One Big Happy Family

Chapter 25: Peter's Surprise

"What's Peter doing in the front yard?"

Drogo was standing in front of the family den window, peering through the sheer curtain.  Nicolae was seated in his favorite armchair, reading the daily paper.  He looked up as Drogo spoke.

"He's installing a swing," Nicolae explained.  "Trying to cheer Lorie up."

"Huh.  That's nice of him," Drogo remarked.  "Why does she need cheering up?"

Nicolae set the newspaper down and sighed, exasperated.  "Didn't we already go over this... yesterday?"

Drogo raised his eyebrows.  "Whoa there... don't get your panties in a bunch, Nico.  We talked about a lot of stuff yesterday."

"Yeah... but this was specifically regarding Lorie," Nicolae shook his head, disappointed with his brother's lack of short term memory... or total indifference.

"So Lorie needs a swing in order to stop decapitating her dolls?"  Drogo scoffed.  "See?  I was paying attention."

"Something like that," Nicolae picked up the paper and resumed reading.

"I see...." Drogo muttered... although he didn't really.  "I'll go give him a hand," he then added.  "Peter's not the most technically-inclined person I know."

"I'm sure he'll be eternally grateful," Nicolae smirked sarcastically.  But Drogo had already left.

"Hey!  Peter!"  Drogo called out to his brother as he exited the house through the front door.

Peter looked over his shoulder and waved.  "Hi, Drogo!"

Drogo meandered toward the large oak tree and saw that Peter was fiddling with a make-shift swing.  He looked pretty frustrated.

"Oh, good," Peter sighed when Drogo crouched down by his side.  "I could use some help."

Drogo smirked.  "I figured.  That's why I'm here." 

He then inspected Peter's project more closely.  "So... how high up do you plan to hang this thing?"  He arched an eyebrow as he eyeballed the length of rope his brother planned to use.

"I don't know," Peter replied.  "I was thinking of tying it to that," he pointed to a sturdy branch about fifteen feet up from the ground.

Drogo smirked.  "I think you're gonna need more rope... this here is only about five feet long... so Lorie would have to jump up ten feet just to get on the seat... and that's without taking into consideration the extra amount you'll need to secure it to the branch."

Peter's green eyes widened.  "Seriously?"

"Would I lie to you?"  Drogo acted hurt.  "Here... let me demonstrate."

He picked up the swing and leapt up to the branch Peter had pointed to.  He perched on it and let the swing dangle down... it stopped just about ten feet off the ground.  Drogo chuckled seeing Peter's expression of dismay.

"Told you," Drogo smirked after jumping back down.  "You probably should've tested it like I just did... before cutting it."

Peter sighed and ran a hand through his hair, discouraged.  "You're right... I screwed up."

"Got more rope?"  Drogo asked.

Peter nodded in response.  "Yeah... I just don't know if it'll be enough..."

"We can still use this," Drogo replied, holding up the rope Peter had already cut.  "We just have to secure it really tightly to the rest.  Luckily, Lorie doesn't weigh that much... it should be strong enough to hold her."