Brittany was sleeping soundly in her warm bed. Being as it was the middle of April, there were still plenty of cold nights.
"Britt," she heard her name being whispered. It seamed off in the distance. She groaned and rolled over. "Britt," she heard again. It was clearer now, but was still a whisper. "Brittany," she heard in a louder whisper. She realized that it was her younger sister, Jeanette. She rolled over to see Jeanette standing beside her bed in pajamas. She looked shook up.
"Jeanette, what's wrong?" Brittany said with a moan.
Jeanette looked around the room a little frightened. "I…I can't sleep," she said.
"Why not?" Brittany asked. Her answer came in the form of a crack of light coming from the window. What sounded like war drums beat against the side of the house. Jeanette jumped a little and slouched back into a frightened stance.
"You're scared of the thunder storm?" Brittany asked. Jeanette nodded. "Why? You know what it is better than anyone else," Brittany said.
"I know, it's just…" Jeanette said. Brittany noticed her voice crack.
"It's just what?" Brittany asked.
Jeanette shook from the cold. "Mom," she said. Brittany looked at her frightened sister. She looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "I had a dream about her," Jeanette explained.
"Look, Jeanette, I know you miss her, but you don't need to think about her with every thunder storm," Brittany said.
"I don't. It's just with this one…" Jeanette said.
"All you have to do is count sheep and you'll be fine. Look at the boys, they're not…" Brittany said, looking over to the boys. She saw all of the boys sleeping in Alvin's bed with Alvin in the middle. Simon and Theodore were both holding on tight to their oldest brother. Brittany looked back to Jeanette. She looked scared to death and she had obviously been crying. There was no way she could send her back to bed like the wreck she was.
Brittany sighed and patted the bed for Jeanette to lay with her. Jeanette noticeably perked up and crawled on the bed. She crawled over Brittany and lay on the left side of the bed. Brittany covered Jeanette up and lay back down. She turned to face her sister. "So, this dream about mom, was it really a dream?" Brittany asked.
"More like a nightmare," Jeanette admitted.
"I thought so," Brittany stated. Jeanette curled up next to Brittany. Brittany wrapped her arm around her. "Want to talk about it? It might make you feel better." She felt Jeanette shrug.
"Not really," Jeanette answered. Brittany decided not to push the situation. She brushed the brunette hair out of her sister's face.
"You look so much like dad," Brittany said softly. Jeanette smiled and tried to curl up closer to her sister. "Do you remember what Mom did every night when we went to bed?" Brittany asked.
Jeanette shook her head. "She would play zoobers with us and then sing us a lullaby," Brittany said.
"What's zoobers?" Jeanette asked.
Brittany looked at her sister shocked. "You don't remember zoobers?" Brittany asked. Jeanette shook her head. Brittany smiled. "Well, it kind of goes like this," she said. She put her lips on the side of her sister's neck and half-kissed, half-blew. Jeanette giggled and shrunk away from the source of the slightly familiar touch while simultaneously trying to get closer the Brittany. Brittany did not give in that easily, though, and continued. Jeanette's giggles started to get louder.
"Shh," Brittany whispered softly into her sister's ear, making sure to draw it out as long as she could. Jeanette covered her ear and curled up in a ball. Brittany ducked under the covers as Jeanette waited. Jeanette felt Brittany blowing raspberries into her tummy and was trying desperately to keep quiet and not wake up the boys or Eleanor. She tried to push Brittany away once she thought she couldn't take it anymore. Brittany took both of her sister's paws and spread them apart, adding a few more kisses for good measure. Jeanette curled up in a ball as Brittany stuck her head out from underneath the covers.
"That's zoobers," she said. Jeanette smiled and snuggled up against Brittany.
"Now I remember," she said.
Brittany smiled and sighed, looking around the room to see if they disturbed anyone. She noticed Eleanor still sound asleep in her bed. "I wonder how Eleanor will react when she wakes up and she is the only one sleeping alone," she said.
Jeanette shrugged. "On the bright side, she was the only one of us that slept through the whole night," she said.
"Simon and Theodore have done this so long with Alvin I'm pretty sure he wasn't too fazed at all," Brittany said.
Jeanette looked at her sister. "How long have they been doing that?"
Brittany sighed. "You know how Simon told you that their parents left early to join a commune?" Jeanette nodded. "Don't tell them I told you this, but Alvin hasn't been telling them the truth." Jeanette looked over at the boys. "Their dad is dead. Their mom couldn't take care of them by herself, so she left them early." Jeanette looked back at Brittany. When she saw there was no hint of kidding in her voice, she put her head into her sister's chest.
Brittany stroked Jeanette's hair. "I love you, Jean," Brittany whispered in her ear.
"I love you, too, Britt," Jeanette mumbled sleepily. The thunderstorm was still going, but Brittany could tell that Jeanette now felt safe enough to fall asleep. Brittany kissed her forehead.
"Are you ready to fall asleep?" Brittany asked. Jeanette nodded.
"Goodnight, Britt," Jeanette said.
Brittany didn't hear anything else until the next morning. She looked to her right at nine o'clock in the morning and saw Eleanor sleeping next to her. She didn't remember waking up to Eleanor, but it didn't matter. Brittany carefully sat up and made her way to the bathroom. On her way out, she spotted Alvin in the hallway.
"Alvin, how do you do it?" Brittany asked. Alvin looked confused at first. "You're the oldest out of all of us. How can you manage to be such a jerk to us but yet Simon and Theodore crawl up into bed with you almost every time they get scared?" Brittany asked.
Alvin shrugged. "I don't know. I guess my irresistible charm works on my brothers, too," Alvin said smiling.
Brittany rolled her eyes and punched Alvin in the shoulder. "No, really."
Alvin sighed. "I guess it just comes with being the oldest. Natural instinct, you know?"
Brittany nodded. "Does it get hard?"
"Honestly, I barely wake up when Simon and Theodore come into bed with me. I can tell when it's really bad and I need to get up with them and they know when I'm not fully awake," Alvin said.
"That's what me and Jeanette were talking about last night," Brittany said.
"So that's who I heard," Alvin said.
"I'm sure you heard her," Brittany said "I zoobered her."
Alvin smiled. "The first time I did that to Simon after I told him what it was called he screamed. Now whenever anyone says it he backs away. Try it sometime."
Brittany smiled. "Well, I really have to go…to the…" she said pointing to the bathroom door.
"Oh, right," Alvin said. Brittany walked into the bathroom and started to shut the door.
"Hey, Britt," Alvin said. Brittany looked back at him. Alvin smiled. "I hope everything comes out all right."