Chapter 46

Once Raphael had left, I got out of bed and dressed. I chose a forest green, scoop neck shirt with the sleeves cut off at the elbow. And light blue jeans.

I walked upstairs and heard Ulyssa talking. I was about to turn into the kitchen but my mom's voice stopped me, "Hey sweetie, how you doing?" She asked, "Your dad said that you had a nightmare."

I thought back to last night, I don't recall my dad being there, just Raph.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I answered.

"Okay." She said, and her gaze lingered on me a little longer then she turned back to eating her breakfast, a homemade egg McMuffin.

I spun around and bumped into Raph's firm chest, "Ow." I said, I wasn't in pain, it was just a reflex to say it.

-You okay?- He asked, I looked up and saw worry in his gold eyes.

-Yeah, I'm fine- I then realized that that was the exact same response that I'd given my mom.

He looked at me sternly, I looked back at him sternly then laughed and walked past him into the kitchen.

Ulyssa was eating her hearty breakfast of power bar, and Bradley who was wearing his favourite baseball cap, same as he did every morning, was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes while making himself an egg sandwich. I walked past them and got some water.

Raph walked into the kitchen and stood behind the counter.

"So Brooke, you asked Raphael to the Fall Fair yet?" Ulyssa said in a high-pitched voice.

I pursed my lips together and smiled at her, "No, Ulyssa, I haven't." I shifted my eyes to Raph's, "Raphael, would you like to come with us to the Fall Fair this evening."

"Oh, thanks. I'd love to." He said with an over genuine smile.

I raised my eyebrows at him, -Really?- I asked.

-Really what?- He asked back. I rolled my eyes and smiled. -Nevermind.-

My dad emerged, from his and my mom's room, to eat and then do a dump run.

It was Saturday so he was off work.

"Hey, Brad you helping with the run, or do you have work?" He asked.

"Yeah, no, I have work today. Filling in a huge garden bed and building the wall around it. Actually, I was wondering if you guys wanted to help." Brad said, gesturing to me and Ulyssa.

I glanced at Raph, he nodded.

"Mr. Neil, I'm free if you need help with the dump run." Raph said with his winning smile.

"Really, uh… alright then. We'll start in the driveway." My dad said, "There are some gloves behind Brooke there." He pointed to the shelf behind me.

Raph came and reached behind me, I slid out of his way.

Then Raph left and walked out of the kitchen, -Bye, honey.- He said.

-Bye… honey.- I repeated back to him. We'll be fine. I mean, this is my home. And I'll be with my brother and sister. And Raph'll be with my dad. Yeah, we'll be fine.

"So…?" Brad asked, still waiting for our response.

"Oh, yeah, I'd love to help." I said, and Ulyssa nodded.

"Great." Brad said, "We'll leave as soon as I'm done eating."

"Okay, great." I said.

"I gotta go get ready." Ulyssa said, and sprinted to her room.

"I guess I should do that too." I said to myself.

When Brad finished his breakfast all three of us said goodbye to our parents. Our mom will love the peace and quiet with all of us gone.

I mind linked Raphael goodbye, then hopped into the truck. It was a tight fit, but luckily I had called shotgun so I was sitting in the front, while Ulyssa sat in the back. But we would of course switch for the drive back.

Bradley had his music playing, he liked 90's and 80's rock. And I… didn't. I mean I liked a few of them, but for the most part, didn't love it.

Ulyssa kept begging for him to put on Twenty-one Pilots, "Ulyssa, please!" I finally yelled, I couldn't take her whining anymore, "It's his turn. You can play whatever damn music you want on the way back! Okay, okay."

I didn't usually swear, but Ulyssa brought out my ugly side, and I hers.

Ulyssa sighed dramatically and slumped in her seat. "Well, today got off to a grand start, don't you think Bradley?" I asked. He smiled, then looked at Ulyssa's death glare.

"Guys, just a couple more minutes, we're almost there." We had been driving for almost half an hour. The property that Brad was working on was a lakeside property. So the owners had a lot of cash, and wanted their new house to look good.

Brad had started working on it two days before I met Raph, and was nearly done.

"Turn here." I said, looking at google maps. Brad could drive but was still a novice, so he should have a licensed driver in the car with him.

"Mmhmm." He said, "I've driven this a lot of times."

I blinked at him, "Okay, sorry." I said angrily, "I've been missing."

He just sighed and focused on driving.

We finally arrived at the house, which was a mansion just about the size of Raphael's. It was beige and had a huge window in the middle of it.

But the real masterpiece of the house was the yard. Brad had done a lot of work since I'd seen it last.

Since the area was on a slope, the yard had been tiered. There were five tiers in all, the first one had a gazebo and barbecue area.

The second an herb and vegetable garden.

The third a sitting area with a little waterfall.

The fourth was still being worked on but you could see that it was going to be a garden.

And the last was yet to be started on.

"You've been busy." I said, smiling.

Brad just smiled at me.

"And I, of course, did nothing." Ulyssa said sarcastically and bitterly.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Me and Brad, and Judith, had learned to ignore all of Ulyssa's negative comments, as it was a favourite pass time of hers.

We started working on digging holes, building garden boxes, evening the ground, laying grass strips, painting garden boxes, and filling the boxes.

Brad did a lot of it, but he also did the stone brick wall all by himself. I was so proud of my brother. And also of Ulyssa, even though, yes, she was a pain in the neck, she was also an amazing worker.

I stepped back and smiled at all our hard work. It was getting close to four in the afternoon, we were gonna be late for the Fair, and I wanted to see Raph, I hadn't seen him all day.

We tidied up and headed home, and listened to Twenty-one pilots as Ulyssa requested.