++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.
Lily was pretty much out of commission for the rest of yesterday, the poor thing. Of course there were voices who claimed that she was milking it and that she was enjoying all the extra attention she was getting. But being no stranger to injuries myself, I know that the bruise on her stomach must hurt like a bitch. Telling from where it is located on her body, I am also pretty sure that Aidan caught her bottom rib on the left side. I did a perfunctory check, because I was worried that she might have cracked or even broken said rib, but it looked unharmed. However, bruised ribs can hurt almost as much as broken ones. I also know that from experience.
This morning, once it was established that the storm had passed, we got the kids up in time to go back into town and continue with the volunteering. Josh convinced Alex that there would be plenty of tasks that the boys could get stuck into, so it was decided that the twins and Jack would join the clean-up squad. Also, as part of Aidan's punishment, Alex „sentenced" him to 20 hours of additional chores. Putting him to work in town will go towards that. Once we get home, he will be grounded for a week and Josh confiscated his phone for two.
But this all means that someone needs to stay at the cabin to look after Lily and Will. My little sister barely managed to climb out of bed this morning without dissolving into tears from pain, although she tried – unsuccessfully – to hide them. And when Alex told her that she had to stay home, she got even more upset and only calmed down when I offered to stay back with them. Secretly, I am not too annoyed about that, because I have to admit that it was a bit irresponsible of me to dive head first into all that physical labour yesterday. My knee sure will benefit if I take it a bit easy today.
So, here we are, with Will mostly watching Netflix on Alex' iPad in his room and Lily having spent the past three hours lying around on the sofa with her book. Meanwhile, I am slowly but surely losing my mind because I feel like a caged animal. I am so used to spending time outdoors, what with my job usually taking place somewhere in the desert, that it feels very strange and very unsatisfactory to be cooped up inside for hours on end. It sure doesn't help me feeling less angry towards my idiot kid brother.
A small yelp brings me back to the present and I whip my head around to look towards Lily. She has put the book upside down next to her and must have tried to sit up to get off the sofa. My heart immediately goes out to her as I realise that she is hurting.
"Hold your horses, kiddo. You gotta be a bit more careful for a few days," I tell her, faking enthusiasm to hopefully not let on just how much it pisses me off to see her like this.
She squints up at me and I flash her a bright smile while I get to my feet. Turning back towards her, I lean down and place my hands under her arm pits.
"Ready?" I ask.
Lily nods a bit apprehensively and I wonder for a moment if I can do this. I hate nothing more than to add to her discomfort. But I also know that she has to go through with this and man up, as Sam would put it.
"All right, here we go."
I slowly pull her up into a sitting position and stop for a moment, catching her eye.
"You good? Can we go all the way?" I question her gently.
She nods again.
"What was that, Private Taylor?" I jokingly bark in my marine sergeant voice.
"Yes sir, we can, sir!" Lily replies with a barely contained giggle.
This is what I have been aiming for and I feel a weight lift off me when I realise that I successfully got her out of her funk.
"I taught you well, private," I praise her, remaining in character for just a few seconds longer.
At the same time I pull her to her feet, making sure to keep a hand on her shoulders to steady her.
"You're doing a great job, drill sergeant. – Sir," she adds mischievously, like an afterthought.
"Are you good to go to the kitchen now?" I ask, back to being serious again.
"Absolutely," she claims, sounding determined.
I somewhat reluctantly let go of her and she stumbles slightly, trying to sort out her balance. She swats my helping hands away when I am about to put them back on her shoulders.
"I'm okay, Jo-Jo. Stop worrying," Lily huffs and sighs dramatically for extra effect.
As if to show me, she starts to make her way towards the dining area. I try my best to ignore her slightly shuffled movements, reminding myself that in a couple of days she will be as good as new. I have been there and I know how these things go. I also know how annoying it is if people around you try to smother you when you are injured, so I do my best to stuff the overprotective big brother emotions way to the back of my consciousness.
