must be more intelligent, more skilled and more dependable than anyone else in my generation of the family, but in return am allowed more freedoms and privileges."

"That's a bit contradictory," she says.

"Life's always contradictory," you say. "It was just more obvious in my life. I honestly wished my family didn't get caught up in its own prestige, because there were so many times the three of us--Ross, Reed and I--were mischievous and got caught, and the only punishment I got was an intensely stern scolding while Ross and Reed got sat in a corner wearing dunce caps."

"Aww..." Raven says with a half-smile, half-frown.

"And then there would be other times when our behavior was 'unbecoming', and I got the worst of it because I'm 'the new Rorek'."
---

Go Catgirls! http://i.imgur.com/qFIA63a.jpg