→ Now where would be the fun in that?

→ Splash, splash, splash

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of pouring rain outside only excited me. To anyone else, it may seem like a depressing day in the midst of winter but I was thrilled to try out my new rain boots and see how far I could splash against the puddles on the ground.

I impatiently call out to daddy as I shove the rain boots on my feet. Daddy shows up at the end of the staircase, all padded up in rain gear and holding a clear umbrella with polka dots.

"Can we blow bubbles in the rain?" I wonder out loud. I see the blue container of bubbles sitting on top of the cabinet. Oh how fun it would be to watch the bubbles fly in the rain.

"No princess, they would pop." Daddy explains and pulls his raincoat on simultaneously. He grabs my miniature minnie mouse one and pulls it over my shoulders. I stick my hands out in the shape of a 'T' to let him stick the sleeves inside my arms.

I think for a minute about daddy's answer. Pop? Then it comes clicking to me like a lightbulb shining above my head. The droplets would hit the bubbles and pop them like evil monsters. I giggle at the thought of a monster falling from the sky. That would hurt all the people on the ground.

I fling the door open the moment daddy stops blocking the doorway and run into the grass front porch. Something tickles my hand and I look down to see a rain droplet dripping down my palm. I hold my palm out, observing the speckle before dropping my hand. I squint my eyes against the heavy pouring rain.

The water suddenly stops thumping on my head and I look up curiously to see daddy holding the umbrella over my head. His hair was all soaked unlike mine since he forgot his rain hood.

I jump onto the little puddle on the pavement, leaving the shelter of daddy's umbrella. Water splashes shortly in all directions but doesn't make it too far. My rainboots streaked with water like a pattern just on the outside lining.

"Bumblebee, be careful. You're going to catch a cold," daddy warns from under the umbrella. He tries moving forward to hold the umbrella over me but I run away from him, my new rainboots becoming more and more drenched on the way. He chases me while I run around the backyard until he finally pulls me backwards by the shoulder gently. "That's enough for today."

"No, I wanna do it again." I whine, throwing my hands in the air. I loved the feeling of the rain battering on me, the feeling of water all around me, and watching the water splash as my boots hit the puddles.

"Later, hun. Let's go inside now." I scowl, not in the mood to obey these instructions. Daddy spins and lifts my feet off the ground. He drops the umbrella that falls to the ground in the process. With me now on his back whining, he picks up the umbrella and we run back into shelter together. Our bodies soak with water but I wasn't feeling anything but happy at that moment. On daddy's shoulders.

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"Jessica, we are very disappointed in you." His use of my full name makes me realize how much in trouble I actually was. I bite on my nail but keep my eyes downcast. Suddenly, my worn out shoes seemed like the most interesting thing in the world. "You broke not one, but three of our rules."

"I didn't drink," I immediately interjected but one harsh look from Caden silences me. Even Eli wouldn't look me in the eye and Masons held much disappointment. Aiden kept silent.

"As I was saying," he paused a moment, daring me to interrupt. "We trusted you and you betrayed our trust. We gave you the freedom and I know for myself that I expected way better from you."

"What were you guys doing there anyway? Stalking me?" I was growing tired of being called a disappointment, my mother's favorite name for me, and I wasn't about to get screamed at just because I acted like a normal teenager for once.

"As if. Imagine how surprised we were when we got to the party to see our sister kissing that troublemaker that she had told us so many times that she was just friends with," Aiden scoffs, his fingers dancing in air quotes. His voice was full of venom, making me feel like we had traveled back to stage one.

I knew I messed up big time, and right after everything was going perfectly. It was time I learnt the true meaning of calm before a storm. But truth to be told, I preferred Aiden's screaming to the level of disappointment on the rest of the boys' faces.

"Jessica, you are grounded for a month. Hand over your phone," Caden started again, interrupting Aiden. I dug my hand into my pocket and fished out my phone before passing it over to Caden. He took it from me, handing it on to Eli. "Next, I better not see you with that Ryan kid ever again."

His command started another fuss in me. Ryan was the first boy to ever notice me in that way and he made me feel special. That kiss had made me feel magic, like a spark right when our lips touched. But I knew that if I argued anymore, my punishment would be much worse. It hurt me that I now had to pick between two groups of people that mattered the world to me. The only world I had left was with my brothers and my friends- if I could even call Ryan that anymore. I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream, I wanted to tell the world that it was not fair.

I nodded grimly instead.

My brothers were more than half of my heart when I thought about it and I had let them down. I had disappointed them and now, I would put my entire heart into earning their trust back. The sad look on Eli's face, the pained one on the always cheerful Mason's face, the angry one on Aiden's face that I saw smile lovingly once, and the disappointment on Caden's face. It was all my fault.