"Are you coming?" my sister cheekily calls back at me.
With a few strides I have caught up to her. I intentionally turn my back to her so that I don't have to watch her very deliberate movements as she climbs onto her chair at the table. Let's just say that I am very proud of how much of a tough cookie she is.
"Took you long enough," Will grunts, glancing up at us for a split second before turning his attention back to his phone.
"I had to finish my chapter," Lily offers as an explanation.
"Yeah, whatever."
I guess grumpy Will is back. Luke told us how sweet he was with Lily after the incident yesterday. Apparently, his being pleasant has its limitations. I notice that he has also already mostly devoured his lunch. Patience is not one of his strong suites, either.
"Thank you, Jordan, for making me such an amazing sandwich for lunch," I remark sarcastically, mimicking his voice.
"Huh?" Lily and Will say at the same time.
While my teenage brother looks at me unimpressed, Lily simply looks confused.
"Forget it," I sigh and go to the kitchen to grab a drink for Lily and I.
Sitting down opposite her, I cannot help but grin at the wide-eyed look she is giving me after she has seen the sandwich that I had placed in front of her. It is a masterpiece, if I dare say so myself. I might not be that big of a cook, but nobody beats me at making proper sandwiches.
"Umm...how are we supposed to eat those?" Lily asks, sounding incredulous as she first points at her sandwich and then towards my own.
"With our hands and mouths?" I offer.
"They're massive!"
"So?"
"How can I bite into it? I cannot open my mouth that wide!"
"I believe I know that at least someone at this table has quite a big mouth," I tease her.
Lily glares at me. She knows exactly that I mean her with that, not Will. While he can be a real pain in the ass and usually shows no respect, he is not really known as a big mouth. Instead, he prefers to stay out of other people's business and keeps in the background. Unless he is having it out with Alex, of course. But then it is about him and not about anybody else.
"Speak for yourself," she shoots back.
I must say, I am impressed. The boys are clearly rubbing off on her. Inwardly, it makes me feel relieved – and also a bit proud – to see that she is developing a bit of an attitude. For the best part of her life, she has been a pretty shy kid. Seeing her come out of her shell a bit more, at least around us as her family, is good. She will benefit from that later in life.
"That sandwich is the perfect size for my mouth," I state and take a big bite out of mine.
Lily watches me as I chew happily on my lunch and then she grabs hers. I nearly choke on my food when she demonstrates quite literally how her hands can barely fit around the masterpiece. The pointed look she gives me makes me laugh out loud.
"I cannot even hold it properly. This is crazy!" she complains and puts it back down.
I have to admit, she has a point. While this is a perfectly sized sandwich for me, it does look slightly out of proportion when Lily is holding it. A thought crosses my mind and I grab my phone.
"Can you lift it up once again? I gotta send the guys a picture of this, because it actually looks pretty hilarious. The thing is almost as big as you," I grin.
I hear a chuckle come from Will. So he is not completely ignoring us. Good to know.
Lily theatrically rolls her eyes but does as she is told. She is used to me taking photos at every opportunity and doesn't question my motives anymore. I don't even have to give her any instructions as she automatically starts making funny faces behind the huge sandwich. I manage to get a couple of really amusing shots within no time and quickly shoot a message off on our family chat before I put the phone aside.
"All right, let's solve this problem, shall we?"
I grab her plate and make quick work of deconstructing, cutting and reconstructing her lunch. A few minutes later Lily is happily munching on her sandwich.
"This is really yummy," she compliments me in between two bites.
So much for not being hungry.
If I were a person who blushes, my cheeks would have turned red. Because my little sister offering compliments on anything food-related – apart from sweets – must be a first. As far as I know, she doesn't even have a favourite meal, since she just generally finds eating bothersome.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that the Jordan Special meets the lady's requirements," I reply.
"Why is it so good?" she asks curiously.
"Because I made it?"
"That's not what I mean..."
"Because it's made with a lot of love?" I suggest, ignoring the glare she is sending my way for me not taking her question seriously.
