"I'll always protect you."

Under a Shady Tree towards evening

The rest of the day went as normal. As soon as Chris was sure his arm felt better than it did before, they went out in the backyard and had fun until they were utterly exhausted and then they flopped underneath their favorite tree until their Mom called them in for dinner.

Then everything felt right with the world.

That night, after dinner and Chris washed off the spaghetti sauce stains from his face after their Mom told him to, while their Mom and Dad watched the news, Martin read to Chris until their Dad decided it was time for them to go to bed. The brothers got up, Chris a bit disappointedly though he'd learned not to complain about bedtime, and they went, as soon as they were in the hall, to Chris's room. They got into Chris's bed giggling excitedly, "Can we still finish the book?" Chris asked. Martin nodded and pulled back the sheets, "Of course, but first things first, let's get you tucked in." Chris climbed in and continued to giggle as Martin tucked him up, laid down next to him on top of the blanket and then opened the book to keep reading.

This wasn't something they did every night. They only did if they were both in agreement that they had to finish what book they were on. Then, it was just a matter of doing it without their Mom and Dad finding out.

Martin finished the book sooner than he often finished a book, "and there you have it, Chris." but Chris didn't answer, "Chris?" Chris was sound asleep. Martin could feel his own eyelids get heavy. He put his arm gently around Chris for a quick hug, "Goodnight, Chris." squeezed him, "Sweet dreams." but, as soon as he said this, Martin fell asleep right next to him.

Their Dad peeked in as he was checking on them and found them like that. He took a picture with his phone and decided to leave them that way.