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Tuesday, May 18

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     Just like the day before, and every weekday for the past couple years, Stuart was already downstairs by the time Reese was up in the morning. 

     Suddenly, a pair of hands latched onto Reese’s shoulders, scaring him and causing him to jolt forwards. He heard Olivia’s laughter and didn’t even bother turning around, as he carefully set his morning cup of water down and closed his eyes while rubbing his eyebrows, trying to calm himself down. I could’ve dropped that, he thought. Dad would’ve been pissed. Reese wanted to get angry with her, but he didn’t want to start off the day with any raised voices lest he wake up his mom. His dad probably would’ve even taken his side, but he might not have, and didn’t want to risk the trouble. For the tenth time this week, he remembered his goal, and his plan. It’s trivial. It doesn’t matter. She didn’t even mean any harm.

     “Uh… morning?” Olivia interjected, displeased that her little brother didn’t greet her. 

     “Hey. Morning,” he replied, just trying to act neutrally in response. But Olivia rolled her eyes, discontent with her brother’s lack of enthusiasm, and went to fetch some cereal. Reese noticed her change in demeanor and tried to remedy the situation. “Do you want me to make you guys some coffee again?” he asked, glancing at his dad before looking to his sister. 

     That did the trick. “Sure!” Olivia exclaimed, spinning on her heels to wrap her brother up in a warm, loving hug. “That would be great!” Olivia was wearing a hoodie that was oversized and baggy, even for her, but radiated a comforting warmth against Reese’s face as he was snuggled against her chest. Luckily it seemed like she had put a bra on before coming down, and Reese did his best to return her show of affection. Their dad chimed in his thankfulness for a cup of coffee too, and Olivia went to pour her bowl of cereal at the table while Reese went about brewing two cups for his family. After a few minutes, he delivered them their cups, and went to join Olivia at the table for some breakfast.

     It took Reese a bit longer than most people to finish his meals because of his size, using a small spoon or fork instead of a big one. But Olivia had always been one to eat lots and lots of food, and between the fact that she was also texting one of her friends while eating breakfast, she still hadn’t finished eating by the time Reese got up to put his dishes in the sink. “Is there any coffee leftover?” Olivia asked, noticing him getting up. 

     “Yeah, there’s still a few cups left.”

     “Can you top me off?” she asked with a smile. 

     “Me too!” their dad chimed in. 

     Reese sighed a little but returned her smile, and grabbed the pitcher so he could go and fill Olivia’s cup back up, already half gone when he got to it. There wasn’t much left after that, but Stuart drank a lot slower by comparison so his refille didn't require much anyways. He thanked his son and Olivia chimed in her agreement, “Thanks! If you make some tomorrow, maybe you should brew a little more,” she suggested. Reese nodded politely, and left to his room to get dressed for school while his sister and dad enjoyed their second cup of the day.

*    *    *    *    *    *

     After coming home from school that day, Reese had gotten into a bit of an argument with his mom, so after dinner that night, he decided he wanted to do something small but noticeable for her, without being asked, just so he could look a bit better in her eyes. After making morning coffee for his sister and father, he thought that loading up the dishwasher might be appreciated by his mom. So after everyone finished up and put their dishes in the sink, Reese got to work scrubbing and washing them off.

     “Did you ask him to do the dishes?” Tracy murmured to Stuart, pointing to their son standing at the counter, diligently working away. His face was turned from them, but he overheard his mom and smirked. Because of his smaller stature, he had a little bit of difficulty reaching into the sink, but still managed to get it done.

     “No,” Stuart chuckled, “I thought you told him to or something.” He spoke louder now so Reese could hear him. “Hey Reese, thanks for doing the dishes. I don’t even remember asking.”

     “Yeah, it looks like you’re finally growing up and starting to do some housework on your own,” Tracy commented, coming up and wrapping her son up in a hug from behind. She might not have been as tall as Olivia, but at 5'8, she still stood a little under a foot taller than her son. “Don’t worry about the rest of the kitchen, I can finish that later tonight.”

     She tussled her son’s hair, something Reese normally didn’t like, but he held his cool. “Sounds good,” he said, turning his head around to look up into his mother’s eyes with a smile, and she stooped down just a bit to give him a kiss on his forehead. With the dishes being taken care of, she and her husband retired to the living room to watch the evening news while their little helper worked away at the dishes for them.