Will snorts and I lightly kick his leg with my foot.
"Joooorrrdan," Lily groans.
"All right, it's because of the secret ingredient that I put in there."
"And what's that?"
"If I tell you, it's not a secret anymore."
"Oh, come on! Please tell me!" she begs.
"If I do that, I'll have to kill you afterwards."
"You're so weird, Jordan!"
"I'm just protecting my secrets."
"I won't tell anymore. I promise!"
And here come the puppy dog eyes.
"What about Will? He'll hear, too, and then I'd also have to get rid of him. That sounds like an awful lot of work just to satisfy your curiosity," I muse.
"Jo-Jo! Stop being so annoying and start being nice to me again."
"Hmmm."
I pretend to think about that and I can tell that Lily is getting impatient across from me. It is amusing just how curious she is. This is one of her characteristics that we love to tease her about. Just witnessing to what lengths she is willing to go to get to the bottom of something she thinks she needs to know about is always very entertaining.
Some of us have been known to take advantage of her curiosity by getting her to agree to deals that are totally unfair and put her at a clear disadvantage. Because whatever she wants to know is normally not worth what she is offering to do in return for being told. If it wasn't so hilarious to see her squirm and literally sell her soul in order to get information, we adults really should be ashamed for taking advantage of her weakness like this. But at the end of the day, we are brothers and sister, and it is a sibling's prerogative to treat another siblings a bit unfair at times.
My cell phone rings, saving me – and more importantly, Lily – from making any shady deals. Actually, it is not exactly my phone, since that got damaged beyond repair in the avalanche. But Josh generously gave me his to use, since he also brought his work phone along. He claims that he doesn't need two and he now lets me use his private one until I can get mine replaced. I only had to exchange the SIM card.
I glance down at it and have to smile. It is Sean.
"Aren't you picking it up?" Lily asks.
She winces as she straightens in her seat in order to catch a glimpse at the display of my phone that is lying next to me on the table. I quickly grab it, deciding not to tell her just yet that it is Sean. Teasing her is just too much fun and I cannot pass up the opportunity. Also, I know that she will be excited when she finds out who it is.
"Hey, man," I greet my younger brother.
"Hi, J. How's it going?" Sean replies.
"We're hanging in there."
"Who is it?" Lily, predictably, already wants to know.
"What do you mean? And why are you not in town? I thought you were helping with the cleaning-up process?" Sean asks.
"How would you know where I am?"
"I just saw your post on the family chat."
Ah, that would explain his calling me.
"We're just having lunch, Will, the munchkin and I," I tell him.
"Joooorrrdan," Lily whines again.
"Is that her complaining in the background?"
"Yeah. She's being a little pain in the butt."
It is hard to keep a straight face when I see the thunderous look that the tiny eight-year-old is giving me.
"Well, there's a surprise," my brother laughs. "But it's good to see that you're fattening her up a bit."
"Jordan!"
"She's a new convert to the Jordan Special," I say, still ignoring her.
"You don't get to talk about me to that person if you don't tell me who the person is!" Lily complains loudly.
I childishly poke my tongue out at her.
"So why again are you not in town?" Sean repeats his earlier question. "Is your knee giving you trouble?"
Apparently, nobody has told him yet about yesterday's incident. While this might not be surprising in the average family, since he lives so far away, it actually is quite unusual for us. I also spent the past two years almost 8000 miles away, but I am always very much up-to-speed on what is going on back home. Mainly when it comes to the younger kids. A group chat with seven people in it easily covers all the bases.
"There was an unfortunate incident yesterday that involved the more rambunctious of the little twins and our darling sister." I say mysteriously, intentionally ignoring the second part of his question.
"Oh no. Were they at it again? What happened? Did you get stuck staying behind with them because they got grounded?" Sean assumes, knowing our youngest siblings only too well.
"Let's just say blood and tears were shed," I deadpan.
"Jo-Jo, please tell me who you're talking to."
