Alain was in his sister's room. Both were facing each other as they sat on a round carpet. "Can the baby say night?"

Kei-chan smiled. "Na-nat!"

"Night."

"Nat-nat."

Alain pointed to a picture of the moon.

"Moon."

"Moo!"

"No, moon."

Kei-chan furrowed her eyebrows. "Moo?"

"Moon."

Alain pointed to a star. "Star."

"Sta."

Alain turned the page. "Can you say sun?"

"Ama!"

"Huh?" Alain furrowed his eyebrows.

"Ama."

"You want mama?"

Kei-chan shook her head and pointed at the picture of the sun. "Ama!"

Alain stroked the top of her head. "It is warm like a mama."

Kei-chan yawned.

"Baby sleepy?"

She nodded.

Alain picked up his sister. "Okay, baby. In you go." He put her in her crib.

Kei-chan snuggled her dolphin plushie. "Nighty..."

Lany smiled. Seemed his lessons were working.

His dad came into the room.

"Kei-chan fell asleep."

Masahiko frowned.

Tea poked her head into the room. "Sirs, dinner is ready."

Masahiko glanced at the baby. "Did your mom feed her?"

Alain nodded.

They followed Tea into the dining room.

His mama was already sitting at the table. "Did you two have a good day?"

"I took En to lunch," his dad replied.

"Did you invite his brothers, too?"

He shook his head. "Josie took them out. I wanted to give En a break from having to be the big brother."

"What did you two eat?"

"I took him to that seafood restaurant Ayako was talking about since he loves seafood so much."

She smiled. "Did he enjoy it?"

"He seemed to once he was able to relax."

"Oh?"

"He was close to falling asleep. If he was able to ride in a car, I would have driven him home."

His mama patted his dad's hand. "At least he had a good time."

En must have been so tired. Would Aunt Betty be able to do anything for him?

Alain hadn't interacted with Alastair much since he got back from abroad. Alastair would wave, but that was it. He'd stopped talking, but Alain didn't know why. En didn't want to talk about it.

"How is his twin doing?"

"About the same since you last asked. My mom said he hasn't been very interactive. They've just wanted to love him."

"He was gone a long time. I'm sure they missed him."

His dad just picked up his utensils.

"What about you, Lany?" she asked.

"I went to lunch with Dad, but otherwise I just read the books that everyone gifted me."

"I'm glad you had a good day."

Joanna came into the kitchen and took the plate Dill was holding. "Thanks, Daddy."

Dill smiled as he kissed his daughter's head.

"Is she entering her rebellious phase?" his dad asked.

Tea made herself a plate. "Are you asking that because it was yours at her age?"

His dad kept his mouth shut.

"I'm not rebelling, uncle! En eats in his room all the time! Is he in a rebel phase then?"

Did En have dinner yet? He probably took a nap after he got back to his house.

"True, but you're not the type to do that. Unlike Lan."

"Hiko..." Tea said.

Anna used that opportunity to leave the room.

His dad got a bit of food from each of the plates and put it on his dinner plate. "Alain, we need to talk."

What did his dad want to talk about? Why did they have to do it at the dinner table of all places?

"You're not in high school anymore. I gave you all summer to think of what you wanted to do with the rest of your life. Perhaps you shouldn't have skipped."

Lany lowered his head. He hadn't thought of it. His mom ran a fashion company with his aunt Ayako, but he had no idea about that. He only wore coats.

Hiko met his son's gaze. "Until you decide, you'll continue working at the company."

Alain lowered his head. He had hoped to be a writer, but he couldn't tell his father that. He would probably say that he was wasting his time.

"Why do I have to run my decisions though you?"

Hiko raised his eyebrows. "What was that?"

"What if I don't want to do what you want me to?"

"Where is this coming from, son? Do you have something else in mind?"

"I... I don't."

Hiko sighed. "What an indecisive child. Kei-chan is more decisive than you. She picks her toys right away."

Alain scowled.

"If you have something to say then say it."

Why?

Hiko face palmed. "Your cousin isn't able to speak and he's able to express what he wants better than you are."

Alain got up from the table. Tears poked out of the corners of his eyes as he ran out of the house.

He didn't care where he went. He just wanted out of that house. The night was warm. That was all that mattered.

"Alain?" someone's voice called out.

Alain blinked. Whose voice was that?

"You feeling alright, bud?"

His aunt's boyfriend? What was he doing here?

The way En stared at him was like he was trying to burn holes into his skin.

Alastair just waved at him like every other time they'd crossed paths since Alastair came home.

Randel turned to Alastair and smiled. "I think Honey would like it if we threw some balls for her."

He bobbed his head and smiled.

Randel produced a ball from somewhere and threw it into the distance.

The boy and his dog ran after it while Randel gingerly jogged away.

"Where did that ball come from?" Alain asked.

En looked at him sideways.

"I have no idea what you're thinking right now."

En pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it in the air.

Alain patted all of his pockets. Did he run out of the house without his phone?

En typed something before holding the phone out. "Let's trade then."

Alain furrowed his eyebrows before nodding.

"What were you doing before we found you?"

Alain looked away.

"Randel did what he did for a reason." The next line was written in capital letters. "What happened?"

For the first time in the conversation, Alain took the phone. "I." He paused. "got into a fight with my dad."

En's expression softened as he took his phone back. "About what?"

Alain took the phone again. "What I'm going to do for the rest of my life."

"Job?"

Alain nodded.

En typed away. "What do you want to do?"

Alain took the phone. Flames pooled in his cheeks. "I love books, so write one, maybe?"

"Why not tell Uncle you want to be a writer? I think he'll understand."

"Would he really?"

"Why wouldn't he?"

Alain just stared.

En looked like he was sighing on the inside. "You keep locking yourself up worse than I have."

The dog ran over and licked Alain's hand.

Alastair smiled.

Did he have her do that on purpose?

Alastair ran in through a nearby door.

Alain gestured for the phone before typing, "You know." He paused. "Sometimes, I envy how carefree your twin is."

En nodded as he stared ahead before taking his phone back. "Don't let him trick you. He's not as happy-go-lucky as he makes it look."

Alain gasped before taking the phone. "Is he hiding something?"

En glanced at the sidewalk. "As a kid, it was inadequacy. Now it's sadness..."

"Inadequacy and sadness?"

How relatable.

En nodded and took the phone back. "Me, too."

Alain's eyes widened. "You've changed."

En blinked.

"Would you have admitted that years ago?"

En shook his head and blushed as he took the phone back. "You really shouldn't be jealous of us. Your parents and sister are alive and well."

That was true...

En smiled. "Try to tell Uncle when you're ready."

Aunt Betty stepped outside. "En, come eat." Her eyes lit up. "Lany! Come eat with us!"

"I-I already ate." His stomach growled.

Noah poked his head out from behind his big sister and laughed. "You sure?"

"Come inside. We're having a Kezzla."

"You mean a pizza?"

Betty giggled. "It looks like one but no. You should try it, though."

Saying no would probably be rude...

Alain said nothing as he followed them inside.

His cousin was sitting at the table with their aunt's boyfriend. Both already served themselves.

Sho got up. "So, this is where you ran off to. Mom just texted me you'd taken off. She's worried."

Of course, those were the first words out of his mouth...

"I thought only the cats did that," Noah said.

Sho blinked. "Momo?"

"Think he means Atty and En."

Sho laughed. "Oh, yeah. Though, En only does that when there is too much noise."

The dog rubbed Alain's leg while Alastair grinned as he held out a slice of pizza to his cousin.

Alain blinked. What was he doing?

"You are our guest," Noah said. "Atty's just trying to be a good host."

Alain's eyes widened as he bit into the strange pizza. "This is good."

Betty smiled. "Star and I made it together just before you got here."

Wait, did Alastair offer it to Alain because he wanted someone to taste his creation? Alain stifled a laugh. Now that sounded like his cousin.

Alain stared at the pizza-looking food as he took another bite. The only differences were the flatter crust and not using as much tomato sauce. It reminded him of when his parents took him to Rome. He was so eager to try out Italian pizza.

Betty had a glint in her eyes. Was she doing something with her hands under the table?

"What did you do today?" Randy asked.

"I was with my sister. I was trying to teach her how to talk."

"She's still really little," Betty said. "How did that go?"

"She's not able to talk like a big kid of course, but she's trying. I got star out of her before I put her to bed."

Star tilted his head.

En smiled as he signed, "Maybe you should have a session with my twin."

Star frowned.

Betty ruffled his hair. "Just because you don't talk with your mouth, doesn't mean you can't talk. You've been practicing with your tools, haven't you?"

His cousin smiled.

Sho patted his back. "Say, you've gotten taller, Star. I remember you were about the same size as your grandpa Ethan when you left."

His smile gotten even bigger.

"May I have more?" Alain asked.

"Go ahead," Randy replied.

Alastair made motions Alain didn't understand with his hands.

Alain furrowed his eyebrows.

"He's asking if you want to watch a movie with us," En said.

Alain gasped. He was going to have a movie night with his mama that night.

"Sorry, but I have to go!"

That was when the doorbell rang.

"I got it!" Randy yelled. He opened the door and waved. "Oh, hey, Boss!"

"I'm here for the kid."

Alain narrowed his eyes. "I'm almost eighteen, Dad."

His mom threw his arms around him. "You are still our little baby! And don't run away like that ever again!"

"Mama..."

Betty smiled while Alastair laughed, and Randy snorted.

En punched his twin and Randy in the arms.

Msahiko sighed. "Se, you're embarrassing the kid..."

Sarah let go of Alain. "Oops."

En narrowed his eyes at her. Did he find her annoying?

Alain's mom looked at the strange pizza. "You had an Italian pizza?"

Alastair made more motions.

"It's called a Kezzla," Randel said.

"It's yummy!" Noah said.

Alain nodded. "It has a lot of olive oil, though."

"Would you like to take a slice or two, hermano?" Betty asked.

"I'm fine," he replied. "We should get home."

Masahiko got in the car before his wife and son.

"Mama, I..."

Sarah put her finger over her son's lips. "Lany, you don't need to apologize. I know." She pulled her son into another hug. "I'm just glad you didn't get hurt. Let's go home."

"Okay..."

The two got into the car and drove off.

"Anyway, I got the movies ready! This is going to be so much fun!"

Lany smiled. Star probably would've enjoyed it.

***

Thoughts on Alain and his dad? En? Theories? Predictions?

Wanted to wish @ImperialSun a happy birthday! ^^

~Shino out!