The watching Mother

[Daniels narrative]

The watching Mother


plot:

Jennifer crossed the line for the last time, so Mom decided to take more serious precautions than usual.

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Part 1



This story has been written with AI's help (Less than usual, I hope nobody notices my poor english)

[Daniels narrative]

Johnson family
Margareth 35 years old
Jennifer 16 years old
Max 15 years old

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There were some strange sounds in the Johnson’s house. The modern microwave was bipping every few hours since Jenny tried to prepare some pop-corn without asking mom how to use it. Over time it became a white noise and almost no one in the family noticed it anymore.

On the contrary, it was difficult not to notice the sound of the drill, completely unexpected by Max who went to check what was happening. He went out of his room and found a missing door right before the bathroom situated at the end of the hallway.

Max wondered why was his sister’s room’s door missing. He took some steps before seeing his mother securing what was clearly a camera, in one of the corners of the ceiling. “Mom?”

She slightly turned around to check precisely who was at the door before gong back to secure the last screw she had. “Oh hi Max! Could you pass me those last few screws?”

Max smirked, he took the screws on jenny’s desk and gave them to mom. “So what about… this?”

“This are the consequences of your sister’s actions. Do you remember the joint I found in her backpack last month? Well, after a good talk with the local parents group we’ve come to the conclusion that privacy is overrated for those who break the trust given.”

Max found this situation kinda hilarious. “We?”

“Oh yes, Sandy Barrett’s father suggested to me this idea” She said, proudly fixing the wifi camera at the corner.

“Sandy has a camera in her room and no door? That’s a news.” His mom paused her screwing and looked at him with that expression she got when she thought she was being clever. "Well, not exactly. Mr. Barrett said he was considering it for Sandy, but I thought it was such a brilliant idea that I decided to be proactive with Jenny."

Max felt a laugh building in his chest. So his mom had basically volunteered to be the guinea pig for some helicopter parent experiment that Sandy's dad had only mentioned in passing. Classic. He could already picture Jenny's face when she got home from soccer practice and found her room transformed into some kind of surveillance state.

"Does Jenny know about this yet?" he asked, watching his mom fumble with the tiny screws. Her hands were shaking slightly – probably from holding the drill above her head for so long.

"She'll find out when she gets home. Sometimes the best lessons come from natural consequences." His mom's voice had that rehearsed quality it got when she was repeating something she'd read in one of her parenting blogs.

Max glanced around Jenny's room, taking in the chaos of textbooks, clothes, and the collection of vintage band posters that would now be under constant digital watch. The camera had a perfect view of her bed, her wardrobe and her desk. it couldn’t point directly to the pc’s monitor but everyone passing by the door could look at it directly.

Then a doubt struck Max. “Wait, what about my door and my room??”

She huffed. “Don’t worry, you didn’t gave me a reason to treat you the same way…”

“yet.” She clarified immediately afterwards. Max instantly relaxed, unlike his sister he has always managed to maintain good grades at school, he is unlikely to be treated the same way.

The power drill whirred to life again as his mom attacked another screw. Max stepped back from the doorway, suddenly aware of how exposed Jenny's room looked without the barrier. Anyone walking down the hall could see straight in now. He wondered if his mom had thought about that part, or if she was just focused on the camera.

"How does it even work?" Max found himself asking, despite knowing he probably didn't want to encourage this whole operation.

His mom's face lit up. She loved explaining her new discoveries, especially the technological ones that made her feel modern and in-control. "It connects to an app on my phone. I can check in anytime, and it sends alerts when there's movement." She held up her iPhone, screen already glowing with what looked like a security company's interface.

Max's mind wandered in dangerous areas. “Ehhm, anytime? Literally anytime? What if Jenny’s changi- I mean, don’t you need any help to check on Jenny? I mean, I know how busy you are with work and everything.”

The drill went silent. His mom climbed down from Jenny's desk chair, brushing dust off her jeans. "Nice try, Max." She gave him a look that said she wasn't born yesterday. "I can handle monitoring my own daughter, thank you very much."

Max felt heat creep up his neck. Had he been that obvious? He tried to play it off with a shrug, but his mom was already packing up her tools, the drill making metallic clinks as she dropped bits back into the case.

"Besides," she continued, "the app keeps a recording history. So even if I miss something in real time, I can always go back and review." The way she said 'review' made it sound like she was talking about security footage from a bank robbery.

The microwave beeped again from downstairs, that familiar electronic chirp that had become the soundtrack to their house. Max counted the beeps automatically - three short ones, which meant it was doing that weird thing where it thought something was still cooking even though nothing was inside.

He heard the front door slam, followed by the thud of soccer cleats being kicked off in the entryway. Jenny's voice echoed up the stairs, muffled but getting closer as she walked. "Mom? Why does the house smell like sawdust?"

Max watched his mom's face brighten with that dangerous enthusiasm she got when she was about to deliver what she considered life-changing news. She tucked a strand of graying hair behind her ear and called down the hallway.

"Jenny, honey! Come up here. I have something to show you."

The sound of Jenny's footsteps on the stairs echoed from below.

Max felt his stomach tighten as the footsteps grew louder on the stairs. He could picture Jenny bounding up two at a time like she always did after practice, still riding the adrenaline high from whatever had happened on the field. She had no idea what she was walking into.

"Up here, sweetie!" their mom called again, her voice practically singing with anticipation. She smoothed her hair again and straightened her shoulders like she was preparing for a presentation at work. The phone with the security app was still clutched in her right hand, and Max could see the live feed from the camera.

“What’s going on? Where is my door?” Jenny stopped as she stared at the empty doorframe where her bedroom door should have been. Her eyes moved from the vacant hinges to the camera mounted in the corner, its little red light blinking steadily.