Lily is now trying a new approach but I continue to act as if I cannot hear her.
"Ouch. That sounds just like them. Whose blood?"
Sean knows as well as I do that it is not necessarily always Aidan who is to blame if things get heated between him and Lily. She can be a little devil, too. And she has been known to bring out her claws, literally, on various occasions.
"Lily's."
"Jordan, you're the most annoying person ever!" Lily yells at me, having reached a new level of frustration.
"Would you stop whining?" Will complains. "And tell her already, Jordan, this is getting on my nerves."
"But she's okay?" Sean meanwhile asks.
"Not okay enough to run around town, hence us being stuck at the cabin. Plus, someone needed to stay back with Will anyway," I explain.
"Nobody asked you to," Will mutters.
"That sucks, man. What exactly happened?" Sean wants to know.
"It's okay, I volunteered. I don't get to spend enough time with her as it is, so I thought it's the least I can do. And Aidan got her good in the ribs and stomach with one of those poles that the table football players are attached to. She..."
"Jordan, if you don't...ouch, ouch, ouch!"
"Lily!" I exclaim, my attention suddenly one hundred percent on my little sister.
She is hunched over, holding her stomach with her face contorted in pain.
"What's going on?" Sean demands to know, obviously having heard the panic in my voice.
"What did you do, baby?"
I have left my seat and am now crouched down next to her chair. While pressing the loudspeaker button on my phone and placing it on the table with one hand, my other hand gently brushes her hair aside so that I can get a better look at her face. She eventually glances up at me.
"I...just wanted to...to come over to you since you w-wouldn't tell me who was o-on the phone and I f-forgot that it hurts when I move t-too quickly," she stammers, sniffling pitifully.
"Aww, baby, I'm sorry. But you've got to be more careful, you hear me? I don't want you to hurt yourself even more," I try to comfort her.
"Hey, baby girl, what are you doing?" Sean's voice sounds from the phone.
Immediately, as if someone has hit a switch, Lily's face lights up.
"Sean!" she exclaims happily. "It's you!"
"Yes, sweetheart, it's me," he laughs. "Your favourite big brother. Again."
I let out an incredulous snort at him being so assuming.
"You wish," I say.
"You're both my favourites," Lily states diplomatically.
"Nice," Will remarks sarcastically from his spot at the table, acting offended.
"You know I like you a lot, too, Will," our little sister tells him affectionately.
"Oh, hey there, Will," Sean greets him. "How's your shoulder?"
"Just peachy. The drugs they gave me are not too shabby. Legally tripping is not without its merits," he replies.
I don't like how he talks about drug consumption as if it means nothing, but that is not something I want to get into with him right now. It is a conversation to have when Lily is out of earshot.
"He's a ray of sunshine, as usual," I tease him instead.
"Nobody asked you," Will snaps.
"See? That just proves my point," I laugh.
"I want to see you!" Lily shouts, completely ignoring our banter and attempting to grab my phone.
I quickly push her hand away, giving her a look. She knows that she is not supposed to help herself to our phones. It is one of Alex' rules that I am totally in favour of, ever since one of the twins – I think it was Noah – managed to lock Josh out of his phone for good a few years ago, because he repeatedly put in a wrong code. To say that my twin was ready to blow a gasket when he had to reset his phone completely and lost all his saved and personalised data, is putting it mildly. Now he is almost obsessed with regularly backing up his phone's contents.
"I know, sweetheart, I want to see you, too. But I cannot get away from here until the Easter holidays, you know that," Sean placates her.
Lily giggles, which apparently confuses my brother on the other end of the line, telling from the weird noises that are coming through the speaker. He clearly misunderstood our sister's demand.
"She just wants you on FaceTime," I clarify with a laugh.
I grab a chair and push it right next to Lily's for me to sit on. Normally, I would just pull her onto my lap but I am cautious because of her injury and decide against it. After tapping the screen a couple of times, we are greeted by our own reflection.
