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Mrs. Young was up to something… Llewellyn wasn’t sure what that something was, of course, but he could tell she had plans that day. It started early in the morning when she entered the shared room where he and the twins were sleeping, chirping for them to get up and to put on their nicest clothes. Which was… Alarming, if the boy was being honest.
He hadn’t been here long, and he wasn’t sure how long Hubert and Daniel had been… But the boy was still waiting for her to decide three charity cases were too many to mouths to feed and to ship them off to the Toronto Boy’s home. Not a desirable outcome, but he was starting to think a little more realistically about his future. No sign of Clarissa, and no one who could do anything about it seemed to care. So why not wait for the other shoe to drop?
Glancing in the direction of the younger boys, small for their age and about 10 from what they’d told him… He frowned lightly. They seemed happy here… And he hated to admit it, but he was getting attached to them. He wasn’t replacing Clarissa, no, but… They accepted him so quickly, they didn’t mind that he tended to get a little lost in something he was doing or reading. They didn’t get annoyed if he stammered sometimes or tripped over things… And they were, more often than not, happy to see him.
It was nice.
“Louie!” Hubert piped up a moment later, derailing his train of thought. They both had taken to shortening his name to that, and it was a little weird… But he found he didn’t mind it. “Come on! Mrs. Young…? She wants us.” He grinned. His words came out carefully as he moved across the room to tug Llewellyn’s arm. “Er- right… Is Danny ready?” He glanced around, only to notice the boy was already ahead of them, with his head peeking around the door. “Slow-poke.” He teased before disappearing around the corner.
“Ha…” Llewellyn mumbled with a half hidden grin as Hubert proceeded to tug him out of their room and out into the hall. They dodged around a few people already on their way out of the boarding house for the day, and nearly ran into Jasper.
Jasper was a rather nice man who lived there, a little awkward but… He had interesting hobbies, and he never looked down his nose at the boys… So Llewellyn decided he was alright. “Sorry, sir!” He offered, reaching out to steady the tall tripod with a box on it, before Hubert was tugging again.
The man waved them off with a little smile before he went back to fussing with the box.
“Come on, boys! Eat up quickly now! I have something for you to do this morning, and I wouldn’t want to keep him waiting.” Llewellyn raised a brow as he climbed into a chair, tucking his knee under him and slouching over the plate of eggs and toast she’d put in front of him and the twins. Looking up at her from under his messy, dark curls, he finally spoke up while digging into breakfast. “Who’s waiting? What are we doing this morning?”
“Always with the questions…” Mrs. Young shook her head a little with a chuckle. It wasn’t an unkind tone or laugh… It was just lightly amused, if anything. “Well, how else am I supposed to know?” He asked rather bluntly, putting his fork down as she walked over to the table again. “You’re supposed to know when it’s time. That’s how surprises work, boy. Now eat. And…” she tsked, “Lovely curls on you, but you really need to brush them out of your eyes.” She fussed a bit, combing a finger through them. It was almost motherly… If Llewellyn had to describe it, but he couldn’t really remember much about his. So he wasn’t really sure. “Danny. Mind your breakfast, dear.” She fussed and moved on to Daniel, who’d managed to lose some of his eggs off the plate and nearly on his clothes.
Breakfast was mostly quiet after that, aside from some light joking from Daniel as the boy noticed Llewellyn was starting to get a bit of a fidgety, anxious look to him the longer they went without finding out what was next.
It wasn’t long, though, after dishes had been washed and the boy’s had finished a few chores, and Mrs. Young called them into the common room where they found Jasper standing off to one side with the tall box on its three legs, fussing something inside it. The man was chatting absentmindedly over his shoulder to Mrs. Young, who was standing by, waiting. “It’ll just be another minute or so, you have my word!” He commented before going back to his fussing.
Llewellyn glanced at the twins, who offered confused shrugs themselves. “So… Uh- what are we doing?” He finally asked first, hoping for a straight answer from the women this time. “You three, over here!” She chirped and gestured for them to stand in front of the fireplace. “Llewellyn, you’re the tallest, so you stand… Right here.” She bustled over, adjusting where he was standing slightly before turning to the twins. “You two stand in front of Llewellyn, right there and there.” Once satisfied, she beamed. “There! Now, once Jasper is ready, you three will be ready for your picture.”
