I pushed the door to Mom's room open, and walked into chaos.
"Give me my pen! You're doing it wrong."
"I am not doing it wrong, your teacher is wrong!"
"You cannot say that! Marcus, give me my pen!"
I blinked.
Marcus had one hand pressed to his forehead, while Alia was practically climbing over him trying to aggressively snatch a pen from his other arm.
"Alia," he begged, "you made a mistake." He turned his head and spotted me.
And I swear, I have never seen relief hit someone so fast.
"Oh, Ash," he said, standing up like I just saved his life. "Thank God you're here."
"Ash!!" The small human launched herself at me. I barely had time to brace before Alia collided into me, wrapping her arms around my waist.
"Hey, gremlin," I laughed, stumbling a step. "What's going on here? Are we solving math or starting a war?"
"Ash," he called, sitting up properly. "Please explain to your sister that two-fifty divide fifteen and not… whatever she wrote there."
