Page 140 of Family: Posy 4

Go to sleep, boy,I grumbled as I opened the door and ushered Sid inside. See? Your baby is safe and sound now.

And so are you,he murmured sleepily, then finally gave in and conked out.

"No, that's not what I meant," I explained to Sid as I led him into the kitchen. "I thought you were all hyped to cuddle her?"

"I am! I want to cuddle my darling!"

"But she's asleep right now, and you know the rule." Standing in front of the pantry, I found the box of popcorn, grabbed one of the bags out of it, and turned around. "No eating in bed."

"Aw! Come on, Q! One time!"

As I went over to the microwave, I saw he'd crossed his arms over his chest and his bottom lip was pushed out in a pout.

"Nope. You pups have made one too many messes in the bed.BothMason and Garnet drew a line, and I'm not going to cross it just for your spoiled ass."

"They drew a line? In the bed? Like, with a marker?"

I closed my eyes for a second, torn between laughing and snarling, a frequent position for me when dealing with the pups. Sid and Topaz especially struggled with idioms. Granite wasn't far behind, but he could usually work his way around a metaphor. Well, if it was clear enough.

"It means they said no more eating in bed," I told him.

"Oh." Sid came closer and nudged my shoulder. "Pop pop, please."

"You know," I said as I opened the microwave door and threw in the brown packet, "you already ate one and a half bags. You really need more?"

"Yes. My tummy's saying, 'Growl! growl!' I will eat, then go cuddle Lark."

Closing the microwave door, I stared at it for a second. Good thing I could read since this model didn't have the popcorn symbol. I found the right button and pushed it, and Sid braced his hands on his knees to stare into the window and watch the action. He liked to see the bag puff up as the kernels popped.

Leaving him to his fun, I went to the sink and washed my hands and face, knowing I probably still had a little blood on me from where Pumice bit me. The delicious smell of buttery popcorn filled the kitchen, making my own tummy say, "Growl, growl," and I decided I'd make another bag while he was eating his.

I just finished drying off on a tea towel when the microwave dinged.

"It's done!" he crowed, bouncing up and down on his toes.

"Shh! The others are sleeping."

"It's done!" he whispered. "Hurry, Q!"

"Oh my Goddess," I muttered as I got it out for him. "Here!"

"Yippee!" He took it with another little dance, and I rolled my eyes as I tossed my own bag in the microwave. "Thanks, Q!"

"Sure, pup."

Once mine was made, I joined him at the kitchen island, where he sat on a bar stool and happily munched away. We ate in comfortable silence until I was tipping the last of the bag into my mouth and heard a gentle buzz coming from across the counter. Looking over, I saw Sid had finally crashed, one hand in the brown bag and the other dangling limply at his side.

"You're going to be pissed at yourself tomorrow," I smirked. "All this time you could have been cuddling your darling and you were down here stuffing your face instead."

Finishing up my snack, I threw away the empty bag, washed my hands again, and debated for a good two minutes whether or not to leave him there.

It's not like he's going to wake up for the next eight hours. And he's slept in worse places and positions.

However, I knew the others - especially Lark and Posy - would fuss at me, so I groaned and whipped the tea towel off of the oven handle again. Wetting it with warm water, I went to Sid, took his hand out of the bag, and wiped it clean. Then I did the same thing with his butter- and salt-stained face before I tossed the dirty tea towel on the counter.

One of the boys can deal with it in the morning.

Resigned to the inevitable, I slung his giant ass up in a fireman's carry and headed for the stairs, cursing with every step. It wasn't his weight that was the problem; I could carry ten bodies this heavy. His limbs were so long, though, that his hands and feet legit dragged on the floor alongside me, constantly knocking me off balance. After I jolted into the wall for the third time, I was sorely tempted to just drop him on the stairs, but I played nice and carried on.

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