Page 5 of Until It Was Real

“You’re going the wrong way,” Miles says as I walk outside with Kai and Zane on my heels.

“We’re moving furniture,” Zane says with a distinct pout in his voice.

“What furniture?” Miles asks as he follows us to my SUV.

“It’s not much. A desk, chair, and filing cabinet.”

“If you’re getting a new chair, I want a new chair,” Kai says.

“You’re not getting a new chair until you apologize for what you did to mine,” I say.

“No one touched your chair,” he claims.

I fist my hands on my hips. “It got shorter and shorter every day on its own?”

I seriously thought I was losing my mind until I examined the bottom of the chair and realized someone was messing with the settings. My money’s on Kai.

Zane shrugs. “Maybe you’ve been gaining weight and the chair couldn’t handle it.”

I grunt. “I haven’t been gaining weight.”

Kai sighs. “It’s normal to gain weight as you get old.”

“I’m not fucking old just because you’re a baby.”

“I’m not a baby.”

Miles clears his throat. “Technically, you are the baby of the family.”

“I’ll show you baby.” Kai flies at Miles and tackles him to the ground.

“I don’t have time for this shit,” I mumble as I grab both of them by the back of their t-shirts and shake them. “Enough or I’ll tell Mom.”

“Tattletale,” Kai snarls as he yanks away from me.

“I wouldn’t have to tattletale if you’d just listen to me.”

“Why should we listen to you?” Miles asks. “You’re not the boss of us.”

I rub my neck, but it doesn’t relieve any of the tension building there. My brothers all love to remind me how I’m not their boss. I’m not their dad. I’m not their parent. The list goes on and on.

But who was the person who made sure they finished their homework every night? Who made sure they made it to school every day? Who made sure they got to sports practice every afternoon?

It sure as hell wasn’t our dad since he took off when I was fifteen and never looked back. And it wasn’t our mom. Don’t get me wrong. She did the best she could. She worked two jobs to give us a roof over our heads and provide food on the table.

But when she wasn’t working, she was falling apart. Dad's leaving broke something in her. Something that couldn’t be fixed until Stuart entered our lives.

And it wasn’t my big brother Eli. Eli did his thing. He worked two or three jobs to make sure my brothers and I could buy new clothes and join sports teams, and have a bit of extra money to go out on a date. But he wasn’t there every day. I was.

And I’ve been listening to my brothers bitch about me ever since.

“The furniture is for Eli’s new assistant. She’s starting tomorrow,” I explain, since trying to talk sense into my brothers is a waste of time and effort.

Miles rubs his hands together. “I hope she’s sexy and wears tight skirts and high heels.”

I slap him upside the head. “You are not going to seduce Eli’s assistant.”

He widens his eyes and feigns innocence. “I don’t seduce women. I can’t help it if they fall into my lap.”

---