If you knew what it felt like to have your entire life upended, that was exactly what Isabelle felt like right at this moment. From finding out you had one brother to finding out you have six more felt almost surreal, she was beginning to wonder wha...
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Theodore Oliver
I had gotten used to being woken up by being crushed, it had happened every morning since Isabelle was able to walk, I hardly even flinched when the weight of my little sister suffocated me each morning.
This was the first morning in a while that I heard my door creak open before I was awoken. I braced myself to get jumped on but I was surprised when all I felt was my covers lifted again and Isabelle slipping into my bed next to me.
"Isabelle," I whisper, turning over to face her. "What's wrong?"
She doesn't say anything at first, just snuggles closer to my body heat. I glance over at the clock, it was four o'clock in the morning, and the sun was nowhere near rising but it was seven o'clock back home and way later than Isabelle was normally awake.
"It's early in the morning here," Isabelle tells me matter-of-factly, I hum in agreement waiting for her to continue. "I've been awake for an hour and I'm super bored, I've tried reading, making bracelets, drawing everything but it feels weird being in a new house knowing I'm not going back home again."
"I couldn't sleep last night," I tell my sister, not commenting on what she said because that wasn't what she needed right now, all she needed was someone to relate to her so she knew she wasn't alone in this new journey. "And you know I can sleep anywhere at any time. It's weird being back here. The last time I was here in this room I had a twin size bed smaller than the one you had back at home, I had pictures I had coloured all over the walls, and there were toys everywhere since for some reason this was the designated area, Jude, Noah and I used to play every day. I was watching the front door yesterday just kind of waiting to see if Dad would open it as he did every day coming home from work. It feels so familiar being back here but it's so different, cub."
We just lay next to each other, I played with the ends of Isabelle's hair, we had done this so many times before but this time we were in a whole different country with different people and Isabelle was in my room because she couldn't sleep and not because I didn't want her anywhere near what was happening downstairs.
"So you think they'd mind if we went and got something to eat?" Isabelle asks.
"Of course, they wouldn't," I tell her, Noah and Finley might still be a little shocked at her existence but even they wouldn't deny either of us necessities.
"Even at..." Her eyes move to the clock like mine had done half an hour ago when she had come down to my room. "Five o'clock in the morning."
"Not..." I sit up and get off my bed, finding a hoodie I had thrown on the floor sometime last night, I grab another and pull it over Isabelle's head. "Up you get cub, the worms won't wait for you."
"Isn't it the early bird gets the worm?" Isabelle asks, tilting her head to the side but she stands up and follows me anyway, the navy hoodie I had given her falls to her knees and her hair is all a mess from her sleep.
