the bunkbed fight.
[OOC: Whee! Random Zach!fic. YAY! So, in the Abel & Willing episode.........there's this scene that mentions Zach having an older brother and how they got bunkbeds from their uncle. I had to write a fic. Because, little-kid-Zach-Nichols? OMG. Amusing. Like whoa.]
“Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooom! Make Zachary leave me alone!”
God. Jeremy Nichols has the whiniest voice. The irony is that it never improved with age.
Jeremy is the eldest, by four-and-a-half years, a fact which he often rubs in Zachary’s face. Zachary can find ways to get out of trouble because he’s clever, for a kid anyway, but he can’t change the birth order. It irks him, especially at key moments in which Jeremy gets to pull the but-I’m-the-oldest card.
Like now.
“Zachary Levi Nichols!”
He winced. He always winces when his mother uses his full name. She doesn’t yell. It’s that stern tone that requires a prompt response, otherwise she will come to him which never ends well. His parents are both therapists. He doesn’t like the couch; it’s that place where he has to sit and talk about his feelings, and he’s just a kid.
He sits on the couch and folds his arms across his chest in a huff, “I said I wanted to be called Zach now, Mom.” He tries to be calm. Temper tantrums only mean more time will be spent on the couch. “Zachary sounds too much like Jeremy.”
“Okay, Zach,” his mother says in that gentle, rehearsed therapist tone. “Now, tell me, why were you fighting with your brother?”
“Because he got the top bunk, and it isn’t fair,” and he pouts at this. But he’s only seven, he’s allowed to pout. “He said that it’s because he’s the oldest and that you said he can have it. It’s not fair!”
“Zach, life isn’t always fair,” and Zach is already trying to tune her out. “I want you to think about something. Can you trust me and do that?” He nods. “Your brother is eleven now. He should be leaps and bounds taller than you. However, here you are, growing up so fast, almost his height. At this rate, you’ll hit a growth spurt and be much taller than Jeremy.”
Zachary’s eyes widen. “Really, Mom?”
“It’s a logical probability, and from that, we can safely say that if you get the top bunk and are taller, you’ll end up bumping your head on the ceiling,” she explains, and Zach absorbs all this information. “Let your brother have the top bunk and take comfort in the fact that he will look up to you for the majority of his life once your growth spurt hits.”
It takes a few minutes for all of this to process in Zach’s mind, but suddenly he leaps to his feet and hugs his mother.
All is well in the world for about three minutes - the length of time it takes Zach to get from the living room, back upstairs, to locate Jeremy and announce that he would be taller and there was nothing Jeremy could do about it.
“Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom! Zach’s doing it again!”
“Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooom! Make Zachary leave me alone!”
God. Jeremy Nichols has the whiniest voice. The irony is that it never improved with age.
Jeremy is the eldest, by four-and-a-half years, a fact which he often rubs in Zachary’s face. Zachary can find ways to get out of trouble because he’s clever, for a kid anyway, but he can’t change the birth order. It irks him, especially at key moments in which Jeremy gets to pull the but-I’m-the-oldest card.
Like now.
“Zachary Levi Nichols!”
He winced. He always winces when his mother uses his full name. She doesn’t yell. It’s that stern tone that requires a prompt response, otherwise she will come to him which never ends well. His parents are both therapists. He doesn’t like the couch; it’s that place where he has to sit and talk about his feelings, and he’s just a kid.
He sits on the couch and folds his arms across his chest in a huff, “I said I wanted to be called Zach now, Mom.” He tries to be calm. Temper tantrums only mean more time will be spent on the couch. “Zachary sounds too much like Jeremy.”
“Okay, Zach,” his mother says in that gentle, rehearsed therapist tone. “Now, tell me, why were you fighting with your brother?”
“Because he got the top bunk, and it isn’t fair,” and he pouts at this. But he’s only seven, he’s allowed to pout. “He said that it’s because he’s the oldest and that you said he can have it. It’s not fair!”
“Zach, life isn’t always fair,” and Zach is already trying to tune her out. “I want you to think about something. Can you trust me and do that?” He nods. “Your brother is eleven now. He should be leaps and bounds taller than you. However, here you are, growing up so fast, almost his height. At this rate, you’ll hit a growth spurt and be much taller than Jeremy.”
Zachary’s eyes widen. “Really, Mom?”
“It’s a logical probability, and from that, we can safely say that if you get the top bunk and are taller, you’ll end up bumping your head on the ceiling,” she explains, and Zach absorbs all this information. “Let your brother have the top bunk and take comfort in the fact that he will look up to you for the majority of his life once your growth spurt hits.”
It takes a few minutes for all of this to process in Zach’s mind, but suddenly he leaps to his feet and hugs his mother.
All is well in the world for about three minutes - the length of time it takes Zach to get from the living room, back upstairs, to locate Jeremy and announce that he would be taller and there was nothing Jeremy could do about it.
“Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom! Zach’s doing it again!”