Winter Tales

Chapter 18 - Recuperation

++Jordan's POV++

"Come on, baby, let's have some lunch," I announce, approaching Lily who is lounging on the sofa, reading in her Harry Potter book.

"I'm not hungry."

She doesn't even look up from her book when she delivers her standard reply, which I have already decided I am going to ignore.

"You'll change your mind the moment you see the fantastic sandwiches I've made," I boast.

Lily just continues to read. I roll my eyes. She is definitely a stubborn kid. But I cannot really hold that against her, since this is a family trait which most of us have inherited, me included.

"Lily...," I say slowly and in a warning tone.

"But I just told you..."

"You know that this is not gonna work with me, so don't even try," I interrupt her. "Come on. Will's waiting for us."

She glances up at me, attempting to look annoyed, and I quickly school me features to make them look serious. Inwardly, I am fighting a battle because her antics are adorable and it makes me want to laugh out loud.

"Can I finish the chapter first? Please?"

"Of course you can." It is not like I can deny her anything when she asks so sweetly.

I plop down on the sofa next to her and lean my head on the back of it. As I stare up at the wooden beams on the high ceiling, my mind wanders to the reason for us being here. Immediately, my previous anger resurfaces when I think of what caused her to be unable go out of the house today with the rest of our family.

The snow storm has finally passed and after the kids' behaviour yesterday, Alex wisely decided not to force them to be stuck in the cabin for another day. Ironically, today the weather is gorgeous and it makes me even angrier to be inside because one of my brothers attacked Lily. The only thing that makes it somewhat bearable is that somebody needed to stay back with Will anyway.

Abandoning an injured minor for a whole day is something that Alex would obviously never stand for. And – technically – he is still on bedrest. I say technically, because Will obviously doesn't adhere to that rule, but I am okay with that. I would undoubtedly be accused of having double standards if I forced him to lay around all day while I am also doing the exact opposite of what I was told by my doctors.

Yesterday, after having spent hours in town to help clean up the mess the avalanche caused, we returned to the cabin only to find something reminding me of a war zone. Luke was quick to fill us in on what had happened and I saw red once I had checked out my little sister's injuries. My twin had to physically hold me back to keep me from tearing Aidan apart with my bare hands. I know that this was irrational behaviour on my part, but I was just so furious when I found out that one of our siblings had hurt Lily.

Alex, being the kids' legal guardian, ended up handling Aidan's punishment. I know that he was very upset with the kid and the situation, too, but he is also pretty good at keeping his emotions under control. We did hear some yelling from the bedroom, of course, because this is Aidan we are talking about and he never backs down from a fight, even if he is obviously in the wrong. But at least Alex didn't lose it and punish him physically.

I, on the other hand, couldn't have guaranteed that I wouldn't have at least roughed him up a bit. I generally draw the line at corporal punishment, since I don't believe that it actually works, but a „fight" where it gets a bit physical between brothers is completely acceptable in my world. Obviously, it would have been extremely unfair if I had gotten into it with my ten-year-old little brother. Hence, in hindsight, I am grateful for Josh's intervention and his ability to calm me down. It would only have made things worse if I had snapped.