Ella winces. “Oh crap, no! Tell me you didn’t, mom!”
“Mmm, didn’t what?”
At that precise moment, dad reappears in the archway holding a huge, bright pink-frosted birthday cake with a small inferno of candles blazing on top.
Mom laughs and claps her hands together. “Everyone! Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...”
“But mooom,” whines Ella over our admittedly off-key singing, “I’m not a little girl anymore!”
Setting the huge cake in front of Ella, dad smiles and bends down to kiss her lovingly on the cheek. “You’ll always be our little girl, sweetheart... whether you’re eight, or eighteen, or forty-eight. Now make a wish, and maybe it’ll come true.”
Put on the spot, Ella hurriedly looks around the table for inspiration – and coming to me, her eyes narrow for a split-second in seething anger. Leaning down, she promptly blows out all eighteen candles in one impressive lungful of air... and as curling wisps of light grey smoke drift up towards the ceiling, I get the sneaking suspicion that her birthday wish is for her poor big brother to drop dead!
“Uh, sis, so what did you wish for?” I ask nervously.
Ella grins slyly as dad removes the cake for slicing. “Oh, but if I told you that, Tommy... then it couldn’t come true!”
Ah, crap!
Chapter Four
After cleaning up from dinner, as is tradition for our family we all vote and decide that that the best thing to do on a cold, dark, and stormy spring night... is to watch a movie together in the living room. And, since it’s Ella’s big birthday, she naturally gets to pick which movie.
Which I immediately sense is going to be a bad idea.
Throwing herself into her usual seat – the right side of an old three-seater sofa directly across from the big flatscreen – Ella blurts out, “The Break-Up!”
Collapsing beside Ella on the left side of the same sofa, I clench my jaw. “No bleeping way, sis.”
“Yes way! It’s totally funny, right? Not to mention it’s exactly the kind of movie you deserve.”
“If we go by what you deserve, then how about Castaway?”
Ella glares at me. “You little prick!” she whispers. “I shoulda let Madison keep on banging half the school behind your back.”
“Mooom,” I whine, “Ella’s trying to rub in me and Madison’s break up!”
With her head stuck inside a tall cabinet where we keep blankets, mom holds up a cautionary finger behind her back and waggles it blindly at Ella. “Now now, sweetheart... be nice. It’s your pick tonight, but don’t go out of your way to provoke your brother.”
“Me? Not like he didn’t provoke me first,” mutters Ella under her breath.
Mom turns around cradling a huge blanket in her arms. “Mmm, what was that?” she asks, tossing the blanket onto the reclining loveseat where she and dad usually sit. It’s to the right and slightly forwards of the big sofa, at an angle towards the screen.
“Eh, nothing mom,” answers my sister with a sigh. “I guess I’ll think of something else.”
“That’s good, sweetie. You want a blanket too? It’s a bit chilly in here.”
As if only then reminded of the ambient temperature, Ella hugs both arms across her chest and shivers. She’s only wearing a T-shirt and a thin pair of stretchy leggings, while I’m wearing my warm gym sweat suit from school. Girls never seem to dress right for the occasion!
“Yeah, I think I will, mom. Freaking cold in here tonight. Gimmie the big orange one, ’kay?”
Mom hunts around and then hums to herself. “Actually, sweetie, the hem on that one needs repair. All that’s left is the blue one... unless you want this wool one hand-knitted by your grandma?”
“Ugh. You know what wool does to me. The fluffy blue one will be fine.”
In the end, Ella settles on one of the Twilight flicks – the one where Bella marries Edward. Not exactly the kind of fare our parents are normally into, but unlike Ella and me, they haven’t already seen it three times.
Dimming the lights, I begin the movie as mom and dad put their feet up and snuggle close under their shared blanket, while Ella smothers herself up to her neck in a blue cocoon – ensuring that she leaves as much empty sofa between us as humanly possible.
Guess I know where I stand!
About fifteen minutes into the movie, I begin to realize that the raging storm outside is indeed making the house feel rather cold and clammy – and with all my blood going to digestion, my fingers and toes are icy. Shivering, I reach across the sofa and grab the edge of the fuzzy blue blanket, attempting to wrench it away from my sister.