For The Love Of The Game

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His happiness shined light over the darkness of my nightmare. My nose wrinkled as I smiled, this time true.

"Hahahh Sto... stop, sis," he protested. He twisted in my arms, trying to slither out.

Happy tears welled in the corner of his eyes and streamed down his jolly face. It was a blessing being that young. To only be concerned with playing and having fun — the good times. I moved my attack to his ribs and he lost it in a mixture of cries of joy and pain.

"That's what you get for waking me up on my day off." I placed one final big kiss on the heaving cheek and ended his torture. His tiny limbs scrambled quickly out of my reach.

Mikey breathed heavily, catching his breath. "Buh" — he gasped — "we have to call Mom and Dad!" His voice pitched high, choking down the lingering laughs.

"That's not until the afternoon."

I scooted out of bed and slipped my feet into a pair of warm fuzzy slippers. I walked into my bathroom and faced myself in the mirror. Dark eye bags stared back at me. My gaze fell to the sink as I brushed my teeth, avoiding the scarecrow woman in the mirror. Momentarily, I considered how nice it would be to spend the day in bed. From the looks of it, I really needed it. I was starting to look like a member of the Adams. But Jay... and Mikey... And everything else.

It didn't take long for Mikey's tiny feet to follow me in. "I wanna tell them about my first day of school!"

I washed my mouth and face one last time before taking his hand in mine. "Let's go give them a call." I walked towards my bedroom door, taking Mikey and my laptop with me.

Once in the living room, my eyes scanned over the apartment. Jay sat on the couch, yelling at the large TV screen with a Switch controller in his hands. No surprise there. He wore some workout shorts and a simple red t-shirt.

I made mental notes of all the chores that needed to be done for the day.

The apartment was a hot mess when we first moved in. The previous goblin tenant did quite a number on the walls; full of scratches, holes, and stains. A blessing in disguise, really. The landlord struggled to rent it and was low on cash when we found the place. It worked out perfectly since I could rent it for real cheap, under the agreement that I would fix certain things myself, of course. Today, the apartment was unrecognizable.

With the help of my brothers, the holes were filled and the walls were painted dark navy. It contrasted beautifully with the pastel-colored furniture. The light ambiance from the living room flowed into the kitchen, partially separated by a half wall.

"Ughh," I grunted at the pile of dishes that still polluted the kitchen sink. I needed to remember to scold Jay about that later. At the very least, give him a good ear tug or wet willy.

I walked over to the light grey couch— the centerpiece of the living room. Once next to Jay, I flopped onto the sofa and pulled Mikey into my lap.

"We should call Mom and Dad," I said, slightly distracted by the TV screen.

Jay was making his way through one of the boss fights in Breath Of The Wild. Well, struggling through, ha! I bit my lip not to scream out, 'That's not how you beat Waterblight Ganon!' But at the moment, there were more important things than reminding my brother I could kick his ass in video games. I'll pin that for later.

"Jayyyyyyyyyy!" I obnoxiously sang into his right ear.

Jay glared back, narrowing his dark brown eyes at me, before reluctantly pausing the game.

Running through the usual routine, I set up the computer at the center of the coffee table, pulled up Skype, and tapped my feet to the beat of the melody. The three of us sat there, in awkward silence, waiting. That fucking ringtone scrapped against my inner ear. One day... one freaking day, I would never have to hear it again. I hoped.