Living with the Millers

Chapter 3 - First Morning in the House

Chapter 3 - First Morning in the House

I woke up the next morning to several children jumping on my bed.  In a second I recognized the uncontrollable giggles filling my ears and groaned.  My sisters had a bad habit of waking me up very early in the morning, even when they had been up late themselves.

“Must you jump on my bed?” I muttered, hugging a spare pillow.  Arielle jumped on top of me, fanning herself out as far as she could.

“Only because we love you,” she said, giving me a kiss on the cheek.  “Please get up?  I don’t want to go downstairs alone."

“Why didn’t you ask London?” I sat up, rubbing my eyes.  After one look the older girls hopped off of my bed, hanging their heads.  They knew better than that, and they knew I would scold them later.  Honestly, they were probably just acting out because of the move.

“She said to ask you,” Arielle answered, crossing her arms.  Sighing, I slipped from the bed and ran a hand through my hair.  The sun had barely risen above the horizon, that’s how early it was.  Spinning on my heels, I placed a hand on my hip.

“Really?  You couldn’t take your sister downstairs to get some food?” I asked, glaring at London.  I didn’t expect her to take on all the responsibilities around here, but she was fifteen, she at least needed to try.  There comes a time when you have to mature, and for her, this was it.

“I didn’t want to,” she deadpanned, shrugging her shoulders. “Besides, you’re the oldest.  That’s your job.”  I opened my mouth to tell her off, but then swallowed hard.  Suddenly I realized that all four of my sisters were staring at me, and now was not the time to get into a fight.  Cora looked like she was about to throw a fit, so I quickly grabbed Arielle’s hand and dragged her from my room.

We walked down the stairs together, the girls whispering along the way.  Every time a stair creaked or someone spoke too loud, I winced.  As far as I was concerned we were guests in this house, and I had no intentions of disturbing anyone.  The goal was to get to the kitchen, grab some food, and go outside to eat where we hopefully wouldn’t be disturbing anyone.

Key word being hopefully.

Once we were at the bottom of the stairs, I paused.  I hadn’t exactly been mapping the house out mentally and I couldn’t quite remember where the kitchen was. “Oh for god’s sake,” London groaned, grabbing my wrist. “It’s this way.”

Snapping, I twisted my hand and grabbed London’s forearm.  She froze, eyes widening. “I don’t know where this smartass attitude came from, but it’s going to stop.  Now.” I growled through gritted teeth, yanking her back when she tried to walk away.  The other girls kept walking, which I was thankful for. “I mean it, London Faith.”

“What are you going to do?  Spank me?” she asked, roughly pulling her arm from my grasp.  My lips parted as I gasped, watching her stomp away.  Shock ran through me at rapid pace.  I had thought she was handling this well, apparently I was wrong.

When I walked into the kitchen, the girls had already ripped into the cabinets, searching for food.  “Guys, please don’t make a mess,” I groaned, crossing my arms.  The absolute last thing I wanted was for Savanna to come downstairs to a messy house.  

“We’re not,” Cora frowned, sticking her tongue out at me.  She was standing on her tip toes, trying to reach a box of cereal on the top shelf of the cupboard.  Sighing, I walked up behind her and grabbed the box.  “Thanks,” she chirped, giving me a smile.

“Shi, can I have applesauce?” Arielle asked, cocking her head to the side.  She held the container out to me, as if to say that I should know where the bowls and spoons were.