Smiley and Sunshine

20.

"You got quite the lead foot there, Smiley."

"Sorry," Glen grinned sheepishly, taking his foot of the gas. He was having too much fun pushing 45 mph when the speed limit was only 30mph. As soon as Austin directed him out of their neighborhood onto the road, his need for speed took over. It wasn't a main road so there was real no danger. It was simply one giant loop around several neighborhoods creating a cute little community.

When the brothers were first looking for housing as they made the transition to South Carolina, his current boss highly recommended the area and the rest was history.

Thankfully their neighbors loved them because no one in their right mind would probably have been stoked to have 6 boys move in next door. Austin and Baker definitely deserved all the credit, keeping their brothers on the straight and narrow.

"Just remember, there's nowhere you need to go that is more important than your life, so please don't think it's necessary to speed." Austin replied, nodding in approval when the speedometer dropped. "But you're a natural at this. I'm impressed."

"Thanks. I learned from the best."

Something to know about Austin was that he typically didn't ask questions he didn't already know the answer to. So when Glen asked about his permit, Austin was well-aware of his driving capabilities. Stephan Rayon imparted as much information as he could without breaking the kids' trust.

Which is why Austin didn't even bat an eye when asking Glen if he wanted to take the car out for a spin. It was the perfect leeway into spending time with his little brother one-on-one. There was a conversation that was overdue.

"The best, huh?" Austin joked with mock offense before giving directions, "At the next corner, you're going to turn right."

"Here?" Austin mhmm'd so Glen expertly put the blinker on and slowed down. "You've met Stephen. You can't deny that he's the best of the best in everything. If he's helping you, he won't quit until you nail it. " Glen answered him. "He taught me for my birthday. He didn't expect the Bear to do it, no surprise there. The man probably didn't even know it was my birthday." He didn't mean to share that last bit. Glen tapped the steering wheel with his fingers, focusing his energy on the road. If he wasn't careful, as soon as he thought of his grandfather, his mind jumped down a million rabbit holes of where he could be.

"I believe that," Austin stated, "you look up to Stephen a lot." Fact.

"Honestly," Glen trailed off, twisting his lips to the side as he debated his next words carefully, "I think if we didn't meet the Rayon family when we did..." Sergeant Stephen Rayon became a presence in their life that the Bear just couldn't ignore. Stephen was probably the reason why him and Hayes turned out okay.

Austin did not like having to fill in the blanks of the kids' past, but respected Glen's decision to keep it to himself. "See that lake up there?" Austin pointed off to the driver's side of the car, "pull in any of these parking spots and we'll go for a walk."

"A walk?" Glen repeated suspiciously. "This better not be where you ditch me because I have no clue how the hell to get back home."

Austin laughed as Glen swung the car into a parking spot with no hesitation and after switching gears into park, he turned the car off. Damn, Stephen really didn't mess around when teaching the boy.

"I'm serious." Glen said, handing Austin the car keys.

"I know you are, I'm sorry." Austin apologized, reaching over to mess up Glen's hair. "Just like how I'm serious about never letting you leave my side again. We're glued together, bud."