No Regrets

Chapter Thirty-One - Times Never to be Forgotten (Part One)

KATIE'S POV

   Mom dropped me off at the house early this morning. My parents aren't making me go to school; however, they are not letting me stay in a hotel room alone for hours. I called Dominick four times this morning to check-in on both Mollie and him; but each time I called, the call would go straight to voicemail. I called Linkon and learned that Dominick hasn't been at hospital for the last two hours. Going off without telling anyone where and not answering his phone is not unusual for Dominick; however, if he doesn't contact our parents, Linkon or myself by late afternoon, I will start to panic.

   I did a little bit of cleaning around the house, including Dominick's room. I was quite surprised, and happy to find that his room was mostly clean. Messy and disorganized, but clean. Whenever I usually come into his room, it is to drop off his clean folded-laundry, something Mollie related, or talk to Dominick. All of those times, I do not look around the room or check to see how clean my brother is keeping it.

   I found a lot of the toys of Mollie's that went missing under her crib and Dominick's bed. I found a little bit of dirty laundry and baby bottles, that I believed to be dirty, under his bed also. The bottles didn't have any spoiled milk inside or appear to be dirty, but I still took them down to be washed.

   While dusting his bookshelf, I moved a book that was blocking my rag from dusting on the shelf and discovered something. I had lost my grip on the book and when I was picking the book up, some pieces of paper fell out. I, being a noisy little sister, couldn't resist taking a peak at the papers. Upon examination, I found that the papers were not papers but photos.

   A majority of them were just random pictures of Dominick and his friends messing around. However, I found a few were priceless to me and brought back memories. One picture was of seven year old Dominick and three year old me sleeping next to each other on the floor. Another, taken a couple years after the other, was of Dominick hunched over with me on his back, hanging on like a koala-cub.

   One picture was taken on a Christmas Eve years ago when things were a lot different.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHRISTMAS EVE 2008
5 YEARS AGO

"Dominick, don't you touch a single one of those cookies!" Mom says directing the order to my brother. She is putting another tray of cookies in the oven; but even with her back turned, she can still see my brother start to try to grab one. She must really have eyes in the back of her head. I think to myself.

   I let out a giggle as Dominck gets a big disappointed look on his face. He looks over and sticks his tongue at me. He gives up on trying to steal a cookie and walks over to the table where I'm seated. I'm decorating sugar cookies that we'll be taking over to the Christmas party over at my grandparents' house. "Those are really badly decorated." He states scrunching up his nose.

   Dad lets out a laugh as he enters the kitchen, "Be nice to your sister, Dominick." he says in a slightly serious tone. However, an amused smile is on his lips. He walks over to the table and looks down at the cookies. He gives me a kiss on the head, "They look great, sweetheart." he says. He plants a kiss on the top of mg brother's head. "Not always good to say what's on your mind." he whispers something else to my brother but it's too quiet for my ears to pick up.

   Mom ruffles Dominick's hair and gives him a kiss on the cheek. She whispers something in his ear, which makes him laugh. "Go get dressed for the party you two. I'll take care of these cookies." Mom says lifting me up out of my chair. She tickes me under my arms before giving me a little push towards the kitchen door. I'm still giggling as I exit the kitchen.