Max watched his sister's face cycle through confusion, disbelief, and then something that looked like pure rage. Her cheeks, already flushed from soccer practice, turned an even deeper shade of red.

"What the hell is that?" Jenny's voice came out higher than usual, almost squeaky.

"Language, Jennifer." Their mom stepped forward, still holding her phone like some kind of trophy. "This is what happens when trust gets broken. You made choices, and now there are consequences."

Jenny's gaze darted between the camera and their mom, then landed on Max. He could see her trying to process everything.

“Nope, I had nothing to do with it, bye bye.” Max flew. The living room couch felt like sanctuary as Max went for it. As he hoped, he could still hear everything was happening upstairs from a safe place.

"You put a camera in my room?" Jenny's voice cracked on the last word, and Max winced. He'd heard that tone before - usually right before she punched a hole in the drywall or broke something expensive.

“I put a camera in MY house, you should be thankfull I didn’t do it before.” Mom crossed her arms like she cannot be in the wrong.

“Mom!” Jenny was going to jump on her desk to punch the camera before mom grabbed her arm while she was climbing the room’s furnitures.

"Let me go!" Max could hear her breathing heavily from downstairs, that ragged sound she made when she was trying not to cry in front of their mom. The absence of the door left little to the imagination for anyone in the house.

Mom's voice had that steel edge now, the one that meant the discussion was over whether Jenny liked it or not. "You lost the privilege of privacy when you brought drugs into this house."

"It wasn't even mine! I told you Sarah left it in my bag after—"

"Oh, so now it's Sarah's fault? I wasn't born yesterday Jenny.” Mom was in complete control of her undisciplined sixteen-year-old daughter. The disappointment in her eyes was palpable. “And for your information, if anything happens to that camera, I will replace it with another, and there will be consequences. I don't know what yet, I'll talk to the other parents for some ideas or I could leave your brother in control of the camera, as he suggested."

“He did what??” Max's stomach dropped. He could hear the accusation in Jenny's voice carrying down the stairs, and he knew he was about to become the target of her fury. He pressed himself deeper into the couch cushions, wishing he could disappear entirely.

"I never said I wanted to control it!" Max shouted up the stairs, his voice cracking slightly. "I just asked how it worked!"

The silence that followed felt heavy and dangerous. Max could picture Jenny's face, the way her jaw clenched when she was planning something terrible. He'd seen that look right before she'd super-glued his bedroom door shut last year.

"Jennifer, your brother was simply being curious," their mom's voice drifted down, still maddeningly calm. "Unlike some people, he hasn't given me reasons to question his judgment."

Max heard footsteps stomping across the hallway above him, then the sound of something being thrown - probably one of Jenny's textbooks hitting the wall. The house seemed to vibrate with her anger.

"This is insane!" Jenny's voice was getting closer to the stairway. "You can't just spy on me like some kind of criminal!"

"I can and I will, until you prove that you are a reliable adult I will continue to treat you as you deserve.”

“What about the door? Anyone could just walk in and peek inside even when I’m changing.”

"You'll just have to be more careful about that, won't you?" Mom's voice carried that tone she used when she thought she'd cornered Jenny with logic. "Maybe knock first, or announce when you're going to change clothes."

Max heard Jenny make a sound somewhere between a laugh and a scream. "That's your solution? Just announce to the whole house when I want privacy in my own room?"

"It's not your room, Jennifer. It's my room, in my house, that I pay for."

Max could feel his own chest tighten at the finality in his mom's voice. The house ownership card - she always played that when she was backed into a corner and wanted to end an argument. He'd heard her use it on their dad before the divorce, and it never led anywhere good.

"Now, for god’s sake, take a shower, you are dirty and sweaty."

The floorboards creaked above him as someone moved around. He couldn't tell if it was Jenny pacing or their mom collecting her tools, but the silence stretched out long enough that he started to wonder if the fight was actually over. That seemed impossible. Jenny didn't back down from anything, especially not when she felt cornered.

A door slammed somewhere upstairs - probably the bathroom, since it was the only one left with actual privacy. Max heard the lock click, then muffled sounds that might have been crying or might have been Jenny plotting his demise. With his sister, both were equally likely.

His mom's footsteps moved across the hallway, then started down the stairs. Max quickly grabbed the TV remote and pretended to be absorbed in some random cooking show, hoping to look invisible. The last thing he wanted was to get dragged into a post-battle analysis.

She appeared in the living room doorway, still clutching her phone. Her hair was still messy from drilling, and she had that slightly proud look she got after what she considered a successful parenting intervention.

"Well, that went better than expected," she said, settling into the armchair across from him. The phone screen glowed in her lap, and Max caught a glimpse of Jenny's empty room from the camera's perspective. Everything was clearly shown.

Max kept his eyes on the TV, where someone was explaining the proper way to fold dumplings. "Yeah, she seemed thrilled."

His mom either missed his sarcasm or chose to ignore it. She was scrolling through what looked like the app's settings menu, her finger swiping across various options. "You know, this really is quite sophisticated. Motion detection, night vision, cloud storage for the recordings."

Max found himself staring at the phone screen in his mom's lap, watching the live feed of Jenny's empty room. The angle captured everything perfectly - her unmade bed with its rumpled sheets, the pile of clothes she'd thrown on the floor before practice, even the corner where she usually changed when she thought no one could see.

A twisted excitement built in his chest as the implications hit him. His mom would have access to everything, but she was busy with work most of the day. She'd probably check it sporadically, maybe review footage if something seemed suspicious. But if he could get access too...

Max craved access to that camera, but for now he could simply walk by and easily peek inside. If anyone notices anything, he might simply reply that he was going to the bathroom.

[Freesub]

Fantastic premise and start! Hope to see a speedy follow up!

[Spathic Swordmaiden]

You have me curious where this will go.