Rivals of the Heart

Rivals of the Heart: ~ Chapter 3

"There are few things in life more heartwarming than to be welcomed by a Cat."

- Tay Hohoff

***

"What are you doing?" Jayce asked me from the front seat, watching me lean out the open window through the rear view mirror.

"Keep your eyes on the road." I scolded him, poking him in the back of the head rather roughly. My stomach churned as I leaned forwards, my face twisting into a grimace. I quickly poked my head out the window once more, making sure to keep my breathes deep and controlled.

"What's the point if he could be watching you throw up?" Sverre questioned, sounding too overly amused for my liking. I turned and glowered at him, my arms in the meantime wrapping themselves firmly around my stomach.

"I'm not going to be sick."

"Uhu." He reply dubiously. "You said the same thing when we were coming back from the trip to Seattle."

True. "But I didn't throw up." I countered, pointing out the obvious.

Air travel simply was not the most efficient way for me to cross states. Somehow, I have a tendency to become nauseated and feeling like I was going to vomit, a classic case of 'air sickness'. I never ended up throwing up (thank goodness), but the feeling was quiet capable of hanging around me, even after I got of the plane.

Sverre took this as the perfect sort of situation to tease me.

"No, but you did coughed up a fur ball." Sverre smirked, making me frown at the disterbing memory.

"That wasn't a fur ball." I muttered, glaring moodily at the back of Jayces head. I debated over whether I should be sugar and spice and all things nice, or simply drop the bombshell. I shuddered at the image of the fur ball, and my stomach squeezed tightly at the picture.

"No? Well then, enlighten me. What was it?" Sverre probed, his voice lanced with fake enthusiasm. I huffed and leaned my head on my arm, which was propped against the window.

I think I'll just drop the bombshell.

"That was the hair from my hairbrush, which I dumped in the bin after I found Jayce had used it to brush off his molting fur."

Sverre's face contorted into a look of disgust. "Gross! No wonder it looked like a fur ball someone had threw up. "

Dad looked at Jayce like this had shed a whole new light on his perspective of my brother, his eyebrows reseeding his hairline as he stared at him in shock.

"Owlan!" Jayce whined, his bottom lip sticking out into a pout.

"Jayce!" I mimicked his tone, digging my face into my arm.

"You promised you wouldn't tell." He moped.

"You promised you would keep your eyes on the road." I reminded him, motioning him to turn around as he continued to stare at me through the rear view mirror.

"But we're almost there!" Jayce complained, turning - finally - to face the road which was bere of any cars aside from the ones that were parked.

"Thank God." I praised the wind, sticking my head out the window to scope the new neighbour hood. All the houses were one to two stories and looked to be constructed of bricks ranging from brown to red, giving the street a warm feel. The lands that the houses sat had a lot more space for outdoor activities that what I was use to, and it was a lot more quiet too.

I wasn't complaining. With hearing such as my own, peace and quiet was something of a delicacy, especially with Jayce and Sverre around. I unwrapped by arms from around my stomach, feeling all the more better now that I knew we were closer to our destination. I couldn't help feeling excitement in meeting the new extension of our family.