The Treehouse

Ch. 3

"Oh Colleen, he's so cute and he's tall and tan and perfect! I think this one might actually last!"

Like most nights, I was talking on the phone with Delaney. Well, she was doing most of the talking. I was mumbling "mhm", "okay", and "tell me more" while making mac n cheese and trying to keep track of my little brothers and sisters. I was supposed to be babysitting them--all 5 of them--but to be honest I had no idea where most of them were. In the Moreno house, that typically doesn't end well. Somebody always ends up hurt or crying or lost or something along those lines. Our family was like Cheaper By The Dozen, except half a dozen but double the chaos.

"Dee, I'm going to have to call you back. Have fun with Johnny or James or whatever." 

"It's JIMMY! And alright, talk to you later Colleen." 

 I hung up the phone and stirred the pot of mac n cheese. The only sibling I could locate, twelve year old Kelsey, the second oldest Moreno child, came in and took over the pot of noodles for me. "Thanks you're a doll." I smiled at her with appreciation. "Have you seen your brothers and sisters?"

"The twins are tormenting Cassie, they're like stealing her dolls or something," Kelsey rolled her eyes and continued to stir the pot. "I tried to break it up but I really have no power over Toby and Christian. And Luke's in the bathroom doing some kind of science expiriment involving mouth wash and his hamster. I just hope he doesn't kill it. Like he did his lizard. And his ferret. And his goldfish."

I laughed thinking about Luke and his crazy expiriments. He had lots of creativity built up in that 4th-grade mind of his.

I walked around the house trying to locate Toby, Christian, and Cassie. Once I finally found them I had to break up a fight involving dolls, action figures, water guns, toy cars, and a scooter. It wasn't really a "fight", it was more of the twins picking on Cassie and her defending herself by shooting them with water. Which wasn't such a bad self-defense tactic. Not to endorce that kind of violent behavior to six and seven year olds or anything.

"We're eating dinner now so break it up kiddies. Boys, why do you always have to pick on Cassie?" I carried a crying Cassie in my arms while leading the boys into the kitchen. From across the house I called, "Luke! Come set the table! Dinner!"

Kelsey and I served mac n cheese to everyone at the table, then sat down and began to eat.

Cassie had just upgraded from a booster-seat to a normal-person chair, and you could barely see her face. Peeking over the table, she asked, "When are mommy and daddy going to be home?"

I swallowed some mac n cheese and took a sip of water before answering. "Not until late tonight. But don't worry, by the time you wake up in the morning mommy and daddy will be here." 

Cassie clapped her hands in excitement and we ate dinner while occasionally being interupted by somebody spilling their food or breaking a glass. Yep. That was the Moreno household.

After dinner Kelsey and I put the little ones to bed and I went up into my room. I changed into my pj's then slid open the window. Kian's room was right next to mine and we could see into each other's rooms through the window. There was a tree, fully equipped with a treehouse seperating our two houses. Almost every night we would meet in the treehouse and just talk about random things. It was the usually the best part of my day. 

I climbed out the window and onto the tree. I then tapped Kian's window, who was standing right there waiting for me. 

We both climbed into the treehouse. It had gotten much smaller since we were little kids, but still, every time I went in there I had thought about the time when me, Kian, and his dad had built it together in second grade. I laughed to myself thinking about the memories.

"Hey Colleen!"

"Hey doofus!"

Kian laughed at the insult. He knew I didn't mean it. "I saw you changing."

My face turned red with embarresment. "You did not! I could have sworn you weren't in your room when I changed!"

"Red underwear. And you had a zebra bra then you changed into a pink sports bra." He grinned.

Crap. He was right. And he saw me without a bra. Awkward.

"Oh big whoop! Don't act like you've never seen a girl in her underwear before." 

"Calm down Col," he winked. "I didn't say I didn't like it." I softely punched him on the shoulder and he brushed it off calmly. "And hey! You're boobs have gotten bigger!" That time I punched him for real.

"You're such a pervert, Kian!" I sounded mad, but I honestly didn't feel all that violated. He was Kian freaking Beckley, my best friend since forever. I had seen him changing plenty of times before. Next time I'll be sure to tell him that his dick has gotten bigger.

"Okay, okay I'm sorry. Next time close your blinds and that won't happen. Now. How was your night?"

"Stressful."

"Family?'

I nodded and he brushed back a strand of my hair. At this point we were sitting next to each other and I was leaning my head on his shoulder. In a totally nonromantic way though.

"Mom's still looking for a job. And my dad is so close to getting fired it's not even funny." I sighed. "They have like no money. I don't know why they think they can afford six kids."

Kian rubbed my back. He never really knew how to help me when it came to my family, and I didn't expect him to. He didn't need to say anything because just listening to me and being there for me was really all I needed.

"I'm sorry Col." I blinked back tears and put my head on his lap. He continued rubbing my back. "You're a good person. Things will work out." 

We sat in the treehouse together for another couple of minutes. 

I sat up from Kian's lap. "I have to pee." I smiled at him and he laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks Kian." 

We exchanged "I love you"s and kissed each other on the cheek (again, not in a romantic way) and climbed back into our own seperate bedrooms.