"Where are you?" Lily impatiently asks Sean when his little rectangle remains black.
"I don't look very socially acceptable yet, so don't say I didn't warn you," my brother announces.
A few seconds later a pretty dishevelled version of my 25-year-old brother pops up on my display. I cannot help but laugh out loud at his appearance.
"What the hell happened to you?" I snort. "Dude, it's almost 3pm in Chicago!"
"You are in Chicago, right?" I add as an afterthought.
"You need to shave," is Lily's comment after she has taken in the state of our sibling.
"You're right about that, baby girl. – And yes, J, I'm in Chicago. I've..."
"Are you still in bed?" Lily interrupts, sounding incredulous.
My brother's hold on his phone has wavered a bit and we can clearly see that he is propped up against the head board of his bed. I hope he is alone...
"Please don't tell me that you've got...well, you know...in your room," I carefully voice my concern.
The look Sean gives me would make lesser men than me shake in their boots.
"What do you take me for?" he asks, still narrowing his eyes at me to emphasize just how insulting my assumption was.
"Sorry," I reply sarcastically. "So, come out with it already. Why do you look like death warmed over? Long night?"
"Indeed. Three in a row, actually. And not the fun kind, either. I have an important exam tomorrow and had to pull a couple of all-nighters," he admits, brushing a hand through his tousled hair, which doesn't really do much to make him look any more alive.
Now I remember Josh telling us about the call with Sean and his cruelling exam preparation.
"Well, I don't envy you, bro. But out of curiosity: since when do you need to put extra hours into studying? I thought you pass your exams in your sleep? At least that's what it always looked like back in high school," I reminisce.
I have never been much of a student myself, preferring physical activities over sitting at a desk and immersing myself in books. When I didn't get my football scholarship, thanks to that darn knee injury in my senior year, it never even occurred to me to try to go to college, like my twin did. Although he is not as smart as Sean, who is in a league of his own when it comes to that, Josh also seemed to take university in his stride. He has got a law degree, took the Bar exam and bagged himself a well-paid job straight out of school. The only other sibling of mine who values education as much as these two is Ben.
Sam and Alex both went to community college, but Alex only finished one year before he decided to attend the police academy instead. He was still finishing that up when he became our younger siblings' guardian. How he managed to pull it off to get his qualifications while taking on all this extra responsibility is still a bit of a mystery to me. He claims that he couldn't have done it without our help and there might be a bit of truth in that. But he definitely shouldered more than anyone else.
Currently, Luke's future and further education is my oldest brother's main concern with regards to getting everybody onto a solid career path. While Alex certainly had some influence on Sam's and Ben's plans for their future, Luke is the first sibling that he raised throughout his whole teenage years. I know that Alex struggles greatly with the boy's decision not to go to college but to pursue his music dreams instead. It has been – and still is – a major issue that stands between them. I doubt that Luke will ever give in, so I just hope that Alex realises this soon and backs down. It is not a healthy situation for either of them to be in, because it puts an unnecessary strain on their relationship.
But there is reason for hope, if I can believe what Sam told me after they went out on Sunday night. Alex apparently was pretty impressed by Luke's performance that evening. Maybe that means that he will ease up on him a bit and not get into constant arguments with our domestic artist over his college education – or lack thereof.
"High school does not even start to compare to attempting a PhD," Sean reminds me, rolling his eyes at my apparent ignorance.
"I know that, man. I'm just a bit surprised, is all. But also kind of relieved to hear that even the brightest amongst us need to put in some effort every now and then. It's only fair, if you ask me."
"Yeah, whatever. – Now, tell me, sweetheart, how are you feeling?" Sean changes the topic and turns his attention to our youngest.
"I'm okay," she claims. "It almost doesn't hurt anymore – and I get to have Jo-Jo all to myself!"
The way she grins when she says that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I know that I have a special place in her heart, just as she does in mine. But to actually hear her vocalize it makes it very real. I wrap my arm around her and pull her gently towards me, planting a kiss on top of her head.
