Reflections of Light

Cabin fever

"Viv, the WiFi randomly signed me out again!" Jake called frustratedly from where he sat, clicking angrily at his laptop.

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" Vivian grumbled irritably from where she was rummaging through a over-pants, messy suitcase, sorting out clothes for the wash.
"If you weren't on that thing all day every day, it probably wouldn't even be an issue to you. Hey, Sweetie."

Wesley had come up on Vivian's right, peering curiously at what her mother was doing.

Vivian looked at her. "You wanna give me a hand sorting out the laundry?"

Wesley shook her head. "Nah."

"Okay, let me rephrase. If you want clean underwear for the next week, help me with the laundry. You too Jake."

Jake ignored her.

Billy sidled up to him, peering at his computer screen curiously, then turning to the distracted teen.
"Can you crack your knuckles?"

"... Nope." Jake replied, not looking up from the screen.

"I can."
He demonstrated, right next to Jake's ear, making him flinch a little.
"An' Ibrahim says that girls really like boys who can crack their knuckles."

"... Yup, that is a well known aphrodisiac... The sound of grinding bones." Jake replied dryly.

"I think the world is unfair to women." Wesley said to her mother, as they sorted through socks.

"Well... It is sometimes, but..."

"Cause Men can have beards and mustaches, but women can't, an' it's not fair."

"Well..." Vivian struggled. "Women can do lots of things things men can't. I mean, Women can have babies, and that's no mean feat..."

"I'd much rather have a beard than a baby."

"Oh, would you...?" Vivian trailed off, looking lost.

"Yeah, cause if I decide I don't like it, I can just shave it off, an' I can't do that with a baby, can I?"

"Well... Uh..." Vivian struggled for an answer to that.

"I want a beard when I grow up!" Billy said, running up.
"A massive one, like Blackbeard's!"

"Okay, that's... Nice." Vivian was wondering how they'd gotten onto this conversation, and where exactly it was going.

"Did you know, Blackbeard put like fire and fireworks all in his beard to make himself more scary, an' that's really cool, an' can I do that?"

"Oka... No. No, you cannot put fireworks on your face! No."

"Why not?"

"Because it's dangerous, and your mother would kill me."

"What about..."

"Oh look, I was wondering where that shirt was!" Vivian cut him off, pulling out a ruffled shirt.

Wesley eyed her mum suspiciously. "Wasn't lost, you were wearing that yesterday."

"Why don't you two go watch something on my tablet? I'll do the clothes."

"WiFi's still not working!" Jake called.

Vivian groaned, head falling into her hands.

Later, she and Candace were hauling bags of clean washing up the stairs, back into the room.

"Hey, we're back! Anyone going to be nice and help me sort it? Nope? Okay."

Steven clipped his eldest son lightly around the head. "Come on, out of the virtual world for a minute."

He walked over to his wife, towing a disgruntled Jake along with him.

"The other two are in one of the other bedrooms, and I don't think they're coming any time soon."

Vivian stormed over to the adjoining door leading to the next bedroom.
"Guys! Come help, for Christ's sake!"

"Just a minute!"

Vivian sighed. "Sure. A minute."

Someone knocked swiftly on the door to the hallway.

Crossing the room in sharp strides, she not-to-calmly yanked open the door. "Yes? Oh, Hello!"

"Hi." Luci said, eyeing the frustrated woman before her with an unclear expression.

Billy stuck his head out from the bedroom door. "Mummy? Mummy!"

He rushed across the room, throwing his arms around Luci and bouncing excitedly on his toes. "Mummy, mummy, mummy, mummy!"

Well, that was longer than expected.
Anyway, please comment your thoughts.