The Rules My Brothers Made

Chapter 5

The following day was absolute chaos, per usual Miller family standards.  Mark was being difficulty, Max was in a pissy mood, and Matt was glued to my side.  Don’t ask me what could happen to me while I was in the kitchen, but whatever.  As a result, no one was productive in helping me clean the house for my Dad’s work party, and I was ready to rip my hair out from trying to manage it.  Luckily, Savannah came over to help get things ready, and Jake came to take Max off my hands.  Mark still refused to help us in any way, so I was left to my own devices.  Within five minutes of cleaning the kitchen, the catering company arrived to take over, so that was a relief.  I focused on cleaning the rest of the downstairs area.  I would clean things, and Savannah would follow behind me with the duster and vacuum cleaner.  It took all afternoon, but we managed to scrub the place clean.  The hardwood floors were sparkling, and there was not a speck of dirt to be found.

Thankfully, Dad didn’t even notice my black eye because he was so preoccupied with getting the house ready.  He spent all day in the back, making sure the pool area was ready for guests.  He had all the space heaters running so that if it got chilly at night, people could still be outside.  He was trying to entertain a new TV starlet who the station had just picked up to star in their popular teen drama, Sunset Strip.  Apparently, the girl was a mega princess, so Dad was obsessing over making sure everything was perfect.  There would be a few of the big wigs around with their spouses.  Usually they had these parties at a function hall, but Dad said this family would appreciate something a little more homey.

Once everything was ready, I sent Dad upstairs to get ready, then went to help Mark pick out his suit.  Once we picked one, I ironed it for him so that the creases would be perfect.  Next, I took care of Matt’s.  Luckily, he was able to pick his own suit out.  I got one ready for Max as well, so that as soon as he got back, I could get him ready.  It was harder to get the boys ready anyway.  The only saving grace was that Mike wasn’t here to make things even harder.  He usually instigated the other three, and things turned into a giant disaster.  It was easier to just get Mark and Matt ready.

“Meg, should I wear a bow tie or a tie?”  Mark called from his bedroom as I finished ironing Max’s suit.

“Ummm, ask Matt what he is wearing, then wear the opposite!’  I called back.

“I’m wearing a tie!”  Matt yelled form across the hall.

“Will you all please stop yelling at each other?”  My dad bellowed as he came up the stairs.  “We are not a bunch of circus animals!”  I looked up as he came into the laundry room where I was cleaning up my mess.  “Can you tie this for me, honey?”  He looked helpless as he tried to get his tie correctly.  I smiled at him and went to go fix his tangled mess.  “Thanks, Meghan.  Times like these I wish your mother was around.  I never even wore a tie until she made me when I graduated law school.  Never bothered learning to tie one myself.  Had I known I would need to know how to do it myself, I probably would have made her teach me.”  I smiled up at him again once I finished, and turned back to pick up the pieces to Max’s suit to lie out on his bed.  “You look just like her now.”  Dad said sadly.  “Every day you remind me more and more like her.”

I stepped back out of Max’s room and gave him a hug.  He squeezed me tightly to him before I pulled away.  “Come on, Dad.  Let’s get everything else ready.”  We went back downstairs, and checked on the catering company while Dad made a few more final calls from his office.  Once Mark and Matt were dressed appropriately, I ran upstairs to my bathroom and showered.  Wrapping myself up in my robe, I blowdried my hair and put hot rollers in while I did my makeup, taking special care to cover up my raccoon eyes.  They were already beginning to fade pretty well, and I was confident that by Monday, you wouldn’t even be able to tell there had been any damage.  I couldn’t help but wonder what Evan’s face looked like, but I guessed I would have to wait until the next day to find out.  I slipped into my simple black cocktail dress and a pair of black Loubies.  They were my Mom’s but once I grew into them, I loved to wear them.  It was like playing dress up, and it made me feel a little closer to her.  I threw on a pair of pearl earring and a single strand pearl necklace.  Once I let the rollers out, my long light brown hair cascaded down my back in gentle curls.  I gave a few quick sprays of hair spray to lock them in place and ran downstairs to answer the doorbell.