"A real trooper, as always," I say.
"That's my girl," Sean compliments her, too. "I hope you'll feel well enough tomorrow to go out in the snow again."
I cringe inwardly. For someone who is attempting to achieve a PhD in psychology, that was a pretty stupid thing to bring up. I blame it on his lack of sleep. Because I highly doubt that she will be back to running around with the other kids by tomorrow. Even if she does feel better, Alex most likely will not want to hear any of that and will refuse to let her go outside.
"I'll be back out there tomorrow," my sister says earnestly. "We will go snowboarding again, right, Jo-Jo?"
"I don't think so, baby," I say, glaring at Sean for putting these kinds of thoughts in her mind.
He should know that we are not planning any more such activities for the remainder of our vacation. He seems to have gotten the message, because he looks suitably contrite for a split second when he realises his mistake.
"There is...," I try to explain, but Lily interrupts me.
"But I..."
"Hey, let me finish," I scold her and she immediately clamps her mouth shut. "What I wanted to say is that nobody is going up the mountain tomorrow, most likely."
"But, Jordan, I have to," she insists, giving me a stern look.
It takes me a moment to realise that nobody has yet talked to her about the impact that the avalanche had on the town and the winter sports infrastructure. No wonder she has got it in her head that we will go snowboarding again tomorrow. I should clear this up with her.
"Is that so?" I ask, playing along for a bit just to see where this is going.
"Yes! Remember that bet I have with Will? I cannot lose!"
Ah, here we go. The infamous bet she mentioned on the first day.
Now it is Sean's turn to laugh.
"You bet against Will? What on earth made you do that?" he wants to know.
Will, who has been strangely quiet for the past few minutes, heaves a sigh and starts to shuffle around on his chair. I would not be surprised if he were to make his escape soon. Clearly, there is something shady going on and I would love to get to the bottom of it.
"He said that I cannot beat him in a downhill race and I said I could," Lily replies matter-of-factly.
I watch as Sean literally splutters as her words sink in. He obviously thinks what I am thinking: Lily is even more naïve than we thought, if she honestly believes that she can beat Will – or any of her brothers – in anything sports related.
"Umm...baby girl...I don't really know how to break this to you, so I come out straight with it. I consider it my duty as your big brother: you really should stop taking on such bets," Sean advises her.
"Why?" Lily asks innocently.
"Because there is no way on earth that you're going to beat Will racing on a snowboard! He's been doing this for years and you have only been practising for a couple of days. While I am sure that you're incredibly talented, my little cutie pie, it won't be enough. Like, ever. You'd just lose. So please, forget about that bet."
I guess Sean was serious about giving her that long overdue reality check. Also, between the lines I read that he distrusts Will that the betting terms are even remotely fair. I glance in Will's direction to see his reaction to Sean's hidden accusation. He acts as if he has not even been listening in on our conversation. But knowing him, he is only pretending to be engrossed by whatever is on his phone.
Our trouble maker brother has been known to take advantage of his younger siblings' naiveté. This includes Lily. Accepting a bet with her is about as unfair as making random deals with her.
Honestly, how she hasn't figured that out yet is a bit of a mystery to me, seeing as she always, to my knowledge without exception, loses and ends up having to do stupid favours and chores.
"Aren't you guys always telling us that we need to learn how not to be sore losers?" Lily asks, sounding a bit smug.
It takes me a moment to figure out where she is going with this but when I do, I cannot suppress a smirk. She is good, practically throwing one of Sean's life lessons right back in his face. That is what he gets for regularly preaching quotes from parenting books to our youngsters. Alex does the same and to this day I am not sure which one of the two started this in the first place.
"Umm...that's not what I...," Sean struggles for a comeback.
His incredulity makes me laugh out loud, which results in him giving me a dirty look now.
"I made a bet with Will and we're sticking to it. It's none of you guys' business," Lily tells him firmly.
She then turns towards me and levels a glare at me, challenging me to contradict her. I defensively lift me hands and shrug.
