Disclaimer: I own none of the Bonanza characters but I probably would be rich if I did!
A/N: Just a short Bonanza fic I started at 12:30 A.M. and finished about 6:30 pm today. Yes, I did have breaks in between. I hope the grammar is all correct. I checked it over a couple times and it seemed to be pretty good. I got the idea of what they do from what I use to do as a kid as well. Enjoy and if you like it, let me know!
Upside Down
"Hey, Adam, you know you look kind of funny upside-down," Joe said with a giggle as he lay on the floor of their home staring up at his older brother.
"I look funny upside-down because you're not use to seeing me that way," Adam told his brother with an amused smile as he looked down at him on the floor.
Joseph Cartwright was only about nine and curiosity was surly getting the best of him. He had been spinning around in circles before he had collapsed on the floor in their great room. Now he stared quietly up at his brother who sat in his favorite chair reading a book.
Adam had been left in charge of Joe while his younger brother, Hoss and their Father went to town to get Little Joe a present for his upcoming birthday. It would be his tenth birthday tomorrow morning and Hoss and their Pa had gone off to pick it up. Of course, Adam really didn't mind being left alone with his younger brother besides he was suppose to have a talk with him while their father was gone.
"No, really," Joe insisted as he looked up at his brother while he laid with his back on the floor. "You look different."
Adam gave him a smile before going back to his book. His brother thought up the strangest things sometimes.
"Hey Adam," Little Joe said as he stared up at the ceiling. "Have you ever laid down on the floor down here?"
The oldest Cartwright paused for a moment as he looked down at his little brother once more. He never had laid on the floor of any of his homes he lived in from what he could remember. He had been much too old for such things when they came to the Ponderosa and before that time, he never had a chance to as a child as they moved from place to place.
"No, Joe. I never did," Adam replied thoughtfully as he stared off into space.
"Well, c'mere then. It's fun!" Joe told him cheerfully as he tugged on his brother's pant leg. "C'mon!" he begged his brother with a sparkle in his eyes.
The eldest Cartwright couldn't resist the continued pleading of his brother and decided to see what was so great about it. "Alright, Little Joe," Adam told him with a resigned sigh before he placed his book in his chair for later.
Settling himself down next to his brother he could see what Joe found so great about the floor. Adam rested his head back on the hard wood floor next to his brother as he gazed up to the ceiling as well. He had laid like this many times on the trail and on his trip out west with his father but those nights he had looked up into the night and seen the stars in the sky above him. Tonight when he looked up, he saw the strong lumber that kept the Cartwright's home together.
"Do you like it, Adam?" Joe asked as he turned towards his older brother.
"Yeah, I do," his brother replied as his eyes followed a bean across the ceiling.
"See? I told you it was fun," the youngest Cartwright replied as he went back to staring at the ceiling again.
"Why do you like it, Little Joe?" Adam asked his little brother curiously as he began to follow the origin of another piece of lumber.
"Oh, I dunno. I was dizzy when I first laid down 'cuz the room was spinning 'round me. Then it kinda settled down and I started noticing things that I never looked at before." Joe replied.
"Like what, little brother?" Adam asked him curiously.
"Well, like the boards in the ceiling. I never noticed them before. I like how they're up there holdin' everythin' in place," Joe replied as he pointed out the boards that he saw.
"Yeah," his brother replied. "Without those beams our upstairs would be our downstairs. How would you like to go into your room and find that it's not there anymore?" Adam asked his brother with a grin.
"I wouldn't like that. Where would I sleep?" Joe asked worriedly.
Adam smiled at his little brother. "You could sleep downstairs."
"But..if my room wasn't there, wouldn't your room be gone and Hoss's and Pa's?" Little Joe asked his brother with wide eyes.
The eldest Cartwright son nodded. "That's right. If that ceiling wasn't held together with our lumber, none of us would have a place to sleep."
"Then I'd have to sleep here?" Joe asked. "Would I have to sleep here?" he asked curiously as he watched his brother nod a response to his last question.
"Well, why wouldn't you want to sleep here?" his brother responded as he furrowed his forehead in thought. "It would be warm and if there wasn't an upstairs, I suppose you would have to sleep here."
"Oh," the youngest Cartwright replied, sounding a bit let down.
"Why, Joe? Where you thinking of sleeping somewhere else?" Adam asked as he wondered what his little brother might have had in mind.
"Well, if there were no upstairs and we had to sleep downstairs, I think I'd like to sleep in the kitchen with Hoss," Joe told his other brother quite thoughtfully.
Adam broke into a wide grin at his little brother's comment. He didn't need to explain. Little Joe Cartwright was getting an interest in food that could have rivaled his older brother. It might have been the pies that Hop Sing had recently started to make or it might have be the fact that Little Joe might actually have a sudden interest in food.
"Are you sure he'd let you in the kitchen, little brother? He's still mad at Hoss and you for stealing that pie yesterday," Adam replied with a chuckle.
