Who Wouldn't Want To Be Me

Cam's POV

I woke up the next morning to someone jumping on my bed and excitedly telling me to wake up. When I managed to crack an eye open I found out it was Jared and Parker; Parker jumping on the bed giggling and Jared kneeling beside the bed telling me to wake up.

“What’s the big rush?” I yawned, sitting up and stretching, making Parker cackle as he toppled over onto my pillow.

“We’re bored, and we want our favourite person to come spend the day with us,” Jared grinned from ear to ear, and with that I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Aww aren’t you cute?” I teased, and again Jared beamed.

“Do you love me more than my lug of a brother?” he asked, and I laughed again.

“Oh I don’t know about that one…” I raised an eyebrow, and Jared pouted.

“Come on, we get along just as good!” he complained.

“Yeah, but we wouldn’t ever want to… do any of that,” both of us got a shiver of being grossed out at the thought, and Jared nodded.

“You’ve got that right… that’s nasty,”

“Thanks Jay,” I rolled my eyes, and he gave me a pointed look.

“That’s not what I meant! You’re like my sister, that’s just wrong,” he finished, and I nodded.

“And that’s why I don’t love you more than your brother,” I informed him.

“But it’s pretty close,” I added with a wink, and Jared laughed before pulling me into a one-armed hug and ruffling my hair.

“I knew it!” he crowed, and Parker imitated him, having been playing with my iPod and oblivious to our conversation. Not that he would have known what we were talking about anyway.

“Having fun Park?” I asked, and he nodded.

“Cards!” he announced, and showed me the Solitaire screen as he was shuffling through them.
He wasn’t really playing but he was getting a kick out of it anyway.

“All right, well if I’m spending the day with you two I need to take a shower,” I announced, and Jared nodded.

“Yeah, you do kind of stink,” he agreed, and I pulled him into a headlock and gave him a nougie. Parker laughed at his uncle relentlessly until I let him go, and then laughed even harder when Jared stuck his tongue out at me.

“Okay Park; let’s go let Aunty Cam take a shower and get ready,” Jared said, and Parker gave me a questioning look, my iPod still in his hands.

“You can keep playing cards while I get ready,” I told him, and he gave me a hug before going to Jared and taking his hand as they left the basement. I quickly showered, dried my hair and got dressed; wearing a tank top and a pair of jean shorts. It felt nice to dress like a girl, even if I was still feeling a little weird wearing a bra when I hadn’t really been wearing one for the past eight or so months.

“Morning Linda,” I greeted her as I reached the top of the stairs and entered the kitchen.

“Morning sweetheart! How’d you sleep?” she asked, and I shrugged.

“Good, but I don’t remember getting to my bed last night,” I admitted, and she chuckled.

“I think you can thank Jordan for that; he carried you in from the truck last night and downstairs,” she explained, and I felt my ears turn a little pink. That also meant he was the reason I’d woken up in pajamas this morning.

“I’ll have to thank him – is he still asleep?” I asked, heading towards the hall.

“No, Marc called him and then he headed towards town – I think he was picking Marc up on the way,” she answered, and I nodded, feeling a little let down. I was hoping to spend some time with him today, but it’s not like he wouldn’t be home this afternoon.

“Cam! You ready yet?” I heard Jared holler from the living room, and soon heard little footsteps as Parker came towards the kitchen.

“Yes I am!” I replied, and Parker broke into a run as he saw me, and I picked him up as he came into arm’s reach.

“Missed you,” he declared, and I kissed his cheek.

“Missed you too bud,” he grinned before showing me the iPod screen.

“I won!”

“You did! Way to go bud!” I grinned, and he smiled triumphantly. Jared came into the kitchen then, and slung an arm over my shoulders.

“No wonder Jordy figured out you were a girl – took you long enough to get ready,” he scoffed, and I elbowed him in the side.

“Excuse me? I did not take that long! I actually dried my hair for once, that’s all,” I rolled my eyes, and caught Linda grinning. Jared and I really did get along like brother and sister, and I had no doubts we were pretty comical to watch.

“Sure, sure,”

“I did! You’re just jealous you don’t have hair as pretty as mine,” I teased, and he gasped.

“Mom! She’s making fun of me for being a ginger!” he whined, and this time Linda couldn’t hold in her laughter.

“I am not! Jeez, way to try and play the pity card,”

“It’s not fair! I was not!”

“Were too!”

“Not!”

“What’s going on in here?” Henry asked as he walked in the front door. He eyed the two of us, Linda laughing and Parker giggling in my arms before cracking a grin.

