Unexpectedly

Chapter Eighteen- Nothing to Keep

Chapter Eighteen- Nothing to Keep

                “Will Jake ever wake up?” I asked Mom as I took a seat in front of my breakfast—oatmeal. “And don’t tell me that it really is too late to wish I'm an only child.”

                Mom rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, Shea. It is too late. You can’t expect me to cram your brother back in my birth canal and—”

                “Stop.” I closed my eyes and made a Stop gesture with my hand. I mean, I really didn’t want to hear somebody, much less my own mother, say birth canal first thing in the morning. And I was eating! My mother has issues.

                “What? It’s not like—”

                “Oh, God. Mom. Stop,” I told her again. “Please?”

                “Okay, okay,” she said.

                At least, I got to eat my oatmeal without hearing my mother say something no other mother would have even dared to say. And seriously, she used the word cram? Like how was that supposed to make me feel? I can’t—or won’t—even imagine Jake being “crammed” into—Ugh. Why was I even thinking about it?

                I, fortunately, noticed the time. Oh, gosh. I quickly swallowed a spoonful of oatmeal before hollering, “Jake!”

                And we heard this really loud thump upstairs. “I’m okay!” came my brother’s muffled voice.

                I looked at my Mom, eyes wide and I couldn’t help but grin. “Did he just fall? Out of his bed?” I asked her.

                She smiled. “Not unlikely,” she replied and went back to sipping her warm milk. My mother is opposed to the idea of coffee. We couldn’t be more opposite, honestly. I don’t even think I could function well without caffeine, and my mother thinks it’s the exact opposite for her.

                “Hurry up!” I yelled at my brother. “We’ll be late!”

                “Geez! Will you please stop yelling?” he, ironically, yelled back.

                I rolled my eyes. I looked at Mom, trying to put my best pleading face on. I mean, hey, she let me go to a party, after all. Maybe I could also convince her to disown Jake or sell him on eBay or somewhere. Or at least to get me my own car.

                “Mom, can’t you see he’s sabotaging my life?” I asked her, matter-of-factly, eating more of my oatmeal.

                “No, I can’t. He’s not even doing anything to you,” Mom said.

                I groaned. “At the moment,” I added. She clearly has no idea who my brother is and what he is capable of. Otherwise, she would have been on her knees, begging for him to leave or trying to pull her hair out as she realized the horrors of her hormonal second child.

                “Hey, Mom. Can I ask you a quick question?” I asked her.

                She raised an eyebrow. “If you’re asking me to make your brother go away, I'm not doing it.”

                I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, right. But I'm serious.”

                This seemed to have raised the curiosity of my mother, who would have considered my questions anything but boring on a normal day. I guess she was changing as I was, considering I actually went to a party and all.