"Well, Adam this isn't for real, is it? I mean 'cuz you know he won't let me back in the kitchen for a whole month!" Joe exclaimed.
His brother couldn't help but chuckle. "I know, Joe. We're just playing," Adam told him. "You know, Hoss and you shouldn't have eaten that pie by yourselves, don't you?"
"Yeah, I know," Joseph Cartwright said as he avoided his brother's look. "It was Hoss's idea, though."
"That doesn't mean you have to go along with it," Adam replied sensibly.
"I know, Adam, but it looked so good we just had to have some," Little Joe responded, a bit ashamed of what he had done.
"You're lucky, Pa didn't tan your hide for that," Adam told his brother. "I suppose you had enough of a punishment with that stomach ache the both of you got."
"Yeah," Joe said unhappily as he was reminded of the awful ache he had yesterday. "Is that why Pa didn't want to take me to town today?"
"Well, he did want the both of you separated so that's why he took Hoss along with him today," Adam replied as he looked up at the ceiling.
"I wonder if Pa gave him a good talkin' to 'bout stealing Hop Sing's pie yesterday," Joe asked as he looked over at his brother.
"I bet he already did, Little Joe. Pa and I had a talk about it this morning," Adam said as he looked over at his little brother quite seriously.
Little Joe's eyes got big as he became a bit worried. "You did? What did he say?"
"Well, he said he was very disappointed in both of you for what the two of you did," Adam replied slowly. He didn't want to tell Joe that his father had also told him to talk to his younger brother while he went into town with Hoss to get his son's birthday present.
"Is that it?" Joseph asked a bit relieved.
"No," Adam replied coolly.
His brother looked as if he was going to cry. "It's not?" He asked with sad eyes.
"He wanted me to talk to you. You see, Pa's talking to Hoss about what he did and I've got to talk to you about what you did," Adam explained to his little brother.
"Oh," Joe replied softly as he avoided his brother's look.
"You know you did wrong by stealing Hop Sing's pie, don't you?" the eldest Cartwright asked his brother gently.
"Yeah, I know," Little Joe replied softly. "I promise I won't do it again, Adam, promise," he added as he looked up innocently into his brother's eyes.
Adam half smiled at him. He knew his brother well enough to know that trouble was going to follow him wherever he went. Even though he promised that he wouldn't do whatever he had done, Joe would somehow end up in trouble again. It wasn't his fault but it just seemed that things went that way with the youngest Cartwright. He couldn't stay away from trouble and trouble couldn't stay away from him.
"It's alright, Joe but it's not me you should be making this promise to. Don't you think you should tell Hop Sing that you're sorry for stealing his pie?" Adam asked his brother gently.
Joe looked down. "I guess so. Do I have to do it now?"
"No, you don't have to do it now," Adam replied as he ruffled his brother's hair a bit. "But you should do it before Pa gets home."
"Okay," his brother replied before he went silent again.
The two boys stared up at the ceiling for a while, both lost in their own thoughts. The time that pasted between then was not of an awkward silence but a quiet moment between the two brothers when what they wanted to say went unspoken. When they heard the horses and a wagon outside, they knew that their father was home.
"Adam, Little Joe," Hop Sing said as he came out from their kitchen. At first he didn't notice them laying on the floor and then became startled when he saw them lying together by Adam's chair. "What happen to little boy now?" he asked Adam as he approached them.
"Oh, nothing happened Hop Sing. I was just showing Adam the boards in the ceiling," Joe replied as the two brothers looked up innocently at their cook.
Hop Sing looked from Joe to Adam with a curious look on his face. "You let Little Joe lie on ground and look at ceiling?"
The eldest Cartwright smiled up at the cook. "He's getting a new perspective on things, Hop Sing," Adam replied.
Their cook shook his head. "I don't understand Carlight boys. Eat pie, lay on floor. Maybe stomach ache again?"
"I'm real sorry 'bout eating that pie, Hop Sing. I promise, Hoss and I will never do it again," Little Joseph Cartwright said as he looked up at the cook with innocent eyes.
"Little boys eat whole pie. Hop Sing know it good. Wish boys leave some for Honorable Father and older brother," their cook said as he looked down at the oldest and youngest Cartwright boys.
"I'm sorry 'bout that, Hop Sing," Joe told him a bit embarrassed at what he had done.
"No time to be sorry. Little Carlights will help Hop Sing in kitchen tonight. Clean up before dinner," the oriental man said before disappearing back to the kitchen.
"Little Joe! Adam!" their father shouted as they heard his footsteps outside on their porch.
There was a playful sparkle in Adam's eyes as he looked over to his little brother. Quietly he put his finger to his lips to motion Joe not to give away where they were. His little brother grinned and nodded his head madly as he fell into silence along with his brother.
