Beautiful Ruins

XVII 》Scissors, Shovels, and Sleepyheads.

Above in the media is Aldric's older brother; Tyrel Alejandro Ebuka Chidozie.😚🤍

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Once upon a time, I met an idiot.
Now, we are best friends.
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~ALDRIC~

The dining chair made a screech as I stood up from it and Mum shot me a warning look from where she was doing the dishes in the sink.

I covered my dig up with a bright smile as I carried my plate towards the sink. Keeping it on the counter, I turned to my Mother. "Mum, I'm going to bed now."

She stopped washing the dishes to glance at the plate behind me. A smile crept up her face when her gaze was met with the empty plate, and only then did she face me fully.

Mum didn't like it when we left our food unfinished. She always saw it as a way to say that we didn't enjoy it and would wear a frown all day long. That's why I make sure to eat everything off my plate whether I was hungry or not.

"Okay mi tesoro. From the looks of it, you enjoyed your meal."

I patted my stomach twice, a gesture that showed that the meal was indeed satisfying as a sigh escaped my lips. "Sí Sí, It was delicious as always." My lips stretches in a smile when I see her face lighten up, "Gracias Mamá."

"De nada." She threw me a wink and turned to resume with the dishes. I took that as a cue to leave but her orotund voice stopped me midway. "So no hug for Mummy?"

That elicited a peal of rich laughter from me. And the way she jutted her hips out, hands on her waist with a pout on her face and her head tilted to the side only made it cuter.

My Mum was one heck of a drama queen sometimes.

I immediately went back to her side and without a moment's pause, engulfed her in a hug, inhaling her chocolate with a perfect blend of cinnamon scent. She wrapped her other hand which didn't have a glove on around my shoulder, giving me a fond pat after which she pulled away.

"!Buenos noches!" I said, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl before exiting the kitchen.

"Don't forget to pray!" I heard her call after me and I yelled back a reply in the positive.

I climbed up the stairs, branching to Dom's room for a quick checkup. He had a habit of always staying past his bedtime, so I took it upon myself to check up on him every night before I retired to bed.

His room door was slightly open with a trail of the fluorescent light penetrating into the almost dark stair way. I pushed it open a little more before I walked in.

The first thing I noticed was how incredibly stuffy the room was, and the second thing was my brother's slumped figure on the couch a few feets away from his bed and how an open textbook was lying carelessly on his face.

I shook my head, deciding to open the windows first and turn on the fan before attending to Dom. And that I did, smiling in delight when a gush of the cold night breeze swept over my face from the window I had just opened.

Then I proceeded to open the remaining two since his room consisted of three wide windows and perhaps was the most well-ventilated in the whole of the house.

I noticed the temperature had become cooler before I carried him into his bed, draping a duvet over him when I noticed him shivering slightly.

I crouched down to brush a batch of curly hair that was hung over his eyes. Since his bed was directly under one window, the moonlight falling through the lace curtain stippled his face and also filtered it's way into the entire room, clashing with the artificial white light illuminating from the flouresent.