24 hours before
Noa woke up at 7:30 a.m. so she could go exercise and have time to get ready. She already had everything planned for that special day: her birthday. She had already decided that that day they were going to celebrate at a club with her friends and brothers, so she had everything planned a week before, just like she did with everything. Around 8:40 a.m. She was back at her house and ran to her room to take a shower so she could wake up her brothers.
After bathing, she combed her brown hair, which was a quick and easy task because she had it straight and easy to comb. She took out some denim shorts, a white long-sleeved shirt, put on her sandals, and left the room towards her brothers' room, Jonah, Andrew, and David.
Their room was next to the bathroom, which was shared with the room of the other two girls, Daniela and Liri. Unlike this one, Noa's room was at the end of the hallway, in front of the main room.
—Wake up sleepyheads!— Noa entered the room after knocking on the door. —It's late.
The twins, Jonah and Andrew, didn't even move, but poor David was scared by Noa's scream and opened his pretty gray-blue eyes with alteration.
—What the hell, Noa?!— He said and sat on the bed. His tousled hair was slightly lighter than Noa's color, but curlier. On the other hand, the twins had the colors of her mother's side, dark blonde hair, and blue eyes.
—Oops... I didn't mean to scare you to death David, sorry.— She answered with a smile while opening the curtains.
The moment the sun entered the room, the twins began to react and did not seem happy. The sunlight illuminated the entire room. From the corner where the twins' beds, their pool table, and their closet were, to the other corner where David's bed was, his desk with his computer and his closet.
—Stop it! Close the curtains!— Andrew shouted, throwing a pillow at her.
—Of course not, you promised me that you were going to get up at 10:00 in the morning.— She stood in the middle of the two beds and sat on the nightstand with her arms crossed. —Move, it's already 10:15!
Seeing that they didn't move, she threw herself on top of Jonah and jumped a little to try to wake him up and then tried to tickle him, but the moment she tried to get him, he threw her to the floor and she fell down.
—Hey!
She reached up and stroked her leg.
—Idiot...
—I can't even go with you today because "I'm only sixteen." I'm not getting up before noon.— David said, imitating the way in which everyone reminded him that he could not go to the club because he was a minor and he went back to bed.
Noa got up, went to David's bed, and removed the quilt.
—You are able to come for the first part of the day, young man. Now go brush your teeth, I can smell your bad breath from here.
David made a dramatic gesture and finally stood up from the bed.
—Shh.— Jonah grumbled, finally waking up. —I am trying to sleep.
Noa sighed tiredly. Why was it so difficult to wake these two up? She loved them very much, and in general, they were the funniest in the family, but sometimes they made her want to kill them.
—Well, I already woke you up, I'm going to make breakfast, and I want you all downstairs in 10 minutes.
Noa went downstairs and headed to the kitchen. She was used to preparing breakfast for her brothers at her house since her mother left very early for her important appointments.
While Noa was cooking some scrambled eggs with cheese and toasting bread, the front door opened.
—Hello, my dear family.— Noa's father, greeted me as he entered the house. —Mmm, it smells like food.
—Hello dad!— Noa left the bread in the pan and went to greet him.
He was a tall and serious man, but at the same time, he was very sweet with his family and dedicated himself to helping all people he could. Noa got her colors from him, brown hair and green eyes, although she got her skin color from her mom, a light color, compared to her dad's, which was a hazel color.
—My little birthday girl.— He gave her one of her sweet smiles and a hug. —18 years old. How fast time flies!
—I know... Time did fly.
After a moment of silence, while her father looked at her remembering everything they had been through as a family, she put him out of his thoughts.
—I made scrambled eggs with cheese and toast to accompany.— She said, serving breakfast from the pan to the plates.
—Thank you,— He thanked her with. —You don't know how much you are helping your mother with this.
–With great pleasure, dad, I don't mind making breakfast.
—And sometimes dinner.— He continued with the list of things she helped with at home. —And taking care of your sisters...
—Yeah, it's the least I can do for her. — Her tone became a little sad, and she looked down.
—Everything is going to be fine.— He tried to cheer her up a little, but the truchas was that he was trying to calm himself more than her. –We must have faith.
Daniela entered the kitchen just at the perfect moment.
—Good morning.— She said, giving her father a kiss and sitting at the table. —What do we have for breakfast?
—Don't you have something to tell your sister?— Her father turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow.
—What? —Daniela turned to look from her father to her sister, confused.
Her father waited a moment longer, and he gave up. After all, she was only twelve years old, and she was just a kid understand.
