Trouble-Maker

In the morning I rolled of the couch and covered Ronnie up with a knitted blanket as he curled into the cushions. I flipped the TV of and walked nimbly across the living room towards the hallway which then led into Ronnie's bedroom.

My cell phone was sitting on the bedside table and I grabbed it as I noticed the light blinking on top of it. I sat down on the edge of the unmade bed and unlocked it. When I saw that it was my father's home number, my heart began to beat quickly. I dialed it back and held my breath as it rang.

"Att?" Max answered after a few rings.

"Hey, little brother," I greeted breathlessly, "Who called?"

"I did."

I nodded to myself. "What do you need?"

"Dad and Gina are gone. The baby's sick. I don't know what to do."

I sighed and nodded my head. "Where are they?" I questioned, wondering if they knew if Nico Moon was sick when they left. "Why haven't you called them?" I added, knowing they would be the first choice.

Max cleared his throat. "They didn't answer. I called like ten times."

I bit my lip. "I'll be there to pick her up in," I stopped to look at the clock, "A half an hour, is that okay?"

"Yeah. I'll have her ready."

"Okay, see you in a bit," I said. When he said goodbye I hung up the phone and sighed. I found a pair of Ronnie's sweatpants in his drawer and pulled them on, thankful that Ronnie was just a size bigger than I. I pulled one of my own tanktops on and went into the bathroom.

I brushed my teeth and untangled my hair with one of Ronnie's brushes before pulling it all back into a sloppy bun on top of my head. I sighed at my appearance and decided that this was as good as it was going to get. I smiled as Ronnie's sleeping body came into view. I leaned over the back of the couch and brushed his hair out of his eyes.

"Ronnie," I whispered, running my fingers through his tangled hair, watching as he peaked his eyes opened and then groaned under his breath when he realized he was awake. I chuckled and shook my head. "You don't have to get up yet, baby," I told him, "But I have to run to my Dad's and pick up Nico Moon."

"Why?" Ronnie grumbled as he peaked up at me with squinty eyes.

"She's alone with Max," I rolled my eyes at the stupidity of whoever decided he was qualified enough to look after her, "She's sick. He can't handle it," I continued, explaining future.

"Do you want me to come?" Ronnie asked as he began to sit up.

I shook my head and pushed his shoulder back down. "No, no. Don't worry about it. I'll be right back."

Ronnie closed his eyes, although he asked another question. "Is your dad home?"

"No, just Max."

"Mm," Ronnie moaned as he nodded and rolled over on his side, pulling the blanket over his shoulders.

I grinned and rolled my eyes at him. "Love you, see you in a bit."

"You too," he mumbled as he drifted back to sleep. I chuckled and slipped my feet into the smallest pair of Ronnie's tennis shoes that were carelessly tossed by the door. I shut and locked his apartment behind me as I went.

When I pulled up to my Dad's large house I parked my car and got out, hopping up to the front door and pushing it open. "Max!" I shouted, "I'm here!"

The carseat was sitting by the door so I grabbed it as I heard footsteps coming round the corner from the kitchen. Max came into the foyer with Nico in his arms. The little girl's nose was snotty and red. She coughed as I pulled her into my arms."Aw, baby," I cooed as I wiped her nose with the tissue that Max handed me.

Max carried Nico's diaper bag out to the car for me and I hugged him goodbye, noting in the back of my mind that the 19 year old had outgrown me by a lot. "Thanks Max," I said as I got into the driver's seat with Nico buckled into the back.

Max knew that I wasn't thanking him for giving Nico to me but thanking him for not pushing me out of his life like Dad and Gina had. I knew Gina probably didn't want to, but she loved my father and would side with him. Her and I had never grown to be that close anyways. I was basically 17 when my father married his second wife, Gina. I was never home much and when I was I was in my room or getting 12 year old Max and 8 year old Frida ready for things.

Max reached down and patted me on my shoulder. I smiled at my little brother as he pushed the door shut. I started the car and pulled out of the driveway, heading back towards Ronnie's apartment with Nico in the backseat.

When I got back upstairs, Ronnie was still asleep on the couch. I held Nico in my arms and pointed to Ronnie as she clapped her little hands together. "Here you are, Moon," I grinned as I set her down on top of his stomach, watching as he didn't even stir.

"Hit him," I told her with a laugh, watching as he reached out and smacked his shoulder with out it hurting since she was still little and didn't have developed muscles. I chuckled as Ronnie tried to roll over but was weighed down by the small amount of weight on his stomach.

"What?" he asked as he reached up and touched Nico's back.

"Say hi, Nic," I told the little girl. "Say hi to Ronnie."

Nico blushed lightly and spoke. "Hi Ronnie," she said, her R sounding more like a W.

Ronnie blinked a couple of times and then focuses his gaze on my sister. Then he grinned. "Nico Moon!" he cheered before reached up and tickling her sides, causing the little girl to screech and try and push Ronnie away from her.

"No Ronnie!" Nico yelled as she reached up towards me, asking for my help.

After a couple minutes of tickling I reached out and plucked her away from him. "Alright, alright. She's sick. She needs to rest."

Ronnie rolled his eyes at me and pulled Nico into his arms. He sat up and set Nico on the couch beside him, curling the young child into his side. "Wanna watch TV, Moon?" he asked, using her nickname that he called her all the time.
When Nico shook her head, no, Ronnie scoffed playfully. "Then what do you want to do?" he asked, motioning around the entire room.

Nico poked his arm. "Color," she said lightly, "Color."

Ronnie grinned at her and set her on the floor as he got to his feet. "Stay right here," he told her, "I'll go find some coloring sh-," he stopped and looked to me with an apologetic look, "Stuff," he corrected.

"I've got it," I told him before he could race around the house. I reached into Nico's diaper bag and pulled out her two favorite coloring books and pencil box full of brand new crayons. I handed them to Ronnie before I tossed myself down onto the couch beside them, watching with a secret smile as Ronnie interacted with my youngest sister.