Nightmare {h.s | au}

1.6

Birthday celebrations hadn’t ever been my cup of tea. I think that may be why Reece loved birthdays so much is because I was always pushing him into the limelight. He also took being the center of attention very well so it was a win-win situation. We compensated for each other where the other one lacked.

“So cake, presents, the call, and then you guys can go out,” Dad said.

It wasn’t cake though. We rarely ever did cake in our house because it was too much and too unhealthy. So we had cherry pie with a side of ice cream instead. It wasn’t anything horrible because Reece and Sam were “in training”. I didn’t complain about it either since I wasn’t much of a sweets fan. Sam and Reece joked about that being the reason why I wasn’t any fun every single time it was brought up.

We took our time devouring our slices of pie since it was still warm and melting the ice cream. It was moments like these when I ate at the dinner table with everyone, that I realize how well off we’ve been since Mom’s been gone. Everyone’s happier and doesn’t have to worry about when the next fight will be. It’s tranquil. Happy.

Reece was quick to clean everything up which made Dad grin and shake his head. I started the dishwasher as Sam covered what was left of the pie and shoved it in the fridge. Then we all went to the living room, sitting in whatever spot we deemed most comfortable. For Sam that was the blue exercise ball.

“This is from Kathleen and Tim,” Dad said and grabbed two boxes from behind the television set. I watched Reece drop his head before he took the box from Dad.

We opened them together. Reece was a bit more excited to see that our present was the brand new Mac laptops. Sam said it wasn’t fair that we got all of the cool presents to which Dad replied with wait your turn and a wink. I shook my head at that before awkwardly catching a small box that came flying at my face. Dad handed Reece his box delicately. The boxes were the same size so I was wondering what was so special about Reece’s present. But once he opened it and came out yelling with two tickets in his hands, I understood perfectly. While Reece was making a scene, I opened my gift to see a key.

“Dad! This is not cheap! You’re going to the games with me!” Reece yelled.

Season tickets…but for what team?

“What’s the key for?” I asked. I hadn’t really looked at it or taken it from the box so it was just a regular key to me.

My question stopped Reece in his tracks. My brothers looked at me then at Dad in one fluid motion. Dad grinned while Reece said, “You didn’t.”

I frowned and pulled the key out of the box to see controls attached. My eyes widened before I jumped up and ran outside to see a cream mini cooper sitting in the drive. Dad stood in the doorway of the house with a smile that said he’d just won the lottery. I ran to him and hugged him as tightly as I could while thanking him profusely. There was no way I’d be able to repay him, and even though it was a present, I felt like I had to. This was a huge present that I’d been complaining about wanting since I was a freshman.

“I need to give Reece his present,” I told Dad before letting him go and walking up the stairs. Reece was already up there talking. He stood in the middle of the hall with the phone pressed to his ear and his eyes on the floor. “When you’re done, you can give me the phone and come get your gift.” He nodded without looking up.

I went to my room and changed into a leather skater skirt and a graphic tee that displayed my favorite band, the 1975. Before grabbing my leather jacket and taking Reece’s present from the drawer, I slipped black ankle heels on and ruffled my hair a bit. The makeup I had on from today would be fine, I decided as Reece opened my door. I swapped him the gift for the phone.