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Little brothers could be so annoying.
Scott huffed as he turned – tried to – turn over. His little bed just wasn't built for more than one body, let alone three. But the thought immediately made him feel guilty, and he gently pulled John and Virgil in closer, suddenly worried by the thought that they might roll off the bed and hurt themselves.
Despite trying his hardest not to disturb them, both snuggled into him, until he was just a squished Scott between two brothers clinging on to him. He smiled in the dark and closed his eyes.
Little brothers could be so cute.
When Jeff and Lucy retired that night, neither were surprised by the empty beds in Virgil's room. While Jeff may have recovered quickly from his cold, both youngest boys were still ill, and even though they had tried to keep Scott as far away as possible, even moving John temporarily into Virgil's room, it had made no difference.
A tired John had explained it quite well that morning, while Scott had stayed asleep with Virgil plastered to his back.
'Scotty hot water bottle.'
Both boys had progressed from simple colds to chest infections, and with John always suffering badly and Virgil's asthma, the doctor had put them both on a course of antibiotics. The sickly-sweet medicine was hated by John but Virgil loved it.
The chills that the illness was giving them had meant that the fires in both the kitchen and the living room were lit, even in the heat of July, but it didn't seem to matter what they tried in the evenings, both boys complained that they were cold.
The concerned parents soon found them curled around their eldest brother. He was sprawled on his back with a brother in each arm, hugging them close. The three of them barely fit in the bed.
The discarded hot water bottles were on the floor. They didn't stay hot unlike Scott, who radiated heat enough that he rarely slept with more than a sheet in the summer and a light blanket even in the coldest winters.
Both parents watched closely for signs that Scott was coming down with the same illness, but, not only did he not get ill, both his brothers showed a remarkably fast recovery. Even the doctor was surprised at how quickly they got better, chuckling when John told him the same thing, causing Scott to blush.
It soon became a tradition.
Any time that a brother was ill, they invariably ended up with Scott. Thankfully, the boy rarely got ill himself, but every one of his brothers took unashamed advantage of the fact that he literally was a hot water bottle.
Scott was secretly delighted.
By the time Gordon was three and Alan was more than a theoretical thought, Jeff decided it was high time Scott had a bigger bed. Caused by being woken in the early hours by a thump as Scott was pushed out of his bed by three brothers. John and Virgil may have been fine sleeping with their brother, but Gordon was unable to stay still even at night.
And so, the nine-year-old boy was bought a double bed so that he could at least sleep in it when his brothers crowded him.
It was well used as Alan grew. The combined loss of their Mother and Grandfather meant that even without being ill, the comfort of their eldest brother was sought all the more.
And then one day Scott got sick.
He came down with a horrendous fever. On a weekend when their Father was away on business and their Grandmother was out of town. Four scared but determined younger brothers knew exactly what Scott needed.
While Virgil called Grandma and she promised she'd be back as soon as she could, the four boys snuggled up to the eldest, pulling over all their blankets and covers, in an effort to help break the fever.
By the time Sally made it back to them it was the next morning. The sight of five sets of bedclothes and five brothers huddled together, fast asleep, made her smile. And the Medscanner told her that the dangerously high temperature Scott had yesterday had broken some time during the night.
She marvelled at her boys and how they all pulled together to help each other.
Sally disappeared downstairs to get lemonade for them all.