[#262] Sibling Rivalry

"You think you're bigger than me?" I smirked, crossing my arms over my chest.  Sure, I was dressed in polka dot shortalls, and sure I was wearing a very wet diaper, but Ruka was way more of a baby!  At least my shortalls covered my padding; her dress - if that's what you could call it - barely came down past her belly button.  It was clear who was the big sister, just by looking at us.

"I know I'm bigger than you," Ruka said confidently.  I puffed out my cheeks.

"I'm definitely bigger, I know almost all my letters." I proclaimed, and Ruka rolled her eyes at my response.

"I know all of them, Jazzie," She countered, and held up her fingers as if ten fingers was all she needed, "all twenty-five!"

Twenty-five?  A smile spread across my face.

"There aren't twenty-five letters, you silly baby," I cooed.  How did this girl honestly think she was bigger than me? "There's no way there's that many letters!"

Ruka sat quietly for a moment, her dress hiked up high and flashing her diaper.  Maybe she was using it, since she went quiet all of a sudden!  But her voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"You think you're bigger, then prove it." She got on her hands and knees and crawled across the playroom to the padded tiles.  Eager to earn my title as the big sister, I crawled behind her.

"Prove you're bigger, count all the letters." Ruka challenged me when she got to the foam flooring, and I grinned.

Counting I was... good at. Mostly. I mean I knew that Applebee wasn't a number of the alphabet, so that put me above some other babies, at least. I could do this!

"One," I said confidently, picking up the big foam letter M. "Two," I said, picking up the large letter O.  "Three, and four, and five." I picked up another letter. "This one is just an upside down M so it doesn't count."

Ruka watched patiently and I began to grow nervous.  After five was... uh... 

"Nine..." I muttered under my breath, picking up the letter G.

"Six," Ruka corrected me.  It felt like the floor fell out from under me.  I... I knew my numbers, I did!  I just... maybe needed a bit more practice...

"It's okay, sis," Ruka said, wrapping her arm around me. "Let me help you spell your name, okay?"

She picked out one letter at a time, and laid them out in front of me. I watched, biting my lip, because I thought she was doing it right - my name did have two of the same letter in it after all. When she was done, she crossed her arms and chirped 'tada!' at what she'd written.

B

A

B

Y

"There you go!"