brothers.

75~ Regression

Kyle

My birthday was something I anticipated and dreaded at the same time. On one hand, I'd be the center of attention for the whole day. On the other...

I had three little brothers and one sister that would wake me up in the worst way. And with Diana here now, surely she'd be like her twin... or maybe worse.

I woke up around 8 in the morning, already nervous. I didn't move; any sign that I was already awake could trigger a trap or something.

Seconds ticked by. I still didn't move. My nose started to itch. I moved my hand as slowly as possible, inching up to my ticklish nose. I sighed in relief when I was finally able to scratch.

Maybe I sighed a little too loudly.

"SURPRISE!" All four of them burst out from under my bed, inside our closet, and under my desk. Loud noisemakers blew in my ears and party horns softly hit my face. Lonnie joined the fray, jumping on the bed and licking me. I didn't want to know how they trained him to do that.

"You guys are the worst." I groaned and sat up, petting Lonnie.

They laughed, all of them giving me a hug and saying 'happy birthday'. Diana put a party hat on my head, careful not to snap the elastic. Amy was the opposite— she'd snap it on purpose.

"Mom's almost done with breakfast," said Jack. "And we're going somewhere later today."

"No, come on... I told you, I wanted to stay home."

"That's boring," said Harry.

"You'll like it, trust me." Tommy pulled on my arm, practically dragging me out of my bed. "Now get up!"

"Ow!" I lightly punched his chest.

"You're so whiny," Diana laughed.

"Oh, I'm whiny?" I stood and picked her up, hoisting her over my shoulder. She let out a startled squeal. "That's whiny. Who you calling whiny, huh?"

"Kyle, put me down!" she giggled, slapping my back.

I dropped her on Jack's bed, throwing a pillow at her. She threw it back and stuck her tongue out. I stopped for a moment, gazing at her. It had been a little while since I saw her happy. The whole court thing had really gotten her down.

She was really reminding me of Amy. She had her exact same smile, though Amy's cheeks would turn a little rosier. Her laugh was almost similar. It had more of a staccato, rich giggle to it, like a toddler laughing. Amy's was more of a squealy, fluid laugh.

"What's wrong?" Diana asked me.

"You good, Ky?" Jack tapped my shoulder.

I blinked and nodded. "Yeah... sorry, I got lost in thought." I sniffed, sighing at the scent of Mom's buttery chocolate pancakes. "That's what I'm talking about." I hurried downstairs with them.

For the first half of the day, we watched movies and I opened presents. We'd taken days off from school and work just to relax and celebrate. Around early evening, we headed out.

None of them would tell me where my 'party' was on the way there. I dressed in a nice shirt and khakis, nothing too fancy. I'd initially wanted to just have a small celebration at home, but my family insisted that my 21st birthday should be more than that.

Since Amy died, I hadn't really looked forward to my birthday. I was happy Diana was here, even so. The special day seemed to bring her mood up.

I was quite surprised when we arrived at the 'surprise location': a bowling alley. Nico's Bowling Alley... we hadn't been here in years. Amy used to love it here.