Here is Home • The Pack

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

"GUYS!" Lachlan yelled as he jogged down the landing, pushing open bedroom doors and flicking on the lights. "Come on, first day of school, let's go!"

There was a volley of groans from the boys' room as Lachlan cheerfully slammed open the door and charged in.

"Fuck off," Rob moaned, covering his head with the pillow. "I'm not prepared for this. Gimme a sick day just this once."

"Nope, sorry kiddo," Lachlan grinned as he snatched the pillow off Rob's head and gave the boy a hard shove. "Get up, the bus gets here in an hour and you've not even got your shit together yet."

"Why do you look like a mobster from a Quentin Tarantino movie?" came Jerome's sleepy voice from the other side of the room.

Lachlan turned to glare at his brother's head, whose hair was pointing up all over the place.

Jerome rubbed his tired eyes to squint at Lachlan. "How'd it feel to shoot Marv in the face?"

"Shut the fuck up and stop quoting Pulp Fiction at me, Jerome. I'm meeting a client this morning and I have to look presentable," Lachlan snapped, self-consciously brushing a hand through his hair.

"You got a gun holster in your jacket?" Rob yawned as he dragged himself out of bed and began to walk zombie-like towards the bathroom.

"As a matter of fact, yes, and I'd use the downstairs toilet if I was you. Jess and Vikk are in the upstairs one fighting over the mirror.

Rob clicked his tongue and pointed at Lachlan in a gesture of what he assumed was agreement, before leaving the room.

Lachlan sighed. "Jerome, sorry man, but you gotta get up. I can't take Ruby to work with me today."

Jerome groaned, and suddenly there was another head popping out of the blankets beside him.

"Why not?" Mitch asked with a frown, and Lachlan immediately let out a loud noise of distaste.

"What?!" Mitch was laughing as Lachlan shivered in disgust.

Jerome's expression remained completely neutral, but Lachlan noticed his ears go pink.

"Why can't you take Ruby to work with you?" Jerome plowed on as if nothing had happened; as if Mitchell Hughes wasn't naked and smirking at Lachlan from behind Jerome.

That was his baby brother.

"Because I can't take a baby to a meeting like this, Jerome! There's drugs involved! She's two! And besides, they won't take me seriously and I'll end up being shot and dumped in a river somewhere."

He made the mistake of catching Mitch's eye, and the fucker just waggled his eyebrows at him.

Lachlan groaned, turning on his heel and leaving the room.

"What's the matter with you?!" Mitch yelled after him, laughing.

"You can't fuck my little brother in my house while everyone's here!" He yelled back, pushing open the door to the bathroom and nearly tripping on a towel.

"Morning," he tried over the sound of their squabbling as Jess fought to shove Vikk to the side long enough to fix her hair in the mirror.

When there was no response, Lachlan just shrugged, reaching between them to try and snatch his toothbrush.

He nearly got his arm ripped off in the process.

Okay. That wasn't gonna work.

Whatever. He could just brush his teeth later. Getting in the middle of the catfight in front of him wasn't worth it.