brothers

This afternoon I was making lunch with my big boy home from college, and he jokingly asked in a wee voice if I'd make his sandwich for him. I chuckled and said, "I wonder how many sandwiches I've made for you over the years." 

From the other room, his younger brother, five years younger, bellowed, "I wonder how many sandwiches *I* have made for him over the years?!"

Which reminded me that the other day I mentioned to son 2.o that I found my new computer voice warning thingy adequately annoying.  A few weeks ago, out of the blue, my laptop spoke to me in that creepy computer voice: "Ground Control to Major Tom, you are now running on reserve battery power." They know I hate that song.

"It was *E's* idea. He asked me to change it. And I did."

See a theme here?

So tidying after lunch, I said, "It must be very convenient for you having a little brother to work all your mischief for you."

Brightening: "Yeah! It's all in the wording. You just have to make it sound like it's his idea, present it as a hypothetical." 

[younger brother, from the other room] "WHAT?!"

"I didn't want to take the fall, so I would make suggestions to you.  Like when I convinced you to shoot rubber bands at mom's work-student students in the lobby, from the balcony."

"That was fun!"

"Mischief is fun. That's how I got you to do all that stuff."

The truth will out.