Warning signs
With Charlie in her arms Jenny walked the same path that her son had walked before. With a look as if she was out for blood she pushed the half-opened door fully open and walked in the room where her brothers were still far in dreamland. She cleared her throat as she prepared her voice for the words she was about to say. In a shiver inducing voice and with an eerie smile on her face she said, "Get up. Get dressed. And come out. Right now." Though her voice reached her brothers, who responded while still being half unconscious, it clearly wasn't enough to wake them as they returned to their soundless sleeping ways. Except for her second oldest brother, who had missed her words completely as his snoring had drowned out the sound of her voice effortlessly.
At this point her smile turned even more dark, catching Charlie's attention fully as he was now learning how scary his otherwise angelic mother could be. She slowly made her way over to their bed before she woke them up harshly. Using a different technique for each of her three brothers. Taking the advantage of their exposed skin that little Charlie wasn't yet brave enough to use. In turns they shouted out their exclamations of pain and voiced their questions and protests of being woken in such an unloving way.
In the same cold voice as she had used before she responded, "You ignored the loving approach, disheartening my sweet boy. So, since you did not appreciate his way, I was forced to use my way instead. Now get up and get dressed. What are you still lying in bed for when it is almost noon. Do you plan on making the others wait till your lazy butts are ready to get out of bed? Your brother-in-law has already started working and the same goes for his father. Both mothers are preparing our food so that we can have a home cooked family breakfast. And I have been up taking care of your nephew and setting the table. Even this little guy tried to make himself useful despite his age. Only you three are leisurely doing nothing."
In a gruntled voice her youngest brother replied, "Ugh, give us a break. We went to bed really late last night. Can't you just let us sleep in for a bit more? What are you even doing all that work for? Don't your in-laws keep enough staff to take care of all of that for you guys? You are just creating trouble where there shouldn't and didn't have to be any." These entitled words immediately got rid of any of the sleepiness the other two brothers felt as they knew what would be coming and sent Jenny's anger boiling as she held her breath with a trembling hand. She placed Charlie down on the bed with her oldest brother, who secured him by putting his hand around his waist as they both watched the show that was about to be played out in front of them in anticipating silence.
The youngest brother who was still half clueless and half still partially asleep didn't notice the change in the atmosphere of the room until it was already too late. As he waited for Jenny's reply, slowly a sense of fear creeped up in him when he felt it was taking too long and the silence was too strong. But before he could act on his internal warning signs, the first blow had already landed on his bare back. One hand print after another started to make its way onto his tanned skin. In his disoriented state he tried to defend himself as he was struck multiple times. When he finally caught hold of her arms and looked into her angered face, while she struggled to break free, he got the lecture he had coming.
"Have you not been spoiled enough these past weeks? Did you forget about life back home? These self cooked meals, without help of the staff, isn't because my in-laws don't have enough staff to do it for them. It is because they want to make us feel more at home and not feel like we are less than them just because we can't afford to have people do those things for us in our day to day lives. It is a way to spend time with us in a homey environment and make us be like a 'normal' family from time to time as that isn't how they have been able to spend most of their lives. So, don't disgrace their kind gesture by calling it 'trouble'."
Feeling a bit ashamed for his words, he let go of her wrists and her hands fell down softly against his chest as she looked down for a short moment. After letting out her frustration and after saying what she needed to say, Jenny changed her dejected expression from seconds before into a more cheerful one. She made her way to the windows and pushed the button to open the curtains. As the light of the sun filled the room, causing them to squint their eyes in turns, Jenny repeated her words from before. This time much more cheerfully as she walked back to the bed of her oldest brother and picked up the still slightly confused Charlie. "So, now that you guys know why we have these kinds of meals from time to time, you should stop wasting time and get dressed. We are starting breakfast in ten minutes. I'll forgive you for not helping out, so don't be late. If you are still tired after that, you can go and take a nap in the grass in the backyard. That way you will at least not let this beautiful weather go to waste and get some fresh air as you continue to sleep the day away."