Firgun (noun) {Hebrew}

- the simple, unselfish joy that something good has happened to someone else

~*~





I concealed my face deeper underneath the cushion as I straightened my legs and surged over to my side. My eyes felt heavy as if I couldn't open them but fortunately for me, I didn't want to open them. It was way too comfy in the bed. 


A puff of a musky fragrance attacked my senses and my mouth nearly watered at the scent. The fragrance became more powerful as I crushed my face closer to the cushion. I laid there for a moment querying why my bed smelt like that.


"It's okay, Brina. I've got the package with me. You don't need to worry - really? She doesn't need that many gifts. Okay, sure."


The voice was dark and growling and it had me tensing my toes. With a whole lot of effort, I pried my eyes open, feeling just how heavy they were from hibernation. 


Peeping around the fluffy white blanket I caught sight of Liam standing in the corner of my room, looking through the window as he held his phone to his ear. His grey sweats were dangling precariously low on his hips and his chest was barren of any clothing, enabling me to stare openly. 


"I'm not nervous about anything. I know she'll love it," Liam grunted into the phone and I stirred slightly in bed at his tone. 


My movement seemed to have caught his attention and he hauled his gaze over to me but I hastily shut my eyes, overcoming a whimper when they began to sting.


"Yeah, I love you too. And Bean better not be staying the night with you."


A giggle rippled in my throat at the sound of Liam tormenting his sister. He was kinda being a hypocrite because he'd been spending the past few days here but wouldn't allow Sabrina to let Nolan stay with her. 


"I know you're awake," his voice sailed across the room and I grimaced, slowly opening my burning eyes and peeking around the blanket once again. "Good morning, Blondie."


His wide grin sent the butterflies in my stomach into disarray and I couldn't resist the blush springing from the base of my neck. I sat up nonchalantly, blanket collapsing to unveil the t-shirt I wore as I murmured a shy, "good morning." I raised my hands to rub at my burning, and most probably red, eyes.


"You know what today is?" he questioned as he wandered over to me, grin widening as he observed me blush whilst taking in the sight of his bare chest. "Your birthday."


I ripped my gaze away from his chest to look at the clock instead as I raised my brows in surprise. "My brothers will be getting up any minute."

It was tradition to wish one another before anyone else did. The mattress sagged as Liam thumped his body in front of me, arms crossed and still smirking. I reddened again and looked away from him.

"How does it feel to be a legal eagle?" He tantalised, a deep chuckle resounding from his chest as he watched my cheeks take on the roseate hue. "Blondie's a big girl now," he said repeatedly, stretching forward and jabbing my hot cheek, laughing once again when I swatted his hands away from me. 


"Stop it," I mumbled and tried darting away from him but the attempt was futile because Liam lunged ahead and hauled me right into his lap, muscular arms squeezing me tightly in his embrace. I concealed my face in the crook of his neck, savouring his musky odour.


"Since I have the pleasure of seeing you so early today," he grumbled into my messy hair. "Happy-"


Using all of my strength, I pushed away from him to stand between his legs. "Don't say it."

Liam raised an amused brow at me as he favoured ahead to clutch my hips. "Why?"


"It's a tradition for my brothers and me to wish each other first," I concluded as Liam pulled me closer to him, resting his chin on my tummy and looking up at me. I ran my fingers through his messy hair. "You can wish me later."


"Whatever you say, baby," he mumbled, hands straying to my backside causing me to blush again, resting my own hands on his broad shoulders. "How are you feeling, birthday girl?"


I groaned before climbing back onto his lap, one leg on each side of him and buried my face in the curve of his neck once again, Liam's own arms coiling tightly around my waist. "I feel excited like I always do when it's our birthday. Not as sad as I thought I'd be. Liam?"


"Mm?"


"Thank you," I rustled, causing a grimace of confusion to emerge on his face but I continued before he could say anything. "Thanks for being here. You didn't have to –"


"Hey," he lifted a calloused hand to my cheek and continued articulating. "You don't have to thank me for anything. I should be the one thanking you for dealing with me this past week."


