"Rise Up, Sun Girls, Rise Up"
Nora, Emily, & Grace [Age 12]
2. Twelve
That her mother wouldn't leave her on her own with her little sister Hailey at first had nothing at all to do with her competence or their trust in her. Their only concern, as natural as it was, had to do with the aftermath of her surgery. She was perfectly fine, but there was still the fear that she might get sick somehow at some point and Nora would be stuck on her own with her, without help.
Eventually they had moved past that fear, which had thus led to this day, where twelve-year-old Nora got to look after both of her one-year-old sisters, Hailey and Hannah. She wouldn't be left to the task alone though, having her two best friends there to back her up. Her parents were already gone by the time the two girls arrived. Nora had taken her sisters out on the front lawn, knowing they liked the grass under their feet. She held one by the hand at each side, walking them about, slowly. She had turned then to find Grace running down her front path, stopping, checking both ways before crossing and continuing to run up to them.
"Hi," she breathed. Nora grinned.
"Hey," she replied, looking down to her sister as she remembered she had no free hands to wave at her.
"Is Em here yet?" Grace asked, kneeling to hold her arms out for one of the tots to come for her. Hannah gave a smile that forever confirmed her as the daughter of Rachel Berry as she moved up and Grace embraced her. Nora got down to sit as well, bringing Hailey in her lap.
"She'll be here soon," Nora had barely gotten to say before she saw the yellow bike rolling up the street. "Scratch that, she's here." The closer she got, the more they could see her face had about five different shades of upset. "What's wrong?" Nora asked when her friend had parked up her bike and come to join them.
"Nothing, just parent stuff," Emily shrugged, picking at a clump of dirt on her shoe, stuck in the tracks. Nora had reached to tap her arm and make her look up. When she did, Nora gave her a look as though to ask if she wanted to talk about it. Emily just shrugged, lying back on the lawn.
"So… what do we do?" Grace turned to the blonde. Nora hesitated, looking to her bummed out friend. She couldn't exactly do whatever she wanted, since they had her sisters, and they couldn't leave the house.
Grace had taken some initiative, scooting up to deposit Hannah at Emily's side. She may only have been a year old, but she had no problem cheering people up. As soon as she had been dropped by Emily, who was her buddy if she ever had one, the brown-haired girl had stretched out her arms, giving noises they knew meant she wanted to be picked up. It tugged a smile out of Emily in a heartbeat, and she snatched her up, holding her near. Nora looked back to Grace, holding a hand out – well played. Grace laughed, bowing her head.
Eventually, Emily had explained how her parents, who she had not seen face to face in eight and a half months now, had to push back flying her over for a visit for another few months, anywhere from two to six. She knew this whole job they had came with its limitations, which was why they had left her with her aunt and uncle, but she could only take so much, and now it felt like her aunt and uncle were more of parents than her mother and father had ever been to her. Now she was getting so close to not caring if she saw them or not, which made her feel rotten, but she couldn't help it, especially now.
From this, both Nora and Grace had decided today, on top of being "sistersit" day, would be "happy Emily" day, one way or another. The first step, to Grace's hesitant and grossed out agreement, had been to have the pizza they'd order for lunch be covered with anchovies. Emily had been pleased, as she would be, perhaps even more as she saw the face Grace made when they slid a slice in her plate. She squeaked, staring at it. "You can try…" Nora teased, pulling one bit from her slice and holding it out to Grace, who jumped, shaking her head.
"Just take them off then," Emily told her, tapping an empty spot in her own plate. "More for me."
"But it was on there, and… it soaks in…" Grace mimed.
"I'll bite, you'll bite," Nora offered.
"You've had them?" Grace asked, and Nora shook her head. Grace frowned, looking to her plate. "Fine…"
Emily smirked, and Nora picked up her slice, waiting for the red-head to do the same. When she did, fingers poised like she was ready to drop it at any second, she looked back to Nora, who promptly took her bite. Backed up against the wall with the challenge, Grace had breathed out and took a bite as well.
Emily's eyes darted from one to the other and back as they chewed. It took no more than five seconds for the verdict to come down as hard as she'd tried to stay strong, Nora's face took a turn for misery, and as soon as she'd swallowed, she had a coughing fit, dropped her slice, and took a gulp of soda. As for the squirming Mackenna girl, her brows had jumped up, and finishing her first bite had been followed with a second.
"Not bad…" she commented as she chewed.
"What?" Nora coughed, and Emily burst out laughing. "You can't be…"
"Are you going to finish that?" Grace pointed to her plate, and the dumbfounded Nora nudged it to her.
"All yours…" she granted it, and Grace was all smiles, then after a beat…
"What will you eat then?" she asked, carrying on eating her first slice. "You can have the crust…"
"It's okay, not that hungry anymore," she made a face. After a moment, once she'd recovered from the anchovy attack, she was at least relieved to find Emily had been amused by the whole thing. Maybe she'd get her appetite back for phase two of their plan.
Now that Hannah and Hailey had been put down for their nap, they would settle down for the movie marathon to end all. This day may yet have turned into a sleepover. So while Emily had volunteered to put together the snacks that would spread across the coffee table, Nora and Grace stood at the wall in the living room for a movie raid.
"This one for sure," Nora pulled one. Grace showed her another, and she smiled. "Perfect," she nodded. "Couple more…" Grace pulled one halfway, then put it back. Nora looked to her.
"The end made her cry, remember?" Grace explained and Nora gasped, remembering.
"Yeah, no, can't have her cry today." They paused and looked to one another, and the thought was immediate: comedy. In ten seconds, they'd each pulled out about six or seven more movies each. They looked at their collected pile and they blinked.
"We'll never get through all of those…" Grace told her.
"We'll get as far as we can," Nora shrugged. "If we can help, you know?" Grace smiled, nodding. "Plus when my sisters wake up, it's gonna get loud…"
Soon, the three girls sat huddled together on the ground, the table of snacks before them and the column of movies at Emily's side. She had the choice as to what movie they'd watch next. As Nora had warned, they were eventually joined by the pair of one-year-olds. What had started out as one thing had become another, but in the end, everyone had gotten what they needed. Hannah and Hailey had been cared for, and Emily had been returned a smile by her best friends.
TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)