Bless You

[19.] puke #2

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EDITED

I felt like a proud parent watching him make his first wobbly baby steps. Or in this case, laughs.

Dominic had just said his first laugh.

I raised my phone and pressed the record button. "Can you do it again?"

"Amaya, it's been thirty minutes. I'm not going to laugh again," he said firmly, his annoyed face confirming the fact.

I lowered my phone. "Aw, plea—"

"No."

"Why no—"

"No."

"Aw, c'mon. You looked so good!"

Dominic's eyebrows rose.

"Happy!" I exclaimed. "I meant happy."

"Mhm."

"Would you like something else to drink?" I said quickly, determined to switch the subject. I stood up from the sofa, and stepping over the sleeping cats, I entered the kitchen. "We have coffee, tea, hot chocolate—"

When Dominic told me that coffee was good, I took out two packets of coffee grains and placed one in the Keurig machine. Filling the machine with water, I tapped my toe against the bottom of the kitchen counter.

Dominic was staying too long.

Mind you, I really liked it that he was over. Heck, I even encouraged him to stay as long as he wanted! But by every tick of the clock, I was growing more and more anxious.

The boys will be home any minute now.

I could almost hear my brothers' long sermons about 'why being with a boy alone in this house is an abomination to the family', and that 'I should be ashamed of myself for being alone with a boy at home' and yada yada ya.

And Mom would probably go along with them.

"Oh!" I said as water flooded over top of the machine, trickling down my arm. I immediately shut off the water and wiped a towel, cleaning the mess I created.

I placed the machine in its rightful spot, then opened the cupboard for the mugs. And, craning my neck, I spotted the mugs on the tallest shelf that I could not reach even if I stood on my tip-toes.

Curse tall brothers who do the dishes.

Grumbling at my short stature and how I didn't get the tall genes from my dad, I put one knee on the counter and hoisted myself up onto the ledge, then reached for the mugs.

But there were two minor problems.

One, the countertop was narrow.

And two...

I was kinda clumsy.

As I took the mugs from the shelf, my knee slipped off the edge of the counter, and both me and the mugs came a-tumbling down in the most ungraceful way possible.

Two arms wrapped around my waist.

"I got you," Dominic said.

But Dominic did not, in fact, 'got me'. While he tried to steady me, he lost his balance and crashed to the ground with me on top of him. Both mugs clanged onto the hardwood floor.

We both immediately tried to get away from the other person, but because of our frenzied states, we ended up getting even more entangled.

"Um, sorry—"