"Hey, I am not saying anything," I defend myself.
"But you are thinking it," she claims.
"And since when are you a mind reader?" I question her.
"I don't need to read your mind. I just have to look at your face."
Now it is Sean's turn to laugh. Lily is just too much sometimes. And due to her being so adorable, it is pretty much impossible to scold her whenever she lets her sassy side come out. I guess Luke was right when he claimed earlier this week that I am putty in her hands.
"It's your decision who you are making bets with, kiddo. As long as you don't come crying to me if you lose, I'm totally fine with it. But I am sorry to disappoint you for this one. You know that the lifts are still closed because of the avalanche, don't you? There has been quite a lot of damage and they first need to fix that before they can allow people to go back up the mountain," I explain to her.
Lily looks up at me with big, round eyes.
"Oh," she says quietly, processing the information.
"Yes, oh. That also means that we will not be able to get back on our snowboards during this vacation. You'll have to postpone your bet to next year."
"Really, Jordan?" Sean sighs, shaking his head.
"Will? Can we have the bet again next year?" Lily asks him.
He looks up from his phone and comically raises an eyebrow at her, pretending to be thinking about this request. Next to me, my little sister almost bursts in anticipation. Eventually, he shrugs.
"Sure," is his simple reply.
Curiosity about what they bet on is almost eating me from the inside. But I know that those two won't tell us, so I don't even bother asking. Lily is really good at keeping secrets. And getting information out of Will is almost impossible anyway.
"Okay. Good," Lily says and then turns her attention back to the phone call with Sean. "You can stop worrying now and start again in a year."
"You heard the girl," I grin.
"All right, my dear siblings, I have to go. My books are calling out towards me," Sean announces, clearly done with this pointless conversation.
"Come on, bro, admit it. You love it, really," I reply.
"Normally I would agree. But it's getting a bit too much right now. I cannot wait for this to be over. A break is long overdue."
"I think you should take a break next week and come to visit us," Lily immediately suggests. "I would look after you and make you feel better."
Although she has a huge bunch of siblings to choose from that could potentially keep her entertained, she never tires of asking Sean or me to come back home. Lily is incredibly loyal in that respect. The others have a long time ago accepted that we are no longer living with them. I reckon a few of the younger ones are actually glad to have some of us adults off their backs.
Our little sister is different. She doesn't yet mind us being involved in her life. I hope that won't change anytime soon, but I know that that is an illusion. Sooner rather than later she will become more independent and I will not stop her, of course. So we should enjoy that she likes to spend time with us while it still lasts.
"That is a wonderful thought, baby girl. I would love to have you spoil me for a bit. Unfortunately, next week, classes start up again. But I'll see you at Easter," Sean promises her.
"That's still ages away," Lily complains.
"It's in six weeks, actually," I tell her.
"Will you still be here then, too?"
"Just about, yeah," I reply, glad that I don't have to disappoint her for a change.
"Yay! So we're all going to be together?"
"Looks like it," Sean says with a smile.
"Cool!" Her whole face is beaming in anticipation.
"Right, I'm off. You take care now, sweetheart, and get well soon. The same goes for you guys," Sean calls out a bit louder so that Will can her him, too. "Thinking about it, you're one sorry bunch of banged up people. Unbelievable. We should consider putting a ban on winter vacations. – Anyway, thanks for the chat!"
He waves at us and we return the gesture.
"Bye, Sean! I love you!" Lily says and sends him an air kiss, like she always does when she is talking to us on FaceTime.
"Love you, too, cutie pie. – Bye, big and little brothers!"
"Bye, Sean," Will shouts.
"Good luck with your exam," I tell him. "Speak to you later."
Thankfully, Sean presses the disconnect button right away. Lily has that bad habit to never want to hang up first and she can play the "saying-an-endless-goodbye-game" for ages, if any of us are willing to go along with it.
"And now we finish our lunch because I'm starving!" I announce and pull my plate towards me.