Live In The Now (Sequel to Let's Forget The Past)

LAST WILL AND TESTIMENT

It was 9 o'clock on a Saturday when Corey woke to the smell of freshly cooked breakfast and the sound of cars honking at each other outside of her window.
Her eyelids opened and closed again after feeling the beaming sunlight that shined through the glass hit her eyes, basically blinding her. She sat at the foot of her bed for a while; she listened, then rolled her eyes. She could hear the tunes of Backstreet Boys annoyingly famous song I Want It That Way blasting through the house which only meant one thing this early in the morning. Cleaning time.
Corey glanced over to Dylan's bed to see he had already been up, but there he was lying in bed like that sack of potatoes in the trunk of your parents car after grocery shopping that no one wants to go back for.
"Dylan." Corey said and scratched her head.
"I hear it." He groaned into his pillow.
"I smell food, maybe she was just listening to it to cook and doesn't actually want us to clean this time."
She shrugged at the thought, but the look on her brothers face told her otherwise.
"Corey, the last time she played this song and didn't actually want us to clean she was pregnant with Grace and Lily." Dylan said.
Her face squinched as she searched for the memory in her head.
"I don't remember that." Corey told him.
"Neither do I, because it never happened," Dylan said. "Let's go before she comes up here singing."
They slowly trailed down the stairs only to see the sight of their mother dancing and singing along to the melody with the broom.
"Where do you think you're going?" Alison stopped and asked.
Corey looked at Dylan and waited for him to come up with one of his spectacular lies but the only thing that came from his mouth was.
"We were just gonna go eat breakfast."
Alison shook her head and pointed to the bucket of soap and water with sponges that sat next to it on the floor.
"You don't eat breakfast until you clean." She said.
"But mama, that's not fair Nathan gets to eat." She pointed to her little brother in his high chair eating his pancakes and wiggling his toes with a smile on his face.
Alison smiled at the sight of her half naked son before turning back to Corey and Dylan.
"Yeah, and when you magically start aging backwards and get to a point where you can't touch cleaning supplies and chemicals get back to me," She said. "Until then."
Another smile crossed her face as she replayed the song and handed both brooms over to them.
"I don't even know why you tried that," Courtney scrubbed the walls and said. "We all have to clean, especially now that we're all grounded."
"I didn't even do anything." Corey muttered.
"You left the house last night without permission." Alison said in a sing song manner.
"Someone's happy this morning," Emily came down the stairs to say. "Feeling better?"
Almost two months had passed since Alison started treatment with Marco and his wife. He never promised her that she wouldn't get sick, or that she would be cured within a month; but he did promise that he would help her see the process through. Because of Marco she was feeling pretty optimistic.
"Actually, yeah I am," Alison smiled. "But what time are your parents stopping by because we really need to talk to Corey."
"They're old Alison," Emily laughed. "We probably have like another hour or so before they actually arrive."
"Good," Alison said. "Corey can you come here please?" She asked.
"You're in trouble." Grace teased.
"Shut up." Corey said.
When she walked into the den the first thing that she noticed was Alison's posture.
She stood while Emily sat on the gray barrel chair that was closest to the newly installed barn doors that separated the room from the kitchen.  Her arms were crossed and all of her weight was shifted down onto her right leg.
Corey thought long and hard before she answered. If there was anything that she could put at the top of the list of things that she was afraid of, number one would be her moms. It had only been a week or two since her altercation with Emily and she wasn't trying to go there again, not with Alison this time.
"Yes, Ma'am?" She asked.
Her response was so subtle that both Alison's and Emily's eyes widened.
"Sit down next to mom," Alison told her. "We need to have a discussion about last night."
Alison turned to Emily and waited for her to pitch in on the beginning of her speech.
"Corey, you know the rules," Emily said. "You know that we don't do sneaking out in this—"
"I wasn't sneaking out I—"
"No, let us finish," Alison stopped her. "You left this house without permission when it was indeed past your bedtime; then we find you sitting on a playground bench alone at midnight . . . Corey, what's going on?"
"Now you can speak." Emily told her.
Corey looked down for a moment to gather her thoughts.