I dropped my gaze. "I wasn't dealing with you. I was -" Biting my lip, I thought for a second. "Being there for you. That's it. That's what I was doing. And I kinda love you so..." I trailed off with a provoking smile.


"Well, then I'm happy to be there for you too," Liam countered, pressing his lips to my cheek. "And I love you too, Blondie. So much." He smiled, a hand lifting to hold the back of my head as he pulled me closer, leaning forward.


"Wait," I abruptly said, squeezing his nose between my fingers.


"What?" he asked in a nasally voice, squinting as he endeavoured to look at my dainty fingers gripping his nose. "What's wrong?"


"Morning breath," I informed him in a scolding tone and stood up, disregarding his protests. I walked over to my bathroom door, feeling his stare on me. Turning around, I watched as he swiftly elevated his gaze and looked away awkwardly, comprehending he was caught.


Liam cleared his throat and inclined back onto his hands. "I'll leave you to have your tradition."

I grinned and roamed into the bathroom, leaving the door open. "You'll be back though, right?"


He chuckled, watching me walk away and disappear into the bathroom. "Always."


I nodded to myself and then called out a "Good" after I foolishly apprehended that he couldn't see me. Grabbing my toothbrush, I continued with my morning routine. Once I was done, I applied a face mask and stared at myself in the mirror.


I heard the racket of the window opening and shutting before the cry of a motorcycle dissolved into the background a few minutes later. Wandering over to my cabinet to take out a brush, I swore at the thought of tackling the mane on my head. After quite some time, I managed to tame the long hair into a messy bun before walking back over to my mirror to remove the face mask.

With a contented breath, I travelled to my closet to pull a baggy sweater over my head and slipped my feet into fluffy slippers.

At that moment, Caleb floundered into my room, sweatpants embellishing his lower half and a large fleecy blanket shrouded around his stripped upper half. The blonde curls on his head were wild and his blue eyes were squinting as if the light was causing him intense agony. Lifting his foot, he booted the door shut before thudding himself on my bed. "It smells like Finn in here."

I looked up from my feet and pulled a weird face at my brother. "Why would you know what he smells like?" I wasn't even bothered about the fact that Caleb knew Liam was here but rather concerned that he knew what he smelled like.


"Don't look at me like that." He pulled a similar face before shaking his head and chuckling. "I know what everyone on my team smells like - I'm the captain. Besides, I've got a powerful nose."


"Is that a euphemism for a humungous nose?" I grumbled, turning to face him fully.

He gawked at me for a second before responding, "we have the same nose, bitch. And it's not a smart idea to bully me when I can tell Dad that you had a boy stay over." I flushed furiously but chose to dismiss him, prompting him to laugh harder. He wheeled around on my bed and asked, "you guys had sex here right? So if I'm lying on your bed right now, does that count as a threesome?"

"Shut up!" I hissed, cheeks red and eyes screwed shut in embarrassment. I was about to tell him that Liam and I never had sex but concluded he'd ridicule me mercilessly about that too. "You're deranged!"

Caleb raised a brow. "Deranged? Why?"

"Caleb!" I scolded and he nearly suffocated on his laughter. "Incest. Fullstop."

He pulled his blanket tighter around him and chortled at the look on my face. I wasn't entertained but rather mortified. "I'm kidding, loser."

"Whatever. Get your stinky ass over here so I can wish you," I rolled my eyes as he stood up to his full height, abandoned the blanket on my bed and opened his arms. "So annoying," I muttered with a snort before walking into his embrace. He hugged me tightly, my feet lifting from the ground as he swayed. "Happy birthday, asshole."

Caleb pressed a kiss to my head before setting me down. "Happy birthday, bitch." With a snicker, I lightly struck his arm and stepped towards my door. "We going to Chris now?"

Pointing to the clock, I stated, "knowing him, he'll use his bathroom then get back into bed and pretend to sleep until the excitement of today dies down. We have to get to him before he can make it back into bed."

