Minor swear warning. It's at the end of the chapter and I did censor it.
I was stressed out.
The memorial service had been 3 days ago, and thigs had only gotten worse.
Conor was clingy.
Shayne's stomach was still messed up.
Both Bennet and Sadie needed comforting and attention.
I needed to take care of them all, pay attention to them all, and take care of myself.
Right now I was trying to make supper. Nothing fancy; I couldn't cook very good anyway. Mom never really taught me, so for the past week I'd had to teach myself.
So far my cooking hadn't killed anyone, so that was a plus.
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The kitchen.
Conor was glued to my hip, Shayne was hanging out on the bathroom floor, Bennet was in his room, and Sadie wanted attention. But, of course, I couldn't really give it to her because I was busy taking care of everyone else.
See my dilemma?
I wasn't cooking anything really complex. Just spaghetti and meatballs. But, remember, before this week I'd never really cooked a real dinner before.
I tried to stir the pot on the stove with one hand while holding Conor with the other. Soon Sadie was by my side and attached to my leg.
I sighed. "Bennet, Shayne, you wanna join the party, too?"
Bennet didn't respond. Once this spaghetti was done I'd have to check on him.
"Shayne?" I called. "You okay?"
He grunted.
I frowned, put down the spoon, and went to the bathroom.
Shayne was sitting against the walls by the toilet, head leaned against the wall and his eyes full of tears.
I put down Conor, sat down next to him, and gave him a gentle hug. He leaned into it.
He sniffed. "Why does life have to suck so bad?" he croaked, and his tears spilled over.
I sighed and rubbed his arm.
"I..." I whispered, "I don't know."
I was the oldest. My siblings had always expected me know the answer to their questions.
Lately I hadn't been able to give very many answers, and that was... really hard for me.
