They're Driving Me Crazy!

Thanksgiving

((TW:mention of neglect and body shaming))

Today was Thanksgiving. I was going to have to be around family and relatives that I barely knew but they somehow knew me.

I got up early like usual and got ready for the day. I was still kind of tired so I went downstairs and made some coffee. I sat at the table and watched YouTube on my phone while I waited on my brothers to wake up. Cerberus was at my feet, already asleep again.

My morning was peaceful before I heard all the arguing coming from Coby's room. I was tempted to get up and be nosy but decided not to because I was still too tired. All I could tell was that Coby, Hayden, and Zack had something to say.

"We would love to get her dog trained to be a service dog but mom and dad would never allow it!" Hayden said.

"The dog could notice her sugar was low before it got too low!" Coby yelled.

"Mom and dad didn't even know she was hypoglycemic! You had to figure that out on your own!" Zack added.

"Yeah but still! It doesn't mean we can't get the dog trained. Besides it's my call! I'm her legal guardian anyways!" Coby crossed his arms.

I look down at Cerberus and sighed. She was already a well behaved dog for her age. Getting her certified as my service dog would make her even better. I finished my coffee and stood up, putting my cup in the sink. Cerberus hopped up when she noticed I wasn't there.

"Maybe bringing the dog with us to the holiday building will make them think it's a good idea." Coby suggested. He was in disbelief that his younger brothers were thinking that our parents could stop anything I did.

My parents still didn't know I was hypoglycemic. We never told them. Since I was living with Coby, we didn't think it was a big deal. I don't know what they're so worried about. Our parents won't care if I have a service dog since I do have bad sugar levels.

My pajama pants had pockets in them so I stuck my hands in them and walked to Coby's room. I stood in the doorway for a couple minutes before they even realized I was there. They all looked at me and then at each other. "How long have you been standing there?" Hayden asked.

"I didn't really have to be standing here to hear y'all arguing over getting Cerberus certified as a service dog." I answered and crossed my arms to look at them.

"Okay little miss rebel. Quit leaning against the doorway with your arms crossed like your some bad girl or whatever in one of those coming of age movies." Zack said and we all laughed.

I went back to standing normally. "Y'all know mama and daddy won't care if we get Cerberus certified. They don't know about my hypoglycemia but after they do, they'll probably want her certified." I reached down and pet Cerberus on the head.

My brothers sighed and looked at each other before looking at me with gentle smiles. "You're right. We can go get her certified tomorrow." Coby said. "And I'm gonna make sure nobody makes fun of you for it at school." He added.

"I'm sure nobody is going to anyways." Hayden said.

After a couple seconds of silence we all figured it was time to get ready so we could go meet our family.

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Every big holiday like Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas where we had to get together with family, we went to this building that our parents rented out for the day. Me and my brothers would always help them set stuff up for when everyone else got there so we had to be earlier than everyone else.

I was kind of nervous to have Cerberus there because my parents might not want her there right now. I felt better when I got there and they started petting her. "As long as she behaves we're fine with her staying." Dad said.

"Can I take her off the leash until everyone gets here?" I asked.

"That's fine with us honey." Mom said.

I smiled and took Cerberus's leash off for a while. I put it on the hook by the door and help my brothers open tables and set them up. I went to help our mom set up the food table with what she had brought. Everyone else would set there own food up once they got there. Cerberus stayed close to my side.

"She's well behaved. She follows you around and doesn't get in the way. How did you get her to do that in just a few weeks and we haven't been able to do that with your brothers for twenty six years?" Dad asked.

We all laughed except for my brothers, of course. They got all pouty about it because they never liked our parents joking about them. I laughed more as I walked into the kitchen to get one of the cokes that were for the party we were having.

Our mom saw and an expression of concern grew on her face. "Honey I love you but do you really think you should be drinking that coke?" She asked. "It has a lot of sugar and calories. You'll be off the walls and you're already a little chubby." She added.

I looked down at the coke and then myself. I went back to the kitchen and threw it away, even though it wasn't even partially empty, and grabbed a water. Cerberus followed me around the whole time. I was always a little self conscious about my weight and I always wanted validation from my mom. Especially on how I looked.

Whenever she said something about my appearance I would try and change it to what she wanted me to look like. I knew she meant well but it hurt sometimes to hear something like that from my mom.

My brothers and dad watched us and then all eyes were on me as I walked into the main area, seemingly unfazed. My brothers knew differently though. They followed me out and found me sitting outside on the curb petting Cerberus and drinking my water. They walked outside and sat down next to me.

"You okay?" Coby asked.

"I'm great." I answered.

"Cut the sarcasm. Are you actually okay?" Hayden asked.

"I said I was fine." I said.

"Then why are you just sitting out here?" Zack asked.

"Just needed some air." I told them.

We sat in silence for a minute before I said anything else. "You guys remember when we'd run around in that field across the street while all the adults talked and we had to wait for mom and dad to take us home?"

"Yeah, that was fun." Hayden smiled at the memories.

Another couple minutes passed. "I let mom get to me even if she doesn't mean it that way. I respect most of what she says, especially about my appearance. I don't expect you guys to understand because they never really made you three feel like this. I just want to look like someone mom can be proud of."

"She is proud of you. Don't you dare forget it. And mom wouldn't tell you this stuff if she knew how it made you feel." Zack said.

I looked down and kept drinking my water. "I'll talk to her about it after this. She'll probably tell half the family." I said and stood up. I walked back inside, holding the door open for Cerberus. I walked to my mom and we went to talk in private.

We had our conversation and she felt bad about the way she made me feel. She had never intended for it to seem that way or make me feel like I should change myself. Her reasoning was that she didn't want to see anyone make fun of me.

I forgave her and we walked back to the area we were in.

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Or family members started coming in a couple at a time. Eventually our whole family was there and we started our normal lunch that we had every Thanksgiving with the talking and visiting and catching up after not seeing each other for so long.