3 Stepbrothers

It's a Strawberry!

"You're a loser." Cole muttered.

"Tell that to all the girls that love me." Blake stretched his arms until they laid behind his head. Even in the dark room I saw him wink at Cole. Everyone rolled their eyes except Shawn, his eyes were glued on the Doo-doo birds that were trying to defend a watermelon.

"Shhhh!" Shawn said waving his arms at us. He placed his head back on his hands while his elbows rested on the knees. "I'm trying to watch a movie. Geez why are you guys so talkative? I mean you're worse than me. And that's saying something." We all stopped talking but Shawn kept going. "I mean seriously who has a right to call about who's who? Sure maybe when I was a kid I was jealous when Blake got to be a Power Ranger for Halloween. Then Cole was Peter Pan. Do you know what I was? I was a freaking paper boy. Mom wanted us to all go as something that started with a P. So I got the lame costume with the soot on my face."

Cole turned to me with a devious grin. "He pulled the shortest straw. At least he got to choose between a paper boy or Pooh. Could you imagine Shawn in a Pooh bear outfit? He'd roll down the hills."

I laughed at that which turned into a headache. I groaned, laying my head down on the arm rest. The blankets were pulled close around me while the mini trashcan beside me was polluted with over flowing tissues. The boy's went back to watching the movie while I closed my eyes trying to sleep. My head was throbbing and my nose was so stuffy it was hard to breathe. The cold medicine wasn't taking much effect, even though I've been taking the amount said between the times.

Suzie had been upstairs helping Lilly trying to recreate the Thanksgiving dinner. After sleeping all day yesterday everyone was still disappointed we weren't able to celebrate Thanksgiving like every other family in the country. After all they had bought all the foods we had asked for. Even from the basement and my congested nose, I was able to sniff a bit of the roasting turkey in the oven. I could only imagine how intense the smell was to the boys.

Everything around me was a haze though. I lost track of time when I'd slip in and out of conciseness. One minute the screen had Ice Age the next I thought I saw a panda with noodles like a mustache. Someone shook my shoulder softly so I opened my eyes and saw Shawn. "Dinner time Miss Gorilla."

I nodded and got up putting the blanket over my shoulders like a cloak. "Need a ride up the stairs?" Cole asked me while I stumbled over the blanket. I had just realized I hadn't eaten all day. Most of the time I was sleeping and drinking water to get rid of this cold as soon as possible. I simply nodded and Cole picked me up with ease.

"She looks pretty light for a gorilla." Shawn muttered as we made our way upstairs. I smiled at that and when we reached the dining table it was nicely set up with fall decorations. Lilly had even put candles which were covered in red and yellow plastic leaves. Blake was helping with setting the dishes around the table. Cole set me down on my usual chair while Shawn helped Suzie get the drinks. I wasn't sure how long I'd be able to stay sitting up before my head would hurt more.

"How are you feeling?" Dad asked looking directly at me.

I shrugged keeping the box of tissues at my feet. "Better than this morning but I still feel sick."

"Of course," Lilly said, "You were in the rain all night. How would you not get sick?"

"Maybe if we dipped her in radioactive power she'd be fine!" Shawn blurted out with a crazed expression. "That is so going on one of my lists!"

"Dip Tori in some radioactive bucket of power?" Suzie asked confused.

Shawn nodded like a five year old, "Yeah!"