“Picture?” Hubert blinked, glancing at the box again and Llewellyn hummed a little… Camera, yeah, he was pretty sure he’d seen the newspaper using them before. “Why are we getting our picture taken?” He asked, still a little confused himself.
“Because I thought it would be nice to have a picture of the three of you together… Think of it as a family photograph.” Which… Well, that made sense. But usually that was something other people did, actual families… “You three boys… You’re good with each other. Just because you weren’t born into the same family doesn’t change the fact that you have each other now.” She continued, noticing Llewellyn about to pipe up again with questions. “So we’re making it official. A family photo for the three of you. Jasper owes me a favour, and I thought it would be nice. Right?” She continued, voice questioning.
A family picture. Them. A family… “It doesn’t mean you have to forget them, Llewellyn… You aren’t replacing anyone. But you also don’t have to be alone, do you?” She added, “None of you do.”
Llewellyn found it rather hard to argue with her logic this time… And the twins meant a lot to him already. Maybe that was enough to be family…
So, gathered together and smiling, Jasper snapped a picture and it was developed a few days later.
Mrs. Young set it on the dresser in their room while Llewellyn was reading, causing him to look up. “What do you think?” She asked, gesturing to it. Llewellyn put the book aside and slid off the edge of the bed to walk over and get a closer look. “We look happy?” He supposed, not sure what she meant. “That you do… Looks like you three belong together. Peas in a pod, as they say.” She chuckled a little before her tone lowered and she glanced to where Hubert and Daniel were chatting. “You three are brothers, Llewellyn. Right? You three can watch out for each other… And you’re their older brother.” She added thoughtfully, “And you’ll watch out for them… right?”
Llewellyn glanced over his shoulder too, and the boy nodded a moment later. He knew why she was asking. Hubert and Danny had told him about Nigel already. The neighborhood bully. “Of course, I promise.” And he meant that. This world was not a nice place… But they were good, and he would make sure they stayed safe.
He hadn’t been here long, and he wasn’t sure how long Hubert and Daniel had been… But the boy was still waiting for her to decide three charity cases were too many to mouths to feed and to ship them off to the Toronto Boy’s home. Not a desirable outcome, but he was starting to think a little more realistically about his future. No sign of Clarissa, and no one who could do anything about it seemed to care. So why not wait for the other shoe to drop?
Glancing in the direction of the younger boys, small for their age and about 10 from what they’d told him… He frowned lightly. They seemed happy here… And he hated to admit it, but he was getting attached to them. He wasn’t replacing Clarissa, no, but… They accepted him so quickly, they didn’t mind that he tended to get a little lost in something he was doing or reading. They didn’t get annoyed if he stammered sometimes or tripped over things… And they were, more often than not, happy to see him.
It was nice.
“Louie!” Hubert piped up a moment later, derailing his train of thought. They both had taken to shortening his name to that, and it was a little weird… But he found he didn’t mind it. “Come on! Mrs. Young…? She wants us.” He grinned. His words came out carefully as he moved across the room to tug Llewellyn’s arm. “Er- right… Is Danny ready?” He glanced around, only to notice the boy was already ahead of them, with his head peeking around the door. “Slow-poke.” He teased before disappearing around the corner.
“Ha…” Llewellyn mumbled with a half hidden grin as Hubert proceeded to tug him out of their room and out into the hall. They dodged around a few people already on their way out of the boarding house for the day, and nearly ran into Jasper.
Jasper was a rather nice man who lived there, a little awkward but… He had interesting hobbies, and he never looked down his nose at the boys… So Llewellyn decided he was alright. “Sorry, sir!” He offered, reaching out to steady the tall tripod with a box on it, before Hubert was tugging again.
The man waved them off with a little smile before he went back to fussing with the box.
