LOTF: Before and After

Phase 1: Chapter 7

On August 19th, the Langley parents packed their minivan full of the boys' bags. For the third year in a row, they made the trip from East Point to Bainbridge to drop off Ralph, and now Jack.

Jeffery and Jack unloaded and brought up all Jack's bags while Ralph and his mom dealt with his. The unloading process took longer this year than it did last considering there were two of them this time, but it was helpful that Jack and Ralph's rooms were next door to each other. Once Jeffery finished helping Jack, he poked his head into his son's room to say goodbye.

"Getting settled?" his father asked as Ralph hung his sweaters up in his closet.

"Yeah, I'm good" Ralph assured him. "Thanks dad" he added as he dropped his clothes to give his dad a big hug.

"I'm always here for you" the man said, wrapping the boy in his embrace.

"Thanks for being so good about Jack. We had a lot to prepare for with this trip to England coming up in two weeks" Ralph said, pressing his chin into his dad's chest as he stretched his neck back to meet his eyes.

"I know" his dad assured him. Something about his tone suggested to Ralph that his father knew Jack had stayed over for reasons beyond just training.

"Hey Simon!" Jeffery said excitedly as the younger, curly-headed boy came into the room, dragging suitcases in each hand, bags hanging off each arm.

"Hi Mr. Langley, how was your summer?" Simon asked politely as he relieved his little arms from the weight of his belongings.

"It was nice having Ralph home, that's for sure. Get up to anything fun?" the man asked.

"I spent most of it in the gym to be perfectly honest" Simon admitted.

"The boys did too" Jeffery Langley laughed. "Mom's waiting for me downstairs, Ralph, are you okay if I head out now?"

"Course" Ralph said as he gave his dad one last hug. "I love you."

"I love you too, kiddo. See you in November" he said, holding onto Ralph a little tighter than he usually did. With the trip coming up in a couple weeks for Unit 8, this would be the first time Ralph would be away from home for more than two weeks. Over the previous two years, he'd gone home every other weekend. He'd seen his parents for a week at Thanksgiving. This year, he'd be in another country from September to November. Jeffery worried his 12-year-old son would get homesick, but deep down he was more worried about himself and his wife. It would be the longest amount of time they'd ever go without seeing him. Ralph could handle it, Jeffery knew, even if Ralph didn't know it. But his wife, he wasn't so sure about.

After Ralph's dad left, both Ralph and Simon continued to unpack and set up their room. Every year it looked relatively the same, with a few of Simon's personal items changing each year. Ralph had remembered to bring a photo of himself and his parents in his little wallet when he started sixth grade, and now seventh.

"How was your summer?" Ralph asked Simon despite having been present when Simon answered his father's identical question.

"It's never a bad summer when I get to be home" Simon sighed with content. "What about yours? Do anything interesting?"

"Uh, no. Nothing interesting. I watched a lot of TV and trained a lot" Ralph vaguely explained.

"Who are 'the boys'?" Simon asked seemingly out of context.

"What boys?" Ralph was confused.

"Your dad said 'the boys' when he was talking about what you did this summer. I thought you didn't have any brothers" Simon questioned.