"How can you say that? You are so wrong." She practically screams.
"Look, all I'm saying is that pineapples do belong on pizzas. It just brings a whole new flavour to the mix. It's black olives that don't belong on a pizza. Those things are disgusting."
"How dare you?" Korra glares at me with threatening eyes.
She picks up a pillow and hurls it at me. It hits me square in the face as she folds her hands with a smug look on her face.
"Korra can you please not start this now." I laugh and throw the pillow back.
"Oh I didn't start anything. You're the one with bad taste in pizza toppings." She throws another pillow at me but I dodge this one. It bounces off the wall and hits the ground.
"Game on." I get up from the couch as quickly as I can, grabbing 2 pillows with me and I chuck them at her before dodging behind the sofa. She laughs maniacally and heaves pillows at me.
"You'll never win!"
Ok it's official; she's crazy.
After successively throwing 6 pillows, the firing stops. I peep to see if she's out of pillows so I can quickly reload but she's no longer standing where she was.
Where the heck did she go?
I stand up as quickly as I can and start to gather pillows.
"Looking for me?" I slowly turn around to find her standing exactly where I was hiding before.
The look on her face made me wet myself a little. She's always been crazy competitive but this is just plain crazy. Before I can even move, she tosses two pillows in my direction. I dodge one but the other bounces off my belly, hitting the lamp beside me.
She stiffens when the pillow hits my belly and an evil idea pops into my head. I look at her with wide eyes and place one hand on my knee and the other on my belly. The horrified look on her face gave me more joy than it should have.
"Oh my goodness, please no." She just keeps staring and I start groaning loudly to torture her even more.
She starts to pace around the living room running her hand through her hair.
"What have I done? Oh gosh no." She runs to where I'm standing and kneels in front of me.
"Okay Riona junior, listen. You have to stay still. I'm sorry for hitting you with a pillow. I promise it's never going to happen again." A tear is making its way down her cheek and I'm starting to actually feel bad.
I can't hold it anymore so I burst in laughter holding the arm of the sofa for support. She looks at me like she's really going to kill me this time.
"Was that funny to you?" She abruptly stands up and loses her balance. She falls over the stack of pillows behind her, only making me laugh harder. As she gets up with her hands crossed over her chest and a huge frown on her face, she reminds me of when she used to throw tantrums as a kid.
"That wasn't funny Riona." She stomps her way to the kitchen leaving me alone to clean the mess we made.
As I pick up the last pillow, the doorbell rings.
"Korra can you please get that?"
"No!"
Okay then.
I open the front door to find Trevor with 2 large boxes of pizza and 2 cans of sprite.
"Thank you so much Trev. I'm starving." I take the boxes from him and drop them on the table in the living room.
"Korra, Trevor's brought the pizzas."
The sound of her feet hitting the hardwood floors as she runs to the living room is one that I am too familiar with. There are only 2 things that can make Korra run; pizza and The Bachelorette. I honestly wonder how she stays in shape when she hasn't exercised a day in her life.
"Finally." She hands Trevor and I paper plates.
"I forgot to ask what toppings you guys wanted so I just got one of my favourite. Hope you guys like it."
Korra opens both boxes simultaneously and her face instantly drops. I burst out laughing. Trevor coincidentally got us 2 large pepperoni, mushroom and pineapple pizzas.
This is not Korra's day.
"Oh come on. Not you too." She drops the box lids and folds her arms, pouting.
She can really be a child sometimes.
"What? You don't like it?"
"No Trev, it's fine. It's my favourite too." I snicker and hand Korra the first slice.
She snatches it from me and slowly takes a bite, staring daggers at me.
A FEW HOURS LATER
"And then when we got home and opened the bag, we found diapers and baby bottles in it." Korra and Trevor hold on to each other as they laugh.
"I knew the bag was too light to be mine even though it looked exactly like mine on the outside but Korra didn't want to listen."
I stare blankly at the pair with the faintest of smiles on my lips. They've been telling funny stories since we finished the pizzas and at first I was into it but now I just feel drained.
After a few more laughs, Trevor turns on the TV and takes his time to surf before finally settling on a sports channel. We all silently watch the basketball game.
Korra notices my mood after staring at me for a few minutes and she stands up, carrying the empty pizza boxes and paper plates with her.
"Trev could you please follow me to the kitchen and help me tidy up." Trevor reluctantly peels his eyes away from the game to look at Korra's hands.
"But you've already gotten everything babe."
They stare at each other for a few seconds, having a silent argument which Korra was obviously winning by the looks of it.
"Ok fine I'm coming." He drops the remote and mumbles something as he follows Korra into the kitchen.
A few minutes pass before they both re-enter the living room. Trevor nervously scratches the back of his neck as he struggles to look at his watch.
"So I'm just going to call it a night Riona. I'll be on my way now. Goodnight." Trevor grabs his keys from the table and pats Sam's head as he heads to the door.
"Just you?" I give him a questioning look.
I turn to my sister with the same expression.
"Korra aren't you going with him?"
She and Trevor share a look before he rushes out the door, shutting it behind him. I faintly hear his 'It wasn't my idea' from the hallway.
"I'm going to be staying with you tonight. And before you object, I'll have you know that my ride home just left and I'm not getting an Uber by 10 o'clock at night."
She takes a seat beside me on the sofa.
"So we're stuck together for tonight." She gives me a very broad smile that slowly falls as she searches my face for a reply.
"What?"
"Did I ever tell you I needed a babysitter? I'm fine on my own no matter what you people think. I'm very fine. I'm super, even."
I stand up from the sofa and head into the kitchen to get a glass of water.
"I never said you needed a babysitter, I'm not a babysitter. Is it a crime to want to spend a few days at my sister's apartment?"
I down the water and slam the glass on the counter. Thankfully it didn't break.
"A few days? You've got to be kidding me. You're not staying here for a few days. You're lucky I'm even letting you stay tonight."
What's more annoying than the fact that she didn't ask me before deciding to stay over is the fact that she has been smiling at me as I've been screaming at the top of my lungs making me look like a crazy person. She doesn't say anything, she just keeps smiling. She knows I can't tell her to leave. She's really lucky she's my sister, no one else could get me like this.
"You can stay in the guest room, you still have some clothes here from when Trevor went on his business trip." I storm out of the kitchen and she skips behind me.
I turn to the alarm clock on my bedside table and it says the time is 1:38 am. I sigh and turn back to face Sam. I haven't closed my eyes for a second since I laid on the bed after having my bath – 39 minutes, I'm getting slow again.
I honestly don't know why I can't sleep. I'm feeling tired but every time I close my eyes, they just spring open again after a few minutes. It's getting annoying. I don't exactly know why my brain is telling me what it is but I don't like it. I'm not caving. I'm sure she knows that I'm still awake and she's just waiting for me to call her in. I'm not doing it.
I count the ceiling tiles for the hundredth time.
Ok maybe I'll do it just for tonight.
"Korra!"
A few seconds pass before I hear her feet tapping on the floor. She slowly opens the door and yawns as she itches her eye.
"You better not be having a baby by 1am." She lets out another yawn as he trudges to the bed.
"Don't be silly. I still have 4 months to go."
She lets out another yawn as she gets under the covers. Sam changes his position, curling himself up right below our feet.
"Oh cut the crap. I know you were waiting for me to call you in here."
She quickly turns to face me, practically bouncing.
"I knew you weren't going to be able to resist it. All I had to do was wait you out." She pinches my cheek and I swat her hand away but she continues to giggle.
"You have way too much energy at 1 am Korra."
I yawn, finally feeling my eyelids getting heavy.
"Goodnight Riri."
I turn off the lamp and pull the covers all the way to my neck.
"Goodnight Asher." The words left my mouth before I could stop them. I really hope she didn't hear me.
The bed creaks as Korra turns on her side.
"Riona?"
"Just forget it."
As usual, she doesn't listen. She inches closer and starts to stroke my hair. Surprisingly, I don't object, enjoying her warm touch as I slowly drift off to sleep.
9:23 am, Sunday
I don't know what time it is but I don't stand up from the bed as I wake up. I feel Korra's weight lift from the bed. I pull the covers closer to myself without opening my eyes. Just as I'm about to turn, a hand grabs my shoulder and I instantly react. In a few seconds, I'm off the bed, twisting Korra's hand behind her with her face pressed against the bed, as she whimpers.
"What the heck? Aren't you meant to be pregnant?" She asks, stomping her feet with her face still pressed on the sheets.
"Aren't you meant to be asleep?" I ask with her hand still behind her back.
"I'll give you an answer when you leave me the hell alone!"
I let go of her arm and she cradles it in the other as she glares at me.
"You still have it don't you?" She sports a half smile as she massages her wrist.
"Unfortunately, I guess I still do. But you shouldn't startle me like that. For your own good." I retrieve the covers from the floor where they had landed and get back into bed.
"Oh no you don't." Korra yanks the covers off me and starts to pull me up.
"What?" I whine.
"You're not staying in bed all day."
"Fine. I know what we should do today." I sit up and stare out of the open window at nothing in particular.
"Good because I didn't really have anything in mind.��� Korra pulls the curtains further apart to give way for more light and my eyes instantly shut, adjusting to the sudden brightness.
"We should plan the funeral." I honestly don't want to but I'm not the only one to be considered here.
Korra freezes but slowly turns her head to look at me with the curtains still in her hands. She walks over to the bed and settles beside me.
"Don't you think it's a little bit too early?"
"I don't know. I've never planned one before. Besides, his family called yesterday and they were a mess. I want to do it for them. I don't think I have much of a choice now do I? The sooner the better." I turn to her and muster up the strength to smile.
"Don't worry about me Korra, I'll be fine." She nods and pulls me in for a hug. I appreciate the warmth.
We stay in each other's arm for a little while longer before she finally gets me to take my bath and we jog to her house and back, which is just about four blocks away.
I am stressed but I still had work to do. I call the Daultons to inform them about the arrangements while Korra calls a few of his friends. The smaller this funeral is, the better it would be for me. Korra also calls our dad to get everything else ready. I couldn't thank her enough for the help.
As we say our goodnights and the lights go out, the thought of tomorrow haunts me. I am not ready for this. I don't think I can ever be ready. But it's just one of those things you have to go through with. Besides, the ball's already rolling. There was no going back.