Chapter 1 – Family

Tuesday

If Senn could’ve predicted how much his life was going to change over the course of a week, he wouldn’t have taken everything for granted. He was, after all, blessed with a great family and a great set of friends. The town they lived in was great, their house even better. He knew it was normal for teens to complain, and fight with others because, well, puberty. But he wasn’t really like that. He didn’t complain very often, and he hardly ever fought with anyone. Not his friends, not his siblings, not his parents. No, if Senn could change one thing in his life, he didn’t think he would change anything at all. Well, maybe the fact that his family could be rather loud.

He was trying to do some homework, but it seemed like the universe was preventing him from passing Biology that year. While his nearly three-year-old brother Liam was playing on the floor in his room. A room that had been his ever since he was one year old himself. The walls were still painted in their baby blue color, but now mostly covered in posters, flags, pictures, two paintings and pretty much anything Senn had found that looked decent enough to cover the ugly walls. There wasn’t much in his room, since he had a walk-in closet. A double bed with side tables, a desk with chair, and some bookshelves were all there was to it. Senn didn’t like busy rooms, filled to the brim with things that would hardly get used.

He looked over his shoulder towards Liam, who was smashing cars against each other, making all kinds of exploding sounds to make sure Senn knew he was doing his best to destroy yet another portion of his collection of cars. He had told Liam many times before, that car crashes weren’t anything to make fun of, and that he would be better of trying to play less violent. But Liam preferred noises, bangs, and lots of havoc.

Senn was pretty sure that Liam would manage to make Barbie dolls crash, if they were presented to him.

Besides Liam’s noise close by, his dad was outside mowing the lawn. Even with his window closed, Senn could hear him drive around on his lawnmower, left to right and back. And with their lawn, it was doomed to take a while before he would be finished evading all the flower beds, the steppingstones, the pond, and the little lanterns that lined the boarders of the grass.

Then there was his mother, cooking dinner while Singing along to songs on the radio—which she did every day. Her voice was beautiful, so Senn couldn’t exactly call it noise, yet the combination of sounds and the fact that the sun was shining in his face, caused his mind to race in all different directions. Directions that didn’t have anything to do with his Biology homework. To think that his brother Killian wasn’t even home, because that would’ve made the terror complete.

Senn groaned, dropping his head on his notebook. Maybe homework could wait until later. When his mother would grab one of her dozens of books, settle in the armchair by the window with a glass of wine, and read. When his father would be in his office, doing some paperwork that needed to be done the next day, all the while toying around his magic 8 ball mindlessly. Liam would be in bed, and the world would fall silent for the night.

He got up from his desk, and Liam instantly looked up, stopping mid-collision to look at him. “Wanna go help Mom?” he asked his little brother.

“Mommy?” Liam perked up. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “Senn, you play too.”

“No playing today.” Senn walked over, picking him up from the floor. “Which cars do you want to take to wreck in the kitchen?”

Liam held up the two cars he was holding, and Senn already knew Liam was going to cry for others once they would’ve reached the kitchen. But Liam wouldn’t be able to choose. He wanted them all. So, he ignored his gut feeling and took Liam to the kitchen, putting him on the floor close to his other toys.

“Mom, y’all are too loud. I can’t focus.” Senn leaned on the counter, looking into a pot on the stove to see what she was making. The stove was built into a cooking isle that offered space for three bar stools too. A rack with kitchen utensils hung from the sealing, while bare wooden kitchen cabinets, a silver fridge and the double sink lined the wall behind his mother. The warm hardwood floor gave some color too the room, though it was mostly the colored walls that made the whole room come to life.

“I know sweety, but homework can wait until after dinner.” She handed him a wooden spoon. “Help me cook. Now that’s a skill you need later on in life.”

Senn smirked, stepping behind the cooking isle to stir in the pot. “So, I was thinking, since Killian isn’t going to make it on Saturday…”

“Yes?”

“Can I drive?”

“Sure, we would love for you to drive. That way we can both drink wine to celebrate our youngest kiddo to become three. You all need to stop growing up so fast.” She tapped a finger on his cheek, before placing a kiss in the exact same spot.

“Let’s stop time and stay this way forever. I’m fine with that,” Senn answered, nodding along. “I’ll be doing the same homework over and over again, which means I’ll know it by heart and won’t need to study. Killian’s annoying ass in college—”

His mother pushed him gently, chuckling. “Stop it. You love your brother. I bet you’ll miss him the death if he wouldn’t come home ever two weeks.”

“I would, yeah. But only because I wouldn’t be able to kick his ass in Fifa anymore.”

His mother smiled, pulling him closer to put an arm around his shoulder. “We’re so happy with you three. Don’t ever forget how much we love you.”

“Stop being clingy, Mom,” Senn bumped his hip against her to create a bit of distance. He smiled anyway. He loved his mother for who she was, and how she raised them. He loved goofing around with his parents and his brothers. He didn’t mind whenever he had to babysit Liam so his parents could go out with the two of them because that’s just what they did. Though, he really hoped it wouldn’t result in yet another accidental pregnancy like with Liam. He wouldn’t ever forget the crying of a baby during the nights, keeping them all up.

That hadn’t been the best time in their family, but they got through it by helping each other out wherever they could. And basically, that’s what was Senn loved most about his family.

They would always be there for each other.