“You two at it again?”

“She made fun of me for being a ginger!” Jared announced, and I rolled my eyes again.

“I did not! You made fun of me for being a girl!” I shot back, and this led to more playful arguing.

“Okay, okay; you two play nice or you’ll both get a timeout,” Henry chuckled, and Jared crossed his arms before sticking his tongue out at me.

“That’s what happens when they love me more,” I teased, sticking my tongue out at him in reply before bolting for the front door, knowing Jared was right on my heels.

“GET BACK HERE! I’M SO GETTING YOU FOR THAT ONE!” he yelled, and I took two seconds to set Parker down before taking off at a full sprint toward the barn, not really sure where to run to. It took until I’d ran out of breath for Jared to catch me, and then he tackled me to the ground – nicely I might add, compared to how he’d tackle his brothers – and gave me a nougie.

“That’s no way to treat your sister!” I complained, sitting up and rubbing the now sore spot on my head. Henry and Linda were standing on the porch laughing, and Parker was nearly beside himself, sitting at his grandma’s feet.

“You aren’t my sister yet,” he reminded me, and I shoved him with my shoulder.

“That’s not what I meant,” my face started to turn red, and Jared noticed.

“Aw come on Cam, you know I’m just joking around. You know Jordy loves you, whatever happens, happens. You’ll still be my sister regardless,” he said, and pulled me in for a quick hug. I felt ridiculous for having let myself get so emotional so quickly, but Jordan seemed to bring that out in me somehow.

“Thanks Jay, sorry for going all stupid on you,” I apologized, but he shrugged.

“You’re a girl – it happens,” he smirked, and I launched myself at him, managing to pin him awkwardly enough that he couldn’t get away as I pinched at his sides and gave him another nougie.

“That’s not nice! Take it back!” I demanded, and heard Henry’s booming laugh come from the porch.

“Never!” Jared declared, and I began tickling him, which I knew to be his weakness.

“STOP! STOP! I TAKE IT BACK! UNCLE!” he nearly screamed, laughing hard enough that there were nearly tears in his eyes when I finally let him go and flopped onto my back in the grass beside him.

“Jesus Christ,” he managed, rolling onto his back as well beside me.

“Had enough for one day?” I pushed myself up on my elbows to see Tanya walking towards us pushing a stroller, which had Levi in it.

“As long as he stops making fun of me,” I replied, and she laughed.

“Jared, will you ever learn to stop teasing your siblings? You always end up on the bad side of it,” she said, ruffling his hair as she stopped beside us.

“Mommy!” Parker ran over to her and she picked him up easily.

“Hey honey,”

“Walk good?” he asked, and she nodded.

“Very good – your brother fell asleep,” she answered, and Parker peeked over the edge of the strolled to see his baby brother.

“So, got any plans for today?” Tanya asked as she sat down beside us on the grass, Parker settling himself on her lap as he continued to play with my iPod.

“Park where’d you get that?” she asked as she noticed it.

“Aunty Cam,”

“Did you ask?” she seemed a little mortified, so I quickly jumped in.

“Yes he did – I told him he could play with it,”

“Okay, I just know he managed to find Marc’s once and Marc wasn’t too impressed because he’d been looking for it for about a half an hour,” she explained.

“Now Unca Marc have one for me!” Parker told us, and Jared laughed.

“Yeah, Marc bought a second one so that if Parker got playing with it, it wouldn’t matter if it got broken or anything,” we both all chuckled a little, Parker intently doing something on my iPod again and not paying attention to us “grown ups”. We sat and visited for a while before heading inside; I took Levi and we sat in the living room while Tanya went to have a quick shower.

“You’re so good with him, it’s crazy – do you have a little sibling or anything?” he asked, and I shook my head.

“No, I’ve just always loved kids; I think it’s because I was an only child. That’s probably why I’ve always loved team sports too,” I answered, keeping most of my attention on Levi while Parker sat on my knee still playing cards.

“That’s crazy; I mean, I get why my brothers are all good with kids – they’ve always had someone younger to look after, you know? I think that’s why I was so freaked out when Eric and Tanya told us about Parker; I’d never really been around younger kids outside of school,” he told me.

“That makes sense,” I assured him, and he shrugged.

“It’s whatever – I like kids, I’m just worried sometimes about not knowing what to do or how to act,”

“You’re amazing with Parker and Levi,” I argued, and again he shrugged.

“Not the way Marc, Eric and Jordan are,”

“Don’t stress over it – you’ll get there,” I told him, and he managed a smile. Tanya soon joined us in the living room, and sat down beside me.