Roland's not allowed to hold his sister. Well, he's allowed to if he's sitting down and if Papa or Regina are with him, but besides that, he's not allowed to hold her. Henry can hold her. Henry's older, Papa told him and so Henry's stronger. Roland strongly disagrees with that. There's no way Henry is stronger than him because whenever they play fight in the backyard, Roland always wins. Always! So he must be stronger than Henry. He's sure he could hold his sister if he tried, but Papa told him to never pick Morgan up because she could get hurt if he dropped her.
Duuuuh, Papa (Henry taught him what 'duh' means, but he said to never actually say it to any grownups because they'd get mad).
Still, Roland wants to help take care of Morgan because she's his sister, after all. She's Henry's too, he guesses, but Henry's used to being the big brother. This is Roland's first time ever not being the youngest. Regina said that's a big responsibility, being a big brother. She said that big brothers are supposed to protect their little sisters and that little sisters look up to their big brothers. Roland likes the thought of that- having someone look up to him for once.
He's going to be the best big brother ever. Or at least, he's going to be as good as Henry. Henry is already the best big brother ever. Although, being the big brother means not getting to lick the spoon when Regina makes brownies and Roland's not entirely sure that's a good deal. But Morgan's still too little to lick spoons, so Roland figures he has a while before he has to give that up.
Roland wishes he had a brownie right now as his stomach growls for probably the thirty-seventeenth time. Regina is taking forever on the phone even though they're supposed to be eating lunch right now. Papa is waiting for them at Granny's with Henry. Roland wants a cheeseburger with french fries and a banana split, but only if Henry will eat the cherries for him. Cherries are yucky.
He swings his legs back and forth from his spot on the couch and twists around to see if Regina's anywhere close to being off the phone yet. She's not talking, so she must be listening. Maybe the person she's talking to is telling her to hang up and take her kids to get a cheeseburger and banana split. Roland hopes so.
"No, I understand, but-" Regina starts saying, her eyebrows scrunching together when she stops. She's been wearing her queen face the whole time. She must not like whoever she's talking to. Maybe it's Mr. Leroy. He always makes Regina wear her queen face.
Roland sighs and flops back against the back of the couch, legs dangling over the edge. If he doesn't eat something soon, his stomach is going to eat itself. Can stomachs do that? He hopes not because he won't have a tummy much longer if they do. Maybe that would be a good thing. Papa told him he gets grumpy when he doesn't eat. Roland doesn't think that's true, but Morgan suddenly starts making funny gurgling noises in her carseat on the floor, and he finds he doesn't want to smile at her like he normally does. He just wants a cheeseburger.
"No, you listen to me," Regina snaps. She starts using her queen voice to match her queen face and Roland cringes. She only talks like that to him when he's about to go on time-out. Maybe the person she's talking to needs to go on time out. Whoever it is must've done something really bad to make Regina so mad.
Roland's tummy growls again and he flops over sideways on the couch. He's going to die if he doesn't eat something soon. He glances over at the bag next to Morgan's carseat. Sometimes Regina packs puffy cereal for Morgan to eat when she gets hungry. Maybe she packed some today…
Morgan makes another noise then, but it's not like the gurgling from earlier. It's like the sound she makes when she needs her diaper changed or when she's tired and needs to take a nap. Oh no. Roland sits up just as Morgan starts to cry, tiny fists shaking. This isn't going to make Regina happier. Roland twists around to look at her then and she's pinching the middle of her nose, phone still pressed to her ear. That's not a good sign.
Roland slides off the couch and crouches in front of Morgan, looking around to see if there's anything he can do to make her stop crying so Regina can pay attention to her phone call and get done with it sooner. Maybe Morgan's hungry too. Roland pulls the big blue bag on his lap and rifles through the pockets. There's diapers and wipes and new clothes and tissues and an empty bottle, but no puffy cereal. Oh! A pass- a pack- a pashifider. Yeah, one of those things. They always make Morgan stop crying!
Roland pulls it out of the pocket and holds it gently against his sister's mouth, smiling proudly when she goes quiet. That is, until she spits it out and starts wailing again. Darn it. He turns around to look at Regina again and ooh, he knows that look. She only ever gives Papa that look when she's really mad. That person on the phone must be doing something really bad.
He starts searching through the bag again, pulling out stuff he doesn't even know the names for and tossing them to the floor. No, not that… nope… not this either… nuh uh… wait! There it is! Puffy cereal!
Roland pulls the container out and flips the lid off quickly, some of the star shapes spilling onto his lap. He takes a piece and holds it against Morgan's mouth, scrunching his nose up when she eats part of his finger with the cereal. Ewwww, he grimaces, wiping his finger on his shirt. Babies can be gross sometimes. Still, she's not crying anymore. Roland beams when she reaches for the container in his hands. He takes another piece and places it in her mouth, yanking his hand away before she gets slobber on his finger again. He pops a few pieces in his own mouth. It's not a cheeseburger, that's for sure, but it'll do for now.
Regina hangs up just as Roland places another piece of cereal in Morgan's mouth. Regina lets out a lot of breath all at once and then her heels are clicking on the floor as she comes to squat beside them. Roland grins up at her. "Look, Regina!" he exclaims, holding up the cereal container. "I made Morgan stop crying!"
"That you did," Regina agrees, leaning forward to kiss his forehead. "Thank you, that was very kind."
"You had your queen face on," Roland explains solemnly. "I didn't want you to get more mad."
Regina shakes her head. "I wasn't mad because Morgan was crying. I was mad because people don't always listen to me when they're supposed to."
Roland gasps. "But you're the queen. Everyone should listen to you."
Regina smiles and starts putting all the stuff Roland had pulled out back into the bag. "I'll remember you said that the next time you don't want to take a bath."
Oh, he hadn't thought of that. Maybe there are some times people don't have to listen to the queen. Like bathtime. And bedtime. And waking up time. Those times are the worst.
"Come on, I believe a cheeseburger is long overdue," Regina continues, standing up with the bag over her shoulder.
"And a banana split?" Roland adds eagerly, scrambling to his feet.
"Well, of course. Only the best big brothers get banana splits," Regina replies with a smile, picking up Morgan's carseat.
Roland beams and takes the hand she holds out for him. Wait until Henry hears about this. He'll definitely eat the cherries for Roland now. After all, the best big brothers have to look out for each other. And maybe Roland can't hold Morgan by himself yet, but he sure can take care of her and that's what big brothers are supposed to do, even if they don't get to lick brownie spoons. Roland thinks he can live with that.