Page 4 of Visions of Darkness

“All of you, get to the table. Breakfast is ready.” She might have yelled it, but there was a tenderness to her voice. One she always possessed.

My gaze traveled the kitchen.

My sister, Brianna, was on the far side of the room, and music blared from her phone, which she had propped on the island as she practiced the routine for her dance troupe. She’d been working on it for the last four weeks, and she spent every free second trying to perfect it.

My little brothers, Mitch and Keaton, were off to the side of her, in the middle of a wrestling match, scrambling around to one-up eachother. Mitch was seven and Keaton was ten, so I knew how that would turn out, even though Mitch always gave it his best.

“You didn’t even pin me!” he shouted over the volume of Brie’s music, kicking his legs and flailing his arms and trying to knock Keaton off from where he was straddling Mitch and sitting on his chest.

“You wish, dumbo. You’re already down. I win. You gotta give me your Nerf Blaster.”

“Hey,” Mom chastised as she carried the skillet around the island toward the breakfast nook beneath the window that overlooked the front yard and street. “No names. Both of you, up.”

“Tell him I pinned him, Mom,” Keaton whined instead of listening.

“No way.” Mitch shoved him, taking the opportunity to send Keaton toppling back while he was distracted. The motion knocked Keaton into Brie’s path, and she stumbled to the side when he got under her feet.

A screech of annoyance left her as she bumped into the island. “Would you watch it?”

Keaton didn’t even respond to her. He dove right back in for Mitch, and in a flash, they were scuffling around again.

“Mom, would you tell Keaton to stay out of my way?” Brie complained. “This has to be perfect, and they always mess me up. It’s totally their fault if I get kicked off the team.”

“Ugh, you guys, would you knock it off?” Mom groaned. “One morning of peace is all I ask.”

Except I knew she loved every second of it, and soft laughter rolled from my mouth as I moved into the kitchen. I went straight to Brie and dropped a kiss to the top of her head. “You are not going to get kicked off the team.”

“And how do you even know?” She rolled her warm brown eyes up at me. They were the exact same color as our mother’s and brothers’. Anxiety played through her features, a new self-consciousness that had cropped up in her over the last year, which she tried to cover with sass.

It was rough being thirteen.

“Um, because I’ve seen you and you’re amazing.”

“You really think so? Or are you just trying toMomme?”

My chest shook with a laugh, and I hugged her tighter. “Momyou? Never. That’s just rude.”

I sent Mom a playful glance, and a hint of amusement tugged at the edge of her mouth as she heaped spoonfuls of eggs onto the plates already set on the table.

Brie blew out a sigh, and I could feel her smile as she squeezed me back, her arms tight around my middle. I tried not to wince when a stab of pain shocked across my back. Ignoring the burn, I embraced her for a long moment before I released her and turned to my brothers.

“Come on, you two. Up you go. It’s breakfast time, and I’m totally not walking you to school if you miss the bus. It’s freezing out there.” I let the tease wind into my voice as I stretched both hands toward them. Reluctantly, they each accepted one, popping to their feet as I gave them a little yank.

“I still get your blaster,” Keaton mumbled.

“How about you two share it?” I offered.

Simple solutions that were never so simple when it came to these two.

Mom chuckled. “If only it was that easy.” Her gaze softened as she looked at me. “Thanks for stepping in. I don’t know what I’m going to do without you here.”

Sadness and nostalgia whispered through her features, and it sent a wave of guilt pinching deep into my chest. I hated how much thinner and sallower her face was than it should be. The lines that were creased into her brow and at the edges of her eyes.

She was only forty-three, but she looked as if she’d aged a decade in the last two years.

All compliments of me.

Finally, things had seemed to settle around here, but only because I’d learned how careful I had to be. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t constantly on edge, in fear of a slipup.

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