An unexpected breakfast

Biting back a sigh that he couldn’t do more than look very carefully at his family – Jake’s ears had been bitten off very sharply four years ago after accidently walking in on Amy stepping out of the shower the morning of her eighteen birthday; all three women had yelled at him in turn to be more respectful of their privacy. – the young man stood up from the round table and carried his emptied bowl and spoon to the sink, placing the dishes inside the washbasin.

The glass of orange juice halfway to her lips, his mother glanced at him with a frown. “Please, Jake, put your dishes in the dishwasher unless you you’re going to wash them yourself.”

The high school senior fought to roll his eyes. She’s always getting on my case. Why not Jenny or Amy for once? Is it because I’m the youngest? Or the only guy still in this family? The young man frowned. Fuck, he muttered, his voice too low for his family to hear, “I wish Mom would stop making me take care of the dishes.”

Behind him, he heard his mother sigh. “Amy, take care of the dishes before you leave for classes at County Community.”

“Mom!” the Amazonian young woman cried in protest.

“Don’t argue with me,” their mother said crossly. “Just do it.”

“But – Jake –?” she continued, her younger sister glancing wide-eyed at the two women.

“It’s not his responsibility anymore,” the oldest of the four said firmly. “It’s yours since you’re home the most. He does all – almost all now – of the chores and works part-time. You don’t.”

The two young women stared at their mother. At the sink, the eighteen-year-old looked out the window at the trimmed green grass of the backyard, the old maple standing in the far corner with the serviceable treehouse of their youth brazen among the sprouting leaves. What the hell? Where did that come from? It’s nice, yet –

“I will not,” Amy crossed her arms over her formidable chest, green eyes flashing fiercely. Jake rolled his eyes. Goddamn it. Just, he sighed, muttering again, “I wish Amy would agree to take on the chores Mom gives her.” The young man grinned, chucking softly. “Heh. I wish Jenny would, too.”

“Okay, fine,” the twenty-one-year-old wilted beneath her mother’s stern gaze, her shoulders slumping. Holy shit! Jake stared out the window wide-eyed. This is just – amazing! I don’t know how it’s happening, but it’s great! I wonder how much things could keep changing – and to my advantage! Oh, damn it would be awesome if Mom still kept me in charge of the chores, making sure they would get done – to my specifications. His dark brown eyes brightened. Softly, Jake said, “I wish it was so.”

“And to make sure the standards we are used to are maintained,” their mother stood up at the table, looming over her daughters as only a mother could despite being the shortest of the family at 5’2, “Jake will manage the chores you two perform and assign tasks according to his prerogative.”

“’You two?’” Jenny gasped, her thin blonde eyebrows rising high to hide behind her long bangs.

“You heard me,” the strawberry-blonde-haired woman frowned at her youngest daughter. “And if the chores aren’t done to Jake’s satisfaction, you will answer to me.”

“That’s – that’s not fair,” the blonde protested. “I mean – how’s that going to look to my friends? We go to school together. I’ll be a laughingstock.”

“Really?” their mother arched her right eyebrow. “You aren’t now? That’s hard to believe. The two of you are in the same grade. You repeated your sophomore year – and you’ve had to take summer classes every year of high school. And you aren’t a laughingstock?”

“Some laugh,” Jenny muttered, lowering her gaze to the table. “But my friends support me.”

“That’s nice,” the oldest woman of the trio shrugged. “Now –”

“Hey, Mom,” Jake spoke up, turning around from the sink to face the women around the table. “There’s an awful number of chores that need to be done that will take a lot of time. I’d suggest – and I wish – that you should call City High and tell them Jenny and myself won’t be in today or tomorrow – for, um, personal reasons. Amy should still go to her classes as you are paying for them.”

“Very well,” his mother nodded curtly. “I’ll call the secretary shortly.”

“Well, this can’t be too bad,” the youngest of the trio blinked. “Two days off of school – it’s a four-day weekend! That’s – thanks, Jake!”

Don’t thank me yet, the young man smiled at his blonde-haired sister. You’ll be cleaning the house from top to bottom. Don’t think you’ll spend the days sitting on your ass texting your friends on your phone. “Oh, and Mom, since you won’t be home during the day, I will need some support of for my – authority. Say, the ability to punish lack of initiative and underperformance?”

“That’s,” the thirty-nine-year-old woman of three, “A little much, dear. You can tell me about Amy’s and Jenny’s conduct when we can talk later.”

Damn, Jake bit back a frown. “Please, Mom. You can ground my sisters as much as you like, but I know they won’t listen to me unless they know I can do what’s necessary. I wish you would allow me to punish them as I see fit and ensure that they accept it.”

Her green eyes bored into his. “Very well,” she nodded, ignoring the surprised gasps of her daughters. “You’re in charge until I get home. Now, I should go call the school.” The older woman turned about, striding out of the kitchen, her cell elsewhere in the house. The young blonde and the bottle-dyed-redhead faces turned towards their brother, wide-eyed and jaws agape.