Where the hell was she? Sebastian couldn’t help but wonder as he glanced from the empty spot on his bed where Mikey should be curled up next to him, to find his father standing in front of his bed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he released another sigh.
“I was hungry!” Jonathan snapped, drawing Sebastian’s attention to find his brother curled up in the fetal position, pressing his hands against his stomach as he turned to bury his face against his pillow as he released a pained groan and a weakly muttered, “Kill me.”
That was followed by their father releasing a curse as he walked over to Jonathan’s bed and pressed his hand against his forehead. “You’re burning up,” their father murmured as Jonathan turned his head so that he could glare up at their father as he snapped, “Of course I’m burning up! I’m dying!”
“What did you eat?” their father asked, sounding resigned as he pulled the covers the rest of the way off Jonathan while Sebastian lay there, trying to figure out what was going on even as he glanced around the dimly lit bedroom, looking for Mikey.
“A meatloaf sandwich,” Jonathan muttered, only to follow that up with a groan as he turned his head and buried his face back against the pillow as he pulled one hand away from his stomach so that he could gesture for his father to get on with it.
Sebastian was just about to shift his attention to their bedroom window when he saw his father go still. “Meatloaf sandwich?”
“I was starving,” Jonathan muttered against his pillow, only to follow that up with a pained groan and a muttered, “Dying.”
“When did we have meatloaf?” their father asked, frowning down at Jonathan.
“We had it Thursday night,” Jonathan muttered against his pillow as he once again gestured for their father to get on with it.
“That wasn’t meatloaf,” their father said, making everything in Sebastian go still as he added, “That was pot roast.”
Sebastian watched as Jonathan turned his head and noticeably swallowed as he mumbled, “That explains so much.”
“Why don’t we go give Uncle Ethan a call and see if he can meet us at the hospital to have your stomach pumped?” their father suggested with a sympathetic wince as he leaned down and scooped Jonathan up in his arms and quickly headed for the door, only to pause long enough to throw over his shoulder, “Get rid of the pot roast.”
“Already on it,” Sebastian said, Mikey quickly forgotten as he shoved the covers aside and moved to climb off the bed when he heard it, a soft grumble seconds before Mikey was crawling out from beneath his bed.
That was followed by a sigh as she stood up and-
“You’re evil,” Sebastian bit out as the little brat tore a pained grunt from him when she climbed over him so that she could snuggle beneath his blankets with a sleepily mumbled, “You knew this.”
* * *
Sunday
For a moment,Mikey considered climbing back into Sebastian’s bed, but she didn’t want to take the risk. Somehow, she’d managed to sneak into Sebastian’s room for the past three nights and she didn’t want to push it, which was why she was climbing onto her roof at five in the morning with the hopes of passing out in her bed for another three hours before she had to get up.
Really looking forward to crawling back into her bed, Mikey bit back a yawn as she pushed her window up and-
“Wrong house,” Mikey murmured with a hopeful smile that quickly disappeared as the large men sitting on her bed waiting for her only glared.
When Uncle Trevor and her stepfather didn’t say anything, Mikey decided that perhaps this would be a good time to make a run for it. With that in mind, she swallowed hard, nodded, and absently gestured behind her as she said, “I’ll just be going now.”
That was followed by another nod, clearing her throat again and turning around only to realize that she wasn’t alone.
“This is going to be so much fun,” Uncle Jason said with a satisfied sigh that actually terrified her.
“What’s going to be so much fun?” Mikey asked, licking her lips nervously as she risked a glance back at her room and felt her stomach drop when she realized that they were gone.
“Oh, that can’t be good,” she mumbled weakly as she looked back at Uncle Jason and-
“I have to admit that I’ve really been looking forward to this all week,” Uncle Jason said with a satisfied sigh as he finished throwing her over his shoulder and carried her to the edge of the roof that overlooked the backyard.
“Umm, what exactly have you been looking forward to?” Mikey couldn’t help but wonder as he shifted her in his arms and-
“This.”
-dropped her over the edge.
Before she was finished releasing what she felt was a justified scream, her stepfather caught her. Willing her heart to stop pounding against her chest, Mikey swallowed hard as she mumbled, “I’d really like not to do that again.”