Sibling Rivalry

Peer Pressure

It was around noon, Alex was away at a meeting, and Rustin was at hockey practice. This left Mason to watch over Liam and Bri.

Liam was outside, playing on the swing set with two of his friends, and Brianna was having a tea party with her stuffed animals in the living room. The day had been slow, and relaxing (which was quite unusual in this family) and Mason sat at the dining room table, finishing up some last minute homework. He was dressed in light blue boot cut jeans, and a black and blue t shirt.

"Mason look!" Bri smiled, running over to him. She was dressed in candy patterned leggings and a hello kitty sweater.

Mason smiled, and looked to see her holding up her fluffy pink bunny plush, which was dressed in a red and white cheer leading outfit.

"Its like your team," She smiled big.

Mason chuckled and nodded, messing her hair.

"Why are you still inside kiddo? The boys are jumping in leaf piles." He smirked, knowing how much she loved kicking around the colorful fallen leaves.

She blinks a moment, as if in thought, then smiles

"I wanna play outside!"

"Go get your shoes on, and your jacket, then you can go outside. What's the rule?"

"Stay only in our yard, and no climbing the fence or trees," She recites, smiling proudly.

"Good girl," Mason laughs "Alright, go have fun, I'll call you all in for lunch in a little bit ok?"

"Ok!"

Outside, Liam laughs, landing next to his friend Jacob. Him, Jacob, and Zachary had all been playing secret agents, which really just meant shooting one another with nerf guns, and tackling each other into piles of leafs.  

He was dressed in his dark blue jeans, and a black Star Wars t shirt (He had taken off his red jacket even though Mason told him not to). His friends lived on his street, and they often played together at one of their houses.

"Hey! Lets play lava tag, we can climb on the-"

"Liam your sisters here" Jacob muttered, in an annoyed sounding tone.

Liam looked to see his little sister struggling to zip up her pink jacket, as she walked toward them across the yard smiling.

"Can I play too?" Bri asked smiling, while kicking at a red leaf

Liam smiled, and was about to say yes, when he heard Zachary scoff

"What's wrong with her eyes?" He laughs a bit nudging Liam

Bri looked confused. She knew her eyes were different colors, but she had never heard someone talk about them like they were 'wrong'. Her daddy always said they were just like her mothers, so they were beautiful and special.

"What?" Liam asked a bit taken back

"They don't match"

"Yeah, like one of those weird cats"

Brianna pouted

"Nu uh, they're a good kind of different, my daddy said so," She states, walking nearer to her brother for comfort.

"Liam you're not gonna let her play with us are you?? She's a little kid she'll mess it all up."

"Yeah" Jacob states, looking at Liam expectantly.

Suddenly Liam felt strange. He didn't want his friends to be upset with him. He remembered all those times Mason would mess with Rustin with his friends, and looked to his friends, and motioned for them to come closer. They did.