俺は，いすに５時間も座っていたので、ちょっと上に、中兄い（ちゅうにい）の様子を見に行こうかな、と歩き始めた所に皆そろって家に入って来た。“タビー”と大きな声で、お母さんが俺のことを呼んだ。次にお母さんは、”モッキー”とまた大きい声で中兄いを呼んだ。何故か三人ともいつもより、ずっとずっと楽しそうに見えた。俺は、ドキッとして凍ってしまった。
お父さんと上の兄貴は、お母さんがいない間、暇を持て余していたせいか，いつもなら渋々やるようなことも、うきうきしてやってる様にも見えた。アイロンかけと洗濯は、お父さんの役目。掃除機かけは、兄貴。毎日して当たり前の皿洗いは，二人で交代せいだった。あのおっきなクリスマスツリーは、さっさと分解されておっきな箱に入れられたし、ツリーの飾り付けも、一つ一つ丁寧に紙に包まれてしまいこまれたし，玄関のあるポーチの飾りも、さっさと片付けられた。お母さんが帰ってくるはずの前の晩は、すごかった。毎日見ていたDVDも床に置きっぱなしだったのが、全部ケースに収まった。テーブルやカウンターまで、ぞうきんがかけられた。脱ぎっぱなしだった靴やブーツは、靴屋さんの様に並べられた。
俺だって俺なりに気を使ったつもりだ。時々咳が何回も出て、腹の底から吐いたりしてしまうのだが、俺なりに吐かないように頑張った。本当のことを言うと、不覚にも一回吐いてしまった。しかも三カ所に飛び散ってしまったのだ。だが、咳が出始めると同時に、俺は一目散に窓際まで走ってから吐いた。しかもカーテンの下だからほとんど目につきにくいって訳だ。これは、少し自慢してもいいだろう。
だから、お母さんが部屋中を見回してから、”すっごーい、きれいじゃない！”と言って更に嬉しそうな声をあげた時は、体の力が抜けて絨毯に座り込んでしまった。今度は、俺まで嬉しくなってしまった。
Our Mom came back home two days later (on Tuesday). Our Dad and eldest brother went to pick her up to the airport. It usually takes 45 min. to the airport, but this time it took 2 hours, because of the snowy, messy roads. Luckily, her flight was delayed, so it all worked our fine - they arrived right when she was ready to go. However, it took another two hours on snowy, slippery roads to get home.
I was sitting my chair for nearly five hours at home - waiting. I decided to check on my middle brother upstairs. Right when I started walking towards the stairs, they came back home. "Tabby!" She cried out to me. Next, she called my middle brother by name, "Mochie!". Everybody seemed happy to be home. I didn't know what to think and froze.
When she was gone, our Dad and eldest must have been bored, with not many things to do. They seemed to be doing chores rather happily. Our Dad handled the ironing and washing the clothes, my oldest brother vacuumed, and they took turns doing the dirty dishes every day. The giant Christmas tree was dissembled and packed away, all of the Christmas ornaments were individually wrapped (very carefully), and the house decorations from the front porch were also packed away. It was very busy the night before she came up home. DVD's on the floor were packed away. The surfaces of the dining room table and counter top were wiped. All of the shoes and boots were neatly organized - it looked like a shoe store!
Well, I made an effort as much as I could to keep things clean. It's hard, though - sometimes I puke. Actually, sometimes, I cough, cough, and then puke. I try not to do that very often. But, to tell the truth, I puked once that night (I accidentally spread to three different places by mistake). As soon as I started coughing, I ran towards the window, and puked under the curtains, figuring that nobody would see it that way. I am pretty proud of myself for being so thoughtful!
Our Mom noticed all of our efforts, inspecting the rooms and declaring happily, "Wow, it's so clean and de-cluttered!"
I was relieved and sat down on the floor. Now I could relax, so I joined the club and was just happy that everyone was home! : )
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