The rest of the morning passed uneventfully. Liz actually lost her bratty attitude after having watched my temperature measurement, and she became quite friendly. It was kind of weird, if truth be told. She found some Tylenol pills in Mom’s bathroom and brought one to me in my bedroom with a glass of water. (Thank God Katie hadn’t told her about the suppositories!) She then brought some juice and toast and encouraged me to eat a bit. I couldn’t figure out what had gotten into her but figured that maybe she must have been genuinely concerned about me. Or maybe she was just finally growing up. Either way, it was a nice change.

After a while I started feeling a little better, so I put on my bathrobe and headed down to the den to watch television. Liz was on the phone giggling with friends pretty much nonstop until early afternoon but then brought me more juice and asked again if I needed anything. I was for once enjoying her presence in the house.

Everything changed at around two o’clock.

Liz had disappeared, and I figured she was talking again to her friends, when I heard her call out to me from upstairs.

“Luke, can you come up?” she asked. Her voice was still friendly, but there was a little edge to it now.

I headed up the stairs but couldn’t find her, either in her bedroom or Mom’s. I finally went to my room and froze in my tracks. My twin sister was sitting on the side of my bed with a hand towel from the bathroom draped over her lap. In her right hand she held the thermometer, already lubricated with Vaseline.

“It’s time for your temperature,” she said in a singsong voice with a little smile. “And since I’ve been caring for you all morning like a sweet mother, I’ve decided that I’m going to take it the way Mom used to.” She beckoned me with her finger then patted the towel on her lap. “Besides,” she continued with a smirk, “if Katie can do it, then I can.”

“Liz, you can’t be serious!” I stammered. Part of me was outraged. And yet…. there was a strange appeal to Liz’s “maternal” behavior. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Was it because she looked so much like a younger version of Mom? Or did this situation evoke those happy times when Mom really did lay me across her lap to take my temperature? Or was I just surprised by the firmness of her tone? I wasn’t sure. Maybe a combination of all three. In any event, my will to resist quickly faltered.

“Only if you promise not to tell anyone!” I said as firmly as I could muster.

Even though Liz didn’t answer, I walked toward her, untied my robe and let it slip to the ground. Liz seemed quite satisfied with herself.

“Lie down,” she commanded as she again patted the towel.

I settled comfortably over her lap, with my bare bottom just inches from her face. Maybe it was my imagination, but I sensed that she was trembling slightly as she parted my cheeks and got a clear view of my anus. Soon the thermometer touched me, and Liz pushed it very slowly inside. She didn’t seem as confident as either Katie or Jill, but the sensation was the same as I felt the cold glass press deeper inside. Memories flooded into my brain.

“I’m not hurting you, am I?” she asked with a new, strange tone in her voice.

“No,” I squeaked, hiding my face in my pillow.

We waited in silence as the thermometer registered, held in place by Liz’s hand cupped firmly over my bottom. I became acutely aware of my erection pressing down on the towel and hoped against hope that Liz didn’t notice it. After a few minutes she finally pulled out the thermometer and wiped it off.

“Well, there’s some progress,” she announced. Did I detect a slight disappointment in her voice? “Your temp is down to 101,” she continued. Then, almost as an afterthought, she added “but it might be due to the Tylenol...”

I got up quickly from Liz’s lap and put my bathrobe back on. Liz bunched up the towel and headed into Mom’s bathroom to wash the thermometer and put it away. She joined me a few minutes later in the kitchen where I saw her make some notations in the temperature log. I returned to the den to watch television, and Liz spent most of the rest of the afternoon chattering furtively with her friends.