“Come on, boys! Eat up quickly now! I have something for you to do this morning, and I wouldn’t want to keep him waiting.” Llewellyn raised a brow as he climbed into a chair, tucking his knee under him and slouching over the plate of eggs and toast she’d put in front of him and the twins. Looking up at her from under his messy, dark curls, he finally spoke up while digging into breakfast. “Who’s waiting? What are we doing this morning?”
“Always with the questions…” Mrs. Young shook her head a little with a chuckle. It wasn’t an unkind tone or laugh… It was just lightly amused, if anything. “Well, how else am I supposed to know?” He asked rather bluntly, putting his fork down as she walked over to the table again. “You’re supposed to know when it’s time. That’s how surprises work, boy. Now eat. And…” she tsked, “Lovely curls on you, but you really need to brush them out of your eyes.” She fussed a bit, combing a finger through them. It was almost motherly… If Llewellyn had to describe it, but he couldn’t really remember much about his. So he wasn’t really sure. “Danny. Mind your breakfast, dear.” She fussed and moved on to Daniel, who’d managed to lose some of his eggs off the plate and nearly on his clothes.
Breakfast was mostly quiet after that, aside from some light joking from Daniel as the boy noticed Llewellyn was starting to get a bit of a fidgety, anxious look to him the longer they went without finding out what was next.
It wasn’t long, though, after dishes had been washed and the boy’s had finished a few chores, and Mrs. Young called them into the common room where they found Jasper standing off to one side with the tall box on its three legs, fussing something inside it. The man was chatting absentmindedly over his shoulder to Mrs. Young, who was standing by, waiting. “It’ll just be another minute or so, you have my word!” He commented before going back to his fussing.
Llewellyn glanced at the twins, who offered confused shrugs themselves. “So… Uh- what are we doing?” He finally asked first, hoping for a straight answer from the women this time. “You three, over here!” She chirped and gestured for them to stand in front of the fireplace. “Llewellyn, you’re the tallest, so you stand… Right here.” She bustled over, adjusting where he was standing slightly before turning to the twins. “You two stand in front of Llewellyn, right there and there.” Once satisfied, she beamed. “There! Now, once Jasper is ready, you three will be ready for your picture.”
“Picture?” Hubert blinked, glancing at the box again and Llewellyn hummed a little… Camera, yeah, he was pretty sure he’d seen the newspaper using them before. “Why are we getting our picture taken?” He asked, still a little confused himself.
“Because I thought it would be nice to have a picture of the three of you together… Think of it as a family photograph.” Which… Well, that made sense. But usually that was something other people did, actual families… “You three boys… You’re good with each other. Just because you weren’t born into the same family doesn’t change the fact that you have each other now.” She continued, noticing Llewellyn about to pipe up again with questions. “So we’re making it official. A family photo for the three of you. Jasper owes me a favour, and I thought it would be nice. Right?” She continued, voice questioning.
A family picture. Them. A family… “It doesn’t mean you have to forget them, Llewellyn… You aren’t replacing anyone. But you also don’t have to be alone, do you?” She added, “None of you do.”
Llewellyn found it rather hard to argue with her logic this time… And the twins meant a lot to him already. Maybe that was enough to be family…
So, gathered together and smiling, Jasper snapped a picture and it was developed a few days later.
Mrs. Young set it on the dresser in their room while Llewellyn was reading, causing him to look up. “What do you think?” She asked, gesturing to it. Llewellyn put the book aside and slid off the edge of the bed to walk over and get a closer look. “We look happy?” He supposed, not sure what she meant. “That you do… Looks like you three belong together. Peas in a pod, as they say.” She chuckled a little before her tone lowered and she glanced to where Hubert and Daniel were chatting. “You three are brothers, Llewellyn. Right? You three can watch out for each other… And you’re their older brother.” She added thoughtfully, “And you’ll watch out for them… right?”
Llewellyn glanced over his shoulder too, and the boy nodded a moment later. He knew why she was asking. Hubert and Danny had told him about Nigel already. The neighborhood bully. “Of course, I promise.” And he meant that. This world was not a nice place… But they were good, and he would make sure they stayed safe.