"Adam! Little Joe!" their Pa shouted again as he came into the house. Not seeing them hidden behind the settee in their great room, he wondered where they could have gone. He had just come from the barn and their horses were still in the stalls so he knew that they couldn't have wandered far.
"Where are those boys?" Ben Cartwright grumbled to himself as he went towards their stairway. "Adam, Joseph, are you up there?"
He was worried when he heard silence in reply to the question he had just posed. They had to be here. He knew it. Suddenly, he heard a boyish giggle and his heart was lifted in relief. Turning towards their fireplace, he saw his two sons staring up at him from where they lay on the floor. The amusement in Adam's face told him that they had been there all along.
"Boys," he said as he approached them in exasperation while a smile tugged at the side of his mouth. "What are you doing down there?"
"Nothin', Pa. Just looking up," Little Joseph Cartwright said with a boyish grin.
Ben sighed as he held back a smile. "Well, I can see that, Little Joe. Now, can you go into the kitchen for me and ask Hop Sing for an old linen?"
The littlest Cartwright looked confused. "What do you want a linen for, Pa?"
"Joseph, don't ask questions. Can you do that for me, son?" Ben asked avoiding his youngest son's question.
Joe sighed. "Okay, Pa," he said as he climbed up from the floor of their home.
Ben watched his son until he disappeared into the kitchen to find Hop Sing before he looked down at his eldest son. "Did you talk to Little Joe about apologizing to Hop Sing?"
Adam nodded as he sat up on the floor. "Sure did, Pa. He already apologized and promised he would do it again. Did you get his surprise?"
"I did, son. Mr. Whitney was glad to get rid of that mother cat and her babies. He said that the seven barn cats that he has was more than plenty for his wife and children. Twelve cats would have been a bit too much to his liking. That old linen I set Joe for will make a nice bedding for their home." Ben Cartwright replied.
Adam nodded. "I suppose Hoss is out there now with them?" he asked his father.
Ben smiled. "Yeah, Hoss took a liking to those kittens as soon as he saw them but he's waiting for Joe to come and name them. For now he's calling them all 'Kitten' and the mother is 'Mama'."
Adam smiled up at his father. From down here he looked so much bigger. He seemed to be the way Adam remembered him when he was a boy.
At the strange look on his son's face, Ben Cartwright became a bit worried. "Is there something wrong, son?"
"No, Pa," Adam replied before he got up from the floor. "Just looking at things a bit differently."
"Hey, Pa, I got that linen you wanted," the youngest Cartwright said cheerfully as he bounced back into the room.
"Ah, thank you, Joseph," his father said as his son handed over the white linen he had gotten from Hop Sing. "Now, if you and Adam are ready, we have chores to be done in the barn," he added as he ruffled his youngest son's hair a bit before turning him towards the door.
Little Joe sighed unhappily. "Awww. Pa," he whined.
"Better do what Pa says little brother. May not be as bad as all that," Adam said as he exchanged a knowing glance with his father. "Besides, think of how the animals feel. You know, I bet they're all hungry right now and wanting to see you."
"I guess you're right, Adam. Like when I was looking at you upside down, I was seeing things I never noticed before," Joe replied as he opened their front door.
"That's right, son. Sometimes you've got to see things from another perspective," Ben said as he placed his arm around his oldest son. Adam had taught Joe a very valuable lesson that day and he was proud of his boys.
"I guess I should have thought of you and Adam when I was eating that pie with Hoss, yesterday, huh?" Joe asked a bit guilty.
"Well, son, now you know what it would have been like if Adam and I had eaten that whole pie without you or Hoss," Ben told him.
"Yeah but the two of you wouldn't have been able to eat the whole thing if Hoss didn't help you," Joe replied with a grin.
His response made then laugh. "Maybe you're right, son, but he can't get all the chores done if we don't help him do that," Ben said as they headed towards the barn. "Besides, tomorrow is your birthday and maybe there's a early surprise waiting for you in there."
Joe looked at him with wide eyes. "Really? Is there a surprise for me in the barn?" he asked in excitement.
"Well, I don't know, son. I guess we'll find out when we get there, won't we?" Ben said with a grin.
The youngest Cartwright's face lit up with excitement. Without saying a word he dashed madly off to the barn and left his brother and father to watch him in amusement. They laughed when they heard him cry in excitement after he disappeared inside of the barn.
"Kittens!" they could hear him say as they made their way into the barn as well. "Adam, Pa got me kittens!"
Adam Cartwright smiled. "Well, seems like he likes his present," he told his father happily.
"Yeah. I hope they keep him and Hoss busy for a while and out of mischief," Ben replied as he stared off towards the barn. His oldest son gave him a wary look at his comment as if to ask if his father really believed that. Ben looked towards his son and nearly burst out in laughter at the look on his face. "Well, I can hope can't I?"
Adam's face broke out into a grin before they both started laughing. "Yeah, Pa, you can hope," his son said before they headed off towards the barn together.