—Something like: "Thank you for waking up early to make breakfast."
—Oh! Yes, that. Can I eat now?
Her father was going to say something, but Noa stopped him and made a sign for him to let it go. She made a plate for her sister and prepared one for her father and brothers.
They sat down to eat, and after a while, David joined. Just as they began to eat, Liri began to cry. Before Noa could go up for her two-year-old sister, Jonah was coming down the stairs with Andrew behind him, carrying Liri.
—What's up?— Jonah greeted his mischievous smile as if Noa didn't try to wake him up a few minutes ago.
—I don't know, let me think. Could it be that I was trying to wake you up for three hours and then you threw me out of bed on the floor and turned around in your bed as if nothing had happened?— The sarcasm in her voice was very easy to pick up and that made Jonah chuckle a lot.
—Oh, the little girl got offended? Just because it's your birthday doesn't mean you can wake me up whenever you want, I'm still a year older than you.
–Ugh, don't annoy.
—I never agreed with people falling on me.
Noa rolled her eyes and grabbed her sister to feed her breakfast.
—I could have taken her to the kitchen too, huh.— Andrew commented as Noa went to the kitchen.
They moved to eat at the dining room table because even though their kitchen was quite large, only five people could fit at the table and the windows that reached from the ceiling to the floor in the dining room made light easily enter the house and they gave a vibe of joy and tranquility to everyone.
Liri ate a few pieces of her breakfast, but after a while, she started playing with her food and throwing it everywhere. She was generally a calm and friendly baby. She looked a lot like Alexander, the oldest brother in the family, big blue eyes and hair like that of the twins. But even she felt the bad vibe in the house since her mother started going to her appointments. Each member of the family had a different way of expressing her feelings, and Liri expressed it by not talking anymore.
For a girl her age, it was not normal how few words she spoke. They took her to therapy, but everyone told them that it was a trauma reaction that it would eventually go away. She channeled all the feelings that the adults were expressing in the house and that was the result.
—Liri! You splashed your ketchup on me!— Daniela complained.
She didn't get along with Liri as well as she did with David, the ten years difference between her did make a diferencia for her. She used to be the center of attention until Liri was born and she had to share everyone's affection with her.
—Andrew, do you think you can take her to bathe?— Noa asked.
—But... Well, I guess I can. — Andrew took her to her room to bathe.
—Listen everyone, Alexander and Jessica are coming to celebrate with us for a while— their dad explained. —And it shouldn't take long for her mother to come. Go upstairs and get dressed and then we'll go do something together.
David and Daniela put their plates in the sink and went upstairs to get dressed. Jonah washed everyone's dishes and went to sit on the living room couch next to Noa.
—Hello, little sister.
She looked up from her phone, raising an eyebrow.
—What is all this show for?
—No, nothing.
—Aha, what do you want?
—Who? I? I just want to celebrate my favorite sister.— He tried to sound very innocent, but Noa just looked at him waiting for him to speak. —Alright. I wanted to see if she could invite Rebecca to the club with us.
—Why not?
–Really? It does not bother you?
—If you want to invite your girlfriend to my party, I don't mind Jonah, I like her.
—Ha! That was easier than I thought. — He stood up and went to her room. —Thank you.
She just watched him leave shooking her head.
A few minutes later, Alexander arrived with his wife and his baby Eli. Noa received them and everyone came down to say hello.
—He's very cute.— Noa said carrying her ten-month-old nephew. —He grew a lot.
—Right?! Alex says it's not true.— Her sister-in-law Jessica answered.
—Oh Jess, we know that they don't realize these things.
—True.
They talked for a while, while they waited for their mother so they could all cut the cake together. After about half an hour, Noa decided to text to her brother Samuel, since he had accompanied her mother.
—Relax, here they come.— Her father seemed to have read her thoughts and she apologized.
Sure enough, five minutes later, her dog barked at the door and her brother entered the house with her mother.
—Thank God they are already here.
Noa ran to hug her mother and relaxed much more. Her mother didn't look as bad as she expected and that was one of the best gifts she has ever been given.
—Why did it take so long?— Her father asked Samuel.
—They kept us for a few more minutes to make sure we could come without worries of anything
—Well, good thing that everyone is already here.
Noa hugged her mother and could feel how she was losing more weight, but she didn't say anything, since she had promised her that at least on her birthday she was going to forget about the whole thing and she was going to enjoy it to the fullest, fina. After all, nothing could go wrong.
