The Witch of Anima

Chapter 31

Brody looked at where he set the paper on fire before he looked at me and grinned. "And now it is bedtime," he said and started to clamber back onto my bed.

"Uh, get changed into your bed clothes and brush your teeth, Brody," I said. "You can take the bathroom first if you want to."

Brody bit back an annoyed sigh and rolled his eyes while he pressed his lips into a thin line. "But I am tired," he groaned and sat down on my bed. "And don't you want to see your boyfriend sooner?" he asked and folded his arms across his chest while he pouted and narrowed his eyes.

I held back an eye roll and pressed my lips into a thin line, my cheeks turning slightly red. "I will when we get finished getting ready for bed," I said and gestured to the bathroom. "Now, go. I need to get dressed for bed, too, but I am not changing with you in the bedroom."

Brody rolled his eyes and groaned, getting up from the bed. He walked over to where I had set his bed clothes and looked at me, going slowly as if he thought I would change my mind and let him stay on my bed.

"Now, Brody," I said with an annoyed sigh while I rolled my eyes and pressed my lips into a thin line. "Hurry up and get everything done so that I can get done, too." I narrowed my eyes and scowled, silently daring him to go against what I told him to do.

And finally, with a loud groan of annoyance, Brody went to my bathroom with his clothes in his hands. He kept the door ajar just a tad, and I bit back a small groan of annoyance because I knew that this was his way of saying that he wasn't comfortable with everything going on and wanted to make sure that he could hear me and I could hear him.

"Oh, your dad wants to talk to you alone before you go to bed," I said before I stood up from my bed and started to get ready to go to bed as well. I bit back a tired sigh and got into a tank top as well as some basketball shorts, knowing full well that Brody would basically be overheating me while we slept.

"Did you tell him that I didn't want to talk to him alone?" Brody asked. There was some shuffling and then the sound of a steady stream of someone peeing.

"Your butt better be on that dang toilet, Brody," I warned, not answering his question. "I don't want any droplets of pee anywhere in that bathroom."

"My butt is on the toilet," Brody said, "so answer my dang question." He paused, and I had a feeling that he grinned while he continued to pee. "Please?"

I grunted before I sighed and moved a hand through my hair and across my face. "Yes," I replied, "but he still wants to talk to you alone."

Brody paused and stopped peeing but stayed on the toilet for some reason, and I had a feeling that he bit the inside of his lip while he shifted on the toilet. "But I don't want to be alone with him," he said, his voice barely above a whisper, "and it's not because you are putting thoughts in my brain, Synthia."

I bit back a small sigh and shook my head, my heart aching with pain and guilt. "Are you sure?" I asked. "I mean, you have been seeing the way that I act toward him, and it isn't nice."

"But I also don't know him," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. He started to pee again, and I sighed and rolled my eyes, getting annoyed. "Yes, he might be my father, but you are my second parent. You have always been my second parent, and to be honest, I'd turn to you before I turn to him."

I pressed my lips into a thin line and that guilt in my heart turned to warmth. "You're just saying that, Brody," I grumbled, and my brother snorted and rolled his eyes. "That could change, especially when you get to know him."

"And what if I don't?" he asked before he finished peeing and then started grunting just a tad. "Do you want to make a bet?"

"No," I replied, and he snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Chicken."

"Very funny, Brody," I grumbled, and he snickered. "You know as well as I do that I do not like to bet. I don't know why you think that I will."

"I don't know," he said and shrugged while he grimaced. "I just thought you would change for me." He pouted innocently, and I held back an eye roll and pressed my lips into a thin line. "So will you?"

"Not with that," I said. I finished getting ready and sat in my bed, waiting for my brother to finish whatever he was doing in the bathroom so that I could get in and get ready for bed as well.

Brody shrugged and grimaced. "So if I talk to Dad privately, will you be nearby?"

"No idea," I said while I shrugged and grimaced. I had no idea if he would leave the house if I tried that, and I was worried that he would take Brody away from me if I did.

"Do you want to listen in telepathically?" he asked. Again, his voice was barely above a whisper and it sounded like he was trying not to be scared but was scared about what I would say.

"Do you want me to?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Please," he said with a small grunt, and I had a feeling that he nodded.

There was a farting sound, and I couldn't help but wrinkle my nose and purse my lips in annoyance and disgust because I knew that he had been trying to poop.

I bit back a small sigh and slowly nodded. "Then I will listen telepathically," I promised. "Have you been trying to poop?"

"Yes," he said, sheepishly. "I am almost done, I think."

I scoffed a laugh and rolled my eyes. "Well, at least use the Febreze after you are done, please."

"I will," he promised. "Don't I normally do that when I am using your bathroom, Syn?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

I shrugged and grimaced. "I mean, you are normally in your bathroom, so I do not know what you are doing."

Brody grunted and didn't say anything else while he continued to use the restroom, grunting every so often.

I held back an eye roll and pressed my lips into a thin line. "Hurry up, Brody," I grumbled while I swung my foot back and forth, waiting for him to get done. "We're going to have to get more fiber in your diet, aren't we?"

"No," Brody said with another grunt. "I am almost done. I think."

I didn't say a word and closed my eyes, but I didn't start to fall asleep just yet, my heart yearning to go to my Fated.

"Ok!" Brody said, biting back a small sigh of relief while he finished using the bathroom. "I am done!"

I sighed with relief and opened my eyes before I could feel that "shift" that seemed to happen whenever I started to doze or whatever. "Go ahead and flush the toilet and wash your hands. I do not want to see whatever present you had left behind."

Brody sighed mockingly and rolled his eyes. "I know, Syn," he said. "I am not a baby." He did what I told him to do and flushed the toilet, closing the lid with a loud thud. "Do you want me to leave my dirty clothes in here?" he asked.

"That's up to you, Brody," I said. "Just don't have it everywhere like you normally do. I don't want my bathroom to be a mess."

Brody sighed sarcastically and rolled his eyes. "I know," he said. "I am going to wash my hands and then brush my teeth. Do you need to smell my breath to make sure that I did brush my teeth?"

"If you do it right the first time, then no," I said. "However, if you do it wrong, then yes."

Brody didn't say another word and started to wash his hand.

"I wouldn't test me, Brody," I warned and narrowed my eyes while I scowled. "Are you almost done?"

"Yes," he said and nodded. "I am just going to need to brush my teeth now," he said. "And then you can go in and get ready to meet your boyfriend," he said in a sing song voice. "So hold your horses for a little while longer."

My cheeks turned red when he said that, and I looked to my side, groaning. "Shut up, Brody," I said. "Just shut up."

And with that, my brother didn't say a word but started to cackle while he started to brush his teeth.

Oh, Gods, protect me...