Forlot: Welcome to the Dummy House - Book Forty-One

Chapter Nineteen

It had been three hours since that Alexis and Jack left. Olive, my parents, and I had finished supper and were resting our stomachs. While Mom and Dad were in the kitchen and cleaning up, I was playing with Olive. Like I said, she enjoys me playing with her. Dad asked me if I could play with her. She was bored and wanted some attention. How could I say no?

I carefully took Olive out of her high chair and brought her to the living room. She glanced up at me and cooed happily. Then she showed me her tiny feet. Besides her room, her favorite place in the home is the living room. It is where the television and some of her toys are. I set her on the carpet and spread out her blanket. I noticed the couch from the corner of my eye. She enjoys sitting - and standing - on the couch too.

I smoothed out her blanket and picked her up. "Do you love being the center of attention?"

She flashed me a smile. "Yes."

I put her on the blanket and handed her a toy. It was a teddy bear. It matches her dress, which is red. It is her favorite color. I would not say that she is obsessed with red, but everything that she gets has to be red. She will throw a tantrum if it is not red. Now that I am thinking about it, Alexis hates red. It reminds her of blood. That and Olive's tantrums are other reasons why she cut her from her life. I am serious. She acts like that Olive does not exist.

The more that I thought about her, the more that I got angrier. It was totally unfair. I am not jealous of her. If she were good, I would wish her well. I would be down in the dumps that Jack asked her out, however, at least that she deserved it. She is a good person.

I rolled my eyes and laid on my stomach. I watched my favorite sister play with her stuffed bear. I put my head in my hand and said, "I wish that she was as nice as us, Olive. I am convinced that Mom and Dad adopted that brat."

Olive stopped playing and looked at me. "Goo?"

I rubbed her head. "Do you think that Alexis is a brat?"

She dropped her bear and kicked her legs. "Yeah!"

"Maybe Alexis is an alien. An alien from the planet 'All About Me.'"

"Scary!"

I giggled and pulled her close. "It is okay, Olive. There are no such things as aliens. You are safe. We all are." I squinted and whispered, "But...I would not mind being abducted by them and taken to their planet."

Olive gasped and teared up. "No go! Sister no go!" She grabbed my face. "Love! Love sister!"

I kissed her forehead. "You can come too."

"Mama and Dada?"

"Mom and Dad also. But not Alexis."

She sniffed and clenched her little fists. "Yay!"

I am not teaching her to hate her sister. She learned on her own. She is a smart infant, and I know that she will do great things when she is older. Actually, she already is doing great things. Alexis would not think so. Oh my gosh. I need to laugh before telling you this next part.

There are times when Olive will sabotage Alexis. Alexis should learn to never mess with an infant, especially if it is clever. Olive will make you regret not playing with her, so it is best that you show her some love.

I smiled and tickled Olive's tiny belly. She laughed and fell over like a domino. I set her back up and reminded her to stay on the blanket. She said no and giggled. She got on her hands and knees and started crawling away. I grabbed her ankle and asked where she was heading.

The cutie pie looked back at me. "Hungry!"

"'Hungry'?" I repeated. "How can you be hungry? Your stomach is so small, and we just ate."

"Dessert!"

I released her ankle. "Oh. You are in the mood for tasty dessert, huh?"

"Yes."

"What do you want for dessert?"

"Chocolate!"

"A chocolate bar?"

She slammed her hands on the carpet. "Red cookie!"

I scooped her up and poked her nose. "Luckily for you, we have chocolate chip cookies. But they are not red." I had a feeling that something was wrong and glanced at the clock mounted on the wall. It was getting late. "You know who was supposed to return from her date?"

Olive grabbed her feet. "Bad sister."

I glanced back at her. "Yes. Alexis is not home yet. She promised to be home by now." I sighed. "She probably does not want the date to end and is staying with Jack for as long as she can."

How right I was - but not in the way that I expected.

I brought Olive back into the kitchen and to our cookie jar. Mom and Dad had finished cleaning and were now getting something to drink. Dad was holding an empty glass and smiled at us. He said hello and asked why we returned to the kitchen.

"Olive is hungry," I said. "I am fetching her a cookie."

Olive licked her lips and patted her belly.

"No. That cannot be," he said. "We just ate dinner. She is filled with veggies and meat."

I carefully lifted the lid off the jar and set it down. "She wants dessert. I told her the same thing. That we had a nice supper. But she wants her dessert."

"Ah. I see."

Olive pouted. "Cookie."

"Be patient, Olive. I am getting your cookie right..." My voice trailed off. My expression changed to concern.

"Janice? Honey?" Mom said. "Are you alright?"

I found my voice. "Are the cookies supposed to be soft? Like a pillow?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

I pulled my hand out - and screamed.