Christian didn't necessarily enjoy his birthday that much.

"Yes, ma'am," Caleb saluted, making his way over to me as we headed to Christian's door. Caleb held a finger to his lips. Counting to three, we pushed open the door. "Happy -"

The second we entered the room, we spotted Christian on his way to his bed, back facing the door. When he detected our voices, he stiffened. "Not so fast!" I yelled, let out a war cry and dashed towards him, springing onto his back. He didn't even flounder and instead caught my legs. "Happy - oof."

Both Christian and I went tumbling over as Caleb barreled into us. My elbow smacked the ground and I flinched as the back of Caleb's head crashed into my stomach. I looked up and watched as Caleb's foot connected with the side of Christian's head.

"Ow!' Caleb shouted as he rolled away and shakily shifted to his feet, clutching a hand to the back of his head as if he was hit with a sledgehammer. "You hit my head with your stomach!" He pointed a finger at me.

I keened, using Christian's knee for assistance as I stood up and glowered at Caleb. "More like you hit my stomach with your big head. I didn't know something so empty could weigh so much. One of the anomalies of the world." He let out unearthly noises and I gasped. "Are you making whale sounds at me?"

"Is it my fault you're the size of one?" He riposted, striking a hand to his abs. "Flabby ass bitch. I'm lucky there was so much fat for me to land on or else I might've had a concussion."

Cursing, I launched one of my slippers at him but he caught it. My eyes swelled as he held it to his ass and his face took on a look of concentration. "Don't you dare fart on it! Give it back!"

"Why?" he ridiculed, swinging my shoe around. "You gonna eat this too? You just eat everything, don't you?"

"I'm going to rip your hair from your head and make you choke on it!" I seethed.

Caleb pouted. "Speaking of hair, your moustache needs a trim."

Just as I was about to surge for him, I heard booming laughter. I halted, gradually turning around. There on the ground, reclining against the end of the bed sat Christian James - laughing his ass off.

His grin was so huge that I was afraid it would sever his face in half. With each sonorous chuckle, his chest thundered as he shook his head. With that smile on his face, he looked precisely like the nincompoop standing next to me, slipper still seized in his hand.

Sparing Caleb a glimpse, I noticed he wore the same dumbfounded expression as me. "Ahehe," I forced out rigidly, still unable to believe the scene in front of me. "Whatcha laughing at, Chris?"

"Yeah, big guy," Caleb appended. "Something funny?" There shouldn't have been anything funny since both Caleb and I barged into his room and pushed him over.

Christian shook his head with a smile and ran his hand over his face. "I just can't believe the shit that comes outta Caleb's mouth sometimes. You'd think I'd be used to it after so long."


I snorted as Caleb let out an affronted wail. As Christian stood up, I sprang into his arms and kissed his cheek. "I knew I loved you more than Caleb. Happy birthday, favourite brother."

He let out another chuckle and hoisted me onto his back. "Happy birthday, favourite sibling," he told me with a smirk, icy eyes shimmering.

Caleb traversed his arms. "You know what? Fuck you both. I - Where are you going?" He demanded as Christian wandered out of the room with me still clinging onto his back. "Come back here!"

"Happy Birthday, Caleb," I chirped, dipping my head to see him pursue us down the stairs. one slipper still on my foot as my leg swayed. "You know we love you."

He groaned before responding, "yeah. Yeah. I love you guys too. Even though you're a fatass, Charlie. I'm surprised Chris hasn't broken his back yet with you on it."

Glowering at him, my scowl wavered when I spotted the tantalising smile on his face as he took a seat at the table, breakfast spread out across it. And that's when I apprehended his plan all along - make Christian smile.

Christian set me down so I could take a seat and he did the same. There was a giant cake in the heart of the table with three candles. Caleb pulled out a fourth candle from the drawer, declaring it was for the brother he consumed in the womb - Cookie James.

I snorted at that. Christian called him deranged.

As we heard my dad entering the room whilst singing happy birthday off-key, my heart felt full and without a doubt, I knew our mom was there with us. She always was.