Watching Heirs Unnaparent

Sentry Mounting (تصاعد الحراسة)

"Nich...olas? Nickie? You hear? You awake?"

"You were also a pain when you were little"

Nino only grinned mischievously

"Akhi, wipe that grin from your face!"

Nino only laughed

Something poked his cheek and he groaned, swiping weakly at the offending finger and hearing the giggle of laughter as small feet scrambled away from him and disappeared around a bend. A dog barked and Nicholas grunted something he didn't even understand as his senses began to return and he felt the firm mattress underneath him.

"He's still a pain"

"Owww," he grunted, heaving himself up onto his elbows and slowly glancing around, recognizing his own room and the anxious eyes watching him from the doorway. "I...am now. What is it, Nino?"

"Your lucky you were little"

Said boy peeked back around the corner at him. "Yous been asleep!" came the hasty response. "Yous missed dinner and Dover is hungy!"

"Did you mean 'Dozer'?" Nicholas asked playfully

"Shut Up"

"Oh," Nicholas said, trying to sit up all the way. His head spun and his arms felt like jelly. As Nino cautiously crept back into the room, Nicholas fell back against a mountain of pillows with a deep grunt. "Dover is hungry? Are you sure about that?" There was no reply from the child and Nicholas knew what that meant. Besides, something was far too quiet to be normal. "Where are mom and dad?" he inquired, heaving himself up once again and forcing back nausea as Nino stood hopefully by his bedside, holding a bag of snacks in his hands.

"Is he still a pain?"

"HEY!"

"Oh Yes, He Is"

"HEY!"

"Downstair," Nino sang, scrambling up onto the bed, holding out the bag of cheese puffs happily. "Yous still sleepy?" he chirped. "Chip?" He shoved the snack into Nicholas's face.

"No, that's okay. I'm good," Nicholas said quickly, pushing the Cheeto away and running a hand through his hair, wincing as his muscles felt like lead and he leaned back against the bed frame with a long sigh. "What time is it?"

"Dinner time!" Nino repeated urgently, tugging at the quilt impatiently.

"You were no help"

Well, that was no help. With a moan, Nicholas heaved himself over to peer irritably at his flashing alarm clock which read 7:48 p.m. Ugh. It's so late. But why is it so quiet? Shouldn't the house be full of noise and dad's screaming over his football game or something? He didn't like the silence. Silence often meant trouble. Or danger. His family was not silent. Something was wrong.

"Where are ab and al'umu?" he repeated shortly, sitting up and ignoring Nino's wince of hurt as he was forcibly knocked from the bed. "Why am I not at school? Why aren't you?"

"Remember the burning building"

"School done! I draw big truck! " Nino answered proudly, picking up his spilled bag of chips, scowling as the retriever came diving into the room to lick up the crumbs. "Ew, Dozer!" he complained, receiving a sloppy kiss in reply. "No! Yuckie!" He pushed the dog away, wiping his face of slobber. "Nickie! Dozer licked me again!"