Insignificantly Large

I was almost asleep when it started. She told him something. He yelled back about back about being the only one who ever did anything around the house. I'd had enough. They weren't going to wake up the house another night. I put on a robe and walked downstairs, straight into the line of fire.1

"How many times do I have to remind you that they have to be in on time? If they're late one more time, you're paying the penalty."2

I knew I was going to regret getting in the middle of it, but I wasn't going to let my father wake up the other sleeping people in the house. I rubbed my eyes sleepily, taking the pause in verbal jousts to insert my opinion.3

"What are you guys still doing awake? It's after midnight." I yawned out, blinking them into my line of sight.4

My father suddenly softened, thinking I hadn't heard them yelling just seconds before.5

"Oh, honey. Your mom and I were just having a little talk about grown-up stuff. Here, I'll walk you back to your room."6

As we turned to walk upstairs, my father shot my mother the evil eye, implying they'd finish the conversation later. It was a good thing I came down when I did. I wasn't going to spend the next day cleaning up the small objects thrown after their battle of words.7

Back in my room, my father pulled the covers over my shoulders, kissing me on the head.8

"Schloven wol, little girl," he said gently so as to not wake Trevor, my brother, from his heavy sleep. 9

"Schloven wol, papa," I yawned, closing my eyes. As I drifted off again, I heardmy father tell my mother that if she couldn't finish the taxes, he would. Funny how something so small like tax returns would cause a verbal massacre of the worst kind.