The RGB Siblings

Chapter 4. Raindrops

It was the morning of a completely normal and dull Wednesday. Light snoring filled the little pantry in which lay two teenagers and a single tween huddled under the blankets. A head of brown hair was peeking out from under the comforters on the left side, long strands of black hair on the right, and a whole nest of wavy blonde hair in the middle.

"Get up! Now!"

It was the same sound as it had been for years and years on end that woke up the three siblings. Nya was the first one to actually get out of bed and start getting ready for the day while the boys still carried on enjoying the warmth of the blankets.

"Kai, you have work. Unless you want to get fired, you should get up," Nya muttered tiredly.

"Ugh," Kai groaned. He hated going to work. He kind of wished he was still underage, so he could stay back and do housework or go to school. But no, he was an adult and awoke each morning to go work his dull job. It was an extremely low-paying job too, given to him by a cruel and unjust employer, who would've praised Kai only if he'd died. The job was, however, enough to give Rita the money she would've received from the government had Kai still been in her foster care, but unfortunately it was not enough for Kai to move out or even buy anything. It all went to Rita, who, in exchange, agreed to let Kai still live with the rest of them. Had Kai been the only child there, he would've bolted out of the door the second he'd turned 18, but as he had two younger siblings, he didn't want to. The worst thing that could've ever happened to him was to get separated from Nya and Little Lloyd.

Yes, Lloyd was being called Little Lloyd still at 12 years of age.

Speaking of Lloyd, he was still not up.

"Lloyd, wakey wakey." Kai shook the little brother, who refused to move. This was him just being stubborn rather than sick or tired.

"One minute," Lloyd muttered and buried his face in his pillow.

Kai stood up only to lean back down, wrap his arms around his little brother and literally lift him up and out of the warmth of the blankets. Lloyd shivered and whined, but didn't go back to sleep, which meant Kai's mission had been accomplished.

"School starts a bit earlier today. Will you two be okay if I go?" Nya asked, rushing to brush her hair.

Kai nodded, but Lloyd did not. Nya leaving earlier meant Lloyd had to be alone with Rita longer. Whereas his sister had been granted the opportunity to still attend school, Lloyd had been deprived of that right. He hadn't been to any type of school for six years for it had become "too expensive". Therefore, Lloyd always stayed back at the house, worked hard from dawn to dusk, and only learnt anything when Nya, whenever she wasn't too tired to talk, taught him some of the things she had learnt at school or let him read her books. 

"We'll be fine," Kai reassured.

Before the boys knew it, Nya had already stepped out of the pantry and rushed out of the front door without so much as a goodbye. Apparently she had an exam she was in a hurry to attend.

Kai and Lloyd got ready a bit more slowly, the former having to constantly assist the latter. Lloyd's ankles were, as usual, very stiff and caused a lot of discomfort to the boy. The siblings were quite sure he had some kind of an issue with his joints, but of course they had no chance of confirming that. There was no way Rita would've paid for any doctor visits, let alone examinations.

"Come on, Little L," Kai encouraged as, once again, Lloyd just kind of collapsed on the mattress. The older brother dragged him up, much to the little brother's misfortune. "Let's make some breakfast."

"Do you have to go to work?" Lloyd asked, his emerald eyes glimmering at Kai in the morning light that filled the kitchen.

"Yeah, but I can go a bit later today," the brunet replied. Those eyes, those damn emerald puppy eyes, were a weak spot for him. He just couldn't say no to them or do anything to make them appear even sadder. Besides, Lloyd had so much to do all alone, so he wanted to stay and help out as long as possible as he didn't have strict work hours himself. Luckily Lloyd was at least freed from having to care for Sugar and Cotton since, in Nya's words, they were in dog heaven.