the spade brothers' little sister

two

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The next morning, I woke up early like I always did and ran downstairs to see if Larson was home yet.

"I have to go pick him up soon," Jace replied. He was sitting at the kitchen island eating some oatmeal. He was all sweaty and gross; clearly he had gone for a run this morning. Both Jace and Larson were really into fitness, something I never will understand. In P.E. last year, our coach made us run a mile and I nearly died. My sides hurt and my lungs burned. I don't know why Jace would do that for fun.

"I want some pancakes," I replied. "I'm hungry."

"You're a little princess, aren't you?" Jace taunted, walking over to me and lifting me up in his arms.

"I'm almost thirteen, Jace, you can't treat me like a baby!" I whined, squirming to get out of his grasp. I hated when they picked me up. It made me feel like I was five again.

"You are the baby though!" He laughed and placed me back on the ground, squeezing my cheeks. I swatted his hand away. "You're coming with me to get Lars, so we'll make some pancakes when we get home, okay? I promise."

I frowned and crossed my arms across my chest. "I wanna stay here, I don't want to go!"

"You have to, B," Jace replied. "Brady and Charlie are still sleeping and I can't leave you home alone." He shoved another scoop of oatmeal in his face before putting the bowl in the sink. "I'm gonna change my shirt then we'll go."

I groaned and slid my way down to the tile floor of the kitchen as Jace ran upstairs. I just woke up, why couldn't I just stay and play with my new Barbie?

"Let's go, kiddo," Jace spoke, motioning for me to get off the floor. I ignored him and stayed down. "Alright," he muttered, leaning down and scooping me off the floor. He carried me out to the car and slid me into the back seat. I shivered.

"Jace, I have no shoes on and I'm in my PJs," I sighed. "I'm cold."

"Here," he replied, throwing one of his sweatshirts at me. I slipped in on over my head and then buckled in. It wasn't worth trying to sit in the front seat because I knew Larson would just kick me out when he got in the car. Jace's sweatshirts always smell just like him and I loved it. It was a mix of his cologne and coffee, a scent that always made me feel safe.

Jace and I got to the hospital and I waited in the locked car while Jace went in to check Larson out. I smiled as I saw my two oldest brothers walking across the parking lot to where I was in the car.

"Hey Brenna," Larson said as he climbed into the car, giving me a small smile. "I'm sorry about yelling at you yesterday, okay? I know you just want to protect me." He buckled in and the reached his arm back to grab my leg.

"I know," I mumbled, still thinking about how soon enough again, Larson would just be back fighting wherever he fought.

The three of us drove home in mostly silence, but Jace and Larson whispered a few times to each other but I couldn't hear because Larson turned the music up really loud.

We got home and Brady had woken up, but Charlie was still asleep. "Yo!" Larson called to Brady, doing some weird handshake with him.

"You're free, eh?" Brady spoke, running his hands through his hair.

"Thank god," Larson replied. "At least my nurse was smokin'. Wasn't she, Jace?" Jace just rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand to pull me into the kitchen. Brady and Larson resumed talking in the living room about the apparently hot nurse.

A thought crossed my mind as we walked into the kitchen. "Jace, why don't you have a girlfriend?"

Jace turned back to face me and furrowed his eyebrows. "What do ya mean, B?"