Our Big Brother

Chapter 3

Hunters POV:

Pulling into the driveway, I'm glad I have the child safety lock on the doors because Spencer starts pulling at the handle to open it. "Kiddo, wait til I stop the car, plus you can't open it from the inside, I have to open it from the outside." I tell him, making him huff and cross his arms. When I get them all into the house, thankfully with no more arguing, I send Alex and Spencer to watch tv, while I give Reid a quick bath. I grab one his soft blankets, and leave him with Alex and Spencer while I make lunch for them. I rush to throw on some macaroni and cheese, and call Nick. "Dude where are you!" He says as soon as he answers the phone and I cringe. "I'm sorry, I had to go pick up Alex, Spencer and Reid from school." I say, stirring the macaroni. "Shit really? What happened?" He asks and I give him the rundown of my morning. "So you're not coming in?" He says and I sigh. "You leave at lunch to come home, when you get here, I'll go in for the rest of the day." I say, mentally going over all the things that needed to be done at the office today. "No forget it, I'll stay here, you stay with them, they like you better anyways and they actually listen to you." Nick sighs. "Listen, I'll call you if I need anything, and if you need me to come home, just send me a text, and I'll leave." Nick says. "Alright, but don't stay late, it's Friday okay? Plus Reid's got physical therapy this evening." I tell him, as much as I'm grateful for him working at the office with me, I want him to still be a teenager too.

As soon as I hang up the phone, I hear the front door open and turn off the stove quickly. "What have I told you guys about opening the door or going outside without Nick or I?" I say rounding the corner, only to see the three boys still sitting in the living room, and Atlas freezing at my voice. "Shouldn't you be at school?" I ask him. "Shouldn't they? And you were supposed to be at the office with Nick." He says. "I had to pick them up, you saw Reid earlier, I came by shortly after that. What are you doing home? Whether or not I'm in the office, you're supposed to be in class." I say getting irritated. "Guys come set the table, lunch is almost ready." I say turning to the three who are watching Atlas and I. I give Atlas a look to follow too, and he sighs annoyed, I don't know what the hell he's annoyed about, I should be the one annoyed right now that he's even home.

"Who wants to help me mix?" I say, and Alex and Reid both volunteer. Grabbing the step stool, I set it down for them and pour in the butter, cheese powder and milk. "Mix it slowly so it doesn't splash or spill." I tell them, and they mix it carefully and painfully slow. When I said slow I didn't mean that slow. I get them to go sit at the table with Spencer and Atlas, and give the macaroni and cheese a better mix, before bringing it to the table. "Why does Atlas get more than me!" Spencer asks angrily. "Because I'm not a baby like you!" Atlas says back equally as angry. "Knock it off and just eat, all of you." I say rubbing my temples. We eat in silence until Atlas shoves his last spoonful and gets up. "Sit down." I tell him and he glares at me. "You're going back to school. If I have to get all 5 of us into the car just to drive you there, I will." I say. "It's Friday! Can't you just leave it this once?" He asks and I roll my eyes. "You said that yesterday for the last period class, the day before for the class after lunch, and the day before that for your second period class, so no I can't just leave it. At, I get that you're doing well in your classes, but you can't be skipping so much, colleges look at attendance too, and just as easily as they can accept you, they can also just as easily reject or take away an offer too." I tell him, he's smart, but he's acting stupid and careless right now. For someone who wants to be a teacher, he spends a lot of time avoiding being at school. "Fine whatever, I'm waiting by the door." He says leaving the table. The three boys watch him leave, all with mouths full of macaroni. "Do you think he's angry because I ate a spoon of macaroni from his plate?" Reid whispers to Alex, who tries not to laugh.

After another argument of who gets to sit in front, but thankfully no tears, we drop Atlas back to school, but I circle the parking lot and then wait for 10 minutes to make sure he doesn't come back out to leave again. "Are we going to stay here alllllllll day?" Alex complains. "No we're going now, don't worry." I say pulling out of the parking lot. When we get home, I somehow convince the boys to get their homework done now, so they have more time to play this weekend. It's not going well.

"I'm tired! I don't want to read anymore!" Spencer whines. "What does this word mean?" Reid whispers. "Why is there so many questions to answer! I already read the chapters, why do I need to answer these too?" Alex complains. "Seriously you guys? Spence you've only been reading for 10 minutes, you need to finish that chapter at least, do you want me to read it with you?" I ask but he immediately shuts down that idea. "Can you read with me?" Reid asks looking over at Spencer's book and turning back his book a few pages to match Spencer's. "Alex before I read with Reid, do you need any help with your questions?" I ask but he shakes his head. "I know all the answers, I just don't want to write them down anymore, I want to go play outside." He says and I roll my eyes. "Why don't we go sit outside, you finish your reading questions, and Reid, Spencer and I will read their book, and when we all finish you guys can play outside." I say, gathering up their worksheets and books.

"I don't need you to read with me!" Spencer says glaring at me. "Well then you can keep reading on your own, while I read with Reid." (LMAO guys I'm dying at the read with Reid because I don't even know how else to say it without it rhyming) I say, opening the book. I start reading aloud,, Reid whispering the words as well, and from the corner of my eye I can see Spencer pretending not to listen and follow along, mouthing the words too. Reid didn't need the help, even if he does enjoy reading together, he only asked because Spencer didn't want to ask. I read slower, making sure Spencer can follow, but loud enough for Reid to hear properly, and the look on Spencers face when we finish the chapter is priceless. He's so proud of himself for finishing it. "Good job kiddo, you finished reading on your own, you can go play now." I say ruffling his hair, and he stands up running off toward Alex who went to play a few minutes ago. "You going to play too?" I ask Reid. "Can you read it again with me please, with sign language too?" He asks and I lift my arm so he could snuggle in and get comfy, before starting the chapter over again. We read quite a bit slower this since we're both still pretty new to sign language, and because we have to stop to search how to sign a few words. Halfway through the chapter, Spencer comes barreling towards us. "Reid! Let's go play tag with Alex!" He says, and I tell Reid to go ahead, that we'll finish reading later. I watch the three of them play around, while replying to a few work emails, and checking my homework schedule. I'm so happy that I finished my assignments early, so I'll have a homework free weekend.

So Nick didn't actually make a physical appearance lmao and Sebastian didn't make it at all, but don't worry next chapter we'll see them both, and our moody teenage Atlas too, we might even see some friends, it is Friday night for them after all lol

May xx