Love & Misunderstanding

Chapter Twenty - Jonathan's POV

Over the past few days I had been attempting to take Miss Hoffman's advice, taking extra measures to ensure that I did not shut out my family quite as much. Although, it was proving to be quite difficult in situations like the one I was currently in. Aunt Josephine had somehow convinced Vincent and me to spend time with her children, and so far it was proving to be nothing but than a disaster. Thomas was so outrageously boring that he made me want to go back to sleep for another hour or so. At the moment, he was entertaining us with his theory on dreams.

"Often times our inner most fears and feelings reveal themselves in our dreams," he explained. "I believe that is the reason behind nightmares.

I yawned, "Perhaps if you let me go to sleep right now, I can test out your theory and see if you speak the truth."

Both Vincent and Anne laughed and began to tease me. Apparently Mother had expressed how much of a shock it was for me to sleep in for a change to everyone at breakfast that morning. Thanks to her, I had been forced to endure near constant teasing remarks about it ever since. Quite Frankly, I was starting to grow tired of it, and was beginning to think of ways in which I could get back at them all.

"Does he normally sleep through breakfast?" Anne asked.

"Well, he normally does not get very much sleep. I always knew that his lack of sleep would catch up with him one day," he teased.

"You are hilarious, Vincent," I rolled my eyes, hoping that he would stop.

"Perhaps Thomas will one day invent something that will enable me to see inside the brain of my younger brother."

Thomas dreamed of becoming an inventor and eventually coming up with something to make life easier for everyone. We all enjoyed teasing him about it, mostly because we did not believe that such a dream would ever come true. First of all, he was the heir of his father's fortune and had to live up to people's expectations, just like Vincent. Second of all, I honestly did not believe that there was much left to invent. All the best ideas had already been taken. Although, as I thought that, a sudden idea came to mind.

"Perhaps he should invent a machine to count the number of women you have danced with." I suggested with a slight chuckle. "It would certainly make my life easier,"

For the first time since we had arrived, everyone laughed at Vincent, who did not seem too pleased by it. Obviously I had to join in. How could I possibly miss an opportunity to laugh at my older brother? Especially when I might not ever get another opportunity like it.

Just then, our aunt happened to enter the room. "What are you all talking about?" she asked, squishing in between us on the sofa.

"Jonathan was just about to tell us how many women Vincent has danced with," Anne explained to her.

Everyone, except for Vincent, looked over at me in anticipation, eager to hear what I had to say about my obnoxious brother. "On one occasion, I believe that I counted almost ten different women. That is not even counting all of the women he flirted with in between dances."

Vincent rolled his eyes "Quit exaggerating. I have not danced with that many."

"I am sure that you have a lot of admirers as well Jonathan," Aunt Josephine joined in.

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. Why did the conversation always have to turn against me? What had I ever done to deserve such torture? And of course Vincent had to jump in and tell them about how I had only danced with one woman. To him this was the biggest crime a man could commit, mostly because he himself could not bear the thought of being tied down to only one.