"Go to your room and think about what you did. Breaking our trust like that." Without having to be told twice, I ran up the stairs- planning to think more than I had ever before.

━━━

"It's Christmas!" A voice screams before I feel someone jump on top of me and fall onto the bed. Mason's word's register a second later and I grab my phone off the nightstand a second later. Pressing the home screen button, I realize it was in fact December twenty-fifth, the day of Christmas. In all that went on these past few days, I completely forgot that it was Christmas day today. Guilt hit me when I realized that I hadn't gotten the boys anything.

It had been a week since Caden grounded me and I hadn't been outside anywhere. The last time I texted anyone was Alex, telling her what happened in response to her concerned spam of texts. A million texts of 'sorrys' later, Caden gave me my phone back just yesterday, growing tired of the ringing. The boys had gone back to normal- or as normal as possible in our household.

"Come on, come on. Let's open presents," Mason jumps up and down like an excited toddler. Without waiting for my response, he grabs my forearm and drags me down the stairs.

Downstairs in the living room is a christmas tree. The tree was much bigger than one I had ever seen and had loads of presents stacked on top of each other underneath.

"Santa came!" Mason exclaims. I study him for a second, trying to figure out whether he was joking or not. He merely shrugs at me before jumping at the wrapped boxes.

But before Mason even started pulling on the wrapper of one, a cough sounded behind us. I turn around to see Caden standing near the kitchen wall in his robe, a mug in his hand. The maids had all taken their leaves for Christmas vacation and Caden's firm was on break as well so Caden was seen in the kitchen more often than not.

"I can't believe you're older than me," Aiden points a finger at Mason's position on the ground. Mason doesn't acknowledge his statement either but puts the present box down.

"And I can't believe you're related to me." Eli too wears a blue-green checkered robe and rolls his eyes with his addition to Aiden's statement.

"Your comments are not appreciated," Mason finally stands up, glaring at his older brother with his arms crossed. I muffle a laugh with my fluffy pajama sleeve but Caden catches me, a smile picking up on his lips as he observes all of us quietly.

Mason inches closer to the box that he had dropped, his fingers practically shaking in excitement. Now it was Caden's turn to roll his eyes as he marched over and shoved the box back under the Christmas tree. "We eat dinner and then do presents," he emphasized, his eyes zeroing in on Mason more than the rest of us.

It was like Christmas with my dad over again when Caden makes special gingerbread waffles for breakfast. Except this time, the memory didn't make me cry- rather made me smile in appreciation at Caden. The boys immediately grab a handful of waffles, stacking them up on their plate. They then flip the syrup bottle upside down, each emptying it onto their plates until it's grabbed from them by an annoyed looking Caden. Unlike the boys, I place one waffle on my plate, cutting it up like a hexagon, the way dad and I used to do.

"Do you guys want to play a game with the waffles?" I blurt out. Dad would call out different shapes and we would try to cut them out from our waffles. At first, it was a way for me to learn my shapes but later on, we continued it as a tradition. The last time I had even ate waffles, let alone these special Christmas morning ones, were with dad.

"A game with waffles? Sounds fun, I'm in." Mason automatically calls, his mouth filled with food as he chews. He doesn't wait another second before slamming the fork inside the waffle and stuffing it into his already full mouth.

I ignore his lack of manners. "So we call out a shape and we all see who can carve that shape from the waffles." My voice drops a bit of the end, out of fear of how baby-ish the game seems. Eli seems to notice, giving me a reassuring smile as if he could read my mind.

"That actually sounds fun. Okay, you call first?" Aiden says, finally pausing his food spree. He picks up two knives, an extra one from the center of the table, and lifts them in the air. Caden, Eli, and Mason repeat the action while I stay with my one knife. I was experienced at this game, no matter how long it had been since I had played it. I always won with dad, even at age five. Or maybe dad let me win.

"Octagon," I call, immediately focusing my attention to the waffle on the designed plate in front of me. I cut the sides off while holding the plate in place with my other hand. Repeating my action, I cut off different sides, shaping it perfectly. The plan went well until I noticed I had missed a side. Groaning, I look up to see everyone else's progress before having to redo the waffle.

The boys all look invested in their waffles, competitive and determined looks on their faces. Mason was the only one who sits unmovingly, staring into space as if he was trying to solve a complicated puzzle. "Mason?" He pulls out of his thoughts almost immediately. "What were you doing?"

"Trying to find out how many sides an octagon has?" He sheepishly states. Aiden bursts out laughing at this, knocking over his glass in the process.

Eli sets the glass straight and shakes his head. "Mason. Octagon, octopus- they rhyme." Mason nods slowly, a dragged out 'oh' showing the understanding pulling him.

"And we call you the genius. Octagon and octopus so do not rhyme." Aiden immediately interjects. Caden doesn't respond and when I take a peek at him, I notice that he hadn't liften his head once in between the conversation. He didn't seem bothered by the shouting, probably used to it as I had grown used to.

"El, they don't rhyme," I cut into Aiden's and Eli's argument that had turned heated. Mason stares between the two, his head following whoever talks. They both face their attention towards me. Aiden's smug expression and Eli's frustrated one.

"Done!" Caden's head finally shoots up. He turns to look at us, oblivious to the argument, as we all glance at him. I clap weakly while the boys continue staring at him, offering no support.

"Wait, Jess?" Aiden asks, breaking the miniature triangle staring contest. I hum in response. "Are there any rules for if you accidently sorta maybe finish eating the pancake?" My glance moves to Aiden's plate. Empty. I glare at him and my eyes travel to the other plates. The only other plate with a waffle on it was mine and Caden's, half eaten already. I sigh, realizing this game was just a little impossible.

"Now presents!" As always, Mason breaks the silence, clanking his plate into the sink. He runs to the living room and Aiden follows, close behind, despite his complaints that Santa doesn't exist.

"Can I have a piggy back ride?" I ask Eli, who was now washing his plate in the sink. He rolls his eyes but doesn't seem seemingly annoyed as he bends down, shoving his phone into his pocket. He invites me onto his back turning around and I jump on, wrapping my legs around his waist. He holds onto my legs as I throw my hands over his shoulders, connecting my fingers together.

He leads me to the couch- me giggling the entire way- where all the boys sit and throws me gently off his back. I land on the brown cushions of the couch and glare at him. Aiden laughs, pulling me closer to him by wrapping his arm around my shoulder. Mason sits by the Christmas tree, patiently staring up at all of us.

Caden gestures that he can get started and without wasting another moment, Mason peels at the first box. The wrapping paper was blue with white dots- representing snow- spotted all over it. Mason doesn't bother being neat with it and the paper ends up all teared and ripped by his side within seconds. Inside the box lays a football jersey, all folded up in multiple layers.

"Awesome," Mason gushes. He turns the jersey over in his hands to see his last name scribbled on the back making his smile widen, if that was even possible. The boys all chuckle at his reaction and a smile appears on my face as well.

"My turn next." Aiden goes for the large green box with a sticker labeled with his name on it. The handwriting on the sticker looked awfully similar to Caden's though it read 'Santa' on the front of the recipient. He does the same as Mason with the wrapping opening. This time on the inside is another package, a little tinier than the last one. Aiden pulled that one open as well too and the cover of the parcel box stood inside. "This better not be one of those boxes inside each other things," Aiden says, glaring at all of us while Mason falls on the floor laughing.

Another box comes and goes until a tiny box, quarter the size of the original box, gets opened too. At this point, we all laugh as Aiden's expression grows more and more frustrated, though I could see he was trying to hold back his smile as well. He opens the box and inside, there's another tiny box. The only difference was that this time, the tiny box was one with a designed cover of the latest version of a video game, 'War Zone.' Aiden's face brightens up while Eli continues snickering. Inside, for real this time, lays the CD of the videogame.

"Thank you guys. Would have loved it if you just wrapped the actual box though."

"Now, where would be the fun in that," Caden smirks and we all fall into another fit of laughter as Aiden's jaw drops open.

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A few gifts later, a stack of colorful papers stood crumpled in the side of the room near the leg of the couch. Each of the boys had gifts on their laps or near their feet in their criss crossed positions.

"Jess, your turn." Caden says, handing me a light pink box.

"Me?" Confusion laces my words. I hadn't gotten them anything so I most definitely didn't expect a present from them.

"Yes you, silly. This one is from all of us." Eli replies for Caden with a grin on his face. I cautiously open the box to reveal pink wrapping paper surrounding the top layer. Rainbow colored streamers sprinkled the next layer on top of a foam sheet. Removing the foam sheet and neatly stacking it to the side, I see a bright shining bracelet and gasp.

The pearls on the bracelet are carefully put on a thin string and it gleams against the baby pink layer underneath. Four tiny circle charms are attached to the chain. When I look closer, I notice all the charms have a letter on them. The bracelet was beautiful.

"Each charm is from one of us," Caden says softly and I'm only able to nod in awe. Eli takes the bracelet out of my grip and slides it onto my wrist. It fits perfectly, gripping onto my wrist except for the charms that hang below. I adore the bracelet, flipping my wrist over to see each side.

I look back up to see all the boys looking at me, pride and love on their faces. They were looking at me like I was the most precious gem they had ever seen. "Thank you. I love you guys."

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