Looking out for one another

We have a rule in our house. When you take the dog for a walk, you take a walkie talkie - leaving one with someone in the house - preferably mom or dad. Even the parental units have to follow this rule. We live in the mountains, a wilderness area, with lots of potential wildlife.  Consequences always follow forgetting said communication device.

Today, Jacob headed off for his afternoon jaunt with the dog.  Half hour into it, he sent us a text message that he had in fact forgotten the walkie talkie, but had his cell phone and was ok.  He was heading back home.

As if on cue, moments later, the walkie talkie (that had been left on Techno's desk after the morning dog walk) called in.  Techno-genius, being silly, called it right back.  A simultaneous hello from he and Bethany negated both their attempts. He then re-called and Bethany said, "hello?"  Techno responded in kind.

A brief pause then we heard, "Uh oh."  Knowing her thoughts, we both began chuckling.

"Uh oh, what?" he quipped.

Another pregnant pause, "Um.... Jacob forgot the walkie talkie."

"We know."  Came the reply.

A bit nervous sounding, "OK, love you," came through the speaker.

"Love you too," Muffled Doug between laughter bursts.

We knew exactly what was going through her mind. She hadn't meant to get her big brother in trouble. She was most likely trying to call HIM - thinking he had left the walkie talkie in her care.  They do that, often, call each other just to say 'hey' while on their Apollos walks.  What had she done?  Would he lose privileges?  Would he be upset with her for 'ratting him out'?

I guess it would have been kindest had we fessed up to knowing, before this event, that Jacob didn't have the other walkie talkie. That he had already 'checked in' and told on himself, but was ok since he had his cell phone.  But... instead, we practically rolled on the floor in laughter as we recalled, the 'uh oh' comment echoing through the walkie talkie in Techno-genius' hand.

In all honesty, we're glad they look out for each other.  Thrilled she wasn't 'tattling' on him as many siblings might.  She just wanted to say 'hello' to her big brother and mistakenly got her dad instead.  Which, she knew, meant her brother had broken the house rule.  She had no way to cover, to turn back.

Giving both her dad and I a hearty laugh and a heartwarming smile to know she cares about Jacob and wanted to protect him.