The doorbell to the house rang.
"Brett! Answer it!" Riley yelled from the kitchen.
"Yeah yeah, I got it." he replied.
He peeked through the peephole, looking at the figure in front of his house.
"Is it Nill?" Riley asked.
"No."
"Is it Chrissie?"
"No."
"Is it anyone you know?"
"No."
"Who is it then?!"
"Delivery guy, I think. Just delivered a pretty decent-sized box."
"Oh! That's for me."
Brett opened the door and picked up the box.
"I'm assuming you aren't Riley Traviss?" The confused FedEx worker asked.
"I'm her younger brother. She's in the kitchen."
"Alright, guess that sounds about right. Have a good night."
Brett waved goodbye and closed the door.
"What is this, Riley?"
"It's a surprise. Gift for Nill."
"Shoot, I forgot his birthday is on the 19th..."
"It's October, you've had 12 months to think about this."
"Shut up."
Lila walked down from the stairs, wanting to see what her siblings were talking about.
She had just turned eight on the 7th, which was 9 days ago.
The TV was hooked up to Brett's PS2; the game was paused.
"Brett, can I watch TV?" Lila asked, her voice squeaky.
"Let me save the game first."
The doorbell rang again.
"Brett, get the door!" Riley yelled.
"Fine, I'll get it. Don't change the input yet, Lila." Brett responded, annoyed.
He peered through the peephole.
Chrissie stood there, looking happy.
Brett opened the door.
"It's 9:13. You got off work 3 hours ago, Chrissie. Where you been?" Riley asked.
"I was on a date, give me a break."
"More than that I suppose..." Riley said under her breath, inspecting her younger sister.
"Excuse me?" Chrissie asked.
"Nothing. Dinner's almost ready, save some for Nill."
Each one of the four sat down at the table, the absence of their brother felt, yet ignored.
The smell of chicken and dumplings filled the room, making every second they had to wait unbearable.
Brett's fingers inched closer and closer to the serving spoon.
"Brett. Say a blessing. Don't forget it." Chrissie said.
Brett blessed the food, then immediately dumped a big serving of the meal onto his empty plate.
Clutter of forks and spoons overrode any other noise in the house.
"Chrissie, how was work and school?" Riley asked.
"It went alright." Chrissie responded, stuffing her sister's cooking into her mouth.
The quality of the food was undeniable.
"This is pretty dang good. What'd you use?" Brett asked Riley.
"Just chicken from the market and some other stuff you don't know."
"You should make this more." Lila added.
"Yeah, I agree!" Chrissie said, her mouth half-full.
Riley was flattered but tried to play it off and be non-chalant.
Hours passed. Nill still wasn't home; business as usual.
12:47 AM.
His keys jingled as his rough hands placed them into the doorknob.
Chrissie sat up from her sleeping spot on the couch; she hadn't even changed from her work clothes yet.
The door swung open, and a figure stood there, the night sky illuminating the space in front of it.
Nill was home.
