It's only convoluted if you haven't lived it. My family has another family that have been friends for decades. Growing up, I regularly played with their daughter, and am regarded as a son in their family. I am certain that if something happened to my parents, I would have been welcomed into their home, and (excepting the sexual part, because I never viewed their daughter that way), the familiar dynamic would have been much the same for us. Years later in the relationship, they moved to another town right next door to my parents. So the "convoluted story" you cite is actually closer to real life than you would imagine TYVM.