A Fluffy Tale 2: Warm & Fuzzy by Ann Somerville Read Free Book Online Page B

sister in the living room. He immediately
realised that however quickly he’d managed to return, it wasn’t fast enough.
Alex gave him a cold stare before running out of the room, while Dee stood with
her arms folded, her expression as sullen and angry as Daniel had ever seen it.
    “You promised .”
    “I know. I let you know, and I tried
to—”
    “Doesn’t matter. You promised . You said things would get better when you got this job,
but it’s only got worse . We hardly
see you in the evenings, and you’re so tired the rest of the time. It’s not
worth it, Daniel.” She bit her lip, clearly fighting back tears, but when
Daniel went to put his arm around her, she pulled back. “No. Go to Alex.”
    “I’m sorry, DeeDee. Did you have supper?”
    “Sort of. He was too upset to eat, and he
didn’t want the ‘stupid cake’ I made for him.” The lip wobbled again. “Go!”
    Daniel went, because there was only one of
him to go around two upset siblings.
    Alex was lying on his bed on his stomach,
petting Veen. He didn’t look at Daniel as he came in. “Go away. I don’t want to
talk to you.”
    “I know. Happy birthday anyway.”
    “Don’t be stupid. It sucked. You suck. This
job sucks.” He rolled over and glared at Daniel with red eyes. “You don’t even
need to work. Dee says there’s plenty of money in the bank.”
    Daniel sat on the end of the bed. “That’s
got to cover a lot of things, Alex. You and Dee going to
university, our bills, house repairs, emergencies—that kind of thing.
It’s not that much, and there’s no more to come. Not for a while, anyway,” he
amended, thinking of the protracted legal battles, and the obduracy of companies
denying liability. “If I can’t look after you, then social services will have
to take over. I have to prove I can manage.”
    “They won’t take us away. Not when you’re
around.”
    “They might. I can’t risk that. Look, I’m
really, really sorry. I let you down, and I knew you’d be mad at me. But we’ve
been through worse, right? Got through it?” He reached out and stroked his
brother’s carroty curls. “It’s just the three of us, kiddo. We can’t fight with
each other.”
    “Can’t you find another job? You never said
you’d have to work late all the time.”
    “I didn’t know. Give me a little while
longer. Once I have a bit more experience, I can apply for other jobs.”
    “I wish I was older, then I could get a job
instead.”
    Daniel ruffled his hair and tried to smile.
“I wish you were too. You’d be better than me, I bet. Um...Dee has a cake.”
    “Don’t want anything. Not hungry.”
    “Alex, she’s crying. I know it’s my fault,
but I don’t know what to do. It would mean a lot to me if you came downstairs
and helped me cheer her up.”
    “You spoiled my birthday.”
    “It’s not over, though. And I’m home now.
Can we have some cake and see if that helps? I’ve got a birthday present for
you somewhere.”
    Alex’s mouth moved as if he was about to
say he didn’t want any stupid present, but he didn’t actually say it.
    “Please?”
    “Okay. But I still hate your job.”
    “I don’t like it much either. We just have
to hang on a little longer. We can do it, if we do it together.”
    Alex screwed up his face. “You sound like a
TV commercial.”
    Daniel grinned. “Sorry. Come on. I’m
starving.” Kani squeaked. “So is he.” He reached over to hug his brother. To
his relief, Alex let him. “We’ll get through this, Alex. Just hold on.”
    “It’s so hard. I miss Mum and Dad.”
    “Me too. All the time.” He kissed his
brother’s head. “But at least I have you and Dee.” Kani chirped and leapt up
onto Alex’s shoulder to lick one side of his face, while Veen nibbled Alex’s
ear on the other side. “And you too, fuzzballs.”

Chapter 6
    Spen kept a close eye on the security logs for the next two weeks, and
enjoyed a little burst of satisfaction every time he saw Daniel’s ID