Kim said, “Daniel, this is my oldest, Trevor. Isn’t he dashing?”
Daniel seemed confused by that. He cleared his throat. “Nice to meet you.”
“And this is Andy, my youngest.” She whispered, “You’ll get used to him.”
“Hello, Daniel!”
Trevor jumped. Andy could go from zero to a hundred in a blink of an eye.
Daniel scanned the house in awe. “Is this all yours?”
“It’s yours now too, honey.”
Trevor didn’t appreciate his mother’s generosity with the family fortune, but he kept it to himself since this was a day of celebration.
“Boys, take Daniel to his new room,” Robert said and began walking toward the house. “We will eat dinner in one hour.”
“Come on,” Trevor told Daniel. “Let’s get you settled.”
Daniel walked next to a beaming Andy, and Trevor hurried to hug his mom, who whispered, “Isn’t he gorgeous?”
He whispered back, “I got hard the second I saw him.”
She kissed his cheek. “Good boy. Now, go make your new brother feel welcome.”
*
“What do you think?”
Daniel looked around, his face hard to read. “It’s big. I mean, it’s great. Thank you.”
Trevor glanced around. This room was far from big, but it was the closest to Trevor’s room and had a strong lock on the door.
“You didn’t have your own room before?” Trevor sat on the swivel chair next to the desk. It gave him a good view of the sunlight reaching Daniel's face, making his eyes bluer and his hair glowing in gold.
“I had my own room when I was little.” He put his tattered suitcase on the bed. “In the group home, we are six kids per room.”
“You meanwere.And damn, six? Did you all share a bed or something?”
Daniel twisted his lips. “We each have—had—our own bed.”
“Well, I guess that’s something.”
“Do you like your new room, Daniel?” Andy asked from the doorway. His voice tended to carry a high pitch when he was excited.
“Yes, thank you.”
“You can put posters on the walls if you want. I have twelve. Posters, not walls.”
“Okay, maybe.” He began to put his things in thecloset. “Do you have a high school close by?”
“My old high school is pretty far away,” Trevor said and moved to sit on the bed next to Daniel’s suitcase. “I was there for one year and couldn't switch to homeschooling fast enough. I finished my exams last year.”Barely.
Daniel turned to Andy. “Where do you go to school?”
“Hmm, here!”
“